Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Delivery Day 22
Xtra-link finally entered Cape Town harbour at 22H57, three minutes ahead of our ETA, after almost exactly 22 days at sea.
We had a great passage across the Atlantic and once again must thank Xtra-link and Vizada for providing us with the tools to enable us to select a fast, yet safe and easy passage. The Fleet Broadband 250 is a fantastic tool for downloading detailed and up to date weather data at high speeds and the Isatphone provided cost effective and reliable voice communications. Xtra-link and Vizada also provided efficient service to back up the hardware.
With great access to weather data we were able to enjoy a great passage with winds generally aft of the beam and seldom over 15 knots. We had two brief squalls to 30 knots and only one really rainy day with some upwind sailing. With these conditions we were able to keep wear and tear to a minimum and after a good clean up it won't take much to get the boat ready for another long passage. Our only real problem was with the autopilot which stopped working early on.
The quick passage allowed us to get home in time for the Saturday wedding of Matt and Ali and then on Sunday we gave the boat an initial, quick clean and now she should be ready to race in the final Wednesday evening race of the the RCYC summer season tomorrow.
Thanks also to Dale, Ian, Hans, Leroy and Ruan for preparing the boat so well in Rio for crossing the ocean.
We had a great passage across the Atlantic and once again must thank Xtra-link and Vizada for providing us with the tools to enable us to select a fast, yet safe and easy passage. The Fleet Broadband 250 is a fantastic tool for downloading detailed and up to date weather data at high speeds and the Isatphone provided cost effective and reliable voice communications. Xtra-link and Vizada also provided efficient service to back up the hardware.
With great access to weather data we were able to enjoy a great passage with winds generally aft of the beam and seldom over 15 knots. We had two brief squalls to 30 knots and only one really rainy day with some upwind sailing. With these conditions we were able to keep wear and tear to a minimum and after a good clean up it won't take much to get the boat ready for another long passage. Our only real problem was with the autopilot which stopped working early on.
The quick passage allowed us to get home in time for the Saturday wedding of Matt and Ali and then on Sunday we gave the boat an initial, quick clean and now she should be ready to race in the final Wednesday evening race of the the RCYC summer season tomorrow.
Thanks also to Dale, Ian, Hans, Leroy and Ruan for preparing the boat so well in Rio for crossing the ocean.
Delivery Day 21-Almost there...
ETA still looks good for about 23H00 off the harbour entrance.
We have been making good speed all afternoon in a very comfortable sea. The visibility is a bit hazy so we can't see land clearly yet even though we are only about
23 miles off Hout Bay. You have to use your imagination a bit to make out any form to the land in this light.
A few hours ago we passed a tanker and an ore carrier. The latter was called the "Ore Goro". Both ships were westbound.
After that came the first signs of approaching land. First we saw a couple of Skuas. These birds are often found in the middle of the ocean and they will migrate thousands of miles from the Polar regions where they breed, but on this voyage these were the first ones we have seen.
Later we started to see flocks of Cape Gannets and then a lone Cape Fur Seal, sure signs that we must be approaching the Cape! There are also more and more kelp fronds floating in the water.
It will be sunset soon and then I expect we will see Slangkop light on the beam before we head around towards Camps Bay and on to Green Point and the harbour. Almost there...
Delivery Day 21
Just over 80 miles to go now. The GPS is giving us an ETA of 22H17 off the harbour entrance which would make it precisely 22 days, to the minute! That time is based on averaging our current speed for the rest of the way. Based on the latest forecast GRIB data the computer is giving an ETA of 23H14. My best guess is that we should be off the breakwater sometime before midnight and alongside soon after.
Yesterday we ran under the masthead asymmetric spinnaker in a SW breeze for a while but around midday the wind suddenly switched to SE and we were back to using the main and #4 jib. We motorsailed for a while in the afternoon in light and shifty winds but in the evening we got going again as the south easter began to build in force.
So far the bird life has remained much the same as the past couple of weeks, only the pelagic species are to be seen. As yet there is no hint of land anywhere other than a large piece of kelp which floated by.
A container ship crossed our bow this morning, eastbound.
Once again, a big thank you to Xtra-link and Vizada for making this voyage possible. It has been great using their equipment and services.
I will try to send one more updated ETA early this evening, otherwise we can be expected some time between about 22H00 and midnight.
Yesterday we ran under the masthead asymmetric spinnaker in a SW breeze for a while but around midday the wind suddenly switched to SE and we were back to using the main and #4 jib. We motorsailed for a while in the afternoon in light and shifty winds but in the evening we got going again as the south easter began to build in force.
So far the bird life has remained much the same as the past couple of weeks, only the pelagic species are to be seen. As yet there is no hint of land anywhere other than a large piece of kelp which floated by.
A container ship crossed our bow this morning, eastbound.
Once again, a big thank you to Xtra-link and Vizada for making this voyage possible. It has been great using their equipment and services.
I will try to send one more updated ETA early this evening, otherwise we can be expected some time between about 22H00 and midnight.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Deivery Day 20
Sunrise...
A pod of three Sperm whales break the surface near the boat. Their spouts glisten silver in the light of the rising sun.
On the starboard bow a Yellow-nosed albatross paces the boat, gliding serenely and slowly at deck level. Startled Flying fishes scatter across the sea ahead of us and behind us the Petrels weave and swoop in our wake.
Xtra-link is making good speed under masthead asymmetric spinnaker and full main. Another great day in a voyage that has not had more than one full day of rough weather.
There is a misconception that if the race to Rio is downwind and easy the return leg must be upwind and difficult. This is my 26th crossing of the Atlantic and experience has taught me some lessons about making easy, safe and fast passages.
Understanding the causes of the weather is obviously critical and what happens on the voyage from South America to Cape Town is directly affected by things that happen as far away as the Equator and the South Pole. I'm not talking about Zen and the beating of a butterfly's wings, but rather about how much affect the angle of the sun's rays has on the heating of the earth. At the Equator the sun's rays are almost perpendicular, causing the surrounding air to heat up intensely and start to rise into the typical thunder clouds of the Doldrums. At the South Pole the horizontal rays are dissipated through the atmosphere and the cold air sinks to the surface of the Antarctic continent. As the Equatorial air rises it cools and also starts to sink, gradually settling back down somewhere near 30* South. As it settles to the surface the rotation of the earth causes this air to start spinning in an anticlockwise direction, giving the South easters which are common at the start of the Cape to Rio race, the easterly winds that develop in the middle portion of the race and the north easters that are often experienced near the coast of Brazil. As these winds revolve around the centre of the high pressure they begin to warm up again and some return to the Equator to begin the cycle once more, but the rest of the air continues southwards like a great, invisible, rolling wave, hundreds of kilometres across and with an enormous mass. Meanwhile the cold air over the high Antarctic plateau continues to cool and starts to tumble down toward the sea like a mighty avalanche, hitting the coast with fearsome katabatic winds. This avalanche of cold air then continues northwards, rolling and swirling like a tsunami until it collides with the warm air from the north and both air masses start to revolve clockwise around each other in the southern ocean, like two wrestlers looking for each other's weaknesses. The warm, rolling air from the north is what we look for to push us along, smoothly and fast across the Atlantic. Running in the pre-frontal conditions is like surfing a massive wave of air. It is clean, pure sailing, but in the back of your mind you are always aware that the wave is eventually going to break and you are going to fall off. The passage of the cold front, when the cold Antarctic air finally catches you, is like the breaking of the wave, and all of a sudden the wind goes crazy, swirling around and gusting manically, driving rain into your face and spray across the boat.
Pre-departure passage planning, reading such excellent books as Ocean Passages for the World (first published in the 1800s but still highly relevant today), and studying the latest satellite imagery from sources such as ASCAT and EUMETSAT, can be likened to sitting on the beach and studying the set of the waves, learning what has been before and what the present patterns might hold for the future. At sea we analyse the forecast data and run the GRIB files through sophisticated routing data to help us decide the best route through the tumultuous waves of the Antarctic and Tropical air masses. Like the surfer riding his board and watching and waiting for the right ride, we constantly assess how we are performing as we ride the wave of air, and always think of the best position to be in when the wave suddenly does crash over us. We don't want to be too far north, otherwise we never catch the wave and are constantly frustrated by the calms and light headwinds.
But too far south and the power of the crashing wave can be devastating. The old sailors on the clipper ships had a saying referring to the ferocity of the southern
storms: "Below 40 degress south there is no Law and below 50 degrees south there is no God". Our passage homewards has kept us on the side of the Law and of the gods but taken us far enough south that we have had a good ride on the wave of air, which has pushed us further and faster than the boats that remained to the north of our track.
We now have 230 miles remaining to get to Cape Town so hope to be alongside by midnight tomorrow. I will give a more precise ETA before mid-afternoon tomorrow. At the moment we are motorsailing slowly while waiting for the final south easter to build up this evening.
Once we are home Phillippa and I will be back to preparing our boat, Phesheya-Racing, to compete in the Global Ocean Race in September. By completing the Global Ocean Race we will become the first South African team to complete a double-handed race around the world, and the first South African boat to complete a racing circumnavigation in 13 years. For more details about our campaign keep an eye on our website: www.phesheya-racing.com where you can also join our Facebook page.
A pod of three Sperm whales break the surface near the boat. Their spouts glisten silver in the light of the rising sun.
On the starboard bow a Yellow-nosed albatross paces the boat, gliding serenely and slowly at deck level. Startled Flying fishes scatter across the sea ahead of us and behind us the Petrels weave and swoop in our wake.
Xtra-link is making good speed under masthead asymmetric spinnaker and full main. Another great day in a voyage that has not had more than one full day of rough weather.
There is a misconception that if the race to Rio is downwind and easy the return leg must be upwind and difficult. This is my 26th crossing of the Atlantic and experience has taught me some lessons about making easy, safe and fast passages.
Understanding the causes of the weather is obviously critical and what happens on the voyage from South America to Cape Town is directly affected by things that happen as far away as the Equator and the South Pole. I'm not talking about Zen and the beating of a butterfly's wings, but rather about how much affect the angle of the sun's rays has on the heating of the earth. At the Equator the sun's rays are almost perpendicular, causing the surrounding air to heat up intensely and start to rise into the typical thunder clouds of the Doldrums. At the South Pole the horizontal rays are dissipated through the atmosphere and the cold air sinks to the surface of the Antarctic continent. As the Equatorial air rises it cools and also starts to sink, gradually settling back down somewhere near 30* South. As it settles to the surface the rotation of the earth causes this air to start spinning in an anticlockwise direction, giving the South easters which are common at the start of the Cape to Rio race, the easterly winds that develop in the middle portion of the race and the north easters that are often experienced near the coast of Brazil. As these winds revolve around the centre of the high pressure they begin to warm up again and some return to the Equator to begin the cycle once more, but the rest of the air continues southwards like a great, invisible, rolling wave, hundreds of kilometres across and with an enormous mass. Meanwhile the cold air over the high Antarctic plateau continues to cool and starts to tumble down toward the sea like a mighty avalanche, hitting the coast with fearsome katabatic winds. This avalanche of cold air then continues northwards, rolling and swirling like a tsunami until it collides with the warm air from the north and both air masses start to revolve clockwise around each other in the southern ocean, like two wrestlers looking for each other's weaknesses. The warm, rolling air from the north is what we look for to push us along, smoothly and fast across the Atlantic. Running in the pre-frontal conditions is like surfing a massive wave of air. It is clean, pure sailing, but in the back of your mind you are always aware that the wave is eventually going to break and you are going to fall off. The passage of the cold front, when the cold Antarctic air finally catches you, is like the breaking of the wave, and all of a sudden the wind goes crazy, swirling around and gusting manically, driving rain into your face and spray across the boat.
