Starry starry night

I have been peeping into the night skies a bit.Not a cloud in sight,the
moon still far from rising and above and around this time of the year
some of the following constellations are visible from where
we are.Cygnus(the Swan),Delphinus(the Dolphins),Sagitta(the
Arrow),Capricornus(the Sea Goat),Aquila(the Eagle),Scutum(the
Shield),Vulpecula(the Fox),Lyra9the Lyre),Ophiuchus(the Serpent
Bearer),Hercules,Corona Borealis(the Northern Crown) and Serpens(the
Serpent) to name a few.I took a few sights with the sextant and the GPS
is pretty accurate.From the SE we are having about 13 kts apparent wind
and our speed over ground between 7.5 and 8.5 kts.Not a reason in the
world to complain as we are making excellent progress towards South
America.

And good so as well as we have a fairly tight schedule to keep due to
the World Cup Soccer and airtickets that have been booked well in
advance to secure a seat home.We are flying out of Tortola on 28
June,have just over 3000 nm to go and have to average 7 kts to make it,a
tall order but we are confident that we will make it in good time.The
run up the South American coast is always fast and inside the Lesser
Antilles fast as well.We have a lot of diesel left just in case we need
to up the pace a bit.

Yesterday Gareth tried his hand at baking bread and turns out he is a
natural.We finished the bread in one sitting.Today he conjured up some
flapjacks and for supper he presented a delicious Cottage Pie
again.Malcolm baked some rusks and after yesterdays fitness trial we aee
still recovering a bit and building our reserves for the next round.We
all did well enough and used a method of seeing for example how many
push-ups you can do in a minute.We recorded the numbers and have to
improve on our first scores.We are all in close range to each other and
I must confess that it did take some effort to stay in contention.Gareth
gave it his all and Malcolm kept up a steady pace,I nearly worked up a
sweat.Tomorrow I will post you the first two round's totals and you can
see how fit you are compared to us.

Our position at midnight UTC was 09*55'S/22*36'W.Water and air
temperature at the same time was 28*C and the barometer at 1017.COG is
291*T.

Have a fabulous day.

Paul

Monohull or multihull

Armchair sailor has posed some interesting questions comparing monos to
cats.I love both for different reasons and I prefer to be a staunch
supporter of sailing vessels compared to powered vessels but even they
have their place in the market.Regarding your plotting it is always wise
to check and double check,especially if something does not look or feel
right.On an unrelated subject Gareth uttered a saying today,measure
twice and cut once.We are following the predominant currents and winds
which have us more or less aiming for the tip of South America,anything
that shows different to that is suspect.Perhaps you were plotting at a
45* angle as on a mono which may explain the slight error.back to monos
and cats.

On a downwind run a cat is as steady as you can imagine whereas a mono
will roll from side to side.I won't easily take a cat into the roaring
40's or beyond though but if I have to I'll drag a sea anchor or
two.It will prevent any chance of pitchpoling but you may get pooped
every now and then,pooped is when a wave brakes into the back of the
boat.For a cat to capsize you will really need a combination of
excessive strong wind and big waves,too much canvas out and taking a
wave on sideways.This cat weighs over 14 tons,over 15 mtrs long and more
than 7 mtrs wide,and even in smaller cats it is nearly impossible to
capsize.In extreme conditions you will always want to place your bow
into the oncoming wave,using both motors if the seas are confused and
coming from different angles.I have read of a cat that capsized years
ago and were adrift for 114 days on the Indian Ocean,and the crew
survived.More recently a cat was capsized off the South African
coast.The skipper was,and respect to him,young and inexperienced,and had
full main and genoa out in adverse conditions.The cat capsized and
apparently the helming chair was slotted into a tube and slipped out
when the boat capsized,taking the young man down as he was attached to
the seat via his safety harness.He was never found but the father and
son were rescued.Cats don't sink,even when upside down.

