What and experience

As we sail/motor into Tortola this morning 36 days have gone passed and
I still have that excited feeling in my belly that some thing different
brings you and which I have experienced every day since we left Cape
Town.
This has been pure magic, whether I can fit back into life as I know it,
or not,is going to be interesting. I have read a number of books which
have only helped to further rattle my mind two of which are A New Earth
by Eckhart Tolle and The Art of Redemption by Stuart Wilde, both worth a
read.
For me, who thought I was in touch with the weather and what made it
work, this has been a learning experience second to none, especially as
we have had two full moons, some fairly heavy weather, some fantastic
weather, numerous displays by the universe in the form of dolphin, sea
birds with attitude (Pete), fish with attitude ( Gareths barracouta
that was not happy about the way we pulled him on board) and the Tuna
eating frenzy on my birthday. The down to earth people who you meet at
each stop all with huge smiles, we even had Cool Runnings come along
side to see if we needed anything.
And then you realize this is a job, Pauls JOB one that is requires an
individual that is prepared to take on in your face responsibility,NOW.
Here you live in the moment and this is undoubtedly the best place to
learn about it.
This man is as cool as they come, but alert to every slight change in
weather or engine tone,not over serious but takes complete charge always.
I knew I was privilaged to be on this trip and now that it is nearly over
I am can only reiterate my thanks to everybody concerned.
When I originally thanked who I thought was everybody I left out the main
bods. Nicky and Louis at Tui Marine thank you for everything.
Mom,I think your boy will be OK, he has had his leg pulled very badly and
has almost lost the "I am not a morning person look". He now eats
fish,mussels a bit of avo, although with long teeth, struggles with his
greens, fortuneatly there was not a lot on the menu.He still talks in
short hand but has had to repeat a lot so you can now understand
him.(Incidently my hearing is very good).Charles Atlas he is not but there
is a realization that exercise is good and it is all abuot personal
discipline.
Thanks Paul and Gareth for a magic trip.

Mal

Like sand through an hour glass...

Like sand through an hour glass, so are the days of our lives.

So, here we are, 35nm from our final port of call and motoring along at
a steady 5knots with a beautiful full moon and flashes of lightning in
the air.

Although a relatively quick passage, 36 days at seas can normally make
your average joe go insane. It seems as if it was just yesterday that we
stamped out and cleared off from Cape Town and set our gps to our first
waypoint(790nm away). What made the time fly was the fact that there was
never a dull or an awkward moment with the crew and we all got along
very well. From previous experience aboard a boat with conflict between
crew i know how a passage that takes a week, feels like 3 months and a
passage on a boat with a dynamic and happy crew feels like 2 days.

Syncronicity our baby. Has taken us safely half way around the world.
She has been a delight to sail, from doing 3knots to 19.8knots, she just
trucked along.

So that is that.

Enjoy your day today and the rest of your weekend.
Gareth

A young old man,an old young man and a seawulf

And so the time has come to look a bit backward,a bit forward,and just
to look.By pure coincidence I met Malcolm on a flight from Cape Town to
Durban.He occupied the seat next to me at the emergency exit.He was on
his way to Durban to assist another friend of mine,Robbie Dove from
Ocean Sailing Academy in delivering a yacht back to Cape Town.Malcolm
also happened to be paging through a sailing manual which prompted me to
ask him if he sails.He told me little about himself and about the
sailing he's done.I asked him whether he would like to really go
sailing,long distance delivering a yacht to Tortola.He seemed keen and
we exchanged business cards.He was 62 turning 48.

Gareth came highly recommended through Karin at Offshore Sailing Academy
in Durban.I told her I want only the very best and she had no hesitation
in connecting me and Gareth.I received his resume,and although only twenty
years old,he had more sailing experience than most people that sail twice
his age.He was as the Chinese would say the "old man" regardless of
age.The Chinese junkboats were sometimes captained by such able young
men.I don't know why we call these amazing craft junkboats.

