At one with the elements

When I took over watch this morning I looked around and saw that the
skies were heavily pregnant with rain.All different shades of grey,from
dark ominous grey to the softest dove grey,it would be a real challenge
to capture all this in pencil.The wind veered and soon we had wind from
behind,speeding up gradually.Across the waters I saw the rippling effect
as the rain started dancing in our direction.I did not waste a moment to
furl in the headsail,then turned the boat into the wind and dropped the
mainsail.Closed all the hatches and upped the revs a bit.A minute or two
later and it is raining all around us,as far as the eye can
see,beautiful,refreshing rain,washing our boat clean from head to
toe.Amazing to see all the formations as the clouds can no longer hold
and the water falling from the skies.

Back to last night,Brad worked really hard to bake huge rolls,make huge
hamburger patties,fried some onion rings and chips and then the battle
ensued.We ate and we ate and we ate and ate some more.Brad won the
battle,Pieter also won his battle but I just couldn't anymore.250 g
patties just proved too much for me.It was ultra delicious and our
craving for hamburgers have been dealt a heavy blow.Stuff that food
comas are made of,but a little restless with so much protein to digest.I
was glad that my watch was fom 9 to midnight last night,giving my body
some time to recover before I went to lay it down after my watch.

We also had our first bit of stronger headwinds last night.17 kts and
with a lumpy sea,we had a little to much headsail out.Lumpy is a new
nautical term I am borrowing from Paul Rackstraw who also enjoys
following our adventures on the oceans of the world.He is the owner of a
Maverick catamaran called Catarina.He took part in the recent Mykonos
Regatta and described some parts of the ocean they had to navigate as
lumpy.Never heard it before used as nautical term and you can watch a
short video clip of Catarina on YouTube,search "Catarina Mykonos" and
you should find it.

Brad was on watch and time to learn a few new tricks.Our spec sail chart
will show that we can sail 15-20 kts of wind with main 1st reef and
headsail between first and second reef,which was how he had the
sails.The seastate however had us going a bit to hard into
"potholes",slamming once or twice and the boat shuddering at the
impact.These boats are built very strong and can take a bashing like
that,however,by furling the headsail in quite a bit more we were
navigating the swells far more gently.Obviously we had to give up some
speed,but getting there in one piece is more important than getting
there quickly.It was pitchdark and one couldn't see the state of the
sea,just a glimpse now and then when lightning in the clouds illuminated
the water for a split second.Don't get me wrong,both my crew are
excellent and I don't think any skipper could wish for better crew.Just
yesterday I observed Brad faultlessly executing the whole exercise of
getting the mainsail and headsail up in no time at all,all by himself.We
all learn all the time and some things we can only learn when conditions
allow,like last night.

We do expect some steady winds to settle in today.Sailing long distance
is not only a physical challenge,it poses challenges in many other areas
as well.It is also not you against the elements,it is you at one with
the elements,with yourself,with each other.And when it all comes
together,it is pure bliss.There is a lot of thunder and lightning in the
air this morning.We have dropped the extra piece of anchor in the water to
conduct a possible strike to the water and have also disconnected the VHF
aerial from the radio.Normally a strike would hit the aerial and run down
and through all the PC boards of our instruments.We hope to prevent that.

Our current position @ AM 07:30 UTC 02*35'N/24*06'W.Distance to go
3945nm.ETA 10/04/11.

Hope the week ahead will also be good to you.

Paul

North east south westerly winds

Yip,we are in the zone where the wind,or rather the breeze comes from
all directions,our wind instrument swinging around and around at
times.Closer to Africa the doldrums are at there widest,narrowing down a
bit closer to the Americas and then widening a little bit again closer
to those continents.A transitional phase we are going through.From
glassy smooth waters to a little bit of rodeo as small squalls comes
over and now then.Lightning up in the clouds at night looks like
explosions,lighting up a section here and a section there.The swell is
positively starting to build and rolling in from the northeast.Motoring
along at slow speed and waiting for the wind to assist our
progress.According to our grib weather files we can expect from the
northeast within 24 hrs.