An ideal windstrenght would depend on the size of your rigging.There are
limits but normally I would prefer a rather bigger rig than to small.You
can have more sail out in lighter winds and when the wind is strong you
can always shake a reef or two to get optimum balance and
performance.The boat will soon tell you if you have to much sail out.Our
motto is if you think you should reef,then reef,don't wait and see if
the wind will drop.Always respect the elements and your gut feel.Fastest
point of sail I find slightly ehead of the beam the best,between 75 and
80 degrees.You can still get good speed up to 40 degrees into the
wind.Pointing higher we will probably use a motor to slightly alter the
point of sail and maintain a fair speed.There is very little heel on a
cat.The saying of when in doubt let it out applies here as well.The more
you open the sail the less stress you place on the rigging and you would
reef both main and genoa to suit the conditions.Surfing on a following
sea and swell is an absolute delight and having more weight on the stern
will assist in big seas.Up to three meter swells I prefer a bit more
weight forward as it gives you longer runs and you hook into the swells
quicker.Similar to bodyboarding you would get more speed and purchase
when you press more forward.Regarding wind strengts and sail cofiguration
it depends on a few factors,mainly point of sail and seastate.As a rule
you will rather just have some genoa out when the wind goes higher than 30
kts,but as I have said before,your boat will soon tell you if she is not
happy.Personally I don't like sailing on the edge but a good balance
normally gives you great results.When things really get rough you can
always hove to for a while,and a cat can do that just as well as a mono if
not better.Regarding diesel consumption and mileage we easily maintain 6
kts at 1800 rpm and burn less than two ltrs per hour on our 56 HP
Yanmars.As a final thought on this matterof cats and monos,if your motor
dies on a mono that's it,on a cat you have two motors.So if you pick up
problems in the doldrums on your mono,ouch,you may have to sit there for
weeks,on a cat,not likely.Combine that with the comfort a cat affords,and
you may change your mind.The Moorings and Sunsail charter fleets are
outphasing all their monos with cats as well.But I am sure they will keep
a few monos for people who like to life at a 45* angle.As I said,I love
both,but I specialize in cats and I spend close to 10 months a year on the
ocean.I choose to do it on cats.

Our position at 03:00 UTC is 10*49'S/20*22'W.Wishing you a pleasant day
and will elaborate on our fitness challenge at a later stage.

Running free

My watch today was from 6 to 10 this morning.I watched the sun coloring the morning sky with shades of pink and peach and
purple and some colours there are no words for.With the sun the breeze also started building and by 7 I decided to raise the
secondary genoa and cut the motor.At first we were just just holding onto 6 kts but as the morning progressed the wind
strenghtened and by 9 we were running deep into the 7 kts.Luscious to hear the props spinning under the keel,I prefer to
call it purring and there are few noises more beautiful to me than when this Leopard Cat gets purring,running free.Following
seas and fair winds is all it takes.

We also have to keep an eye on diesel consumption and to maintain a fine balance between keeping up a decent average and
conserve diesel requires one to be on top of conditions and optimize where and when one can.In the blazing sun I decided to
decant diesel from our 250 ltr containers into the tanks.I have a small diameter syphon pipe which works with a valve that
opens when you push down and closes when you pull up.You keep this up and down action going until gravity takes over.Our
normal diesel hose is thicker and the small syphon pipe fits into the thicker hose to get the lenght required to reach the
fuel tanks.One gets different syphon pipes and this one fits a bit loose in the hose allowing air to come in and inhibit the
flow of the diesel.Where the two pies join I first tried duct tape to seal it properly but the diesel neutralised the glue
in minutes.I then wrapped a plastic bag around the tape and tied it with elastics.Soon that was also dripping diesel and the
flow stopped.I then used masking tape but that also just lasted a short while.I had a cloth on the deck to catch the drips
of diesel and realized that none of these methods are working and proceeded to remove the lot and start again.I was still
wondering what to use to seal the two pipes when my eye caught the prestik-ah ha.It worked like a charm,the flow was 100%
and not a drop of diesel spilled.It takes a fairly long time for the diesel to transfer into the tanks but at about 9:30 the
tanks were full and I could close the drums and tanks and pack away what I used.By that time Gareth and Malcolm were
up.Fortunately I applied liberal amounts of sunblock as the sun was really fierce,reflecting of the water as well.