Pre-departure passage planning, reading such excellent books as Ocean Passages for the World (first published in the 1800s but still highly relevant today), and studying the latest satellite imagery from sources such as ASCAT and EUMETSAT, can be likened to sitting on the beach and studying the set of the waves, learning what has been before and what the present patterns might hold for the future. At sea we analyse the forecast data and run the GRIB files through sophisticated routing data to help us decide the best route through the tumultuous waves of the Antarctic and Tropical air masses. Like the surfer riding his board and watching and waiting for the right ride, we constantly assess how we are performing as we ride the wave of air, and always think of the best position to be in when the wave suddenly does crash over us. We don't want to be too far north, otherwise we never catch the wave and are constantly frustrated by the calms and light headwinds.
But too far south and the power of the crashing wave can be devastating. The old sailors on the clipper ships had a saying referring to the ferocity of the southern
storms: "Below 40 degress south there is no Law and below 50 degrees south there is no God". Our passage homewards has kept us on the side of the Law and of the gods but taken us far enough south that we have had a good ride on the wave of air, which has pushed us further and faster than the boats that remained to the north of our track.
We now have 230 miles remaining to get to Cape Town so hope to be alongside by midnight tomorrow. I will give a more precise ETA before mid-afternoon tomorrow. At the moment we are motorsailing slowly while waiting for the final south easter to build up this evening.
Once we are home Phillippa and I will be back to preparing our boat, Phesheya-Racing, to compete in the Global Ocean Race in September. By completing the Global Ocean Race we will become the first South African team to complete a double-handed race around the world, and the first South African boat to complete a racing circumnavigation in 13 years. For more details about our campaign keep an eye on our website: www.phesheya-racing.com where you can also join our Facebook page.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Delivery Day 19
At this stage of the trip one always begins to wonder if you have enough food left and if you'll make it to your final destination without rationing! Galley provisioning can be fun and can be an absolute headache. Shopping for 3 weeks in one day for 2 or even 6 of you is not easy. Provisioning a boat is not always easy as often you are in a foreign country and there is a language barrier. To me the pictures on the cans or boxes are the biggest help and if you can get by with one or two words you are often OK. But there are some words or abbreviations that are the same. Going to sea is all about preparation and how you enjoy your time at sea often depends on what you eat. So I thought I'd give you a little insight as to what I normally do:
My biggest concern is to always have enough water. Water is a key part of your day. Drinking enough water affects your moods and your bowl movements. This is critical when spending a long time at sea in confined spaces. When push comes to shove at sea you can cook and clean with salt water but you still need to drink fresh water.
In the ISAF regulations for ocean racing there are some very good guidelines on how much water to take with you. It is well worth reading on their website. This includes whether or not you have a water maker.
Food, my next concern.
Breakfast is a very important part of your day at home but when you are at sea it can be so easily forgotten. Breakfast is a simple meal, open a can of fruit, muesli and UHT milk or make up some oats if it’s cold. Oats are slow releasing energy so if it’s cold or you are beating into big waves and you need a boost from a busy night, oats with dried fruit and honey are what you need. Make your oats with powdered milk, no one will ever know the difference. I premix my instant oats with powdered milk, cranberries (helps with digestion), raisins and sugar and divide it into portions before I leave the dock.
Lunch and Dinner!
On board Xtra-link Nick and I have been eating what I call one pot meals. As there are only two of us on board and we have no auto-pilot this makes life a lot easier.
My pot often starts with frying an onion with garlic and olive oil. I often start preparing a meal like this because Olive Oil also helps with your bowl movements, and often prevents or cures constipation. Then I normally add a stock cube, rice or pasta and water. From here the meal can turn into almost anything. Yesterday I made rice with beans, salami, peas in a tomato sauce. It was kind of like eating Feijoada, the Brazilian dish, just modified. On board Xtra-Link I have been making enough food for two or three meals in one go, then there is food to snack on during the night rather than sweets and biscuits.
Fresh ingredients are often kept to a limit. I always take lots of apples, onions, garlic, lemon or limes, and some fresh vegetables for the first few days. Nick and I often fish at sea and have been pretty good at it in the past. However on this trip with no auto-pilot we have chosen not to make life too complicated and not to fish.
This is a bit different to Nick and my normal way at sea. When we are racing we eat freeze dry or ready meals. Freeze dry is simple, just add hot water to the powdered food, wait 7 minutes and you food is ready. Ready meals are prepared and then vacuum packed. All we have to do is leave the sachet of food in boiling water for 7 minutes, then tear the foiled pack open, add Tabasco and olive oil and eat! They are both quite tasty meals and very easy. The bonus of this system is you don't need to cook it, use fresh water, think about it or worry you've got all the ingredients. Its all in the packet and there is no washing up.
There are a few things that I never leave the dock without such as: Tabasco sauce, tea, chocolate, apples and UHT milk. In Brazil before this trip I bought a couple of boxes of UHT milk and for some reason it has been going off far faster than normal. This is why I normally carry some powdered milk but I forgot this time. So we have rationed it out a bit and yesterday we had our last cup of tea due to no more milk. Other than that we still have enough food but we are looking forward to a decent meal on Friday evening.
My biggest concern is to always have enough water. Water is a key part of your day. Drinking enough water affects your moods and your bowl movements. This is critical when spending a long time at sea in confined spaces. When push comes to shove at sea you can cook and clean with salt water but you still need to drink fresh water.
In the ISAF regulations for ocean racing there are some very good guidelines on how much water to take with you. It is well worth reading on their website. This includes whether or not you have a water maker.
Food, my next concern.
Breakfast is a very important part of your day at home but when you are at sea it can be so easily forgotten. Breakfast is a simple meal, open a can of fruit, muesli and UHT milk or make up some oats if it’s cold. Oats are slow releasing energy so if it’s cold or you are beating into big waves and you need a boost from a busy night, oats with dried fruit and honey are what you need. Make your oats with powdered milk, no one will ever know the difference. I premix my instant oats with powdered milk, cranberries (helps with digestion), raisins and sugar and divide it into portions before I leave the dock.
Lunch and Dinner!
On board Xtra-link Nick and I have been eating what I call one pot meals. As there are only two of us on board and we have no auto-pilot this makes life a lot easier.
My pot often starts with frying an onion with garlic and olive oil. I often start preparing a meal like this because Olive Oil also helps with your bowl movements, and often prevents or cures constipation. Then I normally add a stock cube, rice or pasta and water. From here the meal can turn into almost anything. Yesterday I made rice with beans, salami, peas in a tomato sauce. It was kind of like eating Feijoada, the Brazilian dish, just modified. On board Xtra-Link I have been making enough food for two or three meals in one go, then there is food to snack on during the night rather than sweets and biscuits.
Fresh ingredients are often kept to a limit. I always take lots of apples, onions, garlic, lemon or limes, and some fresh vegetables for the first few days. Nick and I often fish at sea and have been pretty good at it in the past. However on this trip with no auto-pilot we have chosen not to make life too complicated and not to fish.
This is a bit different to Nick and my normal way at sea. When we are racing we eat freeze dry or ready meals. Freeze dry is simple, just add hot water to the powdered food, wait 7 minutes and you food is ready. Ready meals are prepared and then vacuum packed. All we have to do is leave the sachet of food in boiling water for 7 minutes, then tear the foiled pack open, add Tabasco and olive oil and eat! They are both quite tasty meals and very easy. The bonus of this system is you don't need to cook it, use fresh water, think about it or worry you've got all the ingredients. Its all in the packet and there is no washing up.
There are a few things that I never leave the dock without such as: Tabasco sauce, tea, chocolate, apples and UHT milk. In Brazil before this trip I bought a couple of boxes of UHT milk and for some reason it has been going off far faster than normal. This is why I normally carry some powdered milk but I forgot this time. So we have rationed it out a bit and yesterday we had our last cup of tea due to no more milk. Other than that we still have enough food but we are looking forward to a decent meal on Friday evening.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Delivery Day 18
"One and in" is an expression often heard from the navigator or tactician on racing boats as they sail around the buoys in the bay. By this they mean that the boat is approaching the layline to do one final gybe or tack and then head in towards the buoy or finish line.
We are now about 550 miles from Cape Town and looking at the latest weather forecast I almost feel confident to call "one and in" for the final manoeuvre of the voyage, even from this distance offshore. The big high pressure that has been blocking the frontal system that we have been tracking for the past week, has finally relented and the front passed over us this morning. The sudden dissipation of the high also effectively released all the energy of the low so when the front passed over it was marked by some scattered drizzle and a wind shift to the NNW followed by some brilliant warm sunshine. With that weather picture out of the way we are now faced with a new high moving in from the NW which will cause the wind to continue to back until we have to gybe sometime around midnight tonight. After that it should be a simple matter of riding the southerly winds created by the pressure gradient all the way to Cape Town. One small hitch in the plan is that the centre of the high with its attendant light winds is forecast to pass very close to us tomorrow night, so we need to think how best to deal with that. All in good time. ETA remains Friday evening but may be a bit later if the high passes too close to us...
Today we changed time zones yet again. In theory this should be our final change as the next zone runs from 22 1/2 East but South Africa has standardised time throughout the country as UT+2 even though Cape Town is on around 18 East. 22 1/2 East runs pretty much through George, so the majority of the country, certainly the majority of the population, live in the "correct" time zone and it is only the Western Cape that is a bit out of synch. So we will probably run on UT+1 until we sight land and then adjust our watches to arrive home at the "right" time.
Our sail-tie "autopilot" worked brilliantly for about 24 hours, letting us get some relaxing time in, but as the front came over and the wind shifted behind us the apparent wind no longer creates sufficient pressure to overcome the forces of the waves with the helm lashed down and we have had to resort to hand steering again.
Anyway it is no hardship as the weather now is brilliant and the boat is cruising along nicely.
Wildlife has been surprisingly minimal today. Not sure why. A few Petrels and Shearwaters in the distance and one rather lonely looking Flying fish, but otherwise nothing.
