Cadiz, a stones throw away!

We are now within 130nm from Cadiz. Its one days good sailing away, and
it may be the case that we have a night entry into Puerto Sherry. From
there we will sort out some paperwork, gather a few provisions, wash
down Venus and then head out again. Perhaps we will even clear out of
Cadiz the same day as we arrive so as to catch the favourable winds
blowing through the Straits of Gibraltor. Cadiz will bring about
the welcoming of a new crew member (Felix) as well as some of the load
taken off both Paul and myself with regards to being on watch. You can
replace a crew member yes, but you cannot replace the great memories
built with Pieter. I am sure that there will be great memories built on
the next stage of this trip from Cadiz, for which I am very excited! We
will be heading past the beauty of Sicily and the infamous Strait of
Messina which will be such an amazing experience.

Paul made a delicious chicken stew for lunch/supper, which will continue
to be enjoyed through the small hours of the night as we rotate watches
at 10pm, 2am. The weather has been great to us today giving us calm seas
and warmer winds than the previous few days. We have been visited my
numerous schools of dolphin throughout the last few days. They come and
visit us at night too which is an amazing sight! When the dlophin cut
through the water at speed they disturb all the jellyfish and plankton
near the surface of the water, which causes them to emit their
bio-luminescents, making the water glow in the wake of the dolphin. This
makes the dolphin seem like missiles through the water. Awesome to see
in real life. Hope my very detailed description painted a decent picture
for you:)

Apart than that, I have nothing more to add other than "you stay classy
San Diego"!

Cheers
Brad
Other than that, all is well on Venus and we are still in great spirits
nearly 9 weeks into the trip and over 6500nm at sea.

Sweet dreams are made of this

Not doing a long blog today.The rough weather has at last
subsided.Followed by going deep into the low pressure system,our
barometer went down to 1007 and a big lull followed.The breeze was
coming from all over yesterday and we had to motor,eventually with now
sails up,making slow but steady progress.this morning the wind shifted
south and giving us excellent conditions to sail and make way towards
Cadiz,which is now only about 240nm away.Sailing on a broad reach on a
calm sea with a steady breeze,this is the cream of sailing.Loving it.

Both Brad and me had a shower this morning,good and clean and fresh.A
lot of fine red Sahara desert dust settled on the boat during the course
of the night,and we are looking forward to once again giving Venus a
fresh water washdown once we get to Cadiz.

Being two up is not so hard,but it takes a lot of discipline to sleep
when you have to.Stop the voices,or rather ignore the voices and
thoughts flying around inside,and sleep.And beautiful dreams we are
having.I dreamed of ordering Nugget Burgers from KFC.Not such a thing on
their menu,but we can dream can't we.While I was waiting for the burgers
in my dreams,I was eating a huge hot dog.Love dreamworld,lots to see and
do.Sometimes a bit disturbing,but part of the journey I guess.

Pieter is going in for his op on Friday morning,so spare a thought for
him.From Thursday night 22h00 no wet or dry over his lips,nil per mouth
is a term I just learned from a top professional.Clinical,technical,to
the point,as we also sometimes do with our sailing terms.don't you love
it?Nil per mouth.Not the experience,the terminology.Why is it always
that when the power is down you want coffee or tea,and when you can't
eat,you want to eat.Pieter mailed me yesterday apologizing for sitting
around a fire and braaing chicken wings.Our mouths water just at the
thought of it.But I mailed him back and promised that we will have a big
steak when we get to Spain,to make up for his nil per mouth
experience.The games we play,all in good cheer of course.Yes,dammit
Pieter,we miss you plenty.But take care and wishing you a speedy
recovery.And Bonnie,thanks for keeping us informed of his well-being as
you said you would.We appreciate it very much.

Our position at PM 02:00 UTC is 34*00'N/10*09'W.Barometer up to 1015.All
good.

Take good care and sweet dreams to you.

Paul

Two months ago...

