The rougher stuff

A day or so before we crossed the equator, the South Easterly winds we've
had for days turned more East and settled on East North East. t first we
were flying our gennekar, and at 1am our time when the wind started to
shift the angle of wind become a bit tight to fly the gennekar. She is
good for up to 120 degrees, but at 90 degrees to us, or on the beam as the
nautical term goes, not so effective when the sea is building. Fortunately
my crew is always ready for whatever the situation requires. I woke them,
switched on the deck light, and soon we had the gennekar snuffed and
folded away. We tied sacrificial reeflines to the mainsail on second reef,
and unfurling the genoa or headsail, we were doing quite fine. A fairly
extensive operation which took us about 30 minutes, and at last we were
really sailing again, the two sails creating forwad momentum for us. With
the gennekar the wind pushes us, with the head and mainsail, we are
actually getting sucked in. An effect similar to squeezing a wet bar of
soap between your hands and it pops out. At 6am the wind was shifting SE
again, and down went the sails and up went the gennekar. At about 11am he
wind decided to settle now for ENE and once again we had to bring the
gennekar down again and raise the main sail which is generally good for up
to 20kts of wind. Undo the second reef sacrificial reef lines, tie them on
the first reef and hoisted the mainsail. I was watching a bank of dark
clouds in the distance while we hoisted the main. We face directly into the
wind when we raise the mainsail, and once she was up and I turned the boat
to set the sail, the wind suddenly started rising to 23kts. Turned back
into the wind, dropped the main to second reef, and tied the sacrificial
reef lines down again. Tightened the luff of the sail, went on a
broadreach, unfurled the genoa, tied a sling on, and then aimed the boat
for our next waypoint again, aiming for a point just below St.Lucia on a
beam reach. I a nutshell, we were working harder than usual to keep up our
speed, and stay within an acceptable safety margin.

At 2pm our time, or AM 11:00 UTC, we crossed the equator, and each one of
us had a few little offerings for Neptune. At sunset the night before I
spotted dolphins jumping across our bow and we had an amazing time with
them, as we always do. I did not mention it to the crew, but an old saying
is that when dolphins come to play, trouble is on its way. Anyways, closing
in on the equator, Thibault was keen to be dragged across behind the boat,
and was ready and waiting. I looked at our wind angles and boat speed, and
on a broad reach our speed was slow enough to be dragged across. We thus
sailed on a close reach up to the line, and just before the equator, I gave
Thibault the thumbs after turning to a broad reach, running exactly
parallel to the this fictitious line that seperates the northern from the
the southern hemisphere. His Gopro was set, and once he was in and being
dragged, I slowly eased across the line. With a great woohah, jubilation,
and blowing the foghorn, we announced our arrival in the northern
hemisphere. We have all crossed the equator before, so there was no ritual
for a first crossing, just saying thanks and being happy for once again
having made it thus far.

The sea continued to get bigger and bigger, and ominous looking clouds were
moving in from the east. Soon the wind was peaking at just over 30kts,
easing off to 25kts at times. We furled or genoa in deep, set our sails and
braced ourselves for a tough one as the sun was setting. And it certainly
was fairly rough. Thibault got a good splash or two from waves breaking on
the side of the boat and I also got a little splash on my watch after
Thibault. I had my foul weather gear on as I saw what happened to Thibault
and only got a little wet. Quite warm out here, and T in his T-shirt and
shorts got properly wet. We also had a bird landing on deck and he remained
with us for the remainder of the night, seeking some shelter from the
strong weather. At least a dozen flying fish landed on deck, some of whom
we could safe and threw back in the ocean. Some of them you don't see and
hurl the stiff bodies the next morning. Thibault found one in the saloon
and thought he was dead. Took some papertowel to pick he fish up and toss
him overboard. Great was his surprise and shock when the fish wriggled
still very much alive, and he managed to safe that one. Quite a sigt seeing
the flying fishing being disturbed by the yacht and flyng up into the air.
The strong wind had them hovering quite high and now ways they could get
going on a flight. Just up, hovering, and drop straight down again. In the
gloom of our navlights quite an eerie sight, but magic as well.

So yes, quite a rough night for all of us, being pushed off our course for
a while. We are a day or so away from the Amazon river. We will cross the
mouth between 150 - 200 nm offshore.We were being pushed closer to land,
but also know that once the weather settles a bit we can work our way back
ot again. This morning the skies are blue, the waves not so aggressive, the
wind also more at ease. Which means we can sail at a sharper angle and give
out a little more head sail and make great speed towards St.Lucia again.
We're going to fast to fish, and the boat is a bit difficult to stand and
do poi as we are riding up and down the swell coming at us from right
angles. Not much else to say other than all is well with us. A bit rough
still but we are getting the hang of it.

Wishing you all the best till next time.

Paul

Fernando de Noronha to Brazil

This morning I took over watch from Thibault at 6am. Boat time is UTC+2,
and during the night we arrived at the coast of Brazil. A light drizzle
was falling, and the morning light was a lightish orange colour as the
sunlight was was filtered by the soft rain. The soft rain was also
blocking the wind a bit, and I started one of our motors to keep our speed
up, assisting the gennekar. Thibault and myself were chatting a bit when I
saw the wind picking up slightly from 7kts to about 12 kts. Often the wind
would be very light, and as soon as you start a motor the wind picks up
again. Strange but true. I was keeping an eye on what was coming from
behind when the wind starting climbing to 15kts, and just in time I saw
the surface of the water in the background flattening out as a stronger
wind was coming through. In a flash I knew what was happening and asked T
to get ready to drop our big powerful gennekar, and to do it quick. During
the gentle periods I've trained the crew to keep the uphaul and downhaul
separate, for an occasion just like this, where there is just no time to
try and figure out which one pulls the sail up and which one pulls the
sail down. In a flash T was ready, the wind rapidly shifted direction and
backfilled the sail, and as he started pulling the sail down the wind
exploded on us at about 50kts which would have ripped our sail to shreds
if she was still up. Boats have also been dismasted like this. From behind
the helm I was releasing the sheet and it slipped from being a bit wet,
giving me a nasty little rope burn across my fingers. I used my foot as
well to gain control of the sheet again and a nice rope burn on my foot
was the result. Once the sheet was free I moved forward quickly to help
Thibault to bring the sail down. Fortunately the adrenalin was pumping and
I did not feel any pain as we had serious work to do. The rain was pelting
down now but the sail was down and we were safe. A few rainbows appeared,
what a way to start the day ! I attended to my rope burns and fortunately
just blisters. From many years of experience I instinctively made sure my
fingers didn't get between the winch and the rope, and also made sure my
feet didn't get tangled in the rope. That would have been seriously bad,
losing some fingers or/and a foot. While we are waiting for the weather to
settle a bit, I have some headsail out and motoring to charge the
batteries as well. Tricky to say the least. The weather seem to stay a bit
strong, and I won't be lured into flying the gennekar. She has now been
flying for 21 days on the trot, day and night. Instead, we have "Stormy"
our loose headsail which we fly in unison with our genoa for the stronger
stuff. Our goal is to sail fast and safe :), and we have all the toys,
thanks to our awesome team in Cape Town. The advantages to sail for the
best delivery team in the world.

We have been doing great speed the last few days, and three days ago we
hooked a marlin. Although our line is 1500kg breaking strain tied to a
bungee cord, the line snapped like cotton. Unlike a sportfisherboat that
uses rods and reels and can turn around quick and pursue the marlin while
giving it some line, we keep on moving forward. No reel and thus no line
to give out and no way we cn turn around at a whim and chase the fish. I
heard the commotion outside and the marlin was jumping out of the water
trying to shake the lure. An unforgettable sight, and the hook will rust off
within a few days, the acids in the fish's mouth combined with saltwater
will make sure of that. Lucky fish !!!

The night before last, Saturday night we sailed past Fernando de Noronha,
about 30nm south of this beautiful island, playground for the wealthy
Brazilians. Made me think of my crazy friends in Brazil. Guga, legendary
sailor and Garret, restaurateur extraordinaire, who together makes a mean
team sailing a racing trimaran and who also won the last race from Fernando
de Noronha to Recife in Brazil. Sailing on the edge of the edge, and if I
remember correctly they wacked it in under 24 hours. Pure racing machine,
no luxuries, no auto pilot, just a tiller. Out in the open with seaspray in
there faces. Guga at the helm, Garret holding the sheet ready to let it go
just before they broach. Broaching is when your boat gets tumbled forwards
into the waves, and no, you don't ever want to do that. Making their
sponsors proud, Lubrax being their main sponsor. Crazy cats on a trimaran,
but good cats. This race is held annually, and is highly competitive. And
then there is Christiano, or Chris, crazy gourmet chef, who prepares his
meals with great gusto and passion, travelling the world plying his trade.
And another friend, Jappa, real name Henrique, investor of note who plays
the stock market.Father Brazilian, mom Japanese, hence the name Jappa ;) Oi
!!!! to all my very good friends in Brazil. One love to your all.

