Just a quick update to let you know that this area is everything one could ever dream about! Needless to say we have been too busy sleeping and slowly moving closer to Angra dos Reis, to have actually checked in yet! We spent two days in beautiful Pontinha bay, in Ens das Palmas, before moving around the corner to Abraao, which is a very calm anchorage, with a little fishing
village. We will definitely be going back there, to use as a base! This morning we pottered round the back of Ihla Grande, exploring some special areas behind Mocacos isle,Comorida, and Radondo.. Magic! we will have to go back there, for sea food snacks off fishing boat bar/restuarants! We then went on to Site Forte, which was our destination anchorage for the night. Absolutely flat calm- even Trevor would think he's on dry land! I rowed ashore, and we took our first (illegal) steps on Brazilian soil. The sea had been so flat , that Mary even got her land legs back on the boat, so never fell on her face! We took a walk down the beach, and then had a couple of beers, and a caiperinha each, before rowing back to the boat where we intend having a braai! Tomorrow we will pop across to Angra dos Reis, to do the official check in, draw money, and do a small top up shop of fruit and veg. We passed a beautiful small isle on the way, with a boat shed, a house and a jetty, with a "Vende" sign !Man, what a place to drop out!! Roy , thanks for all your info, and pump thaughts. When we return to Pontinha bay, I will enquire
about Peter, and reply. Could not do so while we were boat bound!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Our last 300 miles!
The human mind is a wonderful thing! As I sit at my dead still nav desk, having slept the sleep of the dead for last the 16hrs, I can hardly remember all the challenges and difficulties that were thrown up at us as we closed in on our destination! At the time, I felt that SAS must have been tipped off about this "Coastal Skipper" who had been cheeky enough to think he was equipped to cross oceans without their "Offshore" sanction, and they had somehow conspired with Neptune, Aeolus,Poseidan, World shipping, and Brazilian Fishermen, to throw every known trick in the book, plus a few unknown ones,just to test his metal! On some passages, 300 miles can slip by so effortlessly. On others, you are forced to scrap and fight for every mile! It started with changes to cloud formations which were inconsistent with the high pressure system trade winds that we had enjoyed for so long. I requested Grib file info for 72 hours over our planned route , to see what we should expect. No Joy! Could'nt get the data back- just have to cope with the the cards with which we were dealt. N/E trade winds started escalating , and seas building up to be quite
big. We were doing about 7 knots, with 2 reefs and a stormsail, and as I was just about to hand over watch to Mary, when we spotted a Brazilian fishing boat heading staight for us, going off pop on the vhf. We could hear him talking up a storm to another Fishing boat, and barely ten minutes later, we saw another Kamikaze Brazilian fishing boat deliberately steering into a
collision course 500 mts from our bow. They were all waving and cheering, so we we waved and cheered back as we would pass them with 60 mts to spare. Mary suddenly spotted a string of little white styrofoam floats on a blue line twenty mts in front of us! A Handbreak Turn at 7knots, in 4/5 mtr waves, is not to be recomended, but we missed their nets by a whisker!
Little white floats , in breaking seas! We managed a controlled gybe in 30 knts, and dropped down wind about a mile, before resuming our course. The wind and sea state picked up still further, so we added the third reef. We sailed along for a further hour, and the wind started to drop off quite fast. Within two hours we were totally becalmed for the first time on our travels. We decided to take time out for a quick rest, and an early supper, before resorting to Lord Perkins to push us along for a couple of hours. When Mary handed over to me at 3.00am the breeze was just beginning to fill in from the South East, and clouds were forming. We put 2 reefs in the main, and unfurled enough headsail to maintain 5 to 6 knots. By 4.30, the genoa was gone, the stormsail out, and I was wishing we had the third reef in ! The Main was totally dumped, and we were still doing 8 to 9 knots , crashing and bashing through and over the waves. Mary was down below calling on all her friends to start praying for her NOW! She said the noise was horrific, and with the washboards in place, she could'nt see if I was still attached! I hung in
till daylight, and we then added the third reef, which immediately caused the wind to start dropping! Too bad, lets just go at a leisurely 4 to 5 knots for a while! All the while, the AIS alarm is screaming the arrival of yet another ship within 8 miles radius, whose course we needed to plot. In those conditions, with our reduced sails, we would not have been too visible. We got into a routine of calling up those whose course put us at risk, just to alert them of our position and course. Most were very supportive and appreciative, but there were others who totally ignored one. One particular freighter , Castillo Placencia, totally ignored my warnings from 5 miles out that he was on a collission cours with us, and we ended up having to take our own avoiding action when he was half a mile away. Half an hour later, we were under attack from Queen Mary 2, coming staight at us at 19.5knots. I called them up a few times to warn them, ( but also to be able to log Sheer Tenacity" calling Queen Mary 2"), but they too never responded. By this time we were off Rio, and the VHF seems to have been hijacked by a assortment of fishermen and "locos", to the extent that is virtually unusable as a means of communication there. We spent most of that night being forced to listen to the orgasmic moans and cries of some loonies, interspersed with wild music! The Queen Mary 2 meanwile when she was about a mile away just
twitched her joystick steering , and the 6 drive pods immediately took her to a half a mile clearance !
Passing Rio as night set in could have been really special, but for the rain squalls and clouds which blocked most of it. We were able to see Corchevadia for most of the night, plus a few of the shapes rememberd from my last visit, Ille Ronde, Rasa, the densely populated and illuminated
Favellas up the side of the mountain . (Sugar Loaf can only be seen once in Guanabara bay)
We motorsailed down towards Ihla Grande in light airs, but the breeze veered right on to the nose, forcing us to drop the headsail, and proceed at a more leisurely rate. The last curve ball was a ship leaving the Sepetiba channel . AIS indicated he was heading straight for us, and as we were now a motor vessel too, we had to act accordingly! Problem was, he had a huge white bow, and a dark low back platform section. In the half lght of dawn, the white looked like the bridge structure at the back, with the low platform section in front, as one sees with most tankers! This created the illusion of it passing clearly to stb, when in fact it was coming straight at us ! Only when we saw the huge bow waves, as it smashed into the swells, did the profile get real. A swift and decisive turn to starboard, saw us pass safely at port to port!
Meanwhile, we were being charged down from behind by a Cruiseliner "Sovereign", at 16.5 knots, who was also making for the same confined entrance. Once clear of our weird carrier, a swift and decisive turn to Port was called for, to open up his direct course to the channel markers!
Four hours later we were happily anchored in this beatiful palm tree surrounded bay, sipping ice cold beers, forgetting all about the past couple of days! And YES, We would do it all again!!!
big. We were doing about 7 knots, with 2 reefs and a stormsail, and as I was just about to hand over watch to Mary, when we spotted a Brazilian fishing boat heading staight for us, going off pop on the vhf. We could hear him talking up a storm to another Fishing boat, and barely ten minutes later, we saw another Kamikaze Brazilian fishing boat deliberately steering into a
collision course 500 mts from our bow. They were all waving and cheering, so we we waved and cheered back as we would pass them with 60 mts to spare. Mary suddenly spotted a string of little white styrofoam floats on a blue line twenty mts in front of us! A Handbreak Turn at 7knots, in 4/5 mtr waves, is not to be recomended, but we missed their nets by a whisker!