And so it came to be that the three of us landed up together.I don't
question the Higher hand that placed the three of us on the same boat or
how it was done,but I know why.In a way we would all shape each other's
future.Malcolm learned a lot about sailing from Gareth,and gareth in turn
learned a lot about standing your man from Malcolm.The one "set" in his
ways and the other making his way,it was interesting to observe these two
and the co-operation between them.They often "teamed" up against
me,forging their bond even stronger and gaining mutual respect.As
Captain,I run a democratic operation,but as the person ultimately
responsible for all of us,I also have ultimate authority.I was often
questioned and rightly so.They would soon learn about the method behind my
madness or sometimes the madness behind my method,whichever you prefer.The
end result was excellent crew dynamics between all of us and maximum
efficiency.Not for a moment did any of us at any time wished for this trip
to be over.

As the fourth or perhaps I should rather say the first member of this
party was Synchronicity,the Leopard 46 we were entrusted to.We would sail
her fast yet gentle,opting for perfect sail trim and balance instead of
just throwing sheer canvass to the wind.We paid attention to her every
need as conditions would dictate,not just sitting and waiting for things
to happen.What a pleasure it was to wash her at St.Maarten earlier on
today.From head to toe,rich foamy boat soap and fresh water was used to
remove any dust or salt residue and she came out shining and strutting her
stuff as only she can,the new Queen Cat of the Caribbean.

We also wish to thank everyone that made this journey possible.Our
families,the incredible team at Tui Marine,the people we met along the way
and most of all we thank you for keeping us in your prayers,your
thoughts,your heart.I will use my ultimate authority to have Malcolm and
Gareth also add their impressions for your enjoyment.It is nearly
midnight,the full moon is overhead and it is time for me to go and howl
some spine chilling,earpiercing cries to the
moon.Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooo
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

St.Lucia,Martinique,Dominica,Guadaloupe,Montserrat and onwards

After a short visit to St.Lucia we left just before sunset and our next
waypoint placed just of Montserrat.On our way the first island to
starboard was Martinique,a French controlled island.It appeared and
disappeared as the light squalls come over not carrying much wind with
them.After Martinique Dominica appeared of the misty rain type of day
we,ve had out here,not rainy,just visibility not all that good.As we
came past Guadaloupe we had a fresh breeze of about 23 kts as a squall
came through.We ran with it for a little while and as it eased of and
the wind shifted we slowly worked our way back to our chosen course.

As the squalls moved over there would be a lull in the wind for a while
before it starts picking up again.At times we motored and at times we
were sailing making excellent speed.We have Montserrat currently on our
port side,well known for being an active volcano.One of the few times we
pass an island on the windward side as we don't want the black volcanic
ash from Montserrat to settle on our yacht.an hour or so and we will
change course once again towards St.Maarten where we hope to arrive at
first light tomorrow morning.We may spend a while there cleaning where
we can before we leave for Tortola between 4 and 6 pm tomorrow afternoon
in order to arrive at first light on Sunday,clear customs and
immigration before we finally tie up at Tortola.

It is not time for retrospection yet,but it has been a very fast
crossing.Another 46 that left Cape Town five days before us out of Cape
Town is just a day ahead of us and they did not stop at St.Helena.It has
been an excellent trip in many ways and the average speed we maintained
is well above average.Less than two days to go and one can't believe how
time just slipped away.It is also full moon tonight and perhaps later we
might all just howl at the moon,showing a bit of the wild side residing
in us.....aaaaahhhhooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hola St.Lucia Ciao ciao St.Lucia

Yesterday morning the first land for many a day was in sight,St.Lucia.We
rounded the island,was met by the two huge rocky pinnacles called the
pytons and an hour later pulled in at the Moorings Base in Marigot to
get a last few odds and ends,some extra LPG just in case and had a meal
at the local reatuarant.At 6 pm our time we were on our way again and
expect to arrive at St.Maarten on Saturday morning and are considering
spending a few hours there to clean the boat and time our arrival at
Tortola for early Sunday morning.

It was a first time for Malcolm to get a feel of the Caribbean and what
better place than at St.Lucia.Malcolm and I enjoyed some fish and chips
and Gareth had chicken and chips.We were hoping to get pizza but the
restaurant only starts serving pizza after 6 pm and we could not wait
till then.Things to do,places to go,deadlines to meet.