Yes,two months ago we casted off in Cape Town and set sail for
Greece.Now,6420 nautical miles later,we have seen a lot,done a
lot,learned a lot,and sadly also had to say goodbuy to our fellow
crewmember who had to return at short notice.We are hoping to hear from
him soon.In the interem,we have made contact with our new
crewmember,Felix Hahne,a young German lad who is very excited to be
joining us for our last leg to Greece.He is flying in on Friday the 8th
and will meet at us at Puerto Sherry,a marina about 50 nm's north of
Gibraltar.GPS position 36*34.8N/006*15.2W.Google Earth or just google
the spot and see what it looks like.Never been there so it will be
interesting to find out.The biggest town nearby is Cadiz.

The last day and a bit we've had some heavy weather as predicted.The sea
also getting in on the act and waves of anbout four mtrs started rolling
through.We had two options,either run with it and be pushed way down
south or sail slowly into it and stay more or less on a course taking us
east.Last night the sea got a bit bigger and we decided to drop the main
and carry on with a bit of genoa and motoring into the oncoming
waves.Worked well for us,and although we were going slow,we were just
riding out the heavy weather.An hour or so ago the wind and sea started
easing off a bit,as it has been gradually doing for the last few
hours.When Brad came on watch at 2pm we first sat down and had a warm
helping of spaghetti bolognaise,his favorite food...again.

After lunch or early supper it was time to raise the main again to
second reef.As expected we are now doing much better and sailing at a
nice pace,still going more or less east but starting to curve up north a
bit.By this time tomorrow the weather would have first pushed us a bit
more south and then a lull before we start heading north east towards
Cadiz.We are 340 miles from there and expect to arrive there on the 9th
or 10th,giving us ample time to meet our new crewmember.Our current
position is 33*03'N/11*43'W.

Quite a few ships around as can be expected.Not too many yet,but as
always we are keeping a sharp look-out.Amazing how adaptable we are as
humans,and how we only know what we can do when we have to.And who knows
what our true potential is.I know.And you know.But do you know what you
know what you know.Your truth is you,the highest truth,the only
truth.And you are the guardian of that inner truth.Perhaps you have lost
it,like most of us sometimes do.But if you really want,it is your's for
the knowing.You will have to unlearn a lot of things,but,in due time,you
will get back to Number One.

Paul

Different Dynamics

It's now been just over two days that we have left Madeira and sailing
two up is much different from sailing three.Not much time for chit
chat,just eat,sleep and watch,four hours on four hours off.We are
getting used to this new schedule,adapting as we have to.we do miss our
third crewmember Pieter immensily,and we hope to hear from him later
today re his medical condition.Just received excellent news from
Nicky,our lady in the office in Cape Town.She has once again done the
impossible and sourced a crewmember from Germany.She will fly him in a
day or two before we arrive at our next landfall.It could be Cadiz,but
if the weather is good for us,Brad and myself will run through the
Straits of Gibraltar and meet him on the other side.Yay yay yay.Thanks
Nix!!!I don't say for nothing that we work with the best in the
industry,as it has once again be proven.If she only had us to deal with
it would have been amazing already,but she has a whole fleet of boats
and crews and their predicaments to deal with.You're simply the best.

The weather out here is fairly rough at the moment and we expect it to
stay with us till tomorrow night.The waves that we are sailing into is
probably about three meters high and we are making steady
progress,taking it one wave at a time,time after time.The weather
predicted will push us a bit east,then a bit southeast and finally we
will be able to curve up as the weather will start coming from the south
east in the next few days.Extreme weather is expected in the
Gibraltar/Cadiz area from the 5th to the 8th of April,so no use for us
to hurry along.We are only 380nm from Gibraltar and will time our
arrival for the 9th or 10th when things have calmed down considerably.

A lot of dolphins playing around the boat but no change for us to go to
the bow and blow them kisses.We will spend most of the time suspended in
the air and getting wetdangerous and cold.When we need to do some work
on the bow we turn on a broad reach,the wind from nearly behind if you
don't know what broad reach is,hold on to the stay jack or life line we
have running from the back to the front of the boat,do what we need to
do,get back and turn into the wind again.A chilly 16*C and we are
dressed accordingly.The country veg stew I made last night filled us
nicely and warmly,and we have some left for lunch.I just heated some and
enjoyed it thoroughly,again.Do you also find that things like pasta and
stew taste better the next day?