Yesterday at 2pm we passed Atol dos Rocas. We came within 2nm of this
incredibly beautiful atholl, and made radio contact with the marine
biologists who stays on a very small patch of seasand. Google earth this
place and you will see what I mean by a small patch of seasand. I have
sailed pass here on a few occasions before, and I am always a bit nervous
sailing in close proximity to this ring of jutting rocks and shallow water.
A shipwreck tells the tale of the dangers of bad navigation. I radioed them
twice, and after a few minutes a guy replied. I asked if he speaks English,
and no, no English. A few minutes passed when a female voice came over the
radio, and she could speak English. We had a most delightful little chat,
sharing info and pleasantries. They were a team of four, have been on the
atholl for a month, and will be replaced by another team within the next
few days. We also had our very first visit by dolphins since we left Cape
Town. Atholls are formed when a volcano erupts from the ocean floor and
rises to the surface where it cools down, then sink slightly back into the
sea. Corals cover the surface, and inside the crater you have shallower
water where fish breed in great safety. Very interestin how they are formed
and how they support marine life.

Stuart and myself have taken up learning to speak French, and I pulled out
of the hat a French Rocket Language course that I purchased years ago. What
a pleasure to have Thibault here to guide us as well. He now at times
just speaks French to us, for a whole day. A lot of laughs and good banter.
And Stuart and myself also now greet each other in French and make small,
very small conversations. With poi Thibault is a step or two ahead of me in
mastering this ancient performance art. Last night the guys cracked some
glow sticks and you can imagine the swirling patterns they created. I
unfortunately was asleep. They glow for about 8 hours, and we were planning
to crack them early in the evening. While Stuart was attaching them to the
poi ball, he cracked one by accident, and what the heck, cracked both and
started playing. Happy to report that I have suffered no injuries anywhere
from the flying balls on a chain with swivels. We have enough glow sticks
to last a while. It just gives Thibault and me an idea of what you can do
with poi. From my side I am teaching the boyz how to bake bread, make
flapjacks and a few sailing tricks. And so we all learn from each other :) I
showed Stuart what Pleiades looked like through binoculars, and he was in
awe. A cluster of stars close to Orion, one of my favourite little jewels in
the sky. As we were watching we also saw a satellite orbiting our planet,
and a bright shooting star leaving a long trace of smokey fire in its wake.
So much out here if you just look around a bit. And I am sure that is the
same where you are, much more going on than you know. Of course natural
beauty has to compete with television. But you have a choice. Not everything
on tv robs you blind, but most of it is really just a waste of time. Makes
you a sponge just passively absorbing all the indoctrination, and takes away
your own authenticity. Bad news is king on your screen, and you can't wait
to share it with someone who might not have heard. Mental pollution is what
I call it.

Our next stop, a F1 style pitstop is St.Lucia and then a downwind run to
Panama, giving the A,B,C and other smaller islands, Venezuela and Colombia a
wide berth. Outside we had a hard time getting Stormy up, balancing it with
a bit of genoa, as the wind remains fairly strong. The swell is also picking
up and we are surfing down some of them. And sometimes we surf down sideways
and the boat runs away with us, backfilling one of the two headsails. And
when it fills again it is quite a strong action. To prevent this as much as
possible we have tied a few lengths of mooring lines together with a big
monkey fist knot right at the end which we drag behind the boat. It slows us
down just a little bit, but we are running on a much straighter line. We are
fortunately in the area where the South Equatorial Current and the Guiana
Current comes together giving us excellent speed. The wind is still between
20 and 40 kts, which is why we rigged our twin sail configuration, two wings
out front. The genoa we can furl in and out as conditions dictate. A brown
booby bird is also following our boat and hunting the flying fish that we
disturb when we sail past. Our exact position at PM 01:00 UTC was
02*42'S/036*09'W and we are following the 2000mt contour line where te
current runs strongest.

Wishing you all that is good till we meet again.

Paul

Happiness is ........

Perhaps you are wondering what it is like to be out at sea for days, for
weeks, for months even, without seeing land. The longest stretch I've had
was 56 days. On other occasions I have sailed from Gibraltar to Sicily in
four days, and the next time it took us three weeks, beating relentlessly
against the beasterly easterlies. Sailing within 10 nautical miles of the
North African coast, tack(changing direction +- 90 degrees), sail 50 miles
away from the coast and then tack back again. On an average run one can
expect to make 150nm towards your destination in a day, on that occasion
we were gaining 40nm a day. How does one provision for such occasions ?
How do you make sure you have enough water ? In general we carry 700 ltrs
of water in our watertanks and then another 300ltrs in smaller drums.
Obviously we use water very sparingly. When we cook pasta or rice we use
1/3rd seawater and 2/3rds fresh water. The salt content is then perfect,
and you save a substantial amount of water like that. There's not much
dust and dirt out here so we don't shower every day. No need to. And when
it rains, we have means of catching the water and filling whatever we can
with fresh rainwater, and shower to our heart's content. Very often it
looks as if it will rain for a while, you grab your shampoo and shower
gel, get all soaped up, and the rain stops. This happens ore often than
not. We also use seawater to wash ourselves with and then rinse the
seawater with a bit of freshwater. And when we shower with fresh water we
do what is called a navy shower. Quickly wet yourself and turn the water
off. Then lather yourself before having a quick rinse. No long showers
ever for us out on the ocean. Some boats have desalinators or watermakers,
using seawater to make freshwater. It filters out most minerals as well
and some watermakers actualy replace some of these minerals. I rate any
yacht club or marina firstly by there showers :)

Next on our survival list comes food. ETA stands for estimated time of
arrival, and you try and estimate how long it should take you, and how
long it could take you. How many crew you have on board, and how much each
one normally eats. I am not a big eater, but some of the thinnest dudes
I've had the pleasure of sailing with also had some of the biggest
appetites I have seen. And a stretch that can take anything from four days
to three weeks makes it rather difficult to estimate. So we always go for
the latter. And should we not use all the food, we give it away once we
arrive at our destination. Fresh produce don't last all that long. For
fresh greens we sometimes sprout all types of seeds and beans. At times we
are fortunate to catch fish, but the sea is not full of fish, contrary to
the popular saying. Fish we can also dry out here, no flies etc to spoil
it. We normally process the freshly caught fish and freeze some in Jiffy
bags. To cook our food we use gas, and once again it is tricky to estimate
how much gas to take with. We conserve gas by adding the exact amount of
water in the kettle to make a cup of coffee or tea for example. When you
run out of gas you may have a microwave on board which you can then also
use.

Which brings us to the next question. How much diesel do you carry. Once
again on average we carry 700ltrs in our tanks, and then whatever extra
you want to take in smaller drums. If you run out of diesel you are also
in big trouble. All our instruments run of batteries, and to charge the
batteries we use diesel. If you no longer have battery power, you have no
way of communicating, whether by satelite phone or VHF, which is a very
high frequency radio transmitter and receiver. No GPS either. For this
very reason we always carry our own handheld GPS and extra batteries, and
paper charts. And should the GPS system for whatever reason be turned off,
we also have ways and means of estimation our position using the sun,
moon, planets and stars. "Man, the navigator" is a fascinating book that
explores the way ancient mariners, especially the Polynesians, navigated
their way across vast expanses of ocean.

And then there are also storms and ships and potential underwater hazards
you have to take into consideration. And then crew dynamics. Living in
close quarters for extended periods of time can be taxing on anyone. You
may now wonder why on earth anyone would want to do something like this.
And on top of it some people get seasick as well from the motion of the
ocean. I guess I wonder why some people become dentists, or prostitutes,
or accountants, or lawyers, or prison wardens, or miners, or soldiers and
so I can go on and on. I guess it takes all sorts of people to make the
world go round, figuratively speaking. I really do not judge any of the
above professions. I am a jack of many trades, and master of some. I am
fortunate to have a passion for what I do, for being out here on the ocean
wide. Even at school I use to sit and stare out of the window at the
clouds, especially in the maths class :) Biology fascinated me on the
other side. With maths I did enough to pass, I excelled in the natural
sciences. A song by Supertramp comes to mind, or rather some of the lyrics
in the song. Dreamer........nothing but a dreamer. And then The Logical
Song by the same band.

Staring at the clouds there are some wisps of cirrus clouds forming,
telling me that there are stronger winds coming soon. Late yesterday
afternoon the wind at times would get to up to 20kts, and the sea was a
bit lumpy, swell coming from this side and that side. I was wondering if I
should drop the gennekar, and as usual, when a thought like that comes to
mind, I react immediately. It has been my saving grace on many occasions.
Even though we have some time to make up, throwing all caution to the wind
has never been my strong suite. We dropped the gennekar and sailed with
two headsails out front throughout the night. Lost a bit of pure speed,
but also conserved our gennekar as she does not like being thrown around
by a bouncy sea. This morning the sea was more settled and decided to
raise the gennekar again. And we are flying. My weather guru predicted
stronger winds for Friday, and the signs are visible. Not stormy weather,
just stronger :) In the interim, we are doing exceedingly well out here.
Fair winds and following seas. Just the way we like it. In the next few
days we will reach the Brazilian coast. And running up the coast at the
2000 mt contour line we always get excellent current, which will assist us
tremendously in our quest to go as fast and as safe as possible.