Little white floats , in breaking seas! We managed a controlled gybe in 30 knts, and dropped down wind about a mile, before resuming our course. The wind and sea state picked up still further, so we added the third reef. We sailed along for a further hour, and the wind started to drop off quite fast. Within two hours we were totally becalmed for the first time on our travels. We decided to take time out for a quick rest, and an early supper, before resorting to Lord Perkins to push us along for a couple of hours. When Mary handed over to me at 3.00am the breeze was just beginning to fill in from the South East, and clouds were forming. We put 2 reefs in the main, and unfurled enough headsail to maintain 5 to 6 knots. By 4.30, the genoa was gone, the stormsail out, and I was wishing we had the third reef in ! The Main was totally dumped, and we were still doing 8 to 9 knots , crashing and bashing through and over the waves. Mary was down below calling on all her friends to start praying for her NOW! She said the noise was horrific, and with the washboards in place, she could'nt see if I was still attached! I hung in
till daylight, and we then added the third reef, which immediately caused the wind to start dropping! Too bad, lets just go at a leisurely 4 to 5 knots for a while! All the while, the AIS alarm is screaming the arrival of yet another ship within 8 miles radius, whose course we needed to plot. In those conditions, with our reduced sails, we would not have been too visible. We got into a routine of calling up those whose course put us at risk, just to alert them of our position and course. Most were very supportive and appreciative, but there were others who totally ignored one. One particular freighter , Castillo Placencia, totally ignored my warnings from 5 miles out that he was on a collission cours with us, and we ended up having to take our own avoiding action when he was half a mile away. Half an hour later, we were under attack from Queen Mary 2, coming staight at us at 19.5knots. I called them up a few times to warn them, ( but also to be able to log Sheer Tenacity" calling Queen Mary 2"), but they too never responded. By this time we were off Rio, and the VHF seems to have been hijacked by a assortment of fishermen and "locos", to the extent that is virtually unusable as a means of communication there. We spent most of that night being forced to listen to the orgasmic moans and cries of some loonies, interspersed with wild music! The Queen Mary 2 meanwile when she was about a mile away just
twitched her joystick steering , and the 6 drive pods immediately took her to a half a mile clearance !
Passing Rio as night set in could have been really special, but for the rain squalls and clouds which blocked most of it. We were able to see Corchevadia for most of the night, plus a few of the shapes rememberd from my last visit, Ille Ronde, Rasa, the densely populated and illuminated
Favellas up the side of the mountain . (Sugar Loaf can only be seen once in Guanabara bay)
We motorsailed down towards Ihla Grande in light airs, but the breeze veered right on to the nose, forcing us to drop the headsail, and proceed at a more leisurely rate. The last curve ball was a ship leaving the Sepetiba channel . AIS indicated he was heading straight for us, and as we were now a motor vessel too, we had to act accordingly! Problem was, he had a huge white bow, and a dark low back platform section. In the half lght of dawn, the white looked like the bridge structure at the back, with the low platform section in front, as one sees with most tankers! This created the illusion of it passing clearly to stb, when in fact it was coming straight at us ! Only when we saw the huge bow waves, as it smashed into the swells, did the profile get real. A swift and decisive turn to starboard, saw us pass safely at port to port!
Meanwhile, we were being charged down from behind by a Cruiseliner "Sovereign", at 16.5 knots, who was also making for the same confined entrance. Once clear of our weird carrier, a swift and decisive turn to Port was called for, to open up his direct course to the channel markers!
Four hours later we were happily anchored in this beatiful palm tree surrounded bay, sipping ice cold beers, forgetting all about the past couple of days! And YES, We would do it all again!!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
After exactly 15 days since we left Ascension, Sheer Tenacity is at anchor in Ponthina Bay (Peters Place, Pedro's ), Baia De Ilha Grande.I started writing a long blog in the early hours of this morning, to which I wanted to add our anchorage details. Forgot to save it in the work file and lost it all! Too great a need for a beer to start it all over again, but I will, because the last 300miles were challenging ,and memorable! We did 2029nm on this last leg, which took 15 days exactly. In total we sailed 4925 miles to cross the Atlantic, OUR WAY, (which is a very long route), which took 33days of sailing time. Time now to relax, drink beer, and sleep!
Thanks to everyone for the support and assistance.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Almost there!
None of the fabled light airs that dogged the end of the Cape to Rio races.We're off Cabo Frio now and battling big wind and big seas on the beam - 3 reefs and a stormjib. Not comfortable but we're nearing our destination very fast. We are 90nm from Ilha Grande and unless the wind abates somewhat we'll have to heave to and wait for first light before going in to the anchorage. Our position is 23 11.957S 42 22.788W. Will write a more detailed blog tomorrow. Just wanted to let you all know that we are fine and very excited to be reaching our journeys end.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
We have spent the last 3 hours with 3 reefs and a stormsail, on a stb beam reach with 30-35 knot winds, and 3/4mtr swells on the beam! At times we look more like a submarine than a yacht, and life on board is far from comfortable ! Only sensible thing to do is lie down , and we cant both do that: somebody has to be on watch, with all the shipping traffic coming and going. We have had at least one, but more often two ships showing up on the AIS for the past 12 hrs. We still have the pole out on the stb side, and are waiting for a lull to drop it, and stow it. We are also hoping that as we get inside the line of the Cabo Frio Oil fields (50-60miles), that the
sea state might moderate, as with this Northery wind , we will have to harden up to a fetch to make our course. On the plus side, we will have achieved a days run of 150nm by noon (1 hr
to go), which will leave us with 206nm to our Ihla Grande approach point. So at this stage we will look to make a Friday morning anchor drop in that first beautiful bay I went to with Chris , and the one featured in Nick Taylors video. Mary has ordered a boerewors braai with Strawberry Fields red wine! We have to look ahead, to forget the current discomfort! Current pos at 11.00 hrs (utc-2), is 22,50.7S,39,49W. Thats as much as I can manage at this angle! More tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Proximity to land can drive one mad!
During Happy hour we had our closest passing of a vessel anywhere on the trip. The AIS showed us that Darya Tara was 6.5 miles away and on course to take us out! Called him up to advise him of our presence, which he acknowledged, and made a three deg course change which was sufficient to clear our stern by about 1 mile.