There is also a lot more ships around.On my 2 to 6 watch this morning I
saw five ships,fortunately all some distance away from us.With the
rougher conditions we have our nav lights on as well as our anchor
light,just to make sure they see us.We are mostly sailing on a close
reach and I wonder if you can figure out where the wind comes from
then.First prize for guessing it right could be a little seatrial on a
new boat in the Cape of Storms...ha ha ha.We are running the motors one
at a time every now and the to keep the batteries charged.Not much else
to say today except that our position was 33*12'W/13*04'N at AM 09:00
UTC.We are 1730nm from Greece and as I said,only 380nm from
Gibraltar.the wind is gusting now at 30 kts and we just furled in the
genoa a little more,having gone on a broad reach to execute this
exercise without undue strain on the rigging,the sails,the winches,the
"ropes" or ourselves.

Hope you have a good one and I hear that winter is setting in around
South Africa.Normally winter sets in around Cape Town just after the
Easter weekend,but the first signs are there.

Different Dynamics

It's now been just over two days that we have left Madeira and sailing
two up is much different from sailing three.Not much time for chit
chat,just eat,sleep and watch,four hours on four hours off.We are
getting used to this new schedule,adapting as we have to.we do miss our
third crewmember Pieter immensily,and we hope to hear from him later
today re his medical condition.Just received excellent news from
Nicky,our lady in the office in Cape Town.She has once again done the
impossible and sourced a crewmember from Germany.She will fly him in a
day or two before we arrive at our next landfall.It could be Cadiz,but
if the weather is good for us,Brad and myself will run through the
Straits of Gibraltar and meet him on the other side.Yay yay yay.Thanks
Nix!!!I don't say for nothing that we work with the best in the
industry,as it has once again be proven.If she only had us to deal with
it would have been amazing already,but she has a whole fleet of boats
and crews and their predicaments to deal with.You're simply the best.

The weather out here is fairly rough at the moment and we expect it to
stay with us till tomorrow night.The waves that we are sailing into is
probably about three meters high and we are making steady
progress,taking it one wave at a time,time after time.The weather
predicted will push us a bit east,then a bit southeast and finally we
will be able to curve up as the weather will start coming from the south
east in the next few days.Extreme weather is expected in the
Gibraltar/Cadiz area from the 5th to the 8th of April,so no use for us
to hurry along.We are only 380nm from Gibraltar and will time our
arrival for the 9th or 10th when things have calmed down considerably.

A lot of dolphins playing around the boat but no change for us to go to
the bow and blow them kisses.We will spend most of the time suspended in
the air and getting wetdangerous and cold.When we need to do some work
on the bow we turn on a broad reach,the wind from nearly behind if you
don't know what broad reach is,hold on to the stay jack or life line we
have running from the back to the front of the boat,do what we need to
do,get back and turn into the wind again.A chilly 16*C and we are
dressed accordingly.The country veg stew I made last night filled us
nicely and warmly,and we have some left for lunch.I just heated some and
enjoyed it thoroughly,again.Do you also find that things like pasta and
stew taste better the next day?

There is also a lot more ships around.On my 2 to 6 watch this morning I
saw five ships,fortunately all some distance away from us.With the
rougher conditions we have our nav lights on as well as our anchor
light,just to make sure they see us.We are mostly sailing on a close
reach and I wonder if you can figure out where the wind comes from
then.First prize for guessing it right could be a little seatrial on a
new boat in the Cape of Storms...ha ha ha.We are running the motors one
at a time every now and the to keep the batteries charged.Not much else
to say today except that our position was 33*12'W/13*04'N at AM 09:00
UTC.We are 1730nm from Greece and as I said,only 380nm from
Gibraltar.the wind is gusting now at 30 kts and we just furled in the
genoa a little more,having gone on a broad reach to execute this
exercise without undue strain on the rigging,the sails,the winches,the
"ropes" or ourselves.

Hope you have a good one and I hear that winter is setting in around
South Africa.Normally winter sets in around Cape Town just after the
Easter weekend,but the first signs are there.