Pieter lost his sealegs a little and the green monster surfaced,just
once so far,but the man is big,the man is strong.He is not green in a
bad way and hopefully he 's body will settle as soon as the swell
settles.Rodeo up and down,stop go stop go,not nice for anyone.But it
won't last forever.Pieter thought this is the way it could be for the
rest of the trip.If that was the case I told him I may consider going
back to Cape Town and try the other way 'round.No turning back
though,that would be even worse when we have to beat back to Cape
Town.We will probably take it for a while and turn back to Europe
again,and then back to Cape Town.Just stick around the doldrums it seems
till we run out of food,water and fuel.Long before that we will run out
patience though,even though we have an ample supply of that.

My tuna and potato bake mix went down just fine last night.Brad is
mixing dough.On the menu tonight...ta ta tra ta ta tra ta ta
ta.....burgers.Hamburgers!To you on land it may seem trivial,you can
have a burger just about anywhere anytime you like.Out here we have to
do the whole toot whoop whoop.We were just talking about Saul's Saloon
in Seapoint,Cape Town,where monster burgers are to be had.Brad is now
inspired to conjure up not only burgers,but fried onion rings and chips
as well.Watch out Spur,you have some serious competition.Thinking of
it,Wimpy burgers are great to as is Steers.I should stop,you may think
we are obsessing...ha ha ha.Torturing ourselves,good for body,soul and
spirit.Brad just added Mc Rib burgers to the equation,lets not go
there.I blame all this on the tuna we ate last night,Brain food.No we
are ghaving all these gastronomic fantasies.Enough of this.

Brad just aimed a potato that is not so good anymore at our tin hanging
outside,our fish alarm.He missed,again.I told him he should go and play
cricket for the Proteas.You can get in,as long as you are not better
than Greame Smith.Sorry boys,to hear that you lost,again.Well done
Sharks and to my team,the Stormers,very well done.To the Bulls,ya well
no fine.Not this time.You have to up your game a bit or get left behind.

To give you an idea of our present situation,our position @ PM 02:30 UTC
01*52'N/023*14'W.Distance still to go 3999nm.Speed at the moment 3 kts
motoring.Divide 3999 by 3 and again by 24 and we have 55 and a half days
to go at this speed.We hope to be there by April 10,about 34 days.So you
can see that we have great faith that the wind will pick up tomorrow and
send us on our merry way.Temperature 30*C,humidity 73%.

Hope your weekend was a good one.

Taking it easy

Paul

Mission

YES!!!It finally happened!At 5:30 this morning we gave birth to two new
salty sea dogs.It was preceded by many worries about how it will be
done.But at the appointed time the equator loomed in front of us.My
watch started at 3am and with no wind we were motoring.Dark cloudy skies
with rain and lightning here and there on Brad's watch preceded mine.At
the speed we were motoring we were an hour away from crossing south to
north.The bioluminescence was floating around in big flashing blobs
of green under our keel.This is various forms of life and when a
predator approach they all light up to sow confusion.Amongst these
creatures are jellyfish,plankton and a myriad other species.Primordial
ooze,the stuff that life started from,according to Pieter,our resident
marine biologist.The same goodies that surfaces at 2am and dissapear
again a few hours later.I decided to slow down a little to give these
creatures time to do what they do before dissapear.

