enroute to St Helena,1
NORDLYS
David and Annette Ridout
Sat 16 Feb 2008 07:15
Departure from South
Africa
33:10S 16:19E
0600hrs 16th February
2008
Yesterday morning Annette and I awoke to a very
unusual Simon's Town scene. Flat calm, grey skies and a hint of drizzle in
the air. However by 0730hrs with a coterie of friends wishing us 'bon
voyage' we backed Nordlys out of the berth that had been her home for over two
months and slowly motored out past the Naval Harbour with its two grey evil
looking modern guided missile destroyers and a white cable layer. One
thing we do know is that we intend to visit South Africa again and that the
prospect of a long English winter visit to this fascinating country is an
enticing one. Little wind helped us on our way so we motored down
the fifteen miles to the Cape of Good Hope. Our first sighting of wild
life was a raft of Jack Ass penguins. They look almost as silly swimming
on the surface as they do walking on land. One of the world's biggest
colonise of these adorable animals is just twenty minutes stroll south of
Simon's Town and we had spent many an early morning walking there and
back. Abeam the Cape of Good Hope we were entertained by a
plethora of wild life. Hundreds of sea lions were basking in great
herds. Mutton birds flew around us and a few albatross circled with
apparent disdain for lesser creatures.
A light SW wind filled in and we begun to sail at 3
to 4 knots with the sails just not slatting. We had hoped to go
north past Cape Town and its sky line and also to pass close to Robben
Island. However this would have put us on a dead run and with the wind so
light it would have been impossible to sail this course so we set sail on a
reach in a NW direction direct to St Helena which was just over 1700nm
away.
Happy hour found us sailing just a little better in
9 knots of wind and a general chat on 8101mhz, a prearranged frequency, had us
talking to other yachts scattered over 1000nm of ocean but with one thing in
common, we were all making for St Helena. Slowly the wind filled in and a
great nights sailing ensued. For the first half of which a waxing moon lit
the sky. The prospect of this friend of the sailor's night steadily
getting bigger and being up for longer is a pleasant one.
So as I write this Annette is having a well earned
sleep, Venus has risen and now shines from a dark turquoise sky as dawn
arrives. The sun is not yet up but has announced its coming by a broad
band of red low in the eastern sky. Puffy, cotton wool like clouds, still
dark on their underside due to lack of light are crossing the sky and most
importantly of all the trade winds appear to be well set in. We have
covered a hundred miles in the last 25 hours and after a night of broad reaching
I have just put Nordlys on a run with the genoa boomed out. 7,
occasionally 8 knots is the order of the day as we run happily before force five
from the SE. Long may this continue!
So may we both wish all family and friends who read
this happy times. We hope to enjoy them ourselves for the next ten days or
so before we drop the hook off Napoleon's last resting place.
David