Had a good laugh at Thibault this morning. He warmed up some left-over
pasta for us, and as he turned away for a moment or two I added a few
drops of Tabasco to his pasta, and mine as well. He then added some pasta
spice and went outside to enjoy his little meal. Soon he came in and
looked at the ingredients of the pasta spice with a frown on his face. I
asked him what the matter was and he explained that there was a slight
burning taste in his pasta which was not there yesterday, slightly
perplexed :) The smile on my face must have been a dead give away, and I
informed him that I added a few drops of Tabasco, by accident, to his
pasta. He sighed relieved knowing now where this little burning sensation
came from. Even the bit of Tabasco could not take away the very happy
smile on his face caused by receiving mail from the love of his life on a
little hill just outside Lyon, France. Merci beaucoup Helen ! Stuart is
outside tending to his dreadlocks and I am now ready to sign off and take
over watch. Lovely conditions for helming. If you don't know what that
means, it means I turn off the autopilot and steer the boat myself for a
while. Nice swells running from a slight angle, good steady winds from the
same angle. Perfect conditions to play a bit, surf a bit, and keep our
catamaran purring with delight.

Wishing you a lovely day.

Paul

Happiness is ........

Perhaps you are wondering what it is like to be out at sea for days, for
weeks, for months even, without seeing land. The longest stretch I've had
was 56 days. On other occasions I have sailed from Gibraltar to Sicily in
four days, and the next time it took us three weeks, beating relentlessly
against the beasterly easterlies. Sailing within 10 nautical miles of the
North African coast, tack(changing direction +- 90 degrees), sail 50 miles
away from the coast and then tack back again. On an average run one can
expect to make 150nm towards your destination in a day, on that occasion
we were gaining 40nm a day. How does one provision for such occasions ?
How do you make sure you have enough water ? In general we carry 700 ltrs
of water in our watertanks and then another 300ltrs in smaller drums.
Obviously we use water very sparingly. When we cook pasta or rice we use
1/3rd seawater and 2/3rds fresh water. The salt content is then perfect,
and you save a substantial amount of water like that. There's not much
dust and dirt out here so we don't shower every day. No need to. And when
it rains, we have means of catching the water and filling whatever we can
with fresh rainwater, and shower to our heart's content. Very often it
looks as if it will rain for a while, you grab your shampoo and shower
gel, get all soaped up, and the rain stops. This happens ore often than
not. We also use seawater to wash ourselves with and then rinse the
seawater with a bit of freshwater. And when we shower with fresh water we
do what is called a navy shower. Quickly wet yourself and turn the water
off. Then lather yourself before having a quick rinse. No long showers
ever for us out on the ocean. Some boats have desalinators or watermakers,
using seawater to make freshwater. It filters out most minerals as well
and some watermakers actualy replace some of these minerals. I rate any
yacht club or marina firstly by there showers :)

Next on our survival list comes food. ETA stands for estimated time of
arrival, and you try and estimate how long it should take you, and how
long it could take you. How many crew you have on board, and how much each
one normally eats. I am not a big eater, but some of the thinnest dudes
I've had the pleasure of sailing with also had some of the biggest
appetites I have seen. And a stretch that can take anything from four days
to three weeks makes it rather difficult to estimate. So we always go for
the latter. And should we not use all the food, we give it away once we
arrive at our destination. Fresh produce don't last all that long. For
fresh greens we sometimes sprout all types of seeds and beans. At times we
are fortunate to catch fish, but the sea is not full of fish, contrary to
the popular saying. Fish we can also dry out here, no flies etc to spoil
it. We normally process the freshly caught fish and freeze some in Jiffy
bags. To cook our food we use gas, and once again it is tricky to estimate
how much gas to take with. We conserve gas by adding the exact amount of
water in the kettle to make a cup of coffee or tea for example. When you
run out of gas you may have a microwave on board which you can then also
use.

Which brings us to the next question. How much diesel do you carry. Once
again on average we carry 700ltrs in our tanks, and then whatever extra
you want to take in smaller drums. If you run out of diesel you are also
in big trouble. All our instruments run of batteries, and to charge the
batteries we use diesel. If you no longer have battery power, you have no
way of communicating, whether by satelite phone or VHF, which is a very
high frequency radio transmitter and receiver. No GPS either. For this
very reason we always carry our own handheld GPS and extra batteries, and
paper charts. And should the GPS system for whatever reason be turned off,
we also have ways and means of estimation our position using the sun,
moon, planets and stars. "Man, the navigator" is a fascinating book that
explores the way ancient mariners, especially the Polynesians, navigated
their way across vast expanses of ocean.

And then there are also storms and ships and potential underwater hazards
you have to take into consideration. And then crew dynamics. Living in
close quarters for extended periods of time can be taxing on anyone. You
may now wonder why on earth anyone would want to do something like this.
And on top of it some people get seasick as well from the motion of the
ocean. I guess I wonder why some people become dentists, or prostitutes,
or accountants, or lawyers, or prison wardens, or miners, or soldiers and
so I can go on and on. I guess it takes all sorts of people to make the
world go round, figuratively speaking. I really do not judge any of the
above professions. I am a jack of many trades, and master of some. I am
fortunate to have a passion for what I do, for being out here on the ocean
wide. Even at school I use to sit and stare out of the window at the
clouds, especially in the maths class :) Biology fascinated me on the
other side. With maths I did enough to pass, I excelled in the natural
sciences. A song by Supertramp comes to mind, or rather some of the lyrics
in the song. Dreamer........nothing but a dreamer. And then The Logical
Song by the same band.

Staring at the clouds there are some wisps of cirrus clouds forming,
telling me that there are stronger winds coming soon. Late yesterday
afternoon the wind at times would get to up to 20kts, and the sea was a
bit lumpy, swell coming from this side and that side. I was wondering if I
should drop the gennekar, and as usual, when a thought like that comes to
mind, I react immediately. It has been my saving grace on many occasions.
Even though we have some time to make up, throwing all caution to the wind
has never been my strong suite. We dropped the gennekar and sailed with
two headsails out front throughout the night. Lost a bit of pure speed,
but also conserved our gennekar as she does not like being thrown around
by a bouncy sea. This morning the sea was more settled and decided to
raise the gennekar again. And we are flying. My weather guru predicted
stronger winds for Friday, and the signs are visible. Not stormy weather,
just stronger :) In the interim, we are doing exceedingly well out here.
Fair winds and following seas. Just the way we like it. In the next few
days we will reach the Brazilian coast. And running up the coast at the
2000 mt contour line we always get excellent current, which will assist us
tremendously in our quest to go as fast and as safe as possible.

Had a good laugh at Thibault this morning. He warmed up some left-over
pasta for us, and as he turned away for a moment or two I added a few
drops of Tabasco to his pasta, and mine as well. He then added some pasta
spice and went outside to enjoy his little meal. Soon he came in and
looked at the ingredients of the pasta spice with a frown on his face. I
asked him what the matter was and he explained that there was a slight
burning taste in his pasta which was not there yesterday, slightly
perplexed :) The smile on my face must have been a dead give away, and I
informed him that I added a few drops of Tabasco, by accident, to his
pasta. He sighed relieved knowing now where this little burning sensation
came from. Even the bit of Tabasco could not take away the very happy
smile on his face caused by receiving mail from the love of his life on a
little hill just outside Lyon, France. Merci beaucoup Helen ! Stuart is
outside tending to his dreadlocks and I am now ready to sign off and take
over watch. Lovely conditions for helming. If you don't know what that
means, it means I turn off the autopilot and steer the boat myself for a
while. Nice swells running from a slight angle, good steady winds from the
same angle. Perfect conditions to play a bit, surf a bit, and keep our
catamaran purring with delight.

Wishing you a lovely day.

Paul

Happiness is ........

Perhaps you are wondering what it is like to be out at sea for days, for
weeks, for months even, without seeing land. The longest stretch I've had
was 56 days. On other occasions I have sailed from Gibraltar to Sicily in
four days, and the next time it took us three weeks, beating relentlessly
against the beasterly easterlies. Sailing within 10 nautical miles of the
North African coast, tack(changing direction +- 90 degrees), sail 50 miles
away from the coast and then tack back again. On an average run one can
expect to make 150nm towards your destination in a day, on that occasion
we were gaining 40nm a day. How does one provision for such occasions ?
How do you make sure you have enough water ? In general we carry 700 ltrs
of water in our watertanks and then another 300ltrs in smaller drums.
Obviously we use water very sparingly. When we cook pasta or rice we use
1/3rd seawater and 2/3rds fresh water. The salt content is then perfect,
and you save a substantial amount of water like that. There's not much
dust and dirt out here so we don't shower every day. No need to. And when
it rains, we have means of catching the water and filling whatever we can
with fresh rainwater, and shower to our heart's content. Very often it
looks as if it will rain for a while, you grab your shampoo and shower
gel, get all soaped up, and the rain stops. This happens ore often than
not. We also use seawater to wash ourselves with and then rinse the
seawater with a bit of freshwater. And when we shower with fresh water we
do what is called a navy shower. Quickly wet yourself and turn the water
off. Then lather yourself before having a quick rinse. No long showers
ever for us out on the ocean. Some boats have desalinators or watermakers,
using seawater to make freshwater. It filters out most minerals as well
and some watermakers actualy replace some of these minerals. I rate any
yacht club or marina firstly by there showers :)

Next on our survival list comes food. ETA stands for estimated time of
arrival, and you try and estimate how long it should take you, and how
long it could take you. How many crew you have on board, and how much each
one normally eats. I am not a big eater, but some of the thinnest dudes
I've had the pleasure of sailing with also had some of the biggest
appetites I have seen. And a stretch that can take anything from four days
to three weeks makes it rather difficult to estimate. So we always go for
the latter. And should we not use all the food, we give it away once we
arrive at our destination. Fresh produce don't last all that long. For
fresh greens we sometimes sprout all types of seeds and beans. At times we
are fortunate to catch fish, but the sea is not full of fish, contrary to
the popular saying. Fish we can also dry out here, no flies etc to spoil
it. We normally process the freshly caught fish and freeze some in Jiffy
bags. To cook our food we use gas, and once again it is tricky to estimate
how much gas to take with. We conserve gas by adding the exact amount of
water in the kettle to make a cup of coffee or tea for example. When you
run out of gas you may have a microwave on board which you can then also
use.