We are now about 550 miles from Cape Town and looking at the latest weather forecast I almost feel confident to call "one and in" for the final manoeuvre of the voyage, even from this distance offshore. The big high pressure that has been blocking the frontal system that we have been tracking for the past week, has finally relented and the front passed over us this morning. The sudden dissipation of the high also effectively released all the energy of the low so when the front passed over it was marked by some scattered drizzle and a wind shift to the NNW followed by some brilliant warm sunshine. With that weather picture out of the way we are now faced with a new high moving in from the NW which will cause the wind to continue to back until we have to gybe sometime around midnight tonight. After that it should be a simple matter of riding the southerly winds created by the pressure gradient all the way to Cape Town. One small hitch in the plan is that the centre of the high with its attendant light winds is forecast to pass very close to us tomorrow night, so we need to think how best to deal with that. All in good time. ETA remains Friday evening but may be a bit later if the high passes too close to us...
Today we changed time zones yet again. In theory this should be our final change as the next zone runs from 22 1/2 East but South Africa has standardised time throughout the country as UT+2 even though Cape Town is on around 18 East. 22 1/2 East runs pretty much through George, so the majority of the country, certainly the majority of the population, live in the "correct" time zone and it is only the Western Cape that is a bit out of synch. So we will probably run on UT+1 until we sight land and then adjust our watches to arrive home at the "right" time.
Our sail-tie "autopilot" worked brilliantly for about 24 hours, letting us get some relaxing time in, but as the front came over and the wind shifted behind us the apparent wind no longer creates sufficient pressure to overcome the forces of the waves with the helm lashed down and we have had to resort to hand steering again.
Anyway it is no hardship as the weather now is brilliant and the boat is cruising along nicely.
Wildlife has been surprisingly minimal today. Not sure why. A few Petrels and Shearwaters in the distance and one rather lonely looking Flying fish, but otherwise nothing.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Delivery Day 17
Today has been quite uneventful but thankfully the steady winds have allowed us to lash the helm with a sail-tie and get the boat to self-steer for a while. It has been over an hour since we have touched the wheel, which is a great relief 15 days after the autopilot motor burned out! The wind is forecast to back overnight so that by tomorrow we should be reaching or running and the sail-tie trick will no longer work in those conditions, but while we are beating we are making the most of it!
Yesterday the wind was a very steady 14 or 15 knots which gradually veered from NNE to NE overnight. This put us on an upwind heading but as the conditions are mild and we know that the wind is set to back again all the way through N to W and then SW very soon, we are taking this temporary beat in our stride.
The night was completely overcast and by 03H00 the wind had dropped to under 10 knots. Phillippa shook out the reef before waking me at sunrise.
It was during my morning watch that I noticed that the full sail combination upwind gave a very steady feel to the helm so I quickly lashed the wheel and have since left the boat to fend for itself. We have been making a really good course and speed since then!
The wind is back up to 14 or 15 knots again and is still in the NE but ahead of us is a clear patch of sky which may herald the centre line of the high pressure ridge and the beginning of the backing wind. After that we expect reaching and running conditions all the way to Cape Town, but with a possibility of one or two light weather patches that could still mess with our schedule. ETA is still Friday evening.
Sea life has remained consistent for the past few days. One new visitor not yet mentioned is a Sooty albatross, an almost uniformly dark coloured version of these birds. The Sooty albatross comes in two varieties, the Light-mantled and the Dark-mantled. It can be difficult to tell them apart at sea.
Yesterday the wind was a very steady 14 or 15 knots which gradually veered from NNE to NE overnight. This put us on an upwind heading but as the conditions are mild and we know that the wind is set to back again all the way through N to W and then SW very soon, we are taking this temporary beat in our stride.
The night was completely overcast and by 03H00 the wind had dropped to under 10 knots. Phillippa shook out the reef before waking me at sunrise.
It was during my morning watch that I noticed that the full sail combination upwind gave a very steady feel to the helm so I quickly lashed the wheel and have since left the boat to fend for itself. We have been making a really good course and speed since then!
The wind is back up to 14 or 15 knots again and is still in the NE but ahead of us is a clear patch of sky which may herald the centre line of the high pressure ridge and the beginning of the backing wind. After that we expect reaching and running conditions all the way to Cape Town, but with a possibility of one or two light weather patches that could still mess with our schedule. ETA is still Friday evening.
Sea life has remained consistent for the past few days. One new visitor not yet mentioned is a Sooty albatross, an almost uniformly dark coloured version of these birds. The Sooty albatross comes in two varieties, the Light-mantled and the Dark-mantled. It can be difficult to tell them apart at sea.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Delivery Day 16
37*36 S 000*55 E. We crossed the Greenwich Meridian at about 06H00 this morning and are finally back in the Eastern hemisphere.
Bright sunshine, a moderate NNE breeze, a long, rolling swell from the west and U2's "Beautiful Day" at full volume - what more could you want? Well U2 at full volume seemed to finally attract all the Albatrosses in the area with several Yellow-nosed and Black-browed albatrosses showing up soon after day break. Later Phillippa reported seeing the first Wandering albatross of the voyage, a huge adult specimen. I missed it but later saw a juvenile, which differs only in colouring from the adult but which is equally massive. These birds have the greatest wingspan of any flying bird in the world, exceeding the beam of this boat! Perhaps only the Condor can come close to being as impressive as one of these gliding giants. The Wandering albatross literally spend years at sea and circumnavigate the globe, never needing to return to land after they fledge. They only return when they are ready to breed and then they return to the exact same nesting site that they were born in. They nest on several of the sub-Antarctic islands and two years ago Phillippa and I were privileged to get up close to a nesting colony when we stopped at Crozet Island, en route from Cape Town to New Zealand. Today's picture is of a Yellow-nosed albatross, a considerably smaller species, but nonetheless a still impressive bird.
We are starting to see more varieties of Petrels and Shearwaters but I must admit that except for a few obviously marked species, I am a bit weak on identifying these birds, so won't try it here!
Yesterday we saw two fishing vessels in the distance. They were very far away but appeared to be the Oriental type that often call in to Cape Town for servicing.
I'm not sure what they are looking for down here but suspect they may be after Patagonian Toothfish, which gets amazing prices in Japan.
ETA is still Friday evening / Saturday morning. The latest GRIB data shows steady NNE winds on the top of a high pressure for about the next 48 hours. After that we have a bit of tricky navigation to avoid the calms at the centre of the high, but if we are successful the wind should back into the SW and later the SE, giving us good downwind conditions to Cape Town. Friday looks like strong SE winds at the Cape, so we will have to watch the final approach carefully. If we are delayed at all we may have to contend with a developing coastal low on arrival. Anyway, let's not get ahead of ourselves, we still need to negotiate this high.
Bright sunshine, a moderate NNE breeze, a long, rolling swell from the west and U2's "Beautiful Day" at full volume - what more could you want? Well U2 at full volume seemed to finally attract all the Albatrosses in the area with several Yellow-nosed and Black-browed albatrosses showing up soon after day break. Later Phillippa reported seeing the first Wandering albatross of the voyage, a huge adult specimen. I missed it but later saw a juvenile, which differs only in colouring from the adult but which is equally massive. These birds have the greatest wingspan of any flying bird in the world, exceeding the beam of this boat! Perhaps only the Condor can come close to being as impressive as one of these gliding giants. The Wandering albatross literally spend years at sea and circumnavigate the globe, never needing to return to land after they fledge. They only return when they are ready to breed and then they return to the exact same nesting site that they were born in. They nest on several of the sub-Antarctic islands and two years ago Phillippa and I were privileged to get up close to a nesting colony when we stopped at Crozet Island, en route from Cape Town to New Zealand. Today's picture is of a Yellow-nosed albatross, a considerably smaller species, but nonetheless a still impressive bird.
We are starting to see more varieties of Petrels and Shearwaters but I must admit that except for a few obviously marked species, I am a bit weak on identifying these birds, so won't try it here!
Yesterday we saw two fishing vessels in the distance. They were very far away but appeared to be the Oriental type that often call in to Cape Town for servicing.
I'm not sure what they are looking for down here but suspect they may be after Patagonian Toothfish, which gets amazing prices in Japan.
ETA is still Friday evening / Saturday morning. The latest GRIB data shows steady NNE winds on the top of a high pressure for about the next 48 hours. After that we have a bit of tricky navigation to avoid the calms at the centre of the high, but if we are successful the wind should back into the SW and later the SE, giving us good downwind conditions to Cape Town. Friday looks like strong SE winds at the Cape, so we will have to watch the final approach carefully. If we are delayed at all we may have to contend with a developing coastal low on arrival. Anyway, let's not get ahead of ourselves, we still need to negotiate this high.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Delivery Day 15
It was with a lot of concern that we heard this morning that "City of Cape Town" was rolled yesterday and lost her rig, and that "Yachtport SA" broke her boom. Other than that we have little information so we hope all the guys aboard the two boats are OK. Apparently they are about 800 miles behind us and looking at the GRIB files it looks as if they must be in the worst of the weather being thrown out by the low pressure system that we are riding ahead of.
In my blog on the 22nd I mentioned that we were altering course to the north east in order to position ourselves in the optimum position for when this low pressure system arrives with its attendant gales. By the 24th it appeared that the low was being blocked by the high to the south west of Cape Town and this had slowed its forward progress but also caused it to intensify. Luckily for us our move to the north east now seems to have placed us in a steady northerly airflow which is carrying us at a good pace towards the Cape and allowing us to remain north of the low pressure. Obviously having heard of the trouble the guys are experiencing behind us we are re-evaluating our position very carefully but for now we feel confident that we are well placed where we are. At the moment we are broad reaching in great surfing conditions under reefed main and #4 jib with a nice warm breeze and partly cloudy skies.
This is perhaps an opportune time to thank our technical partners who give us the tools to help us make our routing decisions: Vizada and Xtra-link have provided the hardware, software and airtime that enable us to download high resolution, up to date, weather GRIB files, and Adrena has provided the routing software that enables us to analyse different scenarios accurately and quickly.
Of course, even with the technical back up we are still watching our backs carefully. Mid-Atlantic is not a place to get complacent about.
At the moment the Adrena software is giving us and ETA of 00H30 on 5 March but that should be taken with a pinch of salt when we still have over 1000 miles to go.
Delivery Day 14
This morning I was on the helm, minding my own business and enjoying some pleasant, fast, reaching conditions, when I became aware of a very large, dark shape alongside the boat. Suddenly a massive shark materialized just a few metres away! Judging by the tail fin I guessed it to be a Thresher shark, though I must check my reference books when I get home. A nice bit of excitement for the morning and a very rare sight in the wild.
A little later and the clouds closed in, bringing rain and strong gusts of wind, so we changed down to the 2nd reef for the first time on this trip. As I write the squalls have passed over and the wind is moderating again, so no doubt we will soon go back to 1 reef in the main. We had our best 24 hour run of the voyage, so far, clocking up 205 miles yesterday. The forecast looks good for the next few days ahead, too.