Pieter,when woken close to the equator,shared a dream with us he was
just having.A bridge with a crane to lift boats over a waterfall,which
was the equator.He came out looking for the bridge but no luck.Brad was
not getting in much sleep after his watch,awake every ten minutes or so
in anticipation for swimming across the line at night.No moonlight,no
starlights,no boat lights,pure pitch darkness surrounded us as we
approached.Pieter and Brad got ready and dropped the diving ladder into
the water.They got into the water while I was slowly motoring to the
line and started the countdown.10 9 8 and at seven Brad let go of the
ladder and started swimming for his life,Pieter holding on to the ladder
right next to him,ready to assist at anytime should the need arise.A few
strokes later we were in the northern hemisphere and big cheers all
around as they got out of the water.A quick rinse with fresh water from
our deck shower and they posed for their pictures,lights on the boat on
again.So well done Brad,you wanted to do it and you did it.Well done
Pieter for being right next to him in the water to assist.

So here we are today,all three of us and there is no wind,the sea at
times glassy,not even a ripple.Now and then a little patch of wind comes
dancing across the waters.It is hot and humid,but not unbearably
yet.Making slow progress,4 kts motoring at 2000rpms.The clouds have
progressively been getting bigger and darker the last few days and we
can expect some thunderstorms soon.We are ready with our auxilary anchor
chain to drop in the water to divert a possible strike on our mast into
the water and safe our instruments.Unlike to suffer a strike,but in case
it happens,we should be ok.Pieter serviced the one engine this
morning,Brad will service the other engine later on.Oil and oil filter
change,check fan belt,engine mounting bolts,coolant levels,transmission
oil.Done and dusted.

Tonight for supper tuna on top of potato bake in the oven.Sour cream and
chive potato bake so wondering how it will pan out.Served with
beetroot salad I hope it will be edible.Last night,our last supper in
the southern hemispere,Pieter treated us to lamb chops and spuds with a
lovely bean salad.

Wishing you pleasant rest of the weekend and will post again same time
tomorrow.

Paul

When the dolphins come to play

The wind has backed from south to south east as expected and we are now
on a broad reach,still motoring to assist,but at low revs and keeping
our average above 5 kts.The equator is only about 70 nm away and it
looks like we will cross at about 3 tomorrow morning.With the new moon
or dark moon it will be very interseting as the crew wants to swim
across the equator.i always switch all the boat lights off at night and
still travel a bit as light attracts all kind of weird and wonderful
creatures in the ocean.I have often checked on fishfinders that the
ocean is relatively quiet at night,but at 2 in the morning it comes
alive.Squid,jellyfish and countless other creatures coming to the
surface to feed.Crossing the equator at 3 am means that they have just
surfaced an hour ago and will be fairly hungry.Not that they eat
humans,but just the thought of all this foreign forms of life around
you,pitch darkness and crossing to the northern hemisphere and the stage
is set for a scary adventure.Brad at first said he wants to hold on to
the boat when they cross,but that will then be dragged across the
equator,just not the same as swimming across.The Pillsbury Seamount
and the Romanche Gap under us just adds to the equation.The games we
play...ha ha ha.

Last night just after the sun has dipped below the horizon we had a huge
pod of dolphins coming to say hi.My daughter Maryna earlier the day e
mailed me to say that she will send us some dolphins,and came they
did.She also sends us wind and other blessings when we run low and need
some boost,whether from the water or the air.Also does a mean rain dance
U!U!A!A!U!U!A!A!.Saw some old footage of bushmen at the Natural Museum
in Cape Town doing their thing and never looked back.

It is still some distance to Madeira,two to three weeks,depending on the
wind we get.From there a short two week sprint to Greece.It should be
about 6 am in SA when we cross the equator,so spare us a thought when
you open your eyes for us,especially the two brave men who will be
initiated into Poseidon's small army of men and woman who have crossed
the equator at sea.Have a wonderful weekend and we will report again
some time tomorrow.

Take care,and we will also take care,promise.

Paul

The chicken and butternut dish that Brad served for supper was
absolutely delectable,well done young man.Learning a whole lot of new
tricks and trades.

Close to the equator

Just over a day away from the equator and not sure exactly what time we
will cross over to the northern hemisphere.And whether it will be day or
night,who knows.Brad vouched that he wants to swim to the other side,my
wife wants a photograph of the valiant attempt.Great idea and why not,a
few photos of the initiation which we will post when we make it land
again in Madeira.