Which brings us to the next question. How much diesel do you carry. Once
again on average we carry 700ltrs in our tanks, and then whatever extra
you want to take in smaller drums. If you run out of diesel you are also
in big trouble. All our instruments run of batteries, and to charge the
batteries we use diesel. If you no longer have battery power, you have no
way of communicating, whether by satelite phone or VHF, which is a very
high frequency radio transmitter and receiver. No GPS either. For this
very reason we always carry our own handheld GPS and extra batteries, and
paper charts. And should the GPS system for whatever reason be turned off,
we also have ways and means of estimation our position using the sun,
moon, planets and stars. "Man, the navigator" is a fascinating book that
explores the way ancient mariners, especially the Polynesians, navigated
their way across vast expanses of ocean.

And then there are also storms and ships and potential underwater hazards
you have to take into consideration. And then crew dynamics. Living in
close quarters for extended periods of time can be taxing on anyone. You
may now wonder why on earth anyone would want to do something like this.
And on top of it some people get seasick as well from the motion of the
ocean. I guess I wonder why some people become dentists, or prostitutes,
or accountants, or lawyers, or prison wardens, or miners, or soldiers and
so I can go on and on. I guess it takes all sorts of people to make the
world go round, figuratively speaking. I really do not judge any of the
above professions. I am a jack of many trades, and master of some. I am
fortunate to have a passion for what I do, for being out here on the ocean
wide. Even at school I use to sit and stare out of the window at the
clouds, especially in the maths class :) Biology fascinated me on the
other side. With maths I did enough to pass, I excelled in the natural
sciences. A song by Supertramp comes to mind, or rather some of the lyrics
in the song. Dreamer........nothing but a dreamer. And then The Logical
Song by the same band.

Staring at the clouds there are some wisps of cirrus clouds forming,
telling me that there are stronger winds coming soon. Late yesterday
afternoon the wind at times would get to up to 20kts, and the sea was a
bit lumpy, swell coming from this side and that side. I was wondering if I
should drop the gennekar, and as usual, when a thought like that comes to
mind, I react immediately. It has been my saving grace on many occasions.
Even though we have some time to make up, throwing all caution to the wind
has never been my strong suite. We dropped the gennekar and sailed with
two headsails out front throughout the night. Lost a bit of pure speed,
but also conserved our gennekar as she does not like being thrown around
by a bouncy sea. This morning the sea was more settled and decided to
raise the gennekar again. And we are flying. My weather guru predicted
stronger winds for Friday, and the signs are visible. Not stormy weather,
just stronger :) In the interim, we are doing exceedingly well out here.
Fair winds and following seas. Just the way we like it. In the next few
days we will reach the Brazilian coast. And running up the coast at the
2000 mt contour line we always get excellent current, which will assist us
tremendously in our quest to go as fast and as safe as possible.

Had a good laugh at Thibault this morning. He warmed up some left-over
pasta for us, and as he turned away for a moment or two I added a few
drops of Tabasco to his pasta, and mine as well. He then added some pasta
spice and went outside to enjoy his little meal. Soon he came in and
looked at the ingredients of the pasta spice with a frown on his face. I
asked him what the matter was and he explained that there was a slight
burning taste in his pasta which was not there yesterday, slightly
perplexed :) The smile on my face must have been a dead give away, and I
informed him that I added a few drops of Tabasco, by accident, to his
pasta. He sighed relieved knowing now where this little burning sensation
came from. Even the bit of Tabasco could not take away the very happy
smile on his face caused by receiving mail from the love of his life on a
little hill just outside Lyon, France. Merci beaucoup Helen ! Stuart is
outside tending to his dreadlocks and I am now ready to sign off and take
over watch. Lovely conditions for helming. If you don't know what that
means, it means I turn off the autopilot and steer the boat myself for a
while. Nice swells running from a slight angle, good steady winds from the
same angle. Perfect conditions to play a bit, surf a bit, and keep our
catamaran purring with delight.

Wishing you a lovely day.

Paul

Happiness is ........

Perhaps you are wondering what it is like to be out at sea for days, for
weeks, for months even, without seeing land. The longest stretch I've had
was 56 days. On other occasions I have sailed from Gibraltar to Sicily in
four days, and the next time it took us three weeks, beating relentlessly
against the beasterly easterlies. Sailing within 10 nautical miles of the
North African coast, tack(changing direction +- 90 degrees), sail 50 miles
away from the coast and then tack back again. On an average run one can
expect to make 150nm towards your destination in a day, on that occasion
we were gaining 40nm a day. How does one provision for such occasions ?
How do you make sure you have enough water ? In general we carry 700 ltrs
of water in our watertanks and then another 300ltrs in smaller drums.
Obviously we use water very sparingly. When we cook pasta or rice we use
1/3rd seawater and 2/3rds fresh water. The salt content is then perfect,
and you save a substantial amount of water like that. There's not much
dust and dirt out here so we don't shower every day. No need to. And when
it rains, we have means of catching the water and filling whatever we can
with fresh rainwater, and shower to our heart's content. Very often it
looks as if it will rain for a while, you grab your shampoo and shower
gel, get all soaped up, and the rain stops. This happens ore often than
not. We also use seawater to wash ourselves with and then rinse the
seawater with a bit of freshwater. And when we shower with fresh water we
do what is called a navy shower. Quickly wet yourself and turn the water
off. Then lather yourself before having a quick rinse. No long showers
ever for us out on the ocean. Some boats have desalinators or watermakers,
using seawater to make freshwater. It filters out most minerals as well
and some watermakers actualy replace some of these minerals. I rate any
yacht club or marina firstly by there showers :)

Next on our survival list comes food. ETA stands for estimated time of
arrival, and you try and estimate how long it should take you, and how
long it could take you. How many crew you have on board, and how much each
one normally eats. I am not a big eater, but some of the thinnest dudes
I've had the pleasure of sailing with also had some of the biggest
appetites I have seen. And a stretch that can take anything from four days
to three weeks makes it rather difficult to estimate. So we always go for
the latter. And should we not use all the food, we give it away once we
arrive at our destination. Fresh produce don't last all that long. For
fresh greens we sometimes sprout all types of seeds and beans. At times we
are fortunate to catch fish, but the sea is not full of fish, contrary to
the popular saying. Fish we can also dry out here, no flies etc to spoil
it. We normally process the freshly caught fish and freeze some in Jiffy
bags. To cook our food we use gas, and once again it is tricky to estimate
how much gas to take with. We conserve gas by adding the exact amount of
water in the kettle to make a cup of coffee or tea for example. When you
run out of gas you may have a microwave on board which you can then also
use.

Which brings us to the next question. How much diesel do you carry. Once
again on average we carry 700ltrs in our tanks, and then whatever extra
you want to take in smaller drums. If you run out of diesel you are also
in big trouble. All our instruments run of batteries, and to charge the
batteries we use diesel. If you no longer have battery power, you have no
way of communicating, whether by satelite phone or VHF, which is a very
high frequency radio transmitter and receiver. No GPS either. For this
very reason we always carry our own handheld GPS and extra batteries, and
paper charts. And should the GPS system for whatever reason be turned off,
we also have ways and means of estimation our position using the sun,
moon, planets and stars. "Man, the navigator" is a fascinating book that
explores the way ancient mariners, especially the Polynesians, navigated
their way across vast expanses of ocean.

And then there are also storms and ships and potential underwater hazards
you have to take into consideration. And then crew dynamics. Living in
close quarters for extended periods of time can be taxing on anyone. You
may now wonder why on earth anyone would want to do something like this.
And on top of it some people get seasick as well from the motion of the
ocean. I guess I wonder why some people become dentists, or prostitutes,
or accountants, or lawyers, or prison wardens, or miners, or soldiers and
so I can go on and on. I guess it takes all sorts of people to make the
world go round, figuratively speaking. I really do not judge any of the
above professions. I am a jack of many trades, and master of some. I am
fortunate to have a passion for what I do, for being out here on the ocean
wide. Even at school I use to sit and stare out of the window at the
clouds, especially in the maths class :) Biology fascinated me on the
other side. With maths I did enough to pass, I excelled in the natural
sciences. A song by Supertramp comes to mind, or rather some of the lyrics
in the song. Dreamer........nothing but a dreamer. And then The Logical
Song by the same band.