We also learned a bit about the accuracy of the C-map 93 charts! SAN 5 shows an 11 mtr breaking seamounton the edge of Jasseur bank, so we had wished to plot a course between Montague and Vitoria Banks. The Garmin Blue charts dont even show the banks at all, so to try to get a more precise turning point, I opened up Maxsea, and picked pos 20,19,029S, 36 59,56W. After we had reached this point of safety, and changed course towards Cabo Frio, the depth alarm oes off pop! Now it makes the same sound as Fred when he dies, so nerves were a tad fraught! Having discovered that Fred was fine, Mary notices that the depth is changing..95.4, 95.3, 95.2 etc. She wakes me up with some alarm, to report the situation. Sure enough, it is now reading 85.6, 85,5, 85.4, 85.3.. "Mem, depth does'nt change by point 1 of a metre every second! Sure you did'nt press the countdown timer?" Dont think so, but then turn it off! Five minute later we down to 67.8, 67.7,67.6..Lets look at the detailed Cmap chart! We fire up Maxsea, plug the GPS in, and .. See Mem, we're well clear of the banks in 1697mts of water! " Then why are we now down to 56.6, 56.8, 56.4, cos thats not a count down!" After plotting the depths for an hour and a bit, it is quite clear that the edge of the Vitoria banks are NOT where C-maps say they are! The N/E corner is a good 5 to 6 miles out! So the course we chose to avoid any bank turbulance ran right down the 50mtr contour for a couple of hours, and it was lumpy! Our night watch system got seriously messed up, and perhaps thats the reason why Mary deleted the most recent SMS message, instead of reading it! Apologies to whoever sent it! We had spent the night on too much of a downwind broad reach, with pole out on port, after our course change, intending to move the 6mtr pole to stb at daylight. This meant we sailed rather slowly, with the main to midships to clear the jib,rolling around in a horrible sea! Dawn sees us swing the pole to stb and jump to 7.5-8.0knots! That was great, until Fred chose to give up again! Heaven knows why , perhaps too much weatherhelm as we were being thrown about by the quartering swells. Opened the reservoir, checked fluid levels, reset instruments and pilot, and A for Away!
Our days run was 134nm, leaving us 366 to go. At present we are running down to the oil terminal at 6 knots, and should be able to decide if we can cut the corner a bit, as the leg from there to Ihla Grande could be a bit of a beat in this weather. I might try to hang a right in the same sort of area that we did in African Rennaisance en route to Rio. Someone has sent a big/complex message which is blocking our ability to receive any others. The connection keeps breaking down before we receive any thing. It also seems that 50 % of the messges are from Amos connect to say they have a problem ! And Ive got to waste time and pay for that download time? Cheers for now!
We also learned a bit about the accuracy of the C-map 93 charts! SAN 5 shows an 11 mtr breaking seamounton the edge of Jasseur bank, so we had wished to plot a course between Montague and Vitoria Banks. The Garmin Blue charts dont even show the banks at all, so to try to get a more precise turning point, I opened up Maxsea, and picked pos 20,19,029S, 36 59,56W. After we had reached this point of safety, and changed course towards Cabo Frio, the depth alarm oes off pop! Now it makes the same sound as Fred when he dies, so nerves were a tad fraught! Having discovered that Fred was fine, Mary notices that the depth is changing..95.4, 95.3, 95.2 etc. She wakes me up with some alarm, to report the situation. Sure enough, it is now reading 85.6, 85,5, 85.4, 85.3.. "Mem, depth does'nt change by point 1 of a metre every second! Sure you did'nt press the countdown timer?" Dont think so, but then turn it off! Five minute later we down to 67.8, 67.7,67.6..Lets look at the detailed Cmap chart! We fire up Maxsea, plug the GPS in, and .. See Mem, we're well clear of the banks in 1697mts of water! " Then why are we now down to 56.6, 56.8, 56.4, cos thats not a count down!" After plotting the depths for an hour and a bit, it is quite clear that the edge of the Vitoria banks are NOT where C-maps say they are! The N/E corner is a good 5 to 6 miles out! So the course we chose to avoid any bank turbulance ran right down the 50mtr contour for a couple of hours, and it was lumpy! Our night watch system got seriously messed up, and perhaps thats the reason why Mary deleted the most recent SMS message, instead of reading it! Apologies to whoever sent it! We had spent the night on too much of a downwind broad reach, with pole out on port, after our course change, intending to move the 6mtr pole to stb at daylight. This meant we sailed rather slowly, with the main to midships to clear the jib,rolling around in a horrible sea! Dawn sees us swing the pole to stb and jump to 7.5-8.0knots! That was great, until Fred chose to give up again! Heaven knows why , perhaps too much weatherhelm as we were being thrown about by the quartering swells. Opened the reservoir, checked fluid levels, reset instruments and pilot, and A for Away!
Our days run was 134nm, leaving us 366 to go. At present we are running down to the oil terminal at 6 knots, and should be able to decide if we can cut the corner a bit, as the leg from there to Ihla Grande could be a bit of a beat in this weather. I might try to hang a right in the same sort of area that we did in African Rennaisance en route to Rio. Someone has sent a big/complex message which is blocking our ability to receive any others. The connection keeps breaking down before we receive any thing. It also seems that 50 % of the messges are from Amos connect to say they have a problem ! And Ive got to waste time and pay for that download time? Cheers for now!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Everythings happenning!
After a couple of really peaceful days, nature decided to put us through our
paces ! I started with a collection of rain squalls which surrounded us. As
we had not yet caught any water, or enjoyed showering in the rain, we were
quite looking forward to a bit of rain! It came as it so often does , with a
little hooly, but we had reefed in anticipation! The rain and drissle stuck
around for a few hours, ut the wind dropped to zero! Becalmed ! We needed to
charge batteries ,so we motored for 2 hours, by which time the evening
breeze had started to fill in. Up with the pole ,and off we go! As the
clouds cleared, and darkness arrived, we were later than usual with our
happy hour and sups. Suddenly two ships lights appear on the horizon, but
neither showed as AIS targets. One we suspect was a fishing boat, as we only
picked it up on radar at 5 miles, and it looked like a xmas tree with all
the lights. The second was a huge radar taget which we could see at 12.5
miles, but no AIS image. Possibly a tanker approaching the oil terminals? At
about 11pm, the wind suddenly jumped to 25/27 knots, and we were wing on
wing with full main and genoa poled out. I just headed straight downwind ,
pushing Freds buttons like a slot machine addict, making sure that we
were'nt caught offsides by any of the wind shifts. It only lasted half an
hour, and then died. Twenty minutes later, the wind switches from SE to NE,
necessitating a gybe, and new course. In the morning watch, I discovered
that my fishing lines had got into the worlds greatest ever tangle, and at
the end of it all was a useless snake mackeral, and one missing lure! It was
cut and ditch stuff!I can only speculate that something large hit the one
line , and caused a serious mess!