We have now crossed 7 1/2 degrees West so changed our watches again, this time to UT (+0). To the cognoscenti of time zones, and particularly the military, this is known as Zulu Time, a phrase a lot of people will know from watching American action movies. Most people will know their home time as, for example: SAST (South African Standard Time = UT+2), CET (Central European Time), etc, but for international standardisation the time zones are also named after the phonetic letters of the alphabet, but with Zulu rather bizarrely being the prime time zone. Alpha is the next one to the east, Bravo the one after that (which includes SAST), etc, but omitting India and Oscar, which can be confused with 1 and 0.
Thanks to all those who sent in birthday greetings yesterday. We had a great day onboard. The evening was perfect, too, with a bright moon from about midnight but a heavy dew fall on deck, making everything very damp.
A little later and the clouds closed in, bringing rain and strong gusts of wind, so we changed down to the 2nd reef for the first time on this trip. As I write the squalls have passed over and the wind is moderating again, so no doubt we will soon go back to 1 reef in the main. We had our best 24 hour run of the voyage, so far, clocking up 205 miles yesterday. The forecast looks good for the next few days ahead, too.
We have now crossed 7 1/2 degrees West so changed our watches again, this time to UT (+0). To the cognoscenti of time zones, and particularly the military, this is known as Zulu Time, a phrase a lot of people will know from watching American action movies. Most people will know their home time as, for example: SAST (South African Standard Time = UT+2), CET (Central European Time), etc, but for international standardisation the time zones are also named after the phonetic letters of the alphabet, but with Zulu rather bizarrely being the prime time zone. Alpha is the next one to the east, Bravo the one after that (which includes SAST), etc, but omitting India and Oscar, which can be confused with 1 and 0.
Thanks to all those who sent in birthday greetings yesterday. We had a great day onboard. The evening was perfect, too, with a bright moon from about midnight but a heavy dew fall on deck, making everything very damp.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Delivery day 13
As today is a special day on board, I decided that I would write the blog and give the birthday boy a rest.
I went on watch around 9 o'clock last night to a rather dark evening at sea. There was almost no wind so we were motor sailing under the Milky Way in large swells. A short while later the moon rose on our bow. The moon is now 1/2 full but still very bright. A meteor came streaming through the earth's atmosphere and lit everything up for a brief moment, only to notice that we had company sitting on our bottom spreader. As I veered up and down the waves the poor bird kept loosing her balance and extended her wings to help her stay on the spreader. By the shape of the wings I thought that the bird might be a tern. So I called Nick, the 'bird expert', to get a better opinion. At first he also thought it was a tern. He then go a big spot light and discovered that it was a Brown Noddy Bird. There are 3 different types of Noddy birds with the brown Noddy birds breeding on Ascension Island. Noddy birds don't migrate or normally travel far and this one just looked exhausted. Nick and I hoisted the jib and continued to sail. This did not bother the Noddy Bird at all. She flew off and came and sat on the radar dome for over 5 hours. Nick said that he has seen Noddy birds sit on boats before so this was quite normal.
By mid-morning we had about 14 knots of wind and were beam reaching. The sun was out and this was a great time to celebrate Nick's Birthday with a slice of fruit cake and a cup of tea.
Although we are some 180 miles north east of Tristan da Cunha now, we have started to see lots of kelp floating in the water. We are now sailing between the loose floating kelp in the sunshine. We are sailing a bit deeper on a course of 113 true. We saw a fully loaded container ship that passed to starboard of us so we must still be near the great circle route.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Delivery Day 12
Yesterday evening the wind began to moderate and we had some pleasant reaching conditions through the night. A ship passed us to port soon after midnight. It was a long way off but heading in the same direction as us. The skies began to clear later in the night and we enjoyed the light of the waning moon and the bright light from Venus rising in the east before dawn.
Today we have had very light winds and even motored for a couple of hours. It seems the next low pressure is taking a bit more time than forecast to arrive and will only now start to effect us from the 25th.
In the light winds we are enjoying the opportunity to rest, eat and watch the wildlife. Today's wildlife tally includes the usual Petrels and Shearwaters as well as a couple of Yellow-nosed / Grey-headed Albatrosses.
As far as catering is concerned, we normally begin the day with a can of fruit. We bought lots of muesli and oats in Rio but for some reason have been struggling to keep the UHT milk from going off so we are saving the last couple of litres for the end of the voyage. Around midday Phillippa usually makes a large main meal, enough to last for lunch and supper and still have a bit left over to snack on through the night. All the cooking is done in one big pot and will normally have a base of rice / pasta / couscous / noodles and then she adds some olives or vegetables from a can or Tetra-pack / instant sauce / chopped up salami / tuna, etc, to give it some flavour. Xtra-link has a big galley which includes a gas oven / stove, fridge and sink. As we are sailing double handed and having to helm all the way it is best to keep the meals simple and quick to make so we haven't been using the oven or doing anything fancy.
Today we have had very light winds and even motored for a couple of hours. It seems the next low pressure is taking a bit more time than forecast to arrive and will only now start to effect us from the 25th.
In the light winds we are enjoying the opportunity to rest, eat and watch the wildlife. Today's wildlife tally includes the usual Petrels and Shearwaters as well as a couple of Yellow-nosed / Grey-headed Albatrosses.
As far as catering is concerned, we normally begin the day with a can of fruit. We bought lots of muesli and oats in Rio but for some reason have been struggling to keep the UHT milk from going off so we are saving the last couple of litres for the end of the voyage. Around midday Phillippa usually makes a large main meal, enough to last for lunch and supper and still have a bit left over to snack on through the night. All the cooking is done in one big pot and will normally have a base of rice / pasta / couscous / noodles and then she adds some olives or vegetables from a can or Tetra-pack / instant sauce / chopped up salami / tuna, etc, to give it some flavour. Xtra-link has a big galley which includes a gas oven / stove, fridge and sink. As we are sailing double handed and having to helm all the way it is best to keep the meals simple and quick to make so we haven't been using the oven or doing anything fancy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Delivery Day 11
Conditions have remained character building over the past 24 hours and in the light of the morning we noticed that there were problems with 4 of the mainsail luff slides. At the time the wind was blowing over 20 knots on the beam with rough seas but we thought it prudent to attempt a repair ASAP. Bearing in mind that there are only two of us onboard (Pippa Potamus was sleeping at the time), and the auto pilot is not working we felt we did a good job in dropping the mainsail, removing it entirely from the mast, replacing the webbing on the two headboard slides, replacing the entire next slide down, replacing the webbing on the longest batten slide, refitting the sail and rehoisting it, all in under one hour :) At the time we continued to sail under the #4 jib only and still made 6.5 knots on a direct course towards Cape Town. We are feeling quite pleased with ourselves today.
At the moment we are heading a bit towards the north east in order to position ourselved in the optimum position for when the next front arrives sometime on the 24th.
It is forecast to have gale force winds so we want to be careful of how we navigate around it.
We saw another whale yesterday and today there have been several Albatrosses flying around. As we have moved a bit north again the Flying fishes have also returned in force and between them, the Albatrosses, Petrels, Storm-petrels and Shearwaters we will soon be needing air traffic control around here.
Today we crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge, where the sea is less than 2 000 metres deep, but as we continue our way eastwards it is again getting deeper and will soon be over 4 000 metres again. When I last checked a few minutes ago we were 69 miles short of the halfway mark.
At the moment we are heading a bit towards the north east in order to position ourselved in the optimum position for when the next front arrives sometime on the 24th.
It is forecast to have gale force winds so we want to be careful of how we navigate around it.
We saw another whale yesterday and today there have been several Albatrosses flying around. As we have moved a bit north again the Flying fishes have also returned in force and between them, the Albatrosses, Petrels, Storm-petrels and Shearwaters we will soon be needing air traffic control around here.
Today we crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge, where the sea is less than 2 000 metres deep, but as we continue our way eastwards it is again getting deeper and will soon be over 4 000 metres again. When I last checked a few minutes ago we were 69 miles short of the halfway mark.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Delivery Day 10
After the excellent sailing of yesterday morning it was certain that we would have to pay for it sooner or later, and sure enough, by evening we were reefing the mainsail ahead of a torrential rain squall. After the squall passed there were some breaks in the cloud to relieve the darkness but the wind was quite frustrating, being very shifty and gusty, on top of the fact that the boat was rolling heavily in the confused wave patterns left by the shifting winds. At 02H00 another rain front passed over but by morning we were sailing slowly in lumpy seas again. The sky was completely overcast. We gybed as the wind backed from NW to SW with the main front passing over us with yet more rain at about sunrise. Behind the front the wind went very light and we shook out the reef. By mid-morning we were completely becalmed under a grey sky so motorsailed for about an hour before the wind suddenly shifted to the east and it began to drizzle again. Since then we have had torrential rain interspersed with continuous drizzle and winds that have backed and veered from east to south to north, necessitating several tacks and gybes. As I write it is still drizzling and there is a light easterly wind blowing.
As you can see from today's picture, the variable conditions have kept us all busy and even Pippa Potamus has been called on deck to help pull ropes!
After all my grumbling about the weather we did have one highlight to the day...seeing our first Albatross of the voyage. These huge birds are always a fantastic sight to see regardless of the prevailing weather conditions! I think this one was a Black-browed albatross, so not nearly as big as the famous Wandering albatross, but nonetheless an amazing bird to see.
Our position today is 35*26 S 019*33 W.
As you can see from today's picture, the variable conditions have kept us all busy and even Pippa Potamus has been called on deck to help pull ropes!
After all my grumbling about the weather we did have one highlight to the day...seeing our first Albatross of the voyage. These huge birds are always a fantastic sight to see regardless of the prevailing weather conditions! I think this one was a Black-browed albatross, so not nearly as big as the famous Wandering albatross, but nonetheless an amazing bird to see.
Our position today is 35*26 S 019*33 W.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Delivery Day 9
Last night was very slow going as we finally worked our way through the ridge of high pressure. This morning we have had some glorious, fast reaching in warm sunshine with a building northerly breeze. Next we anticipate the arrival of a cold front with strong northwesters and rain, but at least it will push us in the right direction. As I write this we have 2002 miles left to go, roughly the equivalent of racing around Britain and Ireland, which Phillippa and I did twice last year on our own boat, Phesheya-Racing. We completed those races in just over 10 days, so bearing in mind that this is a delivery on a slower boat I guess we have about 14 days left to Cape Town.
