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We are walking all 4 of us towards the boat.
"There is no sense in leaving with the wind coming
out of the NW" I say, "it will be right smack on the nose .......all
we'll be doing is getting wet and miserable and not make a lot
of headway at all". Not a good way to start a 42 day passage.After three days of [very affordable] gourmet
dinners, rain and wind the Low finally passed.On Sunday the 10th we motored out of the Victoria
Waterfront harbour in Cape Town, practiced man overboard drill and
set sail direction St Helena and Brazil.
Still with a very slight breeze out of the NW [on the
nose].
Wednesday January 16 1300hr
The crew and I are feeling a little bit queasy as we are beating into
some good size waves covering the boat with spray.This is day 2 now. The first few days where easy sailing. Now the
weather fax show's that a small Low has sneaked in to the South
Atlantic High creating "wind on the nose". It won't last long. Good
opportunity to teach reefing the main and sail changing while dancing
up and down...hank on sails only!
"Does that mean we are going to eat meat for
breakfast lunch and dinner for the next few weeks" ask's Eric.
Yea...slowly but surely the fridge could not keep our
meat's frozen......a freon leak I guess.......and that in a new
installation "not so cool".
We'll we try to fix it one more time in Brazil. I
hope the fridge guy there can speak a little bit of English.
Sunday January 26 1200 hr
Saint Helena
The immigration official on board says. "That will be
20 pounds for harbour fees and 40 pounds for the crew...10 pounds per
person"
"Yeah but we are only planning to stay 1 night here"
I sheepishly say.
The 1 became 2 nights.
How lovely a place, how unique the culture
...history....people...Napoleons house...Napoleons tomb.....old
fort's.....700 steps in Jacobs ladder going straight up the
mountain......ships only......no airmail without an airport.....great
stamps!
We toured the Island with Collin in a 1927 old
car...so green and lush in the interior. How many people can say they
have seen Napoleons house [prison] when he was in exile on St Helena.
The place is kept immaculate. A more beautiful setting than most
people's houses on the Island
Anna's restaurant the happening place for yachtie's
[there was only 1 other yacht] got me in touch with a fridge guy. Nice
man but "the ocean is too rough for me ...you see I cannot work that
way...and I don't swim". Needles to say I was not going to convince him
to lower himself of a rope into a wildly swinging dinghy and row him
out to the Ar Seiz Avel dancing in the bay.
He was so kind to give me some gas and a gauge so I
could fill the system again.......at least that should do us for a few
more days of cold meat.
We sailed 1835 miles from Cape Town to Saint Helen in
13 days....an average of 141 miles per 24 hr.....That is excellent. The
seas where smooth...a few squalls...and every day it got a little warmer
and warmer....entered the tropics.....crossed the 0 meridian...ships
time was GMT time......taught the crew celestial navigation, now they
shoot the noon sight, regular sun sight with the sextant and plot their
positions on a plotting sheet.
The crew will navigate the Ar Seiz Avel to Fortaleze...it
will be their landfall....yes with their sextants only...No GPS....it's
shut off.
Monday February 04 1100hr
Easy sailing? .... ooh yeah......Everyday calm seas
10knots out of the East..... We have jibed twice in the last week and we
are sailing wing to wing ever since we left ST Helena. almost too
easy...It's getting warm too.... We are know only 12 degrees South of
the equator, only stand our night watches in T shirt's and shorts. The
Stars ...Ooooh those fabulous stars.....when it is dark at night, before
the half moon comes up, [which can be a very spectacular sight] the
stars are so incredibly clear with absolutely no other lights or
pollution to spoil this show. You can see the stars disappear
right into the sea. They are soo bright you get "star shadows" on deck.
When I am on my watch I often turn of our running lights off so there is
no other light but that of the stars, imagine the boat under full
sail...the sound of water rushing by....the odd creek and groan of the
boat.... and we are happily sailing along at 6 or 7 knots...boat steers
it self.....all you have to do is sit back kick back and enjoy.....pure
magic...that is the only way to describe this. This is the magic of
offshore sailing.....you are looking creation right in it's
face...solitude and nature.... at your finger tips...the
perfect combination......a gift from the creator for us to
enjoy....Thank you!!!!!
We have been enjoying conditions like this almost
through out this voyage.
Kind of out of the ordinary...I am starting to look
over my shoulder expecting
something nasty to happen....we'll see...... We are making great strides towards our destination....130....140...150 miles per day.
We decided to skip Acsencion Island...reason ?...we
want to stay well South of the equator while skirting the Northern
fringes of the South Atlantic High. This way we should remain in the E
trade winds. Once we are nearing the Brazilian shore we are planning to
shoot straight N. This shortens the distance we have to travel through
the doldrums. With a little luck we also find some sea and land breezes
near shore that we otherwise would not have offshore there we would just
encounter calms.
What you think? Sounds like a good plan!....we'll see
what happens...I'll keep you posted.
Sunday February 10 1500 hr Day 31
I have to watch out not to drip my sweat onto the keyboards.....it's
hot..it's very hot......and humid its about 35 Celsius inside the boat.