We managed another 131 nm day , and now have 497nm to Ihla Grande. At
present we are heading for a waypoint between two sea mounts, before easing
of towards our cabo frio offshore wp outside the oil field. The NE sea has
built up an annoying swell which is tossing us around, and we are both
looking forward to a bit of peace and tranquility in a few days time! Our
pos at 13.00(utc-2) is 20,02.6S,36,15W.
paces ! I started with a collection of rain squalls which surrounded us. As
we had not yet caught any water, or enjoyed showering in the rain, we were
quite looking forward to a bit of rain! It came as it so often does , with a
little hooly, but we had reefed in anticipation! The rain and drissle stuck
around for a few hours, ut the wind dropped to zero! Becalmed ! We needed to
charge batteries ,so we motored for 2 hours, by which time the evening
breeze had started to fill in. Up with the pole ,and off we go! As the
clouds cleared, and darkness arrived, we were later than usual with our
happy hour and sups. Suddenly two ships lights appear on the horizon, but
neither showed as AIS targets. One we suspect was a fishing boat, as we only
picked it up on radar at 5 miles, and it looked like a xmas tree with all
the lights. The second was a huge radar taget which we could see at 12.5
miles, but no AIS image. Possibly a tanker approaching the oil terminals? At
about 11pm, the wind suddenly jumped to 25/27 knots, and we were wing on
wing with full main and genoa poled out. I just headed straight downwind ,
pushing Freds buttons like a slot machine addict, making sure that we
were'nt caught offsides by any of the wind shifts. It only lasted half an
hour, and then died. Twenty minutes later, the wind switches from SE to NE,
necessitating a gybe, and new course. In the morning watch, I discovered
that my fishing lines had got into the worlds greatest ever tangle, and at
the end of it all was a useless snake mackeral, and one missing lure! It was
cut and ditch stuff!I can only speculate that something large hit the one
line , and caused a serious mess!
We managed another 131 nm day , and now have 497nm to Ihla Grande. At
present we are heading for a waypoint between two sea mounts, before easing
of towards our cabo frio offshore wp outside the oil field. The NE sea has
built up an annoying swell which is tossing us around, and we are both
looking forward to a bit of peace and tranquility in a few days time! Our
pos at 13.00(utc-2) is 20,02.6S,36,15W.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
An exercise in patience
We nurdled out 112nm today, and we're actually quite proud of it!The winds
varied between 5.5kn and 11kn, and there was Fox Alpha we could do about it!
With 625 still to go, there is no point using up diesel for propulsion ! The
lowest speed we have recorded yet is 1.9, and the lowest wind speed 5.5kn.
We have been amazed at how easily she sails along at 4 to 4.8 knots in very
light airs! So far,we have not yet been becalmed! The sea, sun, and weather
are glorious, and we are content to just read, sleep, and suntan for the
next few days! Some people would pay MILLIONS of Rand to find themselves in
such idyllic conditions! Lets hope there's not a Hooly round the corner!
We finished our one water tank today, which we refilled in St Helena,
and added to in Ascension. The summary is 700lts lasted the two of us 45
days, (+/- 8lts per person per day. That includes drinking, cooking,
showering, and a little clothes washing.) We still have the other 250lt
tank, plus bottled drinking water.
Have just learnt that Chris and Helen Hull are flying over to Brazil
in Feb, and intend sailing Sea Lion up to Rio for the Carnival. I dont think
we will be temped so soon after arriving, but it will be nice to catch up
with them in and around Ihla Grande before and after their Rio trip. I am
hoping he can bring me a new raw water pump, as Southern Marines rebuild of
mine , is/was a failure, and it leaks like a sieve through the back
bearing..exactly the same as it did before they re -built it, and charged me
a fortune for the priveledge! They might have a chance to explain/redeam
themselves when I take it back to them in March/April, if Roy can find the
new one for me!!
Our pos at present is 19.00S, 34,14.5W, and we are ghosting along
at5.0 knots in 10/11knots of breeze. We would still like to creep into
Ens. das Palmas on Friday afternoon, and keep a low profile until we check
in at Angra on Monday morning , even if it means not leaving the boat to go
ashore! Cheers till later!
varied between 5.5kn and 11kn, and there was Fox Alpha we could do about it!
With 625 still to go, there is no point using up diesel for propulsion ! The
lowest speed we have recorded yet is 1.9, and the lowest wind speed 5.5kn.
We have been amazed at how easily she sails along at 4 to 4.8 knots in very
light airs! So far,we have not yet been becalmed! The sea, sun, and weather
are glorious, and we are content to just read, sleep, and suntan for the
next few days! Some people would pay MILLIONS of Rand to find themselves in
such idyllic conditions! Lets hope there's not a Hooly round the corner!
We finished our one water tank today, which we refilled in St Helena,
and added to in Ascension. The summary is 700lts lasted the two of us 45
days, (+/- 8lts per person per day. That includes drinking, cooking,
showering, and a little clothes washing.) We still have the other 250lt
tank, plus bottled drinking water.
Have just learnt that Chris and Helen Hull are flying over to Brazil
in Feb, and intend sailing Sea Lion up to Rio for the Carnival. I dont think
we will be temped so soon after arriving, but it will be nice to catch up
with them in and around Ihla Grande before and after their Rio trip. I am
hoping he can bring me a new raw water pump, as Southern Marines rebuild of
mine , is/was a failure, and it leaks like a sieve through the back
bearing..exactly the same as it did before they re -built it, and charged me
a fortune for the priveledge! They might have a chance to explain/redeam
themselves when I take it back to them in March/April, if Roy can find the
new one for me!!
Our pos at present is 19.00S, 34,14.5W, and we are ghosting along
at5.0 knots in 10/11knots of breeze. We would still like to creep into
Ens. das Palmas on Friday afternoon, and keep a low profile until we check
in at Angra on Monday morning , even if it means not leaving the boat to go
ashore! Cheers till later!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
RE: Ideal cruising boat?
Echos of Nick Taylors lyrics, which accompanied his Cape to Rio video.."Rolling down to Rio, via Cabo Frio, oh so slow!" Last night the wind dropped to 7knots, and a quick look at the Gribs for the next couple of days does not promise much relief! We have little half hour flurry's where the
wind will pick up to 15/16, and then die down again. In two days we will cross the Vitoria Trinidade sea mountain chain, amongst which there are 11 mtr and 20 mtr peaks, which we will endeavour to avoid, in case the currents bump up the sea state. We managed 131nm yesterday, which was'nt too bad! Six more days of 125nm and we're there, just in time to celebrate Kates birthday for her! We are now on UTC-2, which is the last change until Ilha Grande, which is probably UTC-3. Position at 13.00(utc-2) 17.57S,32,43W, on course 255m, doing 4 to 5 knots! Time for a nap!
wind will pick up to 15/16, and then die down again. In two days we will cross the Vitoria Trinidade sea mountain chain, amongst which there are 11 mtr and 20 mtr peaks, which we will endeavour to avoid, in case the currents bump up the sea state. We managed 131nm yesterday, which was'nt too bad! Six more days of 125nm and we're there, just in time to celebrate Kates birthday for her! We are now on UTC-2, which is the last change until Ilha Grande, which is probably UTC-3. Position at 13.00(utc-2) 17.57S,32,43W, on course 255m, doing 4 to 5 knots! Time for a nap!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ideal cruising boat?