Staring at the clouds there are some wisps of cirrus clouds forming,
telling me that there are stronger winds coming soon. Late yesterday
afternoon the wind at times would get to up to 20kts, and the sea was a
bit lumpy, swell coming from this side and that side. I was wondering if I
should drop the gennekar, and as usual, when a thought like that comes to
mind, I react immediately. It has been my saving grace on many occasions.
Even though we have some time to make up, throwing all caution to the wind
has never been my strong suite. We dropped the gennekar and sailed with
two headsails out front throughout the night. Lost a bit of pure speed,
but also conserved our gennekar as she does not like being thrown around
by a bouncy sea. This morning the sea was more settled and decided to
raise the gennekar again. And we are flying. My weather guru predicted
stronger winds for Friday, and the signs are visible. Not stormy weather,
just stronger :) In the interim, we are doing exceedingly well out here.
Fair winds and following seas. Just the way we like it. In the next few
days we will reach the Brazilian coast. And running up the coast at the
2000 mt contour line we always get excellent current, which will assist us
tremendously in our quest to go as fast and as safe as possible.

Had a good laugh at Thibault this morning. He warmed up some left-over
pasta for us, and as he turned away for a moment or two I added a few
drops of Tabasco to his pasta, and mine as well. He then added some pasta
spice and went outside to enjoy his little meal. Soon he came in and
looked at the ingredients of the pasta spice with a frown on his face. I
asked him what the matter was and he explained that there was a slight
burning taste in his pasta which was not there yesterday, slightly
perplexed :) The smile on my face must have been a dead give away, and I
informed him that I added a few drops of Tabasco, by accident, to his
pasta. He sighed relieved knowing now where this little burning sensation
came from. Even the bit of Tabasco could not take away the very happy
smile on his face caused by receiving mail from the love of his life on a
little hill just outside Lyon, France. Merci beaucoup Helen ! Stuart is
outside tending to his dreadlocks and I am now ready to sign off and take
over watch. Lovely conditions for helming. If you don't know what that
means, it means I turn off the autopilot and steer the boat myself for a
while. Nice swells running from a slight angle, good steady winds from the
same angle. Perfect conditions to play a bit, surf a bit, and keep our
catamaran purring with delight.

Wishing you a lovely day.

Paul

To be or not to be

Shakespeare coined the term to be or not to be. I would like to complicate
it a bit. To be AND not to be. At first I think it is complicated, and
after giving it some thought, I now think it is much less complicated than
William's original phrase. We have come a long long way in the last 400
years or however many years ago the Bard scribbled these words with quill
and ink. The Dark Ages are long gone, yet the Light is only now starting
to dawn upon us. Let me try an extreme example. You are either dead or
alive. Really ??? Do you really think your body is "dead" once you stop
breathing and your heart stops beating ? Not true at all. Your body now
starts decomposing, bacteria and maggots and all types of weird and
wonderful creatures and processes takes over. Life feeding on life and
soon your body will be part of the soil again. Ashes to ashes, dust to
dust. And so the circle of life continues. And part of your body becomes
part of something else again. When my belated wife passed away in '99 I
was devastated. In a desperate attempt to keep some part of her alive I
asked the doctor if any of her organs can be transplanted. Cause of death
eventually was kidney failure and all her organs were affected the doctor
informed me. Her body was cremated. I left some ashes here and there,
special places we've been together on land. The rest of her ashes I carried
with me for two years. And wherever I sailed all around the world, there
would be quiet moments for me when I felt her presence and would sprinkle
some of her ashes. I never told any of my crew on these trips what I was
doing, it was a purely private affair, something I did because it felt
right. There is no sadness left anymore. I got married again about two
years later, and the love of my life, my daughter Maryna, was born. So yes,
life and death, and the circle of life. I know the score. One and the same
thing. To be AND not to be. That is purely the physical aspect of things.
On the physical level, there is simply a transformation of matter, of
energy. Your breath becomes part of the breeze again, and your body gets
absorbed back into the next cycle of life. We often use the expression that
we throw things away. Like your refuse. You throw it away. I have taught my
daughter that there is no place like that. There is no away. Somewhere,
whatever you have thrown "away", there it still is. If it is organic it
will transform, if it is not it will pollute. Plastic bags takes how many
years to break down ? A thousand or more ? I don't know. Google it. I am
simply trying to say that death is not the end, it is actually the
beginning. Of life. A leaf that falls off a tree does not die, it simply
transforms to feed life again. Old sailors never die, they just rust away
:)

Ok, so you may think I am slightly cooked. Been in the sun too long. Been
without wind in the sails too long. Been sailing the oceans for too long.
You may be right, and you may be wrong. To be and not to be :) Let me check
our logbook quick to see how long we have been without wind. 13 days, with
an average 7kts of light breezes. Makes me think of a song by JJ Cale, who
passed on recently at 74 if I remember correctly. Song's name " They call
me the breeze ". If you like a bit of blues, and like original artists,
youtube this song. Real laid back. We, on the other side, are not so laid
back. We have been running our motors for as many days, flying our gennekar
for as many days. And by days I mean nights as well. Every now and then we
get a spell of 12 or 13 kts, switch off the motor and sail a while. Hoping
that this is the day we start clawing our way back to our required average
to make our deadline in San Francisco. But alas, soon the breeze dies down
again. We are smack bang where the tradewinds should be blowing a
consistent 15 to 20 kts. Which would cause a bit of swell to build, which
would cause us to gain some momentum. Fortunately we have enough diesel to
keep on motoring and stay in contention to catch up again.

We tried the mainsail and genoa when the wind turns from ESE to ENE placing
us on a broad reach hoping to generate some wind and speed but to no avail.
We were hoping we could move our apparent wind angle closer to our beam. We
were doing a knot or so slower. Our sail area on the main and genoa is about
115 m2, the gennekar is about 130 m2, and on a broadreach the wind pushes
you. We did that little exercise on Sunday. Jokingly we rest six days a week
and on the 7th day we work :) In reality we work 24/7, always ready to trim
the sail, or tweek it a bit to use another term, to make the most of slight
changes in wind angle. We even move the boom across and in line with the
wind angle on the gennekar. Between the tack lines I also tie a bungee cord.
It serves two purposes. In light winds, which is what we are dealing with,
the sail now and then backfills, and when it fills again there is a bit of a
jerky movement. The bungee absorbs this shock quite effectively and
preserving our sail. Then it also creates a pumping action as the sail fills
with a bit of wind, and gives us just a little extra speed. Yes, we are
trying everything to go fast, and to go safe, and to preserve our sails and
our boat and stretch every liter of diesel to the max. . Most difficult to do
in such light airs. And it does make a difference when you adjust your sail,
even just a little until you hit the sweet spot. Currents we also take into
consideration, and by changing our angles to optimize. All it takes is all we
got, all the time. We hope it is enough. Should the light breeze come off the
beam, we will also try our mainsail and gennekar together. At the moment the
wind is building very nicely, and we remain positive.

On the boat all is fine. One day flow into the next. Our fishing lure has not
lured any fish yet, too calm really. Progress with poi is slow but steady. We
are less than 1000nm from the Brazilian coast. Our current position is
09*35'S/21*12'W at 1pm UTC. To be crazy and not to be crazy, fine line :)
Over and out till next time.

Venus, the Goddess of Love

I had the early morning 3 to 6 watch, and what an awesome sight to watch
the moon sinking in the west, and Venus rising in the east. Venus, the
goddess of love. The morning star and the evening star. In the mornings
before the sun rises she spreads her message of love, and at night she
once again reminds us of her message of love. It really is that simple. A
bit further up in the sky the Southern Cross was also more and more
visible as the moon dropped further and further in the west. A little bit
of star shine left over before the day begins. Thus Venus spreading her
message of love to all for corners of the world. But I wonder, as I often
do, just what the heck that word love means. And once again I must
conclude that there are as many meanings for the word love as there are
people. That is if every person only has one idea of what the word love
means. Then we already have about 5 billion meanings for the word,
assuming that there are 5 billion people on planet Earth. I wonder what
your one absolute definition of love would be.

We would love a bit of wind. It's now been eight days motoring with
whatever sail configuration we can to use the maximise the little bit we
get. We find ourselves 15* below the equator, where the trade winds
normally blow. And still, wind is eluding us. Will we find the wind or
will the wind find us, both ways will be just fine :) Yesterday the wind
did start showing signs of coming through, and for an hour or two we could
even sail without a motor running. This morning a big dark cloud bank was
obscuring the sunrise, and as it got closer the wind veered from east to
south. Quickly took the gennekar down and furled out the genoa, the wind
now coming on over our port beam, all 7 kts of it. Then it got up to 20
kts as the cloud moved in and blessed us with a good downfall of rain.
Half an hour later, wind from the east again, the sun breaking through the
clouds, the gennekar up and flying, and the wind still 7 kts.I have never
had so little wind for so long, and I have never wanted it more. Besides
falling a little behind on our required average, we are also burning a lot
of fuel. We started with 1200 ltrs, normally we would only use about 600
ltrs to the Caribbean. We have about 700 ltrs of fuel left. Hopefully the
wind will find us soon enough. Should we have to stop for fuel we can
fortunate alert our contacts ahead of time and they will stand ready when
we arrive. F1 pit stop is what we call it. I do however hope that we can
have a clean run to Panama. We have at least covered just over 2000 nm so
far, only 8000 nm to go. We have positioned ourselves as well as we could
best current and trade winds, we are now only waiting for go go go !!!