We are flying the spinnaker...I don't know weather flying is the right
word...we are "flogging the spinnaker" is a more accurate description.
The wind is down to a few knots..the sea is kind of smooth....the sun is
out "big time"...and so is the crew...no energy....little
talking...shade seeking... a little lethargic....wishing we where there
kind of feeling. We are about 200 miles of the Brazilian coast and we
are starting to head N because the crew would like to visit Atoll des
Rocas which lie about 270m offshore from Fortaleza. We'll see what will
happen wind wise as we are making our way closer to the Doldrums. If we
run out of wind .....No Atoll's.....another option is to head for the
shore and see or we can find some "land and sea" breezes there and than
go North.
Yesterday a big thunderstorm with fierce gusting winds.....cold
air....slashing downpours hit us.....hit us real good.....we showered 4
guys jumping up and down.......naked on deck..........washed some tea
towels and shorts.....filled my water bottle with the purest water one
could get. The wind and the rain is something you can deal with as a
sailor, but the lightning always scares me and makes me feel very
vulnerable. The mast sticks 55 feet in the air with antenna's... it just
marked a perfect target for one of those lightning bolts....a real scary
thought! We did not get hit, but there was lightning all night during
our watches.
But I must say it made for an absolutely spectacular sunset.
The sunsets near the equator are specially beautiful anyways, but ad a
few thunderheads...rain...rainbows...big and small....black mean clouds
that turn a friendly pink.......blue sky..... a few fluffy trade wind
clouds......well than you got a display that only the creator could
orchestrate witch such fantasy and great skill!.....We just stand
there...taking it all in! ...What a beauty!!
The same feeling is there, when during your night watch......2 am in the
morning....with the rest of the crew sleeping...the boat happily sailing
along at 5-6knots....mr Fleming [the wind vane] steering...you lie down
flat on the deck.....on your back... looking up...than you can see the
mast swinging around on the rhythm of the waves...the sails are filled
with air....only occasionally making a sound....the water is rushing
by....the boat gently rocking....and then you see those stars....the
planets....constellations.....more stars...layer after layer of stars.
The longer you look the more stars you see. Just lie there...not for a
minute...not for 10 minutes.....just stop that clock and lie
there.....just be there......just let it be!
After some time you cannot help but being pulled in by the cheer beauty
and the magic that it holds ....it unfolds in front of your eyes as you
are looking up......this is life...the same stuff of witch our lives are
made.....this is part of us.....we are part of it.......it truly is
magical.....just like our beating heart and our blood feeding every cell
in our body......it makes you realize that all things in life are
connected....one cannot be separated or be without the other....one is
not better than the other....it's there for all of us ....to be enjoyed
...to be respected.....I am in awe and admiration of this wonderful
creation witch surrounds us every where!....all we need to do is open
our eyes and hearts .....and look...magic is every where. My eyes fill
with tears...my heart fills with happiness.....and my mind thinks...."
thanks creator....thanks for this very magical moment"...."sometimes
it's great to be alive!"
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Monday
February 11
1700hr
"You wanne hear a fish story?...honestly it's a true story"
Brzzzzzzz....screams the penn reel on the fishing rod" I run over from
the bow...undo the rod from it's tie downs and grab it.
The deep-sea rod is bent over like a question mark, the 40lb test line
goes out a very long way [so we clear the towing generator]
and going out further yet with the fish taking more and more line. "here
Dirk you take the rod you can bring him in"......we'll that turned out
to be a different story all together....We could see the fish becoming
airborne with the lure sticking out of it's jaws.
It looked like a huge Wahoo. Dirk added a bit more drag...the rod bent
over more.....we where all amazed it's size and the fact that it did not
brake the line.
For over 45 minutes Dirk played the fish.....it just would not drown and
give up!. Most fish...even big ones , you just tow them for
awhile....they drown... and start what I call "water-skiing" that's when
they are towed ...down...and come to the surface of the water with their
heads out of the water. We'll this one fought...kept swimming...fought
...took more line....just kept leaping out of the water....and just did
not give in.
Ultimately the line snapped. You should have seen our faces....we have
not caught a fish yet on this voyage.....and we where talking a
bout this beautiful fish dinner already...and Paul's fish and
chips....and what will we do with the rest of the fish?
I felt real bad for the fish...here is a beautiful probably 50 or 60
lb's Wahoo...now with a quarter mile of nylon line trailing him...may be
wrapping him all up........a big Stainless steel hook in his mouth.....a
thick ss leader and an orange 7" plastic squid dangling at his
jaw....all that after he fought so brave and determined to be free...I
hope he manages to shake the hook.....most fish you catch trolling spit
the hook as soon as you give them a slack line....let's hope he can do
that also......all that is left then is us polluting the ocean with our
fishing gak, witch is also nothing to be proud off.....Some fish are
just larger than you need out here in the open ocean.
Wednesday February 13 1100hr
" No you are not permitted to come a shore...or to enter the lagoon" the
ladies voice says on the vhf radio.