Justin, a lot earlier in our travels, you asked if I felt that the Shearwater was the ideal cruising boat. We have now done just over 4000nm in "Sheer Tenacity" since we left Cape Town last month, and have had time to assess her performance , and time to learn how best to trim and sail her. The answer is unequivically YES!! She is an absolute joy, and a real passage maker! Not only is she good on all points of sail, but she is naturally fast, spacious, and better ventilated than any other boat I know. She is also a real "looker", and commented upon wherever you go! A great combination of classical elegance, and efficient yacht design. Her reputation preceeds her, and people from all over the world recognise them, and respect them. We arrived in St Helena in 13 days,(where an American and a Frenchman identified her), after our very conservative and careful passage, during which we wasted a day detouring around Valdevia banks, hove to and
slept for 4 hours after Fred failed, and then zig zagged our way down the last 700 miles, turning it into 830! Petr Musik won the Governers cup cruising division last time in "Shoestring", doing it in ten days! Chris Hull and Pete v d Westhuizen also took ten days in "Sea Lion", but they did
some motoring, as Pete had a deadline! In comparison, all the other boats in St Helena while we were there, were amazed by OUR time! A Valiant 40 took 18 days, a Benneteu Figaro 16, an Amel 44 ketch, 23!, and a new Dean Cat 44, also took 13! We dawdled down to Ascension in 6 days, and have just completed our 8th day en route to Ilha Grande. We did 153nm yesterday, and have done 1130 since we left Ascension. No record breaking stuff, just comfortable sailing, as this is our "Home" we are sailing, and... this is Mary's first offshore sailing experience! Can't push the envelope too far if the dream is to stay alive!! We are also a great deal heavier than design
spec, (+/- 13 tons)in that we carry a full genset, 700lts diesel, 600lts water, and a years food supply!! We raised our waterline 30cm before leaving! Gerfied and Dudley certainly hit the jackpot with this boat, and I cannot believe that only about 25 of each size were built, and.. that we are lucky enough to own one! After the problems we initially had with Fred, our B & G autopilot, I have now managed to modify my tillerplot set up -(which was meant to drive the trim tab), such that it connects directly onto the Aux tiller, and in this mornings test, it worked just fine. So as an emergency solution, we have Plan B! (The tillerpilot is a Simrad TP20), which was designed for boats up to +/-35ft? Position at noon,16.40S,30.44W. Till later!
slept for 4 hours after Fred failed, and then zig zagged our way down the last 700 miles, turning it into 830! Petr Musik won the Governers cup cruising division last time in "Shoestring", doing it in ten days! Chris Hull and Pete v d Westhuizen also took ten days in "Sea Lion", but they did
some motoring, as Pete had a deadline! In comparison, all the other boats in St Helena while we were there, were amazed by OUR time! A Valiant 40 took 18 days, a Benneteu Figaro 16, an Amel 44 ketch, 23!, and a new Dean Cat 44, also took 13! We dawdled down to Ascension in 6 days, and have just completed our 8th day en route to Ilha Grande. We did 153nm yesterday, and have done 1130 since we left Ascension. No record breaking stuff, just comfortable sailing, as this is our "Home" we are sailing, and... this is Mary's first offshore sailing experience! Can't push the envelope too far if the dream is to stay alive!! We are also a great deal heavier than design
spec, (+/- 13 tons)in that we carry a full genset, 700lts diesel, 600lts water, and a years food supply!! We raised our waterline 30cm before leaving! Gerfied and Dudley certainly hit the jackpot with this boat, and I cannot believe that only about 25 of each size were built, and.. that we are lucky enough to own one! After the problems we initially had with Fred, our B & G autopilot, I have now managed to modify my tillerplot set up -(which was meant to drive the trim tab), such that it connects directly onto the Aux tiller, and in this mornings test, it worked just fine. So as an emergency solution, we have Plan B! (The tillerpilot is a Simrad TP20), which was designed for boats up to +/-35ft? Position at noon,16.40S,30.44W. Till later!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
So you are tourists no?
Well we have about another 60 miles before we are out of the race boats route, and the wind has dropped since yesterday to 14-16knots, and gone ESE. We had 148nm day ,yesterday , and in 16 miles we will have less than 1000 to Ilha Grande, and in 24 we will have done the same from Ascension. Reasons for two drinks at happy hour this evening!! Had an interesting chat with watchkkeper on freighter "Silvretta" last night. They came up behind us on a similar course, heading for Rio. They were doing 15kn to our 6.6, and it looked like they would cross two or three miles in front of us. When he was 6 miles behind , I called him up to alert him to our position 6 miles ahead on his stb bow. No problem, he says, I'll turn to starboard ! Port you mean, I'm on your starboard! Ok, no problem, I turn to port! About 10minutes later, he calls to say " Hokay, I see you now, but tell me, its not my business I know, but where are you from, and where are you going, and what are you doing in the middle of the South Atlantic?" Sailing vessel Sheer Tenacity, out of Cape Town, via St Helena, Ascension Island, now en route to Rio, I reply. "aha, so you are a tourist ,no?" While writing this, my kicker block exploded, and is no more! Just as well Gerfried says you dont need one on a Shearwater! We have the full Genoa poled out to port, a single reef in the main, to starboard, on a preventer, and the staysail to starboard closing the slot, while running directly down our rhumb line. Its working very well, and we are doing a comfortable 6.2 to 7.2 in 13/14knots of wind from 150deg on port quarter, despite the quite big swell. Position at noon 15.24S,28.28.6W. Till tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
In the box!
Sadly my SSB picked up nothing on any of the frequencies, so I can only presume that the problem remains unsolved! I would loved to have listened to the race reports! I can remember last year how the boats moaned about the lack of wind as they approached Salvador. We are crossing their corridor at the moment, about 700nm off Salvador, and there is 20-25 knots S/E , with 3/4 swells at present, so the guys should be flying, if current conditions prevail when they get here! We had a 144nm day yesterday, and as at noon have 1000nm to our Cabo Frio offshore wp, and then 160 to Ilha Grande. We will probably take a chance,and make straight for Enseada das Palmas, for our first night of blissful tranquility, before checking in at Angra dos
Reis the following day.. or so, if we wake up in time!! I mentioned in one report that some AIS relative positions were wrong. Sorry, my mistake. I was looking at the screen as one would a radar screen, with bow ahead. The stand alone AIS screen always shows North at the top and yourself in the middle. So if one is going south, and the target is 8nm behind you, it looks to be 8nm in front of you! We saw our our first ship last night since Ascension, and finally worked it out! Cheers!