For the last few days,a big swell starting rolling through,the trade
wind clouds appeared,and then we had wind.Not heavy,but enough to keep
the miles ticking over.In the late aftenoon the clouds are also getting
a bit more darker and last night we had a five minute drizzle as a cloud
came over and shifted the wind a bit.After the that the wind settled
again and we had a lovely night under sail.We've had a good day of
sailing as well today but the wind is starting to ease a bit as we get
closer to the doldrums,an area with no wind.

Yesterday morning we also filled our fuel tanks again and our
consumption so far is 1ltr/hr.Quite amazing but also takes a team effort
to sail when we can,motorsail when we have to and keep the revs down.It
takes constant monitoring to react to the conditions as they unfold,and
hats off to my crew for doing their part as well.We also have to
conserve battery power when we sail for a while.The solar panels do
help,but once again,we all pay close attention to the battery meters,how
long and when we run the fridge,don't keep lights on at night,save when
and where we can.So far we are bang on target to reach Greece on April
10,averaging 5kts/hr.

Brad's turn to cook tonight,he just told me chicken and butternut
casserole served on a bed of slightly spiced rice.Pieter is fast asleep
in his cabin.He is shaping excellently and have conquered the green
monster.Seems that he should just keep on sailing and not ever stop.It
takes a while for him to get his sealegs,but perhaps he will get better
and better at it.We will see what happens after Madeira.

Our position @ 5pm SA time 02*00'S/020*25'W.About 170nm from the equator
at the angle at which we are approaching.Our waypoint on the equator is
00*00.01'S/022*30'W.From there on we will start heading in a more
northerly direction and take the road as it comes.

Thanks for your interest.

Paul

For supper last night I made meatballs,for the first time.Minced
meat,oats,an egg,onoin,garlic,spices,salt etc and placed it in a baking
tray.Once done,we placed the meatballs on top of spaghetti and covered
this with some tomato and onion mix.A food coma ensued soon
afterwards,except for Brad who the took over watch.

Update from Poseidon.

Hello loyal supporters!

We are set to cross the equator in just less than two days. We are
hoping (more so from me) that we will go over at first light on friday
morning, and then I will jump into the sea and either swim, or if still
sleepy, get dragged over to the northern hemisphere:)

We have had a slow few day with very little wind to speak of. We have
thus been motorsailing on and off. The wind has picked up a bit today,
so no more humming of the diesel engine in the background...just the
angelic sounds of ABBA:) Pieter was giving us a brilliant rendition of
Pearl Jam last night too, so music is very much a part of our lunch time
and sunset gatherings around the helming station...

We are currently at 03* 43'S 18* 46'W and our time is 13:10 UTC. We
decided today to whip out the good ol' charts and navigation tools to do
some chart work for fun...We saw that we are approximately 280nm
from passing over "Romanche gap", part of the Pillsbury Seamount which
comes up to 801m and drops down to a staggering 7728m, possibly the
deepest spot in the Atlantic! I wonder what strange, mystical creatures
live at that depth?? We are planning on taking a bottle, sealing some
messages in a jiffy, filling the bottle with water and dropping the
bottle to the bottom of the ocean. If you have any messages that you
would like us to send down please let us know via email or on the blog.
Our current depth is approximately 4000m. We are planning on crossing
the equator between 20*W and 22* 30'W; and from there possibly head a
bit further north, or begin making our approach towards Madeira. The
further west we begin our approach of Madeira, the less we will come
into contact with the more bumpy conditions closer to the African
coastline.

We had some amazing cloud formations during last nights sunset. There
was just about every type of cloud formation in the sky, from Cirrus to
Cumulonimbus...was great fun to grab the "Sailing Bible" that I have
been reading to identify the various types of clouds...I also predicted
rain last night..... and Paul and Pieter wont believe me that it rained
when I was on watch, and then the boat dried completely before they woke
up:) Maybe SABC News needs a new weather man??

