East to West

Vir die Afrikaanse vriende sal ek vir n oomblik hand aan eie taal slaan
en dit pertinent verkondig dat my lieflike vrou op Valentein's Dag my
weereens laat besef sy is deur en deur n robyn rose vrou.Julle kan maar
comment in Zulu,Xhosa,Afrikaans,Engels,enige van ons 11 amptelike
tale.As jy nie verstaan nie,probeer Google Translator, ha ha ha.Terug na
Ingels.

We have noticed a pattern with the weather the last few days.The wind
will blow steady with sunrise,but as it heats up the wind starts dying
down.In the afternoon when the sun is on it's way down again,the wind
seems to pick up.The trick is to motorsail and charge the batteries when
the wind is down to keep our average up and keep the batteries
charged.Optimal use of wind and motor.Our ETA for St.Helena is still
Friday but slowly getting later and later,now at about 10am should we
average 6 kts.Our grib weatherfile looks positively better for the next
few days and the lull we are experiencing should soon be over.reason why
we need to get to St.Helena on Friday is in order for us to clear
customs and immigration,do all we want to do there and be on our way
again on Sunday morning.Nowadays they also send a docter to the yacht to
see if we are all well before allowed to go ashore.Customs and
immigration is closed on weekends and in a worst case scenario should we
arrive to late on Friday is for us to sit out at anchor until next
Monday before we can get ashore.We need to fill up our watertanks,do
something about our bicolor navlight and touch base again for a day or
so.

Last night we had baked and grilled lamb chops,butternut,boiled and
fried potato dices and bean salad with banana,cheese and
mayonaise.Pieter is an accomplished chef with great abilities,Brad is
good in his own way and myself can also cook up a storm.But at this
stage Pieter is numero uno,so voted by Brad and me.Yesterday morning
Brad baked some scones and bread so we had a feast all day long,midnight
snacks and this morning toast with egg.So for the wifes and kids,
brothers and sisters,friends and family,pets etc who are concerned about
us eating well,you have nothing to worry about.

Today is really the first day that it is completely overcast.Not cold at
all,rather pleasant at 24*C.We are 400nm from St.Helena and at PM 02:00
UTC our position is 19*40'S/00*08'E.We are less than 10nm from crossing
over to the west,less than two hours away.My turn to cook tonight and
some type of beef casserole will be conjured cooking with gas.All aboard
is well and in fine frame of mind.The moon is getting fuller and fuller
everyday and soon it will be fullmoon or foolmoon for the lunies.Please
hop aboard again tomorrow as I would love to share some secrets about
Leonardo Da Fishi.Closer to fullmoon I will tell you about "Sailbad the
sinner",a name I saw on a boat in Port Elizabeth.

Until then take good care.

Paul