Malcolm had a quick shower,Gareth followed suit and by that time it was 10,time for me to fill in the log and hand over to
Gareth.I left the deckwash soap,broom and bucket neatly on a deck bench intending for them to catch the hint and went for a
shower as well.When I finished the shave and shower routine I returned to the deck and saw that the deckwash goodies were
packed away and the deck not washed and could'nt hide my smile when I asked who packed it away.The two of them were rather
meekly saying that they were debating whether I left the goodies there as a hint and Malcolm concluded that I normally would
instruct them if anything needed doing.Trying to get out of this one was interesting and they immediatly proceeded to wash
the deck.The normal Sunday work day thing,rest for six days and work on the 7th day.It was all rather hilarious as we are
all fairly disciplined on keeping the boat need and tidy.I just needed to give them a little shove in the right direction.I
retired to my cabin to rest and read a bit and when I surfaced and hour or so later I was blinded by the bright white
deck.All in a days work and all in good spirit.

The two of them are bonding well,even with the fitness program they follow.I told them a while ago that once they reach my
level of fitness I might join them.They've now had more than two weeks to get in shape and I decided to test their fitness
levels against mime in the morning,so sorry Owen and Cheryl,and sorry Miekie and family,Gareth and Malcolm is getting
drilled tomorrow.I promise I won't break them,I hope to motivate them even more.We'll do the same exercises one on one and I
will introduce a few more to their arsenal.Fun and games....ha ha ha.Respect to both of them though,Malcolm at 62 turning 48
and Gareth,who represents the young adults of today for the willingness to take me on.

For supper Malcolm conjured Tad in the Hole again and once again we enjoyed it enormously.Our position at 20:40 UTC is
11*56'S/16*56'W,wind is 14 kts ESE,our speed between 7 and 12 kts,barometer 1017,water and air 27*C,wave height about 2m and
seastate moderate.We wish you a pleasant Monday and may the week ahead be filled with blessings.

Keep on moving

Today the light winds continued but our Yanmar iron sail is keeping us
moving at a decent speed.Great news is that the weather forecast I
received from Mom Kay predicts a turn of fortune and we are bound to
have our sails filled with good winds from behind.A big element of
sailing long distances is patience and knowing that things will
change.Our two genoas up front is flogging somewhat every now and then
as we try to squeeze every bit of speed combining both motor and sail.

Conditions once again looked fair for landing a fish and although we
trawled the lure behind us for most part of the day nothing came of
it.But no lure,no fish so we keep on trying.To compensate gareth served
tuna nuggets in a fresh salad mix and it was rather refreshing and
delicious to boot.For lunch we had leftovers from last night hence a
lighter supper.

I read yesterdays posting and was aghast at the little kistakes that
krept in.I never edited the few paragraphs,just wrote and posted and
happy to learn that there is always room for improvement.Thanks Armchair
Sailor for enjoying it nevertheless.It is as much a pleasure for us to
share our experiences as it is for you reading it.I really don't mean
for it to be that good that you want to resign immediatly and fly to
Fortaleza to join us there,but do enjoy the sentiment behind the motion.

We haven't seen any ships,birds or dolphins for a while now but a flying
fish here and there scurrying out of our way and graciously flying for a
good distance before diving back in the water keeps us amused.They are
amazing little creatures and their ability to control their flight
phenomenal.What we have seen in the last few days are very vivid
rainbows,strange cloud patterns and then the lovely sight of long thin
lines of cirrus cloud heralding a low forming which means wind to us as
the air flow from high to fill the low pressure.The Atlantic high is
somewhat smaller this time of the year and we hope to out of its grip
soon.

Today we have also turned the clock another hour back as we move through
the time zones and we are now three hours behind SA time.The sun rises
three hours later here than there.Our position at 21:00 boat time was
12*58'S/014*36'W.If you google earth our position you will see that we
are pretty much in the mid Atlantic.We have now also covered 2280 nm and
3620 nm to go.The barometer is at 1018,water and air temperature at 26*C
and wave height about 1.5 mtr.We wish you a pleasant Sunday and also
wish you were here to experience the enormous body of water we call
ocean all around us.

