News

Sunday August 8, 2004
Total daily run ----160 miles

Wind picked up strongly late afternoon. Furled up the genoa and under staysail and triple reefed main, sailed all night on a broad reach to beam reach.
This morning winds are down, but the seas are still pretty rough. I unfurled the genoa .

Position at 0800
18-10 S
99-59 E
Cog 255
Sog 6.3
Wind 18
Wind from the SE

On a broad to beam reach, port tack.

Saturday August 7, Afternoon
Tried to set a better course by letting the autohelm steer while I adjusted the windpilot. At that moment a cross wave picked us up and hurled us sideways down the slope. The forces on the rudder were too great which caused the autohelm's last in line's gears to strip in their moer in! The thing is only two weeks old and has less than 24 working hrs on it! I was under the impression this upgraded model comes with metal gears. Boy, I was wrong, they are plastic gears !!! Aaaaaggghhhhhhh !!!
I managed to take the thing apart and using some brass gears from the old
autohelm and after some sawing and filing, I had the autohelm back in working order again. Took me a whopping 6 hours. Cannot use it in these rough seas, only when running or in light winds. Willie,(a Pacific Plus Windpilot windvane) can handle the heavy seas. It has proven its money's worth a hundredfold.
The SW swells still causes the seas to be unstable and very uncomfortable.
I have taken a lot of video footage, but when I play it the waves look smaller than when you look at it in real with the naked eye.
Something to do with optical illusion ???
Can anybody explain this to me???

Saturday August 7, 2004
Total daily run----145 miles

Position at 0800
17-14 S
102-23 E
Cog 250
Sog 6.2 kts
Wind 22 knots
Wind from the SE

Still on a broad reach, port tack, triple reefed main and genoa.

Sailed all night on a broad reach to beam reach. The SW swells still causing discomfort. Hard to sleep. I hope the wind direction changes so I can alter the attack on the SW swells. Also hard to keep a straight course. Willie, the windpilot working overtime !

Friday August 6, Late afternoon
With the wind increasing and the ride becoming very unpleasant due to the SW swell clashing with SE waves and winds, I somewhat hove to and put a triple reef in the main. With the genoa furled out about 50% the ride become much more comfortable in spite of a loss in speed of one knot.
I spent most of the day in the companionway, studying the waves and the effect of the cross swells.
With the wind only at 25 knots, gusting 28 occasionally, I am very surprised at the waves motion. This all is new to me and I wonder what it will look like when the wind is at 50 knots or more ???? The seas are very different from what I experienced in the Pacific.
Well, one day at a time and I will learn something everyday until we get closer to the treacherous South African coast and that fearfull "buster".

Friday August 6, 2004
With winds picking up we were soon down to a mainsail only. The seas were very nasty and on one occasion a wave lifted us up and turned us 45 degrees in the trough, right on the beam of an oncoming wave but we got away, almost broaching. The lee rail, ports and jerry cans were submersed until the wave passed underneath us. Yours truly was, at that moment, at the bow, taking video footage and I had to hang on for dear life! Seas are way different than the Pacific. I will have to find another way to sail in this ocean.

Position at 0800
16-37 S
104-50 E
Cog 240
Sog 6.5
Wind 23
Wind from the SE

Still on a broad reach, port tack.

Total daily run -----165 miles

Thursday August 5, 2004
Wind shifted again at noon. Jibed the boom and we sailed for 4 hrs on a dead run, bearing 270 degrees.
Late afternoon, the wind slackened, another wind shift, jibed boom again and we sailed all night on a broad reach, bearing 250 degrees.
The shaker woke me up three times last night. Two fishing boats were stationary and later a tanker passed me from the front on my port side.
Cooked rich and brown gravy with canned chicken for supper.

Position at 0800 hrs (have since fallen back one hr)
15-56 S
107-26 E
Cog 265
Sog 6 knots
Wind 10 knt
Wind from the SSE

Correction !!!!
Total distance the past three day were respectively
150 , 150 and 155.
My mistake due to a new chart.

Wednesday August 4, 2004
With the wind up to 18 knots and coming from the ESE, I poled out the genoa to stop the flogging. With the main still double reefed we sailed all day and night on a broad reach, port tack.
The seas were rough and every now and then a wave would lift us up and put the wind right astern, causing us to go into a rolling motion which causes havoc in the cabin. Pots and pans that are not secured will go flying around. I was also frying spam for supper in the pan and 2 pieces ended up on the floor. No, I did not eat it !

Position at 0800 hrs ( 2300 hrs Aug 3 UTC )
15-15 S
110-00 E
Cog 250
Sog 6.2 kt
Wind 15 kt
Wind from the SE

Still on a broad reach,port tack.

Daily run---138 miles

Tuesday August 3, 2004
Wind has since shifted, coming from the SE.
The swells are from the SW, which makes for very unpleasant sailing. Will soon alter the sails and try for a more comfortable approach.
Tried to cook fishcakes, but it was a complete flop, but I ate them anyway.
Wind is shifting more, bearing reads 212 .

Position at 0800
14-39 S
112-32 E
Cog 220
Sog 5.5 kts
Wind 20 kts
Wind from the ESE

On a broad reach, port tack.
Total daily run ----140 miles

Monday August 2, 2004
Since yesterday the wind has picked up strongly and at noon we were under double reefed main and 50 % furled up headsail.The seas became rough and as we were on a close reach the deck was constantly covered by spray with a big banger every now and then. Windspeed was 25 knots.
Spent most of the time on my back reading one of Bryce Courtenay's books. Getting used to the loneliness again ain't easy.
We sailed all night like this and at 0400 hrs this morning the shaker woke me. A tanker was passing on our stern. I noticed the wind was down, so I unfurled the rest of the headsail.
Getting out of the berth was hard as every muscle in my body hurt from the constant rock and rolling movement the past 24 hrs.

Position at 0800 hrs
14-00 S
114-50 E
Cog 265
Sog 6.5 kt
Wind 15 kt
Wind from the SSW
On a close reach, port tack.

Total daily run----145 miles

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