In the interim, I have taken up poi. For those who don't know, it is an
ancient performance art, started by the Maori in New Zealand. In a nutshell
it is a length of cord with a weight on the end. You then swing these poi
in all types of directions to create all sorts of patterns. You may have
seen a performer dipping his cotton balls in paraffin, setting them alight,
and then playing with fire. Anyway, google it, much more info available,
even on how to do it. I have been watching and wondering about this artform
for a while, and in a short succession have met three people who practise
poi. Last year I ran into Fortaleza to assist a fellow skipper who was stuck
there. He shared his passion for poi with me. On my previous delivery crew
member Alexander practised with socks and tennisballs, and on this trip Stuart
is quite good at it. The real Mc Coy, or Mc Closkey, as is his surname. We
thus have now on board the flying dutchman, the french rocket, and the real mc.
Having the real cotton balls, made from 8mm cotton rope knotted into a monkey
fist with chain and swivels and leather thongs for your fingers. Holding one in
the left hand and one in the right hand, you start by swinging these balls
forward or backward. To get the left and the right hand to do what you want
them to do at the same time is quite tricky. Swinging them forward you are
bound to get hit in the where it hurts most for guys :( First you want to,
sorry for the descriptive words, vomit, then you want to crap, and then you
just want to die. But eventually the pain subsides, and you very gingerly sling
the poi on your fingers again. This time you practise swinging backwards and
you get one in the eye. Ouch, and you down on your knees again, and once again
the pain subsides after a while. So you quickly learn to respect these poi and
focus on what you are doing. Not get carried away and loose control. Every
little step forward takes a little guts, but once you've cracked it, it leaves
you with a big smile :))) It also takes a bit of time, a bit of want to. It is
quite relaxing. You get into a zone, totally focused on what you are doing. And
you can do it just about anywhere. Strange that one of the top three main poi
events is held annually in San Francisco, our end destination. More than enough
space on a catamaran to practise :)

We have a fishing lure out, the boyz are surfing behind the boat on our cutting
board. Tie a mooring line through holes on the board, the other ends to the
back of the boat. Safety harness tied to a length of rope attached to the
davit, a structure at the back of the boat on which smaller inflatable boats
are secured. The davit can be lowered and raised to lift your rubber duck out
of the water. You press a small button and a cable and pulley system with an
electric motor does the work for you. Back to the surfers, it is physically
more taxing than one thinks and soon you are back on board. A lot of fun in the
sun nevertheless. Our position is 13*41'S/010*00'W at 12:00 UTC. C.O.G. 295*T,
wind in the sail 7kts and S.O.G. just over 6kts motoring at 1800rpm. A bit of
current assisting us as well.

Take good care, and hope you catch a glimpse of the moon, and of Venus. And for
all the people that do Valentine's, happy Valentine's.

Infinity is my name

The last few days were quite eventful. We serviced the motors, crossed
into the Western Hemisphere, and currently 30nm south of St.Helena Island.
Made radio contact with them a bit earlier on and wished all the Saints a
prosperous and healthy 2014. It is the first time in over 20 Atlantic
crossings that I won't be stopping here. Our schedule just does not allow
it. But that is how it is, neither happy nor sad. Next time I visit I will
enjoy it that much more :) To my friends on St.Helena who is also on my
fb, great to see your rock in the middle of the ocean again.

This morning I decided to bake bread, and at 10am woke Stuart to come and
break bread with us. Also on the table we had Butro, Kerrigold butter from
New Zealand, Peanut Butter, Bovril, Illovo Maple syrup, mozzarella cheese,
Gouda cheese, apricot jam and ripe fig jam. Spoiled for choice the bread
did not last long, a few crumbs and a piece of crust remaining. Thibault
made coffee for us, and he had to stand and wait for the kettle to boil
while Stuart and myself were slicing thick slices of freshly baked bread,
sprinkled with sesame seeds. The kettle took a tad too long for Thibault's
liking and he soon was also indulging in the feast. Coffee could wait a
few minutes.

The wind is still very shy, but good enough to keep our dreamcatcher up
and flying. Been motoring for days now, and looking greatly forward to
sailing under sail only. It will come, it always does. In the meantime, we
have to keep up a reasonable average, hence motoring day and night.
Talking about the night, we have been watching Jupiter moving closer and
closer to the moon for the last few nights. Last night they were at their
closest and what a privilege to be out here and be witness to these cosmic
events. And with the waxing moon getting bigger and brighter every night,
it is rather dreamlike to watch the ghostly clouds drifting by. Sometimes
obscuring the moon but soon she slips out again and lays down her silvery
shiny track on the water ahead of us as she sinks to the west.

As a kid I can clearly remember laying on my back and watching the clouds
changing shapes and telling stories of a world as wide as your
imagination. A time of innocence, a time of confidence. Through all types
of indoctrination whether by school, church, politics and the society I
grew up in, I was led to believe that the things I knew as a child were
not important. It was more important to fit into a social system, to
believe that I was born wicked and a sinner and in need of salvation, to
take up arms against another political system. Now I realize all these
things were mostly just noise, an attempt to sidetrack me from my real
purpose in life. But they were all important, even vital, in forming who
and what I am. I thank each and every one of these institutions that shaped
me in a way. Personality, ego mind, intellect, emotions, they were all
shaped by my life experiences. I think the purpose of life for every person
is different. In fact, I know so. Our purpose in life change as we evolve,
so there is no absolute this or that is the purpose of life. Wouldn't it be
nice if we were all born with a deck of cards specifying our exact purpose
in life ........ I think not. I think that is what certain forces wants to
force upon us. Make us fit into the machine that runs the world as we know
it. A holy and sacred curiosity keeps us aware and alive and evolving.
Everywhere I go I see more and more people on their journey. There is so
much to say about travel. Ernest Hemingway said the purpose of travel is
not to reach a destination. The purpose of travel is to keep on moving. I
like. Sailing affords you that like nothing else can. We are not for a
moment in the same place, we keep on moving. For weeks on end. Then we find
an anchorage or marina where we linger for a day or two and there we go
again. Not everybody is in a position to travel or to sail, outwards that
is. But everybody is in a position to travel inwards. To lands unheard of,
to waters uncharted. To go deep into yourself and realize you are infinite.
You have been there before there was time and you will be there when time
is no more. The more and more you make inroads into your inner landscapes,
the more and more your wings will grow and the further and further you will
be able to travel. Destiny Infinity. All it takes is a dream :)

St.Helena is starting to fade into the distance behind us, ahead of us
2000nm of open ocean to the Brazilian coast. Hoping that the breeze will
freshen up a bit, the trade winds settle in and the currents conspire in
our favour.

Happy travels to you

P.S. After many days of asking her for her name at last our boat
whispered her name in my ear :-) Infinity

Trying to catch the wind

There's been precious little wind out here for the last few days. Every
little breath of air we try and catch with our gennekar, or dreamcatcher
coming to think of it. We have become experts at raising and snuffing our
dreamcatcher single-handedly, day or night. 95% of the operation you do
from the safety of your helming station. Piece of pie on a catamaran. 5%
is to flake the gennaker on the foredeck ready to fly again at a whim. In
stronger conditions we will have all hands on deck and safety harnesses
clasped to lifelines. We've got 8500nm to go, and 51 days will leave us
with 5 days for a Panama transit. Our ETA in San Francisco is 5 April,
which will give us enough time to replace all the sheets, lines and
halyards, and prepare for the Oakland Boat Show which runs from 10 - 13
April. Required average is 6.9kts and still well within our reach.
Alternating between port and starboard we keep the motors running to
maintain a reasonable average. I am not sure if we will be able to
maintain 6.9kts sailing up the West Coast of America, and therefore have
to try our very best to make up some time beforehand. Miles in the bank so
to speak. We shall wait patiently for the wind as the moon and the sun
also patiently waits for their time to shine.

