13:44.86S 32:22.66W South Atlantic
Chantelle
Mon 26 Jan 2009 15:54
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Hello All
Thought it would be worth a mention that a year ago
today the World Arc Fleet departed from Rodney Bay to embark on their
circumnavigation of the world. We are still left with some 3,350 miles to go
before our Parade of Sail back to Rodney Bay, St Lucia. By this time we
will have clocked up some 28,000 nautical miles (including the first Atlantic
crossing). From St Lucia home to Plymouth will add on a further 4,500
thereabouts, so by the time we're sitting in a bar celebrating our arrival back
to old blighty our grand total will be somewhere in the region of 32,500
nautical miles. All in all a fair few sea miles in only 18 months. Not bad
eh?
Our time in Cape Town passed all too quickly,
although 5 weeks did allow us to have a good look around this amazing country
and realise that 5 months wouldn't be enough to appreciate all it has to
offer. She certainly worked her magic on us and deserves the reputation of one
of the most popular holiday destinations in the world.
Johns family joined us, Barry, Tricia and Emma
for two weeks including Xmas and much to our relief adapted quite well
to life on board. Little Emma (23 months) settled in well after a couple of days
and showed great potential as future crew. Her fascination and eagerness to
learn was a joy to watch, even though her little legs fell short
of the first step down the companionway. Even winching proved to be a fun
game and by the time it came for them to leave she'd mastered the tongue twister
"Grandad Pugwash"!
Our adventures in Cape Town will have to wait for a
future blog as time is marching on and we are now only 400 miles off Salvador,
which means 3 days tops before Caiparhinis (local drink) and Lambada (local
dance). Three days can seem like a lifetime!
Overall we have had a fantastic sail from Cape Town
with a 2 day stop over in the lovely St Helena. The spinnakers have had their
longest airing yet and we've been flying along, occassionally touching 10+
knots boat speed on the crest of a wave. With very little helm the boat skims
the surface and sails herself, beautifully balanced. Aah joy riding in
the big blue waters of the South Atlantic.
The latest piece of equipment on board is John's
Celestron, a clever device that enables us to star gaze and then identify the
myriad heavenly bodies that bedazzle us. Having no moon has made the night sky
even brighter and Venus has been lighting the way providing us with a silver
highway. Natures riches in abundance.
Our attempts at fishing proved fruitless up until
the 16th day when a willing wahoo obliged. Our second catch happened this
morning and as yet we're unsure what it is! John has promised us "fish
nuggets" for lunch - could this mean he's cooking or do MacDonalds deliver
this far out?
Once in Salvador the boat as always will need some
TLC, in particular the autohelm, the bunged up loo and a replacement spinnaker
halliard. Hoping these won't take too long and we'll have time to do some sight
seeing and no doubt lambada dancing.
The new "snuffer" we bought for the big kite has
proved invaluable. No more frantic gathering just one person on the bow pulling
the sock down. Works a treat. We also added to our sail collection and have an
asymmetric kite, otherwise known as a jenniker or cruising shoot. Bit
disappointed as appears to be quite temperamental and fussy with the angles, not
very forgiving.Consequentally we've only flown it the once. Something to play
with in the future.
If our current boat speed continues (7 knots) then
hopefully we should be in to Bahia Weds evening, preferably before dark but
that's unlikely. As we progress further west and slightly more north the sun has
become noticeably hotter and a T shirt at night is all that's needed.
Have a feeling that Brazil will be sizzling and sultry and that's before
dancing the Lambada.
So just a little news to bring you up to
date.
Hope you are all well and life is
"good!"
Until the next time.
Love from a very hot Chantelle
x
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