Today we changed time zones from UT-2 to UT-1. Our daily routine onboard is based around local time so between 18H00 and 06H00 we alternate 3 hour night watches, and in the day time we do 4 hour watches. This gives us a rotating system so that we are not always on watch at the same time every day but it does mean that we have to adjust our clocks occasionally. UT (Universal Time) is basically a new name for GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), which was the time based on the mean, or average, time that it took for the earth to rotate so that the sun was directly overhead on the Greenwich Meridian. Of course the average time is 24 hours, but it varies considerably through the year. As the earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours the times of sunrise and sunset vary by 1 hour for every 15 degrees that one travels east or west (360/24=15), so every 15 degrees we sail we adjust our onboard time by 1 hour to stay in sync with the sun. The Greenwich Meridian is regarded as the central meridian of UT, so the boundaries of UT run from 7 1/2 W to 7 1/2 E. UT-1 covers the next 15 degrees, from 7 1/2 W to 22 1/2 W, which is where we are now.
No ships to be seen in the past 24 hours and sea life remains much the same as the past few days, though noticeably fewer Flying fishes.
Today we changed time zones from UT-2 to UT-1. Our daily routine onboard is based around local time so between 18H00 and 06H00 we alternate 3 hour night watches, and in the day time we do 4 hour watches. This gives us a rotating system so that we are not always on watch at the same time every day but it does mean that we have to adjust our clocks occasionally. UT (Universal Time) is basically a new name for GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), which was the time based on the mean, or average, time that it took for the earth to rotate so that the sun was directly overhead on the Greenwich Meridian. Of course the average time is 24 hours, but it varies considerably through the year. As the earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours the times of sunrise and sunset vary by 1 hour for every 15 degrees that one travels east or west (360/24=15), so every 15 degrees we sail we adjust our onboard time by 1 hour to stay in sync with the sun. The Greenwich Meridian is regarded as the central meridian of UT, so the boundaries of UT run from 7 1/2 W to 7 1/2 E. UT-1 covers the next 15 degrees, from 7 1/2 W to 22 1/2 W, which is where we are now.
No ships to be seen in the past 24 hours and sea life remains much the same as the past few days, though noticeably fewer Flying fishes.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Delivery Day 8
It has been quite surprising how many ships we have seen on this voyage. Another two passed us in the last 24 hours, the latest one, M/V Pistis, passed so close that we could read the name on her bow. As we were in close proximity I thought it polite to call him up on the radio and say hello. The officer on watch was very friendly and informed us that they were en route from Cape Town to San Lorenzo in Argentina. At the moment they are in ballast but due to pick up a cargo of wheat to take to Mombasa. Now that must make you think a bit about how far food travels before it reaches your dinner table! I wonder what is wrong with South African wheat that she didn't load a cargo there? The mysteries of international marketing...at least it has given us something to think about!
Other than that the beat goes on. We have tacked a several times as the wind remains in the east and while we are trying to get south of the high pressure we are also still trying to put in some easting. At the moment we are heading NE but will tack again at the change of watch and then we expect the wind to back quickly as the high pressure moves away and a frontal system approaches us. After that the forecast is quite good for the next few days with a lot of reaching and running forecast. It is mostly cloudy and cool now with the occasional light rain shower.
With the cooler weather and colder water the Flying fishes have all but disappeared. One landed on deck last night but since then I have not seen any more. The Cory's shearwaters are getting close to out numbering the White-chinned petrels, and several little Storm-petrels have also turned up today. I think they are White- bellied Storm-petrels which probably breed on Tristan da Cunha.
Other than that the beat goes on. We have tacked a several times as the wind remains in the east and while we are trying to get south of the high pressure we are also still trying to put in some easting. At the moment we are heading NE but will tack again at the change of watch and then we expect the wind to back quickly as the high pressure moves away and a frontal system approaches us. After that the forecast is quite good for the next few days with a lot of reaching and running forecast. It is mostly cloudy and cool now with the occasional light rain shower.
With the cooler weather and colder water the Flying fishes have all but disappeared. One landed on deck last night but since then I have not seen any more. The Cory's shearwaters are getting close to out numbering the White-chinned petrels, and several little Storm-petrels have also turned up today. I think they are White- bellied Storm-petrels which probably breed on Tristan da Cunha.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Delivery Day 8 -The Beat goes on...
We have now been beating into rough seas for over 24 hours and it is getting a bit tiresome!
Yesterday afternoon there was a brief respite in the wind and we were able to shake out the reef. After sunset we tacked south to try and position ourselves more favourably for when the weather does eventually change.
The night was marked by an attack of kamikaze Flying fishes, at least three of which did themselves in on the deck!
Around midnight the wind began to increase again, and once again we reefed the mainsail. Since then it has been quite uncomfortable onboard with waves occasionally washing over the deck and lots of drizzle during the night.
The birds are really enjoying the stronger winds and the Petrels have been joined by at least two varieties of Shearwater, all of which are gliding gracefully over the waves behind the boat.
This morning another east-bound tanker passed astern of us. We are now close to 1/3 of the way across the Atlantic but progress looks set to be slow for at least another 24 hours, maybe more.
Yesterday afternoon there was a brief respite in the wind and we were able to shake out the reef. After sunset we tacked south to try and position ourselves more favourably for when the weather does eventually change.
The night was marked by an attack of kamikaze Flying fishes, at least three of which did themselves in on the deck!
Around midnight the wind began to increase again, and once again we reefed the mainsail. Since then it has been quite uncomfortable onboard with waves occasionally washing over the deck and lots of drizzle during the night.
The birds are really enjoying the stronger winds and the Petrels have been joined by at least two varieties of Shearwater, all of which are gliding gracefully over the waves behind the boat.
This morning another east-bound tanker passed astern of us. We are now close to 1/3 of the way across the Atlantic but progress looks set to be slow for at least another 24 hours, maybe more.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Delivery day 7
By mid-afternoon yesterday we were well and truly becalmed in the centre of the high pressure system. With the sun blazing down on the deck we took the opportunity
to go for a swim and have a wash. At the time we were in one of the shallower areas of the mid-Atlantic, a mere 2 600 metres deep. A few hours later and the depths
would be over 4 000 metres. You certainly can't stand in either place but psychologically you do feel a little happier knowing that it is 1.5 km shallower where you
are swimming! The water was crystal clear and beautifully warm.
After our swim the wind began to fill in again from behind us so we hoisted the masthead asymmetric spinnaker and enjoyed a few hours of pleasant reaching.
With all the technology we have aboard we are quite well informed about the weather in the Atlantic. Xtra-link and Vizada have partnered to provide the hardware and
services that the boat needs to be able to download weather data over the Fleet Broadband 250 satellite system and we are then able to overlay the data onto Adrena
weather routing software to calculate the optimum route to sail. So it came as no surprise when the wind suddenly shifted 180 degrees at sunset and left us beating
into a lumpy sea under main and #4 jib. Sometimes, even with all the technology at our disposal, nature conspires to beat us and so it was that the high pressure we
had taken so long to get through decided to dissipate and reform to our South West! This means that we are now faced with another few days of upwind sailing while
the system moves slowly south of us, eventually giving way to a low pressure system over the weekend.
This morning we had some drizzle and very uncomfortable seas but now it is sunny with a big westerly swell overlaid by south easterly wind waves. We have reefed the
mainsail and are making a reasonable speed towards the east.
Present position is 31*32 S, 027*44 W.
to go for a swim and have a wash. At the time we were in one of the shallower areas of the mid-Atlantic, a mere 2 600 metres deep. A few hours later and the depths
would be over 4 000 metres. You certainly can't stand in either place but psychologically you do feel a little happier knowing that it is 1.5 km shallower where you
are swimming! The water was crystal clear and beautifully warm.
After our swim the wind began to fill in again from behind us so we hoisted the masthead asymmetric spinnaker and enjoyed a few hours of pleasant reaching.
With all the technology we have aboard we are quite well informed about the weather in the Atlantic. Xtra-link and Vizada have partnered to provide the hardware and
services that the boat needs to be able to download weather data over the Fleet Broadband 250 satellite system and we are then able to overlay the data onto Adrena
weather routing software to calculate the optimum route to sail. So it came as no surprise when the wind suddenly shifted 180 degrees at sunset and left us beating
into a lumpy sea under main and #4 jib. Sometimes, even with all the technology at our disposal, nature conspires to beat us and so it was that the high pressure we
had taken so long to get through decided to dissipate and reform to our South West! This means that we are now faced with another few days of upwind sailing while
the system moves slowly south of us, eventually giving way to a low pressure system over the weekend.
This morning we had some drizzle and very uncomfortable seas but now it is sunny with a big westerly swell overlaid by south easterly wind waves. We have reefed the
mainsail and are making a reasonable speed towards the east.
Present position is 31*32 S, 027*44 W.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Delivery Day 6
The highlight of the past 24 hours was having a pair of whales swim close to the boat. As far as we could make out they appeared to be a couple of large Humpback whales.
There have also been a lot of White-chinned petrels about. Interestingly most of them have been of a form that is also known as the Spectacled or Tristan petrel which is easily identified by the fact that the white chin patch is extended onto the sides of the head and ends in a loop, like a pair of spectacles, around the eyes. This form of petrel only breeds in the Tristan da Cunha group of islands which are over 1 000 miles south east of us!
We have seen a few Storm-petrels recently, too.
Three ships have passed us in the last few hours, two container ships and a large tanker.
We are now well and truly in the centre of the high pressure system, motorsailing in almost no wind. The weather remains very hot so we have rigged a makeshift awning over the cockpit and are seriously considering stopping for a quick swim. The water here is over 2 1/2 km deep, but crystal clear, so it should be good for swimming! We are in fact sailing over a relatively shallow ridge at the moment and soon the depths will drop to over 4 000 metres! After that it will remain deep until we start to approach Tristan da Cunha and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Although the water is clear we are still passing large quantities of garbage: plastic boxes, bags, bottles, jerry cans, polystyrene, light bulbs (!), polypropylene netting, etc! With all this junk floating about one wonders what the whales are sucking up as they filter krill through their baleen?
There have also been a lot of White-chinned petrels about. Interestingly most of them have been of a form that is also known as the Spectacled or Tristan petrel which is easily identified by the fact that the white chin patch is extended onto the sides of the head and ends in a loop, like a pair of spectacles, around the eyes. This form of petrel only breeds in the Tristan da Cunha group of islands which are over 1 000 miles south east of us!
We have seen a few Storm-petrels recently, too.
Three ships have passed us in the last few hours, two container ships and a large tanker.
We are now well and truly in the centre of the high pressure system, motorsailing in almost no wind. The weather remains very hot so we have rigged a makeshift awning over the cockpit and are seriously considering stopping for a quick swim. The water here is over 2 1/2 km deep, but crystal clear, so it should be good for swimming! We are in fact sailing over a relatively shallow ridge at the moment and soon the depths will drop to over 4 000 metres! After that it will remain deep until we start to approach Tristan da Cunha and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Although the water is clear we are still passing large quantities of garbage: plastic boxes, bags, bottles, jerry cans, polystyrene, light bulbs (!), polypropylene netting, etc! With all this junk floating about one wonders what the whales are sucking up as they filter krill through their baleen?