Getting hot hot hot

We have been motoring for most part of the day and thankfully still
keeping an average of 6.6.Hardly any wind to speak of the sea is
becoming more and more like a big blue lake and the water turning into a
deep sky-blue colour,azure.The stars are out in their full
glory,twinkling their signals to all who behold.No sight of the moon yet
with only a dash of cloud here and there.

No signs of dolphins yet,but come they will,when we are ready to be
blessed by their joyous energy darting left and right in the wake of our
boat.I changed the lure earlier on,late yesterday afternoon and who
knows,today is perhaps the day we land a dorado.Not many flying fish
yet,but in time it will all come to us.

We have up to date travelled about 2140 nms leaving us with around 3760
miles to go.At 6.6 kts it is just over 23 days but we trust that we will
do even better as we move up the coast of South America and then up the
Lesser Antilles before we reach our destination.We are doing all we can
to be back in SA by 1st July and for a most special reason.It will be my
daughter Maryna's 7th birthday and the one day in the year if I have to
single one out that I would love to be with her.The times we spend
together inbetween deliveries is filled with fun,laughter,days at the
beach,school activities and a host of other wonderful moments.It is
always over far to soon and then we start counting the days before we
see each other again.

For breakfast yesterday Malcolm treated us to omelette and bacon and for
supper I served spaghetti bolognaise.It will be Gareth's turn to do supper
and who knows what the young man will pull out of his hat tonight.On our
stern a just less than than half a moon has peeped over the horizon.Our
position at midnight UTC time our position was 13*55'S/012*23'W.Water and
air temperature is 24*C and the barometer is sitting at 1017.We are moving
in a westnorthwesterly direction,our heading at 294*T.We wish you a
pleasant Saturday and hope you experience a little bit of the peace that
is to be had out here.

Just a breeze

We've had the good fortune of fairly good winds from behind sinve
leaving St.Helena,at times averaging up to 7.5 kts.As per our weather
prediction,the wind has eased down to a breeze and the sea flattening
out in response.Soon we will have to call on one of our iron maidens to
propel us along to keep up the average we are looking for.For now we are
just holding on 6 kts.Exceptionally peaceful out here this morning,a few
clouds in the sky,half a moon to light the way and a very gentle motion
on Synchronicity.

Out here it seems that the dreamworld and our awake world so easily slip
in and out of each other.Even my dreams reflect the calm and peace that
has settled on us.We have caught two sizable bonny's in two consecutive
days and on both occasions managed to get the hook and and set them free
again.The rather bland taste of their flesh is their saving grace and
the pleasure of returning them to the ocean a rare pleasure.It also
affords us to test our skills and tackle for when we hook into a dorado
or other type of game fish,giving us the confidence to deal with the
situation at hand.

Weve also been having a few squals the last two days,not very intense
but refreshing and always welcome to rinse the yacht from any saltwater
residue.The clouds are fairly low so no thunder and lightning and winds
above 15 kts on the run.Water temperature this morning is 24*C,air
temperature the same and the barometer 1017.We have crossed two time
zones and are now on UTC time,two hours behind SA.At 03:00 this morning
our position was 14*47'S/010*12'W.

We wish you a most pleasant Friday,a peaceful weekend and will post
again on the morrow.

Adio

Bye bye St.Helena

We arrived at St.Helena at 12:30 on Monday 31 may.Raising our Q flag we
waited till about 14:00 hours before the doctor could board and declare
us healthy.Dr.Albie Coetzee from SA who has been here for five years now
very much enjoyed talking in Afrikaans,he seldom gets this
opportunity.We were well prepared and ready to take the ferry back to
shore with him.Walking on terra firma was quite an experience for
Malcolm after ten days at sea,the island seemed to sway under him as he
gained his landlegs again.Gareth seemed fine and I hardly notice any
difference.We first cleared immigration,then port control,paying our
dues to the Queen.12 pounds per crewmember at immigration and 27 pounds
at port control.Customs was closed for the day due to training and I did
customs yesterday.We arranged for a tour of the island and set a time
for 09:30 on Tuesday.