Reis the following day.. or so, if we wake up in time!! I mentioned in one report that some AIS relative positions were wrong. Sorry, my mistake. I was looking at the screen as one would a radar screen, with bow ahead. The stand alone AIS screen always shows North at the top and yourself in the middle. So if one is going south, and the target is 8nm behind you, it looks to be 8nm in front of you! We saw our our first ship last night since Ascension, and finally worked it out! Cheers!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Still chopping along!
We have now done 690nm on this leg so far, with 1280 to go to our Ihla Grande approach waypoint, and 1139 to the Oil fields. Seems hard to believe we have already done over 3500nm since we left Hout Bay! Apart from the French profile spinaker car which broke this morning, everything else is fine. We are a bit dissappointed in two of our electrical elements. The 4
x110AH Haze gel batteries do NOT retain their charges in such a way as to justify their prices, and the 50amp dinasaur battery charger, which Hutch told us to stick with because its "bullet proof".... Well we dont have to worry about bullets out here ! What I would like is a charger that puts in more than 10-12amps via the Genset! Definitely going to be deep sixed and replaced along the way! Thanks to Chris and Justin, we now know our sat time balances, and the Cape to Bahia radio scheds. We intend to try and pick them up this afternoon, if SSB is as I hope ,fixed. We did 131nm yesterday, and are sticking to our conservative sail plan, with minimal weatherhelm for Fred. Am also trying Roy's suggested downwind strategy at present. Probably
a little less efficient boat wise, but more efficient crew wise! Will discuss later! Position at present 12,24S, 23,44W, weather fine, 12-16kn wind, annoying lumpy cross swell, but life under the bimini just great!
!
x110AH Haze gel batteries do NOT retain their charges in such a way as to justify their prices, and the 50amp dinasaur battery charger, which Hutch told us to stick with because its "bullet proof".... Well we dont have to worry about bullets out here ! What I would like is a charger that puts in more than 10-12amps via the Genset! Definitely going to be deep sixed and replaced along the way! Thanks to Chris and Justin, we now know our sat time balances, and the Cape to Bahia radio scheds. We intend to try and pick them up this afternoon, if SSB is as I hope ,fixed. We did 131nm yesterday, and are sticking to our conservative sail plan, with minimal weatherhelm for Fred. Am also trying Roy's suggested downwind strategy at present. Probably
a little less efficient boat wise, but more efficient crew wise! Will discuss later! Position at present 12,24S, 23,44W, weather fine, 12-16kn wind, annoying lumpy cross swell, but life under the bimini just great!
!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Too much of a good thing can cost you!
Well we're now on course for our way point bordering the oilfields off Cabo Frio, en route to Baia dos Ilha Grande. Fred passed avery stern test last night, so declared him fit enough to go south. We had really enjoyed a fabulous days run under the huge Genaker ; smooth, fast, quiet, and
comfortable, doing 6.5knots in 14-16kn0ts of wind. We were both able to sleep a bit during the day, and watched the sun go down on a lovely day. We were loathe to drop the kite, particlarly as the Gribs indicated the same conditions for the next three days! Well, they got it wrong, and so did I! I broke my own cardinal rule about not going into the night with sails that cannot be easily reduced by the person on watch from the cockpit! At 11.30, two little black clouds appeared suddenly, blocking out the moon, and bringing 25+ knots of wind from all directions! The crashing and banging caused Mary rocket out of her bunk to find me hand steering , running
downwind for all I was worth to stop us broaching! We had to work out a way to drop the bag in an orderly fashion, in the dark. Thank goodness the moon re appeared! During the day I had noticed a lot of chafe on the tack sheet, and had rigged a second one, inadvertantly trapping the genoa sheet. It was a good hour and a bit, before I was able to re rig the tack lines, and the
control lines for the sock from the front of the bowsprit, to enable us to deploy the genoa, and drop the bag in its shadow, and pack it safely away. We sat in the cockpit at 1.00am, like two stunned mullets, saying "stupid,stupid, stupid, and never again!" During this episode Fred was needed to be at his best, and he did'nt dissapoint! We went through the rest of the night under headsails alone, but the swell angle towards Salvador became very unpleasant. During my 3-6am watch I said to myself"Why wait", Freds done 2 days 18hrs on sea trials, what will another 6 hours prove? So I dropped down from 280degs to 255 ( course to Cabo Frio), and things
improved.
At first light , we put up the main with 2 reefs, and have remained like that all day. The wind has remained in the S/E 20-23kn range, and we are having a rather bumpy tight reach doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. We had a days run of 140nm, and can now look forward to staying on this course for the next 9/10 days, before turning to Ilha grande. During the next two days we will be crossing a box area 30w to 26w, and 13S to 16S, through which we expect any very fast Cape to Bahia cruiser/racers might cross our paths. While typing this, Mary has just asked me to help her take in a bit more headsail, as the winds were picking up again! As at 15.00(UTC-1) we are in pos 11,12S,23,09W. We have also just put up our bimini, as the sun is scorching hot out here, and we know it can withstand the winds !Till later!
comfortable, doing 6.5knots in 14-16kn0ts of wind. We were both able to sleep a bit during the day, and watched the sun go down on a lovely day. We were loathe to drop the kite, particlarly as the Gribs indicated the same conditions for the next three days! Well, they got it wrong, and so did I! I broke my own cardinal rule about not going into the night with sails that cannot be easily reduced by the person on watch from the cockpit! At 11.30, two little black clouds appeared suddenly, blocking out the moon, and bringing 25+ knots of wind from all directions! The crashing and banging caused Mary rocket out of her bunk to find me hand steering , running
downwind for all I was worth to stop us broaching! We had to work out a way to drop the bag in an orderly fashion, in the dark. Thank goodness the moon re appeared! During the day I had noticed a lot of chafe on the tack sheet, and had rigged a second one, inadvertantly trapping the genoa sheet. It was a good hour and a bit, before I was able to re rig the tack lines, and the
control lines for the sock from the front of the bowsprit, to enable us to deploy the genoa, and drop the bag in its shadow, and pack it safely away. We sat in the cockpit at 1.00am, like two stunned mullets, saying "stupid,stupid, stupid, and never again!" During this episode Fred was needed to be at his best, and he did'nt dissapoint! We went through the rest of the night under headsails alone, but the swell angle towards Salvador became very unpleasant. During my 3-6am watch I said to myself"Why wait", Freds done 2 days 18hrs on sea trials, what will another 6 hours prove? So I dropped down from 280degs to 255 ( course to Cabo Frio), and things
improved.