Back to our dreamcatcher, I guess it is flying a kite. Have you ever had
the pleasure ? If not I highly recommend you find out how to build a kite,
find the materials, build your kite, find an open piece of field, and go
fly awhile :) Or you take the short cut and go buy one, assemble it, and
off you go. Be a kid again:))) You will the perhaps experience "yugen" /
yoo gen/n. (japanese) an awareness of the universe that triggers an
emotional response too deep and mysterious for words. Without a little bit
of wind though, your kite won't fly :(((

We've had a mixed bag of weather during the last few days. First it was
grey and overcast for a day or two. Then it cleared quickly and some small
with clouds drifted in. We normally associate these with the trade winds,
but no tradewinds yet. Yesterday we had open skies with high thin streaks
of clouds. Alto cirrus if I am not mistaken. Last night the waxing moon
was outshining most of the stars and in the early hours some clouds moved
in. Just before sunrise we had a decent spell of rain, and the boat looks
bright, fresh and clean in the sharp morning sunlight. A little rainbow
also smiled at us. The clouds all around us now are more substantial.
Towering here and there with a grey underbelly. The current is also cross
counter to us at times, then swings right around to the other side and
slowly turns in our favour again. We were heading just north of St.Helena,
but our weather office informed us that there is just no wind up there.
Should we pass south of the island, we have got a better change to get
some wind now and then. Altering course 10* to port we get a better angle
on our sail and heading straight for the top of Brazil. The South Sub-
Tropical current runs between St.Helena and Ascension, but by crossing
just below St.Helena we should catch the current soon enough. And then
slip into the Guiana Current up the Brazilian coast. This is normally our
fastest stretch to the Caribbean.

Our French photographer has also been rather busy with his GoPro. "In the
box" is his way of saying he captured something on film. Taking the
gennekar up and down, fish following us, he caught a flight of flying fish
on film, a short clip of Stuart servicing an engine. He finds things to
film and then sits on his Apple Mac and figuring how to edit his videos.
The instructions are in English, so it takes a little longer. If the
instructions were in French I would not have a clue. But we hope to post
some good material once we get to Panama and wait for our transit.

From behind there is a fair sized cloud moving in with a bit of grey and
some wind. I have to get back to work :) ... Ok !!!Our dreamcatcher is
flying again. 6 - 7 kts apparent wind, holding nicely, motoring and
getting up to 6.5 kts. Once the swell forms and we start sliding down the
slopes, we will gain momentum and our dream of getting the boat there on
time once again shines bright like a diamond :)

In a nutshell, all is well out here with us. Have yourself a really good
week. Your choice. And go fly a kite ........ :)))

Flying the iron sail

The iron sail is a word we sometimes use for motoring. Here is so little
wind out here that we have to motor with no assistance from any sail. When
the wind does come trough occasionally, we are right and ready to hoist the
gennekar. It is now a one man operation, we have become fairly good at
raising anddropping the sail anytime day or night. Current is in our favour
and we arekeeping up a fair speed. Yesterday was the first time in seven days
thatthe skies cleared and we had a full portion of sun. It was Thibault's
turnto prepare supper, and also his turn to play music if he wanted. He had
his ipod on shuffle and quite a nice variety of music filtered through the
speakers. I could imagine myself being out on the ocean on a luxury
catamaran in good company :) Stuart had his first sea shower as well. The
water is still very cold, but he braved the chill and poured a bucket of
water over him. Thibault was filming on his gopro as we expected a few shakes
and shivers and gasping for air, but there was none.

Today the sun is out again in full force, and I am happy to see a lot of
shattered clouds in the sky as we should get some wind soon, that word we
use when we are not exactly sure when. And so the days roll on. Eight days
since we left Cape Town, and a few days from St.Helena. All three of us
has been on St.Helena before, and a little sad that we won't be stopping
there this time. I have very good friends on the island from always
stopping there over the years. There really is just no time to stop. But
the winds and currents do take us past there, so we will just wave at our
friends as we sail by. Make some radio contact and send our regards.

On another wavelength, to tie up with one of my previous blogs, a few
thoughts on freedom. I think freedom from the demands of ego, freedom from
the doctrines of religion, even freedom from what we perceive as real, that
in a way is real freedom. Every person has his or her own religion, formed
and based on that particular person's experience of life. Inbetween all the
hussle and bussle of everyday life there are also freedom to be found.
Living in the very moment is the highest form of freedom I can think of. The
past is gone, and the future is just a guess, but most of us dwell in the
future or the past, and miss out on living in the moment. There are so many
precious moments to be had if you just look around a bit. Without judging,
just observe the people you pass in the shopping mall. Not staring at anyone,
just catching little glimpses of activity. Then you can live in the moment,
experience the moment fully, make a moment you hope to never forget, just
for a moment.

Most of us use less than 10% of our brain power. Our brains are not limited
to internet connections or storage space. Our brain capacity I believe is
infinite. So all those little moments, even before conception, is stored
somewhere. Every little sound, smell, feeling, sight or taste you have ever
experienced is stored. There are some who believe that we have thirteen
senses, and I can believe that. We sometimes allude to a sixth sense, some
mysterious ability to do things we normally can't do or experience. If we
use less than 10% of our brain capacity, I can imagine how many more senses
we can develop, or inherently have, if we just double the use of our brain
power. As children most of us were aware of things around us that cannot be
measured and weighed. As we grew older and more "educated", the more we were
told these things that we know do not exist. And then comes a time, further
down the line, when these little things you were always aware of becomes
once again important to you. You have listened to all the different versions
of what the truth is. Yet you know, as I do, that the truth we are being
sold falls rather short of the whole truth. Truth is not an intellectual
pursuit, although we certainly use our intellect as far as we possibly can
to find the truth. Why do we need to know what the truth is ..........?
Because once you know the truth, you will be free. You will know that death
is just a phase we go through, so we shake off the fear of death once we
realize that we are really infinite. We were born free, and since then we
have become ensnared in philosophy, religion, politics and many other man
made institutions and laws. I guess to go forward we first have to go back
to that place in time when we were children, when life was wonderful, a
miracle. Find that voice inside again that gently guides us.

Hope you find a moment in your busy day that you would want to remember
forever.

Our position at 10h00 UTC is 21*05'S/002*41'E.

Take care

Paul

Flying the iron sail

The iron sail is a word we sometimes use for motoring. Here is so little
wind out here that we have to motor with no assistance from any sail. When
the wind does come trough occasionally, we are right and ready to hoist the
gennekar. It is now a one man operation, we have become fairly good at
raising anddropping the sail anytime day or night. Current is in our favour
and we arekeeping up a fair speed. Yesterday was the first time in seven days
thatthe skies cleared and we had a full portion of sun. It was Thibault's
turnto prepare supper, and also his turn to play music if he wanted. He had
his ipod on shuffle and quite a nice variety of music filtered through the
speakers. I could imagine myself being out on the ocean on a luxury
catamaran in good company :) Stuart had his first sea shower as well. The
water is still very cold, but he braved the chill and poured a bucket of
water over him. Thibault was filming on his gopro as we expected a few shakes
and shivers and gasping for air, but there was none.

Today the sun is out again in full force, and I am happy to see a lot of
shattered clouds in the sky as we should get some wind soon, that word we
use when we are not exactly sure when. And so the days roll on. Eight days
since we left Cape Town, and a few days from St.Helena. All three of us
has been on St.Helena before, and a little sad that we won't be stopping
there this time. I have very good friends on the island from always
stopping there over the years. There really is just no time to stop. But
the winds and currents do take us past there, so we will just wave at our
friends as we sail by. Make some radio contact and send our regards.

On another wavelength, to tie up with one of my previous blogs, a few
thoughts on freedom. I think freedom from the demands of ego, freedom from
the doctrines of religion, even freedom from what we perceive as real, that
in a way is real freedom. Every person has his or her own religion, formed
and based on that particular person's experience of life. Inbetween all the
hussle and bussle of everyday life there are also freedom to be found.
Living in the very moment is the highest form of freedom I can think of. The
past is gone, and the future is just a guess, but most of us dwell in the
future or the past, and miss out on living in the moment. There are so many
precious moments to be had if you just look around a bit. Without judging,
just observe the people you pass in the shopping mall. Not staring at anyone,
just catching little glimpses of activity. Then you can live in the moment,
experience the moment fully, make a moment you hope to never forget, just
for a moment.

Most of us use less than 10% of our brain power. Our brains are not limited
to internet connections or storage space. Our brain capacity I believe is
infinite. So all those little moments, even before conception, is stored
somewhere. Every little sound, smell, feeling, sight or taste you have ever
experienced is stored. There are some who believe that we have thirteen
senses, and I can believe that. We sometimes allude to a sixth sense, some
mysterious ability to do things we normally can't do or experience. If we
use less than 10% of our brain capacity, I can imagine how many more senses
we can develop, or inherently have, if we just double the use of our brain
power. As children most of us were aware of things around us that cannot be
measured and weighed. As we grew older and more "educated", the more we were
told these things that we know do not exist. And then comes a time, further
down the line, when these little things you were always aware of becomes
once again important to you. You have listened to all the different versions
of what the truth is. Yet you know, as I do, that the truth we are being
sold falls rather short of the whole truth. Truth is not an intellectual
pursuit, although we certainly use our intellect as far as we possibly can
to find the truth. Why do we need to know what the truth is ..........?
Because once you know the truth, you will be free. You will know that death
is just a phase we go through, so we shake off the fear of death once we
realize that we are really infinite. We were born free, and since then we
have become ensnared in philosophy, religion, politics and many other man
made institutions and laws. I guess to go forward we first have to go back
to that place in time when we were children, when life was wonderful, a
miracle. Find that voice inside again that gently guides us.