TRACKING
s/y Xtra-Link is being tracked on it's return voyage.. Pings every 12 hours or so...
http://xtra-track.com/admin/home/dashboard.asp
http://xtra-track.com/admin/home/dashboard.asp
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Delivery Day 5.
After several hours of fiddeling around with the wiring we managed to get the autopilot running again and could settle down to enjoy the ride. We have now crossed the 30th parrallel of latitude and although we are still seeing Flying Fishes we were also visited yesterday by two White-chinned petrels. These quite large birds inhabit the colder waters further south and the closest breeding colonies at the moment are probably Tristan da Cunha or the Falkland Islands. The Petrel family (also known as Diesel Ducks, for obvious reasons), covers a wide range of birds from the tiny Storm-petrels (not much bigger than a sparrow) to the Giant petrels which are the same size as some Albatross species. The White-chinned petrel is probably a bit bigger than a large gull. The Storm-petrels and White-chinned petrels seem to be quite friendly and will often fly close to the boat but the Giant petrels are another story. Two years ago, sailing in the Antarctic, I witnessed a Giant petrel killing a fully grown seal!
For now the weather remains hot and the breeze has dropped even further as we skirt the western edge of the South Atlantic high pressure system. One disturbing result of the constantly circulating winds of the high pressure zone is that they set up a current circulation known as the South Atlantic Gyre. This gyre, like its counterparts in the world's other oceans sweeps up and traps all the pollution that has been blown of the land or dropped from ships and with the advent of non- biodegradable plastics this is becoming a real problem. Yesterday we passed a succession of plastic crates, plastic workmen's helmets, plastic bottles, synthetic ropes, etc. At the moment there a several expeditions, including the Five Gyres Expedition, that are cataloguing the extent of the problem and trying to create awareness of the scale of the situation, but yesterday really brought it home to us personally as we watched all the rubbish drift by, hundreds of miles from the closest land.
Our position at noon today is 30*23 S 031*25 W. We have a gentle breeze blowing out of the NNW, sunshine and a light scattering of cumulus clouds.
For now the weather remains hot and the breeze has dropped even further as we skirt the western edge of the South Atlantic high pressure system. One disturbing result of the constantly circulating winds of the high pressure zone is that they set up a current circulation known as the South Atlantic Gyre. This gyre, like its counterparts in the world's other oceans sweeps up and traps all the pollution that has been blown of the land or dropped from ships and with the advent of non- biodegradable plastics this is becoming a real problem. Yesterday we passed a succession of plastic crates, plastic workmen's helmets, plastic bottles, synthetic ropes, etc. At the moment there a several expeditions, including the Five Gyres Expedition, that are cataloguing the extent of the problem and trying to create awareness of the scale of the situation, but yesterday really brought it home to us personally as we watched all the rubbish drift by, hundreds of miles from the closest land.
Our position at noon today is 30*23 S 031*25 W. We have a gentle breeze blowing out of the NNW, sunshine and a light scattering of cumulus clouds.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Delivery Day 4
St. Valentine's Day and the autopilot has packed up...not a good way to score points! Other than that we are still making good progress. Our position now is 29*51 S 034*25 W. It is still warm and sunny though last night we did have one brief rain shower. Wildlife around the boat now seems to be limited to the occasional Flying Fish and nothing else. We are reaching under full main and #4 jib in a moderate northerly breeze at the moment.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Delivery Day 3
Last night when Phillippa went on watch at midnight the sky was dark, overcast and ominous. Gradually the clouds began to break up, lightening the mood of the night and revealing a brightly waxing moon and later showing the most glorious spectacle of the Milky Way and all the stars.
With the clear skies came a shower of shooting stars including one great fireball that blazed its way overhead. What more could one wish for after the darkness of the early hours than a warm, bright night at sea? The dramatic changes in the sky where a great parable for ones emotions on night watch, feeling dark and gloomy as one wakes up in the middle of the night but then brightening as one begins to wake up properly and appreciate the splendour of the night.
Soon after I took over the watch at 03H00 Venus appeared over the eastern horizon, followed a little while later by a spectacular sunrise.
Company over the last day has been much the same as the previous day: one ship passed during the night, a few flying fishes took to the air and a couple of birds could be seen in the distance. The birds were too far away to identify properly though one had the flight characteristics of a Shearwater.
We are now at 28*53 S 037*17 W. The weather is still hot, with a northerly breeze of just over 10 knots and a moderate sea.
With the clear skies came a shower of shooting stars including one great fireball that blazed its way overhead. What more could one wish for after the darkness of the early hours than a warm, bright night at sea? The dramatic changes in the sky where a great parable for ones emotions on night watch, feeling dark and gloomy as one wakes up in the middle of the night but then brightening as one begins to wake up properly and appreciate the splendour of the night.
Soon after I took over the watch at 03H00 Venus appeared over the eastern horizon, followed a little while later by a spectacular sunrise.
Company over the last day has been much the same as the previous day: one ship passed during the night, a few flying fishes took to the air and a couple of birds could be seen in the distance. The birds were too far away to identify properly though one had the flight characteristics of a Shearwater.
We are now at 28*53 S 037*17 W. The weather is still hot, with a northerly breeze of just over 10 knots and a moderate sea.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Delivery Day 2.
Noon on day 2 has at running downwind at 26*56 S 039*30 W. We are still sailing conservatively under reefed main and #4 jib but still managed a day's run of 200 miles and a top speed of over 15 knots.
Yesterday afternoon was blisteringly hot when the sun broke through the clouds and by nightfall we were reaching in a moderate breeze under a clear sky. We are pretty much alone now, one ship passed astern of us during the night and another flying fish landed on deck. As for bird life we have only seen one Shearwater in the past 24 hours.
This morning the conditions are very much like sailing in the Trade Winds.
15 knots of breeze, warm, and lots of cumulus clouds about. We are trying to make a bit of southing to stay below a ridge of high pressure for as long as possible though the forecast seems to indicate that within a few days the high pressure is going to out pace us and we will have some upwind conditions to contend with.
Yesterday afternoon was blisteringly hot when the sun broke through the clouds and by nightfall we were reaching in a moderate breeze under a clear sky. We are pretty much alone now, one ship passed astern of us during the night and another flying fish landed on deck. As for bird life we have only seen one Shearwater in the past 24 hours.
This morning the conditions are very much like sailing in the Trade Winds.
15 knots of breeze, warm, and lots of cumulus clouds about. We are trying to make a bit of southing to stay below a ridge of high pressure for as long as possible though the forecast seems to indicate that within a few days the high pressure is going to out pace us and we will have some upwind conditions to contend with.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Delivery-Day 1
Xtra-Link set sail from Rio at 20H17 Z on 10 February for the delivery back to Cape Town. The delivery crew consists of Nick Leggatt, Phillippa Hutton-Squire and Pippa Potamus, the mascot of their Class 40 racing team, Phesheya-Racing. We would just like to thank the crew that sailed the Heineken Cape to Rio for helping us to prepare the boat for the passage home. Also thanks to everybody in the office, Markus, Jean, Mariette and Admiral Louw, for all the help while we were there. Good luck to all the other crews who will be delivering boats back to Cape Town or on to other destinations.
The departure from Rio was perfectly timed to view the sun setting over Sugarloaf and Corcovado. Frigate birds circled overhead as we motor sailed out of Guanabara Bay under full mainsail. As the wind increased we hoisted the #4 jib and later in the evening we put a reef in the main. The night began clear and moonlit but after the moon set the wind continued to build and we were soon surfing at over 13 knots in winds gusting up to 30 knots.
During the night a lone Flying Fish landed on the deck. All night long there was a lot of shipping about and we had to dodge several oil rigs.
The departure from Rio was perfectly timed to view the sun setting over Sugarloaf and Corcovado. Frigate birds circled overhead as we motor sailed out of Guanabara Bay under full mainsail. As the wind increased we hoisted the #4 jib and later in the evening we put a reef in the main. The night began clear and moonlit but after the moon set the wind continued to build and we were soon surfing at over 13 knots in winds gusting up to 30 knots.
During the night a lone Flying Fish landed on the deck. All night long there was a lot of shipping about and we had to dodge several oil rigs.
RIO to Cape Town Delivery
Xtra-Link is fortunate to have been able to persuade the Very Experienced Phesheya-Racing team of Nick Leggat and Phillipa Hutton-Squire and their trusty Mascot to deliver the boat back from Rio and to give the foul weather in the UK a break...
They departed Rio on Thursday, 10th February during the late afternoon..
They departed Rio on Thursday, 10th February during the late afternoon..
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
WITH THANKS
- A special thank you to Xtra-Link.com for sponsoring the communication equipment aboard, this equipment is state of the art and allowed us to communicate properly and be in a position to send large files on internet in record speeds.. really good stuff.
- Thanks again to Xtra-Link for sponsoring some of the airtime.
- Thanks to VIZADA for sponsoring the airtime aboard.
- Thanks to PROTON SA for making a contribution towards some of the costs.
- Thanks to 100 Plus for the many cans of Isotonic drinks which they supplied.
- Thanks to all those who assisitng in one way or another, whether advice or to assist with something etc...
A Special thanks to the crew aboard who were always such a pleasure to sail with..
PRIZE GIVING
With the prizegiving dates moved, the only crew member who was able to be present at the prizegiving was Ruan de Hart. Ruan will be touring South America over the following year.. His blog info is:
http://www.travelwithdehart.blogspot.com/
http://www.travelwithdehart.blogspot.com/
So follow his happening over the year.. There is also a nice sumary of the race from his perspective.
Ruan reports that there was entertainment and a good spread which was had.
s/y Xtra Link and her crew were awarded the following:
- 3rd Place overall.
- The Seamanship award.
All in all, we were very satisfied with our result.
RACE OVER
And so the adventure ends.. we had a great race, finished in under 20 days, got a poduim position, another Atlantic crossing, had a good time,, sailed with a bunch of guys who got on extremely well..
Cape to Rio 2011 has been great.
Although the prize giving was supposed to be on the Friday night with the majority of the crew flying out te following day, while at sea we got an email to say it had changed to the Sunday night.. the crew were reluctant to stay longer as they have commitments to attend to back in SA. In light of this, most brough their dates forward.(Dale was to fly out early anyway as planned) Ruan will still be in Brazil and will attend the prizegiving on behalf of the full crew.
Cape to Rio 2011 has been great.
Although the prize giving was supposed to be on the Friday night with the majority of the crew flying out te following day, while at sea we got an email to say it had changed to the Sunday night.. the crew were reluctant to stay longer as they have commitments to attend to back in SA. In light of this, most brough their dates forward.(Dale was to fly out early anyway as planned) Ruan will still be in Brazil and will attend the prizegiving on behalf of the full crew.