At first light , we put up the main with 2 reefs, and have remained like that all day. The wind has remained in the S/E 20-23kn range, and we are having a rather bumpy tight reach doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. We had a days run of 140nm, and can now look forward to staying on this course for the next 9/10 days, before turning to Ilha grande. During the next two days we will be crossing a box area 30w to 26w, and 13S to 16S, through which we expect any very fast Cape to Bahia cruiser/racers might cross our paths. While typing this, Mary has just asked me to help her take in a bit more headsail, as the winds were picking up again! As at 15.00(UTC-1) we are in pos 11,12S,23,09W. We have also just put up our bimini, as the sun is scorching hot out here, and we know it can withstand the winds !Till later!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hooray for the Y Front Genaker !
Once again the wind evaporated over night, so being Proudly South African, we hoist our huge genaker, for all World ,and the flying fish to see! Now I know why we schlepped it all this way !! We are sailing along in 7 to 10 knots , under the genaker alone, doing 4.5 to 5.5knots. The alternative of poled out slatting genoa and main is both tiring and rolly. Fed is still doing well on his second day " on trial", and if he continues to do so until noon tomorrow, we will change course to Islha De Grande.We are fairly certain that Freds problem was onc again air in the 600kg thrust hydrolic ram, which operates directly onto the quadrent, to which the rudder feedback
sensor is also connected. If the problem re appears, I will bleed it once again, cos the one thing I now have , is plenty of Hydrolic fluid! Using car brake/clutch logic does not work the same way , as when the power is off, the rams clutch is also off, allowing the ram to move without pressure, and so not flushing the cylinder of old fluid, and drawing fresh from the reservoir. Next time I will try using 10deg shifts, in "Power" mode, opening the nipple, and topping up the reservoir as I go. If only there were instructions in the owners instalation manual! At this moment Salvador is 1060nm, Rio 1493nm, and Islha grande 1540. We only did 121nm noon to noon, but we are still pretty happy given the point of sail and winds.
Mary has watched Nick Taylors video of Islha Grande 100's of times, and I was lucky enough to have a taste of it with Chris Sutton when we stopped over while bringing African Rennaisance back after the last Cape to Bahia. It is still one of the best kept secrets in the cruising world, and
has remained pretty well unchanged for many, many years. We would like to spend the next two months exploring the area, so yes Roy, I'd love to have your list of hot spots too! Our position (as we sign off for lunch of Tuna steaks with Sherry and Cranberries, served with Oriental cole slaw, and Tapenade, with freshly baked bread), is 10,2082S, 2047.55W at 12.30(utc-1)
sensor is also connected. If the problem re appears, I will bleed it once again, cos the one thing I now have , is plenty of Hydrolic fluid! Using car brake/clutch logic does not work the same way , as when the power is off, the rams clutch is also off, allowing the ram to move without pressure, and so not flushing the cylinder of old fluid, and drawing fresh from the reservoir. Next time I will try using 10deg shifts, in "Power" mode, opening the nipple, and topping up the reservoir as I go. If only there were instructions in the owners instalation manual! At this moment Salvador is 1060nm, Rio 1493nm, and Islha grande 1540. We only did 121nm noon to noon, but we are still pretty happy given the point of sail and winds.
Mary has watched Nick Taylors video of Islha Grande 100's of times, and I was lucky enough to have a taste of it with Chris Sutton when we stopped over while bringing African Rennaisance back after the last Cape to Bahia. It is still one of the best kept secrets in the cruising world, and
has remained pretty well unchanged for many, many years. We would like to spend the next two months exploring the area, so yes Roy, I'd love to have your list of hot spots too! Our position (as we sign off for lunch of Tuna steaks with Sherry and Cranberries, served with Oriental cole slaw, and Tapenade, with freshly baked bread), is 10,2082S, 2047.55W at 12.30(utc-1)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Back on SAN5
About an hour ago we felt a bit of a bump as we crossed from Adm 4105 back
onto SAN 5 ! After the disappointment of Fred throwing a wobbly, he settled
down, and has continued faultlessly so far. Very puzzling.When he first
failed yesterday, I turned of the instruments, and re booted. The auto pilot
motor made a strange ''running but not getting anywhere noise". That is when
I turned it off again, and checked the Hydrolic fluid level again. If
anything, it was too full, as some oozed out as I undid the tank plug.
Either there was a remaining airbubble in the system, or else I overfilled
it. As there seem to be no guidelines on fluid levels , or bleeding
precedures, I cant discount these as possible reasons. All over the pump
there are specs giving max psi levels etc, but thats of no bloody use to me
out here! But perhaps, with the heat of running, and a remaining airbubble,
or too much fluid, it exceeded its precious psi limit, which was released
when I opened the plug! Its worked fine ever since!
My tillerpilot to trim tab design was a failure. In principle it should
work, but I think I've got the lever lengths wrong, and have no means of
changing until we reach port. However, I intend to remount the Tiller pilot
as originally intended, driving the auxiliary tiller directly. With the
genset and tools on board, this can and will be done. I might have to
disconnect the wheel cables, and load additional bungee on the weather helm
side to assist, but I feel happier now that I have a plan B. ! We would
still prefer to make for Angra dos Reis, but we need feel to satisfied that
Fred is up for it! We therefore intend to continue towards Salvador for at
least another three days, to make sure , and will re-assess then!
Meanwhile, apart from the autopilot hiccough, it was a dream blue water
cruising day! Having been broken up by three fish ( we were going too
fast!), I eventually landed a 20kg Tuna. We had lighltly seared tuna steaks,
with wasabe, pickled ginger, rice and a chinese salad for lunch, and have a
further 20 tuna meals packed in the freezer!When Mary came on watch in the
evening she enjoyed a full moon visitation from a school of spotted
dolphins( much smaller than our dusky's). During my 9-12 watch, a sooty tern
landed on the radar dome, and hitched a ride for the night ! He seemed quite
at home with us looking at him, and the flash photos never phased him!During
the night, the wind had dropped to a miserable 7-8 knots, and we furled the
genoa to stop the flogging, but we still managed a 132nm noon to noon day,
and are currently goosewinged in pos 10.02S, 18.49W, at 16.00 RSA time,
with Fred still at the helm, making 5.5knts. We are missing the faster and
more comfortable reach down to Rio,but are happy enough to be making safe
and sure progress towards Salvador at this stage, and keeping our fingers
crossed ! Any technical advice re Freds ailment ? Till later!
onto SAN 5 ! After the disappointment of Fred throwing a wobbly, he settled
down, and has continued faultlessly so far. Very puzzling.When he first
failed yesterday, I turned of the instruments, and re booted. The auto pilot
motor made a strange ''running but not getting anywhere noise". That is when
I turned it off again, and checked the Hydrolic fluid level again. If
anything, it was too full, as some oozed out as I undid the tank plug.
Either there was a remaining airbubble in the system, or else I overfilled
it. As there seem to be no guidelines on fluid levels , or bleeding
precedures, I cant discount these as possible reasons. All over the pump
there are specs giving max psi levels etc, but thats of no bloody use to me
out here! But perhaps, with the heat of running, and a remaining airbubble,
or too much fluid, it exceeded its precious psi limit, which was released
when I opened the plug! Its worked fine ever since!