After the paperwork was sorted we went to Ann's Place for a refreshment
and eyed Jacob's Ladder towering above us.I have done the ladder a few
times and were not planning to do it again.My daughter however had
different plans and requested that I go and look for her name we
scratched on one of the steps about a year and a half ago.I had to find
her name and place two of her dolls she sent on this crossing next to
her name and take a photo.I also had to scratch mommies name next to
hers.The names on the steps are very faded and I scratced their names
anew and took the photo.A few steps later I did find her name,faded but
still visible and took another photo.We ascended the ladder by resting
every thirty steps or so and both Malcolm and Gareth made it to the top
with me and the view from up there makes a wonderful sight.The yacht is
about matchbox size from where you stand with the whole of Jamestown at
your feet.Descending was a bit faster,I prefer to run down holding onto
the handrails and stopping every now and then to slow down and catch my
breath for a minute before "falling" further down.Our legs were like
jelly afterwards,yesterday a bit stiff and today positively paining,but
a pleasant pain in a way.

After conquering the ladder we sat down to some burgers and chips and a
beer or two.Not long before our friends learned that we have arrived and
we had a pleasant evening till about 20:00,making plans for the
following day.The Attorney-General,Ken,you will either see at the court
house or at Ann's Place and we have spend many a pleasant evening in his
company.A lawyer from London was also on the island to assist with some
cases.Joe is quite a character himself and we were really laughing at
some of his adventure on a sailing vessel where evrything possible went
wrong.He had us in stitches at times.Our old friends Paul and Sally were
also there and they are considering buying a catamaran some time.I
invited them all for an hour sail the next day and would have enjoyed
more time but with the kids at school,everyone of our friends running
their businesses we could only make it for 5 pm and having to be back at
6:30 pm.Joe and Ken could unfortunately not make it but we had
Richard,Jane and their kids Brian,Jessica and Michael,then Sally and
Paul who also run a few businesses with their two kids Thomas and Hannah
on board.There was a little breeze and we sailed with the genoa for half
an hour before returning to our anchorage.18:15 we were back on land and
18:30 back at Ann's Place where we planned to have a braai.Ken and joe
joined us and we had a fantastic time which went on till about 11
pm.Fortunately I know the ferryman well and he had no problem taking us
back to the yacht at that time.The ferry normally run from 4 am till 7
pm but I did make arrangements with Craig for a later time.Throughout
the years we have all built great friendships and some biltong from my
side to say thanks for his trouble is always welcomed.He normally takes
us for the island tour as well but he broke his ankle about 15 weeks ago
and still recovering from this ordeal.His brother Keith that permanently
moved to the island about nine months ago took us on the tour instead.

We had the privilege of visiting all the usual sights,a tour of
Napoleon's House and a first for me was a visit to Sandy Bay,the only
beach on the island.We were fortunate that the weather was great and
Keith decided to take us down to the beach.The road down is extremely
steeps and the bends impossibly sharp but we made it just fine.The way
back up also went without any problems.The tour was about four and a
half hours and costed us 15 pounds each,worth every penny.

I am leaving some details out hoping that Malcolm and Gareth will also
relate their experiences on their first visit to St.Helena.We planned to
leave early this morning but first went to visit Ann in hospital.She is
the lady that started Ann's Place more than thirty years ago and have
had countless yachties come and go through her doors,always taking care
of the sometimes nearly starving yachties,nursing them back to
health,doing their laundry and much more than I can imagine.Her memoirs
will make a great read.What Mother Theresa was to some,Ann is to all our
yachties that come this way.She fell and broke her hip about three
months ago and at 69 years old,this was really bad.Being bedridden for
so long she also contracted pneumonia and nearly passed on.She
fortunately recovered from that but is still in hospital.We insisted on
paying our respects to her and it was wonderful seeing her,lookin not to
bad.She only complained that she can't do anything for us.Her legacy
will live on.

So on this note I will end this little posting and dedicate it to Ann.We
left at 10:00 this mprning and are about 70 miles WNW of St.Helena and
will post our position etc on our next posting.

Take care