Izivunguvungu given 6 hour penalty (courtesy of HEINEKEN website)
"Izivunguvungu has been given a six-hour penalty for receiving assistance from another yacht during the 2011 Cape to Rio yacht race.The yacht was facing possible disqualification after skipper Kader Williams asked for help after the boat ran out of drinking water. Dale Kushner’s Xtra-Link, which was only about 20 nautical miles from the distressed boat, agreed to divert from her course to assist Williams and his crew, who received 140 litres of water. Williams and the development crew of Izivunguvungu are set to sail back to South Africa on Monday.
Xtra-Link, which finished in third place on handicap, was awarded time consideration of six hours for its act of sportsmanship out at sea, but it was not enough to unseat second-placed Ciao Bella, skippered by Mike Robinson. All the yachts that left Cape Town on January 15, with the exception of the Indian navy boat Mhadei, have now arrived in Rio and there has been little change in the handicap placings.
Perie Benou II, skippered by veteran Australian yachtsman Jon Sanders, arrived in Rio on Tuesday afternoon to secure fifth place on handicap behind line honours winner Prodigy. Navy boat Yachtport SA finished sixth, Izivunguvungu seventh, Cape Storm eighth, Grand Filou ninth and Envirodiesel Me to Me 10th. “It was a quieter crossing than 35 years ago when I sailed in the Cape to Rio in the same design boat but smaller. That time we sailed a long course and came in at the same time,” said Sanders, 71, who has completed eight circumnavigations. “If we had avoided all the technology that is now available for wind direction like we had done before we could have been in the top three on handicap, but we would never have beaten the winners City of Cape Town. Their skipper, Gerry Hegie, was very professional about the way he tackled this race.”
Xtra-Link, which finished in third place on handicap, was awarded time consideration of six hours for its act of sportsmanship out at sea, but it was not enough to unseat second-placed Ciao Bella, skippered by Mike Robinson. All the yachts that left Cape Town on January 15, with the exception of the Indian navy boat Mhadei, have now arrived in Rio and there has been little change in the handicap placings.
Perie Benou II, skippered by veteran Australian yachtsman Jon Sanders, arrived in Rio on Tuesday afternoon to secure fifth place on handicap behind line honours winner Prodigy. Navy boat Yachtport SA finished sixth, Izivunguvungu seventh, Cape Storm eighth, Grand Filou ninth and Envirodiesel Me to Me 10th. “It was a quieter crossing than 35 years ago when I sailed in the Cape to Rio in the same design boat but smaller. That time we sailed a long course and came in at the same time,” said Sanders, 71, who has completed eight circumnavigations. “If we had avoided all the technology that is now available for wind direction like we had done before we could have been in the top three on handicap, but we would never have beaten the winners City of Cape Town. Their skipper, Gerry Hegie, was very professional about the way he tackled this race.”
Saturday, February 5, 2011
"Don't disqualify Izivunguvungu says xtra-link skipper" (courtesy of HEINEKEN website)
"Despite a diversion in mid-Atlantic to help another yacht which had run out of water, Dale Kushner’s Xtra-Link arrived in Rio on Friday morning to take third place on handicap in the Heineken Cape to Rio yacht race.Xtra-Link is the fourth boat to cross the finish line in Rio and could still take second place overall if, in the unlikely scenario, Mike Robinson’s Ciao Bella hits a big hole and doesn’t pitch by Saturday.
Gerry Hegie’s City of Cape Town, the overall winners of the race, arrived on Tuesday morning.Commenting about the dramatic request from race headquarters asking Xtra-Link to go to the rescue of the stricken Izivunguvungu, Kushner made it clear that he had no desire to see yacht disqualified from the race.“The rules are very clear, black and white, about taking water on board, but my personal opinion is that I would not want them disqualified. Rather give them a 24-hour penalty or something, that would be fair.“It wouldn’t affect us if they were disqualified or not, but obviously I would feel sorry for anybody if they sailed all this way and didn’t get a result. It would be very sad.”Kushner also believes that crew members on board Izivunguvungu, skippered by Kader Williams, could have died if they had not received water: “I have a funny feeling that they had already opened their life rafts to take the water out of them (life rafts) such was the shortage of water on board their yacht.”
Kushner breezed into Rio averaging about 14 knots on a favourable asymmetric angle, with South African navy entry Yachtport SA, lying sixth on handicap, arriving just before midday.“It’s all surreal, being out there in the vast seas and now coming back and slap bang into civilisation. It’s going to take some adjusting,” said Yachtport watch captain Andre Bestha.Kushner’s approach to Rio saw Xtra-Link sailing through seas riddled with oil rigs and then followed by the welcoming sight of a school of dolphins and the sounds of local music stations with good reception.
Yachts that should arrive in Rio by the weekend include, Izivunguvungu, presently 293nm from the finish after yesterday’s 24-run, and Nora Simrad (180nm), skippered by Norwegian Jan Evang.Cape Storm, which had a promising start to race, was still 439nm from Rio, largely because skipper Sean Cummings sailed the yacht into a high pressure zone and then even deeper into it, resulting in windless conditions for an extended period. "
Gerry Hegie’s City of Cape Town, the overall winners of the race, arrived on Tuesday morning.Commenting about the dramatic request from race headquarters asking Xtra-Link to go to the rescue of the stricken Izivunguvungu, Kushner made it clear that he had no desire to see yacht disqualified from the race.“The rules are very clear, black and white, about taking water on board, but my personal opinion is that I would not want them disqualified. Rather give them a 24-hour penalty or something, that would be fair.“It wouldn’t affect us if they were disqualified or not, but obviously I would feel sorry for anybody if they sailed all this way and didn’t get a result. It would be very sad.”Kushner also believes that crew members on board Izivunguvungu, skippered by Kader Williams, could have died if they had not received water: “I have a funny feeling that they had already opened their life rafts to take the water out of them (life rafts) such was the shortage of water on board their yacht.”
Kushner breezed into Rio averaging about 14 knots on a favourable asymmetric angle, with South African navy entry Yachtport SA, lying sixth on handicap, arriving just before midday.“It’s all surreal, being out there in the vast seas and now coming back and slap bang into civilisation. It’s going to take some adjusting,” said Yachtport watch captain Andre Bestha.Kushner’s approach to Rio saw Xtra-Link sailing through seas riddled with oil rigs and then followed by the welcoming sight of a school of dolphins and the sounds of local music stations with good reception.
Yachts that should arrive in Rio by the weekend include, Izivunguvungu, presently 293nm from the finish after yesterday’s 24-run, and Nora Simrad (180nm), skippered by Norwegian Jan Evang.Cape Storm, which had a promising start to race, was still 439nm from Rio, largely because skipper Sean Cummings sailed the yacht into a high pressure zone and then even deeper into it, resulting in windless conditions for an extended period. "
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Update 3 February 2011 - 23h00 GMT
Hi All,
I write this as we approach our last night at sea. We have 80NM to the finish and already have Cabo Frio in our sites. the day has been interesting, with the wind starting at 20 knots and too high to hold a assym, later it dropped off and freed a bit.. Allowing us to hoist the Assym, we sailed through the oil fields where there were many oil rigs in close proximity, passed close by another ship and a few minutes ago we were surrounded by a school of Dolphins..
Right now we are sailing with the A3 doing around 9-10 knots.. yummy..
We are expecting the conditions to change once we feel the land effect which could also have us sailing later in light winds so it is very difficult to forecast our finishing times.. that being said, we need to finish before 15h50 Friday to beat Prodigy and we have a lot of pressure from yachtPort behind.. So we need to see how the night bears on and to whether we get caught in the slow wind zones..
Right now as I write we are listening to the local music stations in Portugese.. We have good reception.
From all aboard Xtra-Link, this will hopefully be the last news while still racing, the next one will hopefully come from ashore..
From the crew of s/y Xtra-Link
I write this as we approach our last night at sea. We have 80NM to the finish and already have Cabo Frio in our sites. the day has been interesting, with the wind starting at 20 knots and too high to hold a assym, later it dropped off and freed a bit.. Allowing us to hoist the Assym, we sailed through the oil fields where there were many oil rigs in close proximity, passed close by another ship and a few minutes ago we were surrounded by a school of Dolphins..
Right now we are sailing with the A3 doing around 9-10 knots.. yummy..
We are expecting the conditions to change once we feel the land effect which could also have us sailing later in light winds so it is very difficult to forecast our finishing times.. that being said, we need to finish before 15h50 Friday to beat Prodigy and we have a lot of pressure from yachtPort behind.. So we need to see how the night bears on and to whether we get caught in the slow wind zones..
Right now as I write we are listening to the local music stations in Portugese.. We have good reception.
From all aboard Xtra-Link, this will hopefully be the last news while still racing, the next one will hopefully come from ashore..
From the crew of s/y Xtra-Link
Xtra-Link and Ciao Bella close in on Rio (courtesy of HEINEKEN website)
"The crew of City of Cape Town has gone into party mode after their surgical crossing of the South Atlantic, but the tussle for the other podium places in the Heineken Cape to Rio yacht race is far from over.After briefly falling off the pace Xtra-Link, skippered by Dale Kushner, has stormed back into contention after finding some stiff breeze and is presently in third position on handicap behind Mike Robinson’s Ciao Bella, which was last reported to be sailing in light northerly winds.
After Wednesday’s 24-hour run Xtra-Link was only 180 nautical miles from Rio and Ciao Bella 281nm. Both yachts are expected to cross the finish line on Friday. The ever-improving Yachtport SA, currently in sixth place on handicap, is also set to arrive on Friday.“The past 24 hours had us experiencing one of our wheels failing and we have been sailing a very awkward angle in about 15 knots of wind, with it sometimes allowing us to hold the asymmetrical, albeit very tight, and sometimes not leaving us wanting for more power,” said Kushner. “We lose out when it is not flying. The sea has built up again in the wind, making it a little bumpy again. Xtra-Link has requested six hours redress for coming to the rescue of Izivunguvungu, which sent out a distress call for more fresh water, but a decision on the matter will only be heard after the race
Perie Banou II, which has been caught up in light east winds and smooth seas, has fallen back on handicap from third place to fifth behind line honours winner Prodigy. Skippered by 71-year-old Jon Sanders, the ageing 39ft yacht had a daily run of 125,7nm and is still 716nm from the Rio coastline.