Here is a task for all of you for tomorrow: Take a minute in the day to
stop and think of all the great things you do have in life. Appreciate
the fact that your heart is beating, your family loves you, your friends
are always there for you...All the other stuff in life are added
bonuses. But dont waste a second worrying about the things you dont have
yet...Tell the special people in your life that to the world they are
one person, but they mean the world to you..

Until next time...

Brad

Cheers to the breezes

Claire,thanks for sharing our passion for life and also the info on dead
fish around Ascension.I have a few scuba diving buddies and I hear the
Red Sea is astounding.On my last trip to India I sailed past Bassas da
India,according to me one of the most beautiful spots on the
planet.Yesterdays blog was posted by Pieter in a moment of
inspiration.It is what happens when we are out here at one with all
around us.The more we discover about the universe,the more we realize
that planet Earth is in the greater scheme of things merely a grain of
sand.Can you imagine?

I was on the 6 to 10 watch this morning and with sailing SW the time
zone moves on and sunrise was only after 7.I had the immense pleasure of
watching Venus just above the sickle moon paving the way for the
sun.Last night I was on the 9 to midnight watch and laying on my back I
was looking at the galaxies through my 16x50 binoculars.Clear skies,no
moon and as always,mesmerized by this experience we call life.5000
years,the Greeks saw great drama in the skies.On the other side on the
Pacific,the Polynesian explorers used the skies in a most amazing
fashion to find there way and not get lost on the big blue ocean.They
had no written history,there knowledge was passed on in songs and
rhyme.They would,for example start their journey at a certain time when
the moon just peeps over the horizon,aiming for a certain star.When
another star drops below the horizon,they would change course and aim
for another mark in the sky.they would carry on in this mode till they
get to their destination.Apparently there is a book,Man the
Navigator,that expands more on this.

Our fascination with the skies above has been an integral part of our
existence as a human species since the earliest time.Wherever you look
at ancient civilizations,you find this fascination with the skies
above.The Egyptians and their pyramids is one examples,the Mayans that
descibed stars that only recently were discovered,and so it goes on.On
the Mayans,2012 is around the corner,the end of a huge cycle,and the
beginning of a new one.There is a lot of speculation what that really
entails,and for the doom prophets,a great way to spread their
fear.Personally I hope and think that it will herald a new awareness of
what we as human beings really are,inside and out.A new appreciation for
things we often take for granted or have tried to dismiss as
irrelevant,a new value on life.A new connectedness with one and all.

I visited some of the Mayan ruins two years ago with my lovely wife and
our then 5 year old daughter.Learned a lot about their culture and got a
more intimate feel about what they were on about.One of the starngest
things was standing on a playing field where a game similar to rugby was
played.Whoever scored a goal was beheaded!Hows that for doing your
best?What a privilage it was to sit on these ancient ruins with my
family and some of the descendants from the ancient Mayan tribes.My
daughter with her long blond hair was never left alone by the other
children in the village.Braiding her hair,running around and
playing,they were completely fascinated by this little white girl,and
treated her like a princess,which is of course what her daddy knows she
is.These are some of the rewards of this line of work,the places we
see,the thoughts we have,the experiences we enjoy,the cultures we meet.

Back to now,squadrons of gistening flying fish taking off all around
us.Not much wind but we are doing ok,motorsailing and with the
tradewind clouds above us we may still get a bit more than a breeze
to expediate our journey.Our position @ AM 09:30 UTC 05*25'S/17*02'W.We
are 460 nm from the equator on our current course.At 5nm/hr we should
cross it in four days time at 06:30 in the morning.Brad has vouched that
he wants to swim across the line.Yes,the two crew aboard will cross the
equator for the first time on the ocean and their initiation is
looming...ha ha ha.

Have a great day

Paul