"Atoll das Rocas is a wild life sanctuary, we have very many turtles
here and is also a bird sanctuary"
After 14 days out at sea we really looked forward to stretch our legs a
little and do some exploring and snorkeling. We are anchored jus off a
shallow entrance of the lagoon. The lagoon is about 2 miles wide with a
fringing reef, has two little "sand spit" type Islands. One with a
house...3 palm trees....a ruin of a tower....and a "working" light
house. The other island is just barren. All a round the boat are very
large swells and huge breakers on the reef....not an anchorage to spent
the night.
We all go for a swim and snorkel....I am on my way to the reef by
myself.....but I turned around after first one 2 foot long barracuda
started to swim along side with me.....just staring at me...not at all
afraid of me.....than his bigger brother arrived ....than a 5 foot "big'
barracuda joint us.....Fish approach their pray always from behind.....I
slowly got "the hell" out of there....and kept on looking behind me as I
slowly swam back direction boat.....what I really wanted to do was swim
back like mad, but I think that would not be such a great idea. On the
way back I start to see some large shapes a head of me. "I canned
believe my own eyes"
here are 4 very large turtles. two are just floating around, and the two
other turtles are on top of each other...having a little sex.
One of the turtles decides to come over to check me out....he swims
right for me...he's big...really big...I would say at least 4,5 feet
long......He looks at me ....I look at him/her [who knows]...we both
chickened out and skitter away from each other!
Waaauw...I hung around for a while not wanting to disturb the lovers,
but I got the impression they could not care one way or the other. Back
at he boat the rest of the crew was having fun watching the small shark
below our boat [30feet down]
We had actually caught a small...4 people size fish...and had dumped
their carcass into the ocean at anchor....they said that there was a 5
foot shark chewing on it at one time....they just looked like "dog fish"
like we have on the West coast.
We left the anchorage under pitch black sky's...blasting winds....and
slashing rain.
A very large squall had come in...with out warning [to us]...because we
where all having a siesta after our beautiful "fish BBQ"
We ran of to sea....blasting at 8 knots....freezing cold in the cockpit
....hand steering.....and Haaaa caught a barracuda on our way
out......"told you so...you should not have scared me, now you are
supper".....Cowards always run off...having a big mouth!
Saturday February 16 Fortaleza
On February 15 at 0200 hr under jib alone the Ar Seiz Avel slowly
sailed between a wreck and carefully avoiding a shoal with breakers to
find 15 feet of water where we dropped our anchor about 500meters of
the beach [ no motor] in Yeeees Fortaleza ...Brazil...Youpteeedoooo.......then
proceede to crawl back in our [super hot] bunks for more sleep....."
Haaaa the life of a sailor'. The next day it always is a great surprise
to see what things look like when you wake up.....I know we should never
do night land falls but this one was just relatively straight forward
and calm seas.....be side's after all this is called Adventure Sailing
is it not?
Are you ready?
We sailed a total of 4064miles from one continent to another......in 31
actual sailing days ......averaged 131 miles per 24hr period ......with
an average speed of almost 5.5knots.....we motored for a total of
2hrs....[now that's what I call "environmental friendly"]..in and out of
the harbors only...and arrived 4 days ahead of schedule....we never
where becalmed ....not even for 1 hour. Our strategy of staying
South and heading West after leaving St Helena paid of big time....when
we finally started to head N every day the wind became more fluky and
definitely a lot lighter.....
Our last few days of sailing after leaving Los Rocas was very
squally....lot's of rain.....thunderstorms.....a hazy sun...very
humid....with very fluky winds, one minute we would blast along at
7knots and the next we where down to 1.5 knots.
But we still managed 120 m days......all in a days work. On February 14
your skipper turned 50...we had a small party with muffins and candles
doubling as a cake, fruit juice....with great presents...from
Dolores...my parents and Catherine...Thank you all very much!!!!!....I
was touched and really enjoyed it...thanks!
Approaching the Fortaleza at night we could not figure out what these
light up shapes where near the harbour entrance....I thought they where
high-rises all light up.....Dirk thought they where cranes at the en of
the pier. What a nice surprise!.....4 very large windmills with gently
sweeping blades utilizing the NE trades are producing some
environmentally friendly energy to this city. Hat's of to you Fortaleza!....way
to go!!!
Now the Ar Seiz Avel is moored stern to at the Marina Park Hotel in
Fortaleza.
This is the only place to be, because when one would anchor out in front
of the yacht club [down town] we are assured that there is a 100% chance
that the vessel will be boarded and gear will be stolen. So here we are
protected behind a breakwater in front of the hotel with the use of the
nice swimming pool and showers.....Not bad after a long time out at see.
The crew is happy they had a great trip, learned a lot of new things
about offshore sailing ,navigating, isolation, the stars and the moon
and them self's! ...Thanks guy's!
So now it's time for a break for the skipper and the boat...."time to recharge".
After that it will be.....fridge time...maintenance time...staple
shop...fresh food shop....painting....actually the list is a page long,
but you know what?...I don't want to think about that right now.....not
when I can hear all that splashing in the pool right now!!!!
I could swear a could here the sound of ........."ice cubes tinkling in
a glass".
Wishing you Fair winds
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