Outside the nearly full moon is cloaking the islands and water around us
in soft white.From here to Tortola we will have land in view at all
times,a sign that this journey is coming to an end.But we still have our
final 300 nm to go before reaching our final destination and will only
lay tools down once we are tied up,signed over and ready to fly back to
South Africa.

We would have made it in time for flying out on Monday morning but now
have an extra day to clean and shine before handing over.It is also our
way of saying thanks to Synchronicity for behaving like the star she
turned out to be and for getting us here safe and sound.We will keep you
posted to the end.

Silver sunrise and silver sunset

Never a dull day.This morning I was on the 6 to 10 watch and watched the
sun rising,not yellow , red or inbetween,but silver.ad the day progessed
the sun stayed silver and at sunset silver still.The only clue to what
was going on started with two butterflies on board,out of
nowhere.Then,imperceivably slowly the finest layer of dust started
settling on certain places on the yacht,Sahara desert dust!!!

I've experienced this before when sailing to Europe although the sun is
a more pinkish colour,but no heat penetrating.The faint smell of dust
also starts to get noticable.I have never experienced this dust so far
away from the Sahara but a reference book of mine confirmed it.There are
times when some of this dust can reach the Carribean and even North
America 7 days after a huge sandstorm with the right winds.Apparently
some of the minerals,fungi and bacteria brought in with the Saharan dust
could be partly responsible for damage to the coral reefs around the
Carribean.

Currently we have Barbados about 20 nm to our starboard but cannor see
much light glow due partly to the fine dust in the air and also the
growing moon overhead.On a clear dark night you will see the light glow
a hundred miles away.We are due to race past St.Lucia tomorrow at noon
and then N up the Carribean to Tortola.The end is nearly in sight and it
feels like we have just started the trip.Sure we went fast and sure we
stopped really only once,but it is over before you know it.The end is
similar the beginning in some ways for me,a mix of sadness and
happiness and many things inbetween.

We are not there yet but in relation to what we have covered we are on
the home run.The big clean up,clear in, hand over,clear out and away we
go.Looking forward to catching a glimpse of the final few matches.

Take care and chat again tomorrow.

A bag of mixed fortunes

Today started in absolute splendour.The rising sun colouring the sky
with infinite hues of colours that refuses to be descibed.And rainbows
all around us with a vertical rainbow straight ahead of us.Considering
that we haven't had any sun for days and rain and more rain,this was
more than a sight for sore eyes.

It was also a promise of some wind to
assist us on our merry way.And wind we had and wind we've got,at a price
though.Still squalls every now and then,not heavy earthshattering ones
but gentle if one can call a squall gentle with wind in rising to the
early twenties.

Wind shifting all the time and towards evening the direction and
strength settled allowing us to raise our mainsail to second reef and
genoa furled to conditions at hand.Earlier on we were motorsailing with
a full genoa as the wind was not strong enough.It is still not very
strong and coming in from the east,leaving us on a broadreach,a
difficult angle to sail on with main and genoa.

On second reef the main can go more forward spilling less wind and we are
being pushed along by the wind maintaining 6 to 7 kts.Not good not bad,but
at least the engines are having a break and we are enjoying the sweet
sound of wind in the sails and water passing under our hulls.

Earlier on we passed a Brazilian navy vessel more or less stationary and
as we got closer it started moving again.We spotted a yellow bouy in the
exact postion they were in.Made us wonder what it was for and what is
attached to it but did not stop to check it out.Tonight a passenger ship
with plenty of lights on passed on our portside about three miles
away,appearing and disappearing as the squalls coame and went.We are
closing in on Barbados which heralds the Caribbean with land always in
sight till we reach our final destination.Also time for us to start
shining up and preparing our vessel for handover.

Our position at midnight boat time was 11*05'N/57*33'W.Our ETA for Tortola
is 26/06.Wishing you a most pleasant day and may you also experience a bit
of the peace and calm to be had out here on this moonlit night.

Standing by on 16