Shaping well

Our first night after leaving Madeira was pretty rough.Up to 28 kts of
wind on the nose it took quite a bit of effort to get things running
smoothly.In the end,furling the genoa deeper and letting the
mainsail,2nd reef out to close against the shrouds,we managed to spill
some wind.Slower speed and far less stress on the rigging,we eventually
managed a certain level of comfort.Four hours on four hours off worked
out quite well.But when you go and sleep now,you have to sleep.No time
for rolling around waiting for sleep to come to you.Our sleeping pattern
will also stabilize now that we sleep the same hours,day and night,which
also helps.

We could probably get to Gibraltar in four or five days,but our weather
files predict seriously strong winds in that area till the 8th.30 kts
getting up to 45,no way to get through to either Cadiz or Gibraltar.We
are therefore deliberately slowing down and will see what it looks like
on the 9th or 10th.With the wind coming from the north there is a
positive chill in the air.Yesterday was overcast,today,it is so nice to
have a bit of sunlight to warm us up a bit.Last night on my watch I
could for the first time really don my winter
garb.Scarf,beanie,gloves,socks,crocs,jeans,sailing pants and
t-shirt,fleece jacket,sailing jacket and a steaming hot cup of tea to
fend off the cold.

We had an early supper last night.Chicken left over from the night
before,wrapped in freshly made roti's.Brad was surprised how easy it is
to make roti's and I am sure he will make plenty more in time to come.He
says his favorite food is chicken wraps.We got some fresh produce on
Madeira,including mayonaise,so yes,it went down very well.But then his
favorite food is also pasta.Then braai is his favorite too.I just asked
him,and he said it,all food is his favourite food,but his favorite
favorite is van Eck smoked chicken on the Weber and veggie bake and
potatoes on the coles.

For today I am preparing country style stew.Cubed beef,fresh
carrots,tomatoes,cabbage,potatoes,garlic,onion etc etc etc on a bed of
spiced rice.We are planning to have supper a bit earlier now so we can
fall asleep easier,without our tummies being to full to make it
difficult.Food comas are nice,but they only last a while.We need to get
sleep when we can,quality sleep.Powernaps in a way,and not difficult if
you set your mind to it.

We received news last night that Pieter landed safely in South Africa
and will attend to his problems on Monday.Getting seasick would have
just aggrevated his hernia even more and out here we have no facilities
to deal with sush emergencies.Pieter,we wish you a speedy recovery and
all the best.We miss you too much but that is how it goes sometimes.It
is damn quite without you onboard.

Paul

And then there were two...

After spending a much needed rest at Madeira for two days and a bit,we
departed at ten this morning.We missed our crewmember when he flew back
to SA due to a hernia that was flaring up,or down as the case may be.We
missed him even more this morning when we sat down to have some crumpets
that Brad prepared,and Pieter's place at the table is a huge void,and we
miss him now even more.

A lot of people sail single handed around the globe,and far more so sail
two up.Both Brad and myself are more than capable to do the next leg
without compromising our safety.Our comfort zone is a bit impeded,but so
be it,a lot of people do it like this.We are hoping to have a
replacement crew by the time we approach Gibraltar,if not and if the
weather is good to go through,we might just push on through to Greece
which is only about two weeks away from today.We are expecting some
strong winds on the 4th and the 5th which may push us down south a
bit.Besides that it looks like we will be having good weather to make
good speed.

If the weather is not good for going through Gibraltar,we are planning
to sit it out at Cadiz in Spain,which is where we are sailing to at the
moment.It is just about 50 nm north of Gibraltar and we will play it as
it falls.Currently we are sailing past the last headland of Madeira and
the wind is from the north as the weather reports predicted.We have our
mainsail on the second reef,and the genoa furled in about two thirds as
the wind funneling over and around the island varies between 20 and 27
kts.We are making excellent progress and sailing at 5kts plus.We prefer
to take it a bit slower than what we can,always easy to furl out a bit
more genoa should the wind drop enough to justify it.Our COG is traight
in the direction we want to go.

We can expect more traffic from here on and will be extra vigilant.we
posted a lot of photos on our Facebook profiles,150 + of the trip from
St.Helena up to Madeira,including a lot of photos from Madeira.Should
you like to view these,you are welcome to send a friend request to my
Facebook profile and Lizette will accept on my behalf.

Wishing you a pleasant and restful weekend.

Paul