Hope you find a moment in your busy day that you would want to remember
forever.

Our position at 10h00 UTC is 21*05'S/002*41'E.

Take care

Paul

Going fast slowly

We are somewhat becalmed and the weatherguru predicts the same for the next
few days. Sail fast live slow is how we would like it, but not just yet. In
order to maintain a decent speed in order to meet our ETA, we are motoring
and flying the gennekar at the same time. The wind is so light that the
gennekar backfills at times. To match the engine speed and keep the sail up
is the best we can do. To just motor drops our speed considerably. We have
got a bit of current as well, any little bit of assistance helps. Wind
predicted is 8 to 13kts. Travelling forward at 6kts brings this down to
almost nothing to 7kts in the sail, what we call the apparent wind. It will
change, and in the meantime we have keep on doing the best we can.

Yesterday we saw a big seaturtle, a sure sign of being in the current.
Earlier today a school of bonito followed us for a while. Overcast
conditions with high clouds. Bigger patches clearing up here and there as
the day progresses and the temperature rises. Once this happens early in
the day the wind will come through.

On watch last night I was wondering where the wind comes from, or what
causes the wind to blow. Cariolis effect as the earth spins causes wind,
The trade winds as they are called, the polar regions causes wind, jet
streams affect the wind hugely, hot and cold temperature causes wind, high
and low pressure systems causes wind. Indirectly I think tides and currents
also causes wind. Tides one can calculate exactly, currents are also fairly
constant.

In another way wind is symbolic of spirit, of freedom, of change. Now I
wonder if I look at the natural causes of wind and wonder how that relates
to the symbolic nature of wind. What causes our spirit to move and what
exactly is spirit. What is freedom and freedom from what, and how does one
deal with constant change. This is part of what one does when you are out
here, ponder these sometimes imponderable questions.

You may think to sail away is an escape from reality. I know out here is
the purest form of reality. So it is rather an escape from a perceived
reality created by the media, and evolving ever further into an infinite
reality. Where one feels that infinite part of you resonating with
Infinity. And that ones again opens other doors of perception. There is
always an answer to a question, but it may not be the right or wrong
answer. What is right for one is sometimes wrong for another. What is
universal is beauty. If the answer is beautiful, it is true.

This is another advantage of catamarans. One can sit and share one's
thoughts in utter comfort on a downwind run as we are :) And a 360* sea
view !!!. Our position currently 14h00 UTC is 23*27'S/006*14'E. We have
covered about a 1000nm in the last 6 days. Our C.O.G. is 306*T and we are
averaging 6kts at present. Temperature is a very pleasant 25*C.

Take care

Paul

Gennaker up and flying !!!!

What an awesome sight. After waiting patiently for the wind to drop a
bit and the swell to settle it was time to rig the gennaker. It has been
a few years since I've had the privilige and the stress and the
responsibility to fly this huge sail. Made for downwind sailing in
lighter conditions, it certainly gives a good turn of speed. On a
catamaran it is rather easy to set up such a sail. As the boat is fairly
wide, there is no need for a spinnaker pole. One of the many advantages
of sailing a catamaran. With a gennaker one can also sail in those very
difficult wind angles when the wind is not from the side or from behind.
It also gives you a wider option to choose in which direction you can
sail.

I first had to scratch my head a bit when we were setting this sail up.
Which lines go where etc. Took it up the first time to measure the
length of the sail. In a nutshell the sail is covered by what we call a
sock. Once the sail is up, you haul the sock up with the uphaul. The
downhaul is used to pull the sock back over the sail when you want to
bring it down. Running both motors we hoisted the sail and allowed the
sail to open up slowly and under control. We do this by tying the
downhaul around a cleat, and slowly letting the sail open. It is quite a
powerful sail, and some people try to hold the downhaul by hand. This
normally results in the sail powering open, rope burns on your hand, and
the sock also having little burn marks from the friction. The sock in a
way protects the gennaker, but the stitching on the sail can also be
damaged if you burn the sock. This all sound technical I guess, so I
will explain quickly that the uphaul and downhaul are ropes that are
attached to the sail to lift the sock up or pull the sock down.

On the tack of the sail, the corner is attached to the boat by two even
lenghts of rope. On the clew we attach a long rope which comes back to
the helming station and around a winch. This we all a sheet and it runs
through a snatchblock which we attach to a cleat or a deckring. I have
to explain that we don't ever call ropes ropes on a boat. Every rope has
a specific name, for a very good reason. They all serve a specific
function, and if I give an instruction, the crew knows exactly what or
which rope I am talking about. To pull the sail up we use a halyard, of
which there are normally two. One for the mainsail, and one for the
gennaker. Halyards are thus used to pull a sail up. Ok, enough sailing
lessons for today. Bwahahahahahaha!!! If you want to learn how to sail
there are many good books and very good sailing schools in South Africa.
And there are also online courses. Nothing beats the real thing though.
Experience experience experience. Not position position position as with
real estate :) The colour of our gennaker is a deep azure blue,
absolutely beautiful. As you can imagine, Thibault, our French
crewmember, was out in a flash with his GoPro camera. We hope to share
some of our footage when we will have some time in Panama.

We will probably drop our sail before it gets dark as the weather is not
completely settled, we just couldn't wait to fly it.

And that is it for today. Oh wait. No. Another time. Next time.

Our current position is 26*24'S/10*33'E. Apparent wind is more or less
13kts south easterly. Take care and wishing you a great week ahead.

Paul

Getting up to speed

What a pleasure it is being out here on the big blue. Our tight schedule
demands that we keep going as fast as conditions and safety will allow.
Yesterday we still had the wind on our beam from the SW. Main sail 1st
reef and full genoa kept our pace above 7 kts, and at about 4pm I
decided to take in a reef on the mainsail. The wind was building and
backing ever so slowly towards the south, making it increasingly
difficult to create speed with our sails. At about midnight we decided
to drop the main as we were now sitting on a 130* angle to the wind from
behind. We could turn a bit more west, but our grib weather files
clearly showed a mid-Atlantic high, sitting smack bang on a direct route
to the top of Brazil. With a full genoa and motoring we maintained 7
kts. Apparent wind speed stayed between 15 and 20 kts, and heading a bit
more north the current also favoured us. Our aim is to sail around the
mid- Atlantic high, which is an area of very light winds which moves up
and down as the seasons dictate.

We are aiming for a point between St.Helena and Ascension Island and the
wind settled this morning in a south easterly direction. The initial
shift started with a light 9 to 14 kts which tempted us to set up our
genikar, a light wind super sail. I did not feel comfortable yet and
will never just throw caution to the wind. Our weather data also clearly
showed 20 red coming through and I decided to rather rig our loose
headsail in conjunction with our genoa. We had to keep on motoring, but
an hour later the predicted stronger winds came through. The genikar is
good for up to 17 kts, and it also prefers fair winds and following
seas. The swell follows the wind but it does take some time to settle. I
was glad we did not set up the genikar, as we would have been in a bit
of trouble with the wind gusting at 25 kts at times. It is still early
in the trip and to blow the genikar so early would certainly not make
for a happy ending. We are now doing a pleasant 8 kts and should be able
to keep up our speed with our current sail setting till tomorrow
morning. The wind is then predicted to drop to 15 kts which will be
perfect for the genikar as the swell would by then also have lined up
with the south easterly winds.

Last night I cooked our first proper meal on board, pasta shells
and mince, with a bit of this and a bit of that to add some flavour.
Very nice for the next day as well. My watch started from midnight to
3am, and once again I was mesmerized by the glittering night skies out
here. All the flickering little stars sending their message of love and
life into infinity. The grande constellations slowly moving through the
air. Being new moon or dark moon amplified the spectacular beauty
above and around us. Stardust........all of us. Planet Earth is not
turning around and around as we have been taught, but moving in a spiral
in harmony with all the other planets and stars. Slowly moving back
towards the centre of the Milky Way. The 21/12/2012 Mayan day marked the
point where we have moved the furtherest from the centre, and we are now
on our way back. In the same fashion we as a human race are also moving
back to what and who we really are.

It was fun on my watch to see a faint light in the distance, power up
the radar, and spot a ship moving straight at us from 12nm away. I
altered course 10* to starboard and watched as the ship slowly moved by
on our port side and turned 10* to port again. This morning there were
streaks of brown in the water, and on closer observation saw krill and
jellyfish floating on the current. The skies are blue at the moment, and
we are leaving long white lines in our wake, surfing down the swells at
speed. Our GoPro camera is also capturing these special moments, but it
will be quite a while before we can post them on the blog. We are
looking at going non-stop for Panama, and should we make a quick stop on
the way, it will be just that, a very quick stop.

Our current position is 29*03'S/17*34'E at 13h00 SA time. We are about
200nm west from the Orange River mouth which forms the border between
South Africa and Namibia. We are about 3 days out of Cape Town and have
covered over 500nm which gives us an average of +- 7 kts. There were some
quiet spells but we are now up to speed. Catamarans are like that. They
can sail fast. One of their many advantages. One stays with the good
weather longer and easier to outrun bad weather. Much more about this in
future postings.

I hope your week ahead will be filled with wonderful moments.

Paul