Spirit of Izivunguvungu has reported no further problems after their rehydration in the mid-Atlantic, and is lying in eighth place with 431nm to sail before reaching Rio.Meanwhile, the Cape to Rio’s line honours podium filled on Wednesday evening when Richard Fearon’s 63ft Grand Filou II arrived to take third place behind Prodigy and City of Cape Town. “We should have gone north,” reflected Juergen Enning, owner of the yacht, “but we still had a great crossing.”Grand Filou II crew member Jonathan Cole, a sailing instructor at Izivunguvungu, has flown back to South Africa following a death in the family.Wolf Seitz, navigator on board Prodigy, has also returned to SA because of business commitments "
After Wednesday’s 24-hour run Xtra-Link was only 180 nautical miles from Rio and Ciao Bella 281nm. Both yachts are expected to cross the finish line on Friday. The ever-improving Yachtport SA, currently in sixth place on handicap, is also set to arrive on Friday.“The past 24 hours had us experiencing one of our wheels failing and we have been sailing a very awkward angle in about 15 knots of wind, with it sometimes allowing us to hold the asymmetrical, albeit very tight, and sometimes not leaving us wanting for more power,” said Kushner. “We lose out when it is not flying. The sea has built up again in the wind, making it a little bumpy again. Xtra-Link has requested six hours redress for coming to the rescue of Izivunguvungu, which sent out a distress call for more fresh water, but a decision on the matter will only be heard after the race
Perie Banou II, which has been caught up in light east winds and smooth seas, has fallen back on handicap from third place to fifth behind line honours winner Prodigy. Skippered by 71-year-old Jon Sanders, the ageing 39ft yacht had a daily run of 125,7nm and is still 716nm from the Rio coastline.
Spirit of Izivunguvungu has reported no further problems after their rehydration in the mid-Atlantic, and is lying in eighth place with 431nm to sail before reaching Rio.Meanwhile, the Cape to Rio’s line honours podium filled on Wednesday evening when Richard Fearon’s 63ft Grand Filou II arrived to take third place behind Prodigy and City of Cape Town. “We should have gone north,” reflected Juergen Enning, owner of the yacht, “but we still had a great crossing.”Grand Filou II crew member Jonathan Cole, a sailing instructor at Izivunguvungu, has flown back to South Africa following a death in the family.Wolf Seitz, navigator on board Prodigy, has also returned to SA because of business commitments "
update - 3 February 2011
Hiya,
There is no specific update from Xtra-link today other than an email that Dale sent to me this afternoon saying that were racing hard with "bumpy" seas and very hot weather.
He says this is their last full day of sailing before reaching Rio..
So, we will hear from them from Rio...
WATCH THIS SPACE...
Bernice Kushner
There is no specific update from Xtra-link today other than an email that Dale sent to me this afternoon saying that were racing hard with "bumpy" seas and very hot weather.
He says this is their last full day of sailing before reaching Rio..
So, we will hear from them from Rio...
WATCH THIS SPACE...
Bernice Kushner
Daily Position Report Courtesy of Heineken
XTRA-LINK AND CIAO BELLA IN FIGHT FOR PODIUM POSITIONS(courtesy of HEINEKEN website)
"Hegie’s City of Cape Town pretty much assured of winning the Heineken 2011 Cape to Rio yacht race on handicap, the fight for second and third places appears to be developing into a two-way scrap between Ciao Bella and Xtra-Link. Xtra-Link, skippered by Dale Kushner, found the wind on Tuesday and brushed aside Perie Banou II, which is sailing along in a light east wind and smooth seas, and has now dropped back into fifth place overall.
After Kushner’s last reported 24-hour run of 167,5nm, Xtra-Link was only 369 nautical miles from Rio.“We are sailing along nicely with our assymetric spinnaker up and doing respectable speeds again,” reported Kushner.Mike Robinson’s Ciao Bella is still lying second on handicap after a daily run of 145,2nm. The two yachts are expected in Rio on Friday with Yachtport SA, which is lying in sixth place on handicap and 397nm from the finish.
The Cape to Rio’s line honours podium filled on Wednesday evening when Richard Fearon’s 63ft Grand Filou II arrived to take third place behind Prodigy and City of Cape Town.At the back of the fleet, Myrtle of Bonnievale, presently in 16th place on handicap, has run into light winds and expects to be out at sea for at least another five days."
After Kushner’s last reported 24-hour run of 167,5nm, Xtra-Link was only 369 nautical miles from Rio.“We are sailing along nicely with our assymetric spinnaker up and doing respectable speeds again,” reported Kushner.Mike Robinson’s Ciao Bella is still lying second on handicap after a daily run of 145,2nm. The two yachts are expected in Rio on Friday with Yachtport SA, which is lying in sixth place on handicap and 397nm from the finish.
The Cape to Rio’s line honours podium filled on Wednesday evening when Richard Fearon’s 63ft Grand Filou II arrived to take third place behind Prodigy and City of Cape Town.At the back of the fleet, Myrtle of Bonnievale, presently in 16th place on handicap, has run into light winds and expects to be out at sea for at least another five days."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
GEAR FAILURE...
GEAR FAILURE
This morning we sheared the spokes on one of our wheels.. ThiS Should never happen and down to the quality of the wheel..
We are now down to one wheel..
We are making arrangements for replacement or repair in preparation for the return delivery..
On board we always wear harneses during night hours..
One evening one of the harness clips failed. It did not fail under any sort of load. Purely due to it being an inferior product.
All Yahties, please check your harness clips.Next to the defective clip is the clip used on the skippers harness.(On yellow leash).. that is the correct type of clip for the application
This morning we sheared the spokes on one of our wheels.. ThiS Should never happen and down to the quality of the wheel..
We are now down to one wheel..
We are making arrangements for replacement or repair in preparation for the return delivery..
On board we always wear harneses during night hours..
One evening one of the harness clips failed. It did not fail under any sort of load. Purely due to it being an inferior product.
All Yahties, please check your harness clips.Next to the defective clip is the clip used on the skippers harness.(On yellow leash).. that is the correct type of clip for the application
Update - 2 February 2011 - 08h00 UTC
Hi All,
As at 08h00 UTC our position is:
24.8S
36.34w
Since our last position report the wind has come through and right now we are still in it, sailing along with our Assymetric spinnaker up doing respectable speeds again.
As I write this, the sun is about to rise.. as we sail West the time changes so sunrises are later and sunsets later.. tommorrow will be even later.
Brazil is five hours behind South Africa.
We are down to our lat 400NM stretch. Hope we will be able to hold favourable winds till then.
Bet to all,
Dale
As at 08h00 UTC our position is:
24.8S
36.34w
Since our last position report the wind has come through and right now we are still in it, sailing along with our Assymetric spinnaker up doing respectable speeds again.
As I write this, the sun is about to rise.. as we sail West the time changes so sunrises are later and sunsets later.. tommorrow will be even later.
Brazil is five hours behind South Africa.
We are down to our lat 400NM stretch. Hope we will be able to hold favourable winds till then.
Bet to all,
Dale
Daily Position Report Courtesy of Heineken
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Update - 1 February 2011 - 08h00 UTC
Hi All,
As at 08h00 UTC this morning our position is:
24.28S
33.32w
Yesterday we got some breeze which had us skipping along with the Assym..
We then entered a rain cloud with severe rain for just short of an hour.. Temperatures high, with high humidity. After the rain cloud, the winds became fickle with it shifting a lot, with it neccesitating lots of sail changes to keep moving.
During the night it remained very light. At time of writing, we have around 8 knots and we are doing just short of 5 knots.. We are trying to out-manoevre a rain cloud after which we can alter course and hoist the light Assym..
The last few days have been quite frustrating with us seeing our ETA being moved quite radically. This in turn will put any chance of a poduim finish under threat... We Perservere.
Best from all aboard Xtra-Link..
As at 08h00 UTC this morning our position is:
24.28S
33.32w
Yesterday we got some breeze which had us skipping along with the Assym..
We then entered a rain cloud with severe rain for just short of an hour.. Temperatures high, with high humidity. After the rain cloud, the winds became fickle with it shifting a lot, with it neccesitating lots of sail changes to keep moving.
During the night it remained very light. At time of writing, we have around 8 knots and we are doing just short of 5 knots.. We are trying to out-manoevre a rain cloud after which we can alter course and hoist the light Assym..
The last few days have been quite frustrating with us seeing our ETA being moved quite radically. This in turn will put any chance of a poduim finish under threat... We Perservere.
Best from all aboard Xtra-Link..
Daily Position Report Courtesy of Heineken
Monday, January 31, 2011
Prodigy takes line honours (courtesy of HEINEKEN website)
"Prodigy found the wind on Saturday, but lost it on Sunday and finally crossed the finish line on Monday morning to take line honours in the 2011 Cape to Rio yacht race.Skippered by Chris Frost , the 54ft yacht arrived about 8am, completing the race in just under 16 days and easily breaking the record set by Robin Knox-Johnston’s Ocean Spirit 40 years ago.The Durban yachtsman, 47, wasn’t that far off his forecast of taking just 14 days to reach Rio after an exceptional 24-hour run of 241 nautical miles on Saturday. But Prodigy ran into a calm about 30nm from Rio, which stalled her progress before she crossed the finish line near the Fortress of Copacabana in a lifting fog and in only two knots of breeze. “It was like being stuck in a Formula One car without petrol,” said trimmer Craig Schweitzer. “It took us seven hours to complete the last 500 metres.” There were few revellers on hand to welcome the yacht, but Frost and his crew were in full party mode following their 3,320nm crossing and can now look back on their achievement with immense satisfaction, given that Knox-Johnston’s 71ft yacht took 23 days and 40 minutes to finish the race. “It’s great to have a record-breaking race,” said race director John Martin. “It wasn’t quite as fast in finishing the race as the owner had predicted, but it was good enough for me.
“Chris Frost has had many setbacks in the building of the boat and then setting it up to reach racing standards, which he has now achieved. He fully deserves to win the race on line honours.”Gerry Hegie’s City of Cape Town, which was on the same latitude as Prodigy on Saturday, but could only manage 180nm, is still on course to win the race on handicap and is aiming to reach Rio on Tuesday.Hegie, 25, is also well placed to finish second on line honours, well ahead of the other maxi in the race, the 63ft Grand Filou II, a remarkable effort from a young skipper on a smaller boat with a stiff handicap.The rest of the 17-yacht fleet is expected to drift into Rio later this week with Ciao Bella, skippered by Mike Robinson, still in second place on handicap, followed by Perie Banou II, Xtra-Link, Yachtport SA, Spirit of Izivunguvungu, Cape Storm and Envirodiesel Me 2 Me."
“Chris Frost has had many setbacks in the building of the boat and then setting it up to reach racing standards, which he has now achieved. He fully deserves to win the race on line honours.”Gerry Hegie’s City of Cape Town, which was on the same latitude as Prodigy on Saturday, but could only manage 180nm, is still on course to win the race on handicap and is aiming to reach Rio on Tuesday.Hegie, 25, is also well placed to finish second on line honours, well ahead of the other maxi in the race, the 63ft Grand Filou II, a remarkable effort from a young skipper on a smaller boat with a stiff handicap.The rest of the 17-yacht fleet is expected to drift into Rio later this week with Ciao Bella, skippered by Mike Robinson, still in second place on handicap, followed by Perie Banou II, Xtra-Link, Yachtport SA, Spirit of Izivunguvungu, Cape Storm and Envirodiesel Me 2 Me."
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