My tillerpilot to trim tab design was a failure. In principle it should
work, but I think I've got the lever lengths wrong, and have no means of
changing until we reach port. However, I intend to remount the Tiller pilot
as originally intended, driving the auxiliary tiller directly. With the
genset and tools on board, this can and will be done. I might have to
disconnect the wheel cables, and load additional bungee on the weather helm
side to assist, but I feel happier now that I have a plan B. ! We would
still prefer to make for Angra dos Reis, but we need feel to satisfied that
Fred is up for it! We therefore intend to continue towards Salvador for at
least another three days, to make sure , and will re-assess then!
Meanwhile, apart from the autopilot hiccough, it was a dream blue water
cruising day! Having been broken up by three fish ( we were going too
fast!), I eventually landed a 20kg Tuna. We had lighltly seared tuna steaks,
with wasabe, pickled ginger, rice and a chinese salad for lunch, and have a
further 20 tuna meals packed in the freezer!When Mary came on watch in the
evening she enjoyed a full moon visitation from a school of spotted
dolphins( much smaller than our dusky's). During my 9-12 watch, a sooty tern
landed on the radar dome, and hitched a ride for the night ! He seemed quite
at home with us looking at him, and the flash photos never phased him!During
the night, the wind had dropped to a miserable 7-8 knots, and we furled the
genoa to stop the flogging, but we still managed a 132nm noon to noon day,
and are currently goosewinged in pos 10.02S, 18.49W, at 16.00 RSA time,
with Fred still at the helm, making 5.5knts. We are missing the faster and
more comfortable reach down to Rio,but are happy enough to be making safe
and sure progress towards Salvador at this stage, and keeping our fingers
crossed ! Any technical advice re Freds ailment ? Till later!
Friday, January 9, 2009
One minute you're up, then . . .
I was just sitting down to write about what a fantastic day we had after
leaving Ascension.A noon to noon run of 161nm, beautiful sea ,wind and
sunshine , a lovely 16kg Tuna... and then Fred does his "Rud Drv" bail out!
I have checked the fluid level, which is fine, and done the "power" check
routine, which also worked correctly. I then re engaged "auto", and he
appears to be working OK at the moment. I can find no reason for it to have
kicked out. As we are still 1720from Rio, and 1290 from Salvador, I have
reluctantly changed course back to Salvador. If we have to do a combination
of nursing Fred, and handsteering, Salvador must be first choice. Should
Fred work perfectly for the next week, we then at least have a choice. Our
position at 15.00 (UTC-1, 3 behind RSA) is 9.30.15S,16,5857W, and we are
sailing a course of 275 towards Salvador, doing 6.5-7.0 knots, with Fred
currently at the helm.Long may he last!!
leaving Ascension.A noon to noon run of 161nm, beautiful sea ,wind and
sunshine , a lovely 16kg Tuna... and then Fred does his "Rud Drv" bail out!
I have checked the fluid level, which is fine, and done the "power" check
routine, which also worked correctly. I then re engaged "auto", and he
appears to be working OK at the moment. I can find no reason for it to have
kicked out. As we are still 1720from Rio, and 1290 from Salvador, I have
reluctantly changed course back to Salvador. If we have to do a combination
of nursing Fred, and handsteering, Salvador must be first choice. Should
Fred work perfectly for the next week, we then at least have a choice. Our
position at 15.00 (UTC-1, 3 behind RSA) is 9.30.15S,16,5857W, and we are
sailing a course of 275 towards Salvador, doing 6.5-7.0 knots, with Fred
currently at the helm.Long may he last!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Goodbye Ascension!
I managed to land at the pier yesterday, which was quite a challenge! We had persuaded the authorities to sign us in and out at the same time, just in case we were unable to get ashore when we wished to clear out, but I wanted to reload water, and my crew said "over to you skip". When I arrived at the pier it was 4ft below the landing ledge, but within 20 secs, it was 4ft above the ledge, with a surge from hell trying to dump you on the beach! The art is to approach throwing one rubbish, water bottles etc up onto the highest ledge, and hope they stay there, while you simultaneously kill the engine and leap ashore Tarzan style , grabbing one of the hanging ropes in one hand while hanging on to the extra long tender tether in the other hand! You then
tie up the tender onto a rope or rail, allowing the backsurge to carry the tender away from the landing. You then swear loudly, get down on your knees and try to rescue your rubbish and water bottles which are being washed over the edge. Getting oneself plus the 2 25kg water
bottles back on board was another challenge, calling for leaps of faith, frantic rowing to get away from the wash, followed by pleas to the outboard.
In all seriousness, the seas in European winter make the landing in Ascension trickier than normal, but we had a particularly rough week. Would somebody please alert JC (Taniwa) of the situation in Ascension, because I think he intended to come here, and it would be very , very awkward for a Mom and small baby to contend with as well!
Today the anchorage was as rolly as ever, so we decided we might as well clock up the miles and leave for Rio, or, Angra dos Reis. We will make that call when we reach Cabo Frio , where I have plotted an turning point round the oil fields, abot 110nm from Rio. We upped anchor at noon, with that point 1792nm from Ascension bearing 253 . We have now done 33nm of that, and are chopping along on a tight fetch, in 20knots, doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. The wind is expected to ease up a little tomorrow, but this is a very comfortable point of sale in a Shearwater. Fast and dry, and we are operating with a single reef, and reduced headsail. Makes a change from running and rolling! Pos at 17.00utc 8.11S,14.55W.
Tomorrow we will change to UTC -1, as we cross 15degs west. Cheers all!
tie up the tender onto a rope or rail, allowing the backsurge to carry the tender away from the landing. You then swear loudly, get down on your knees and try to rescue your rubbish and water bottles which are being washed over the edge. Getting oneself plus the 2 25kg water
bottles back on board was another challenge, calling for leaps of faith, frantic rowing to get away from the wash, followed by pleas to the outboard.
In all seriousness, the seas in European winter make the landing in Ascension trickier than normal, but we had a particularly rough week. Would somebody please alert JC (Taniwa) of the situation in Ascension, because I think he intended to come here, and it would be very , very awkward for a Mom and small baby to contend with as well!
Today the anchorage was as rolly as ever, so we decided we might as well clock up the miles and leave for Rio, or, Angra dos Reis. We will make that call when we reach Cabo Frio , where I have plotted an turning point round the oil fields, abot 110nm from Rio. We upped anchor at noon, with that point 1792nm from Ascension bearing 253 . We have now done 33nm of that, and are chopping along on a tight fetch, in 20knots, doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. The wind is expected to ease up a little tomorrow, but this is a very comfortable point of sale in a Shearwater. Fast and dry, and we are operating with a single reef, and reduced headsail. Makes a change from running and rolling! Pos at 17.00utc 8.11S,14.55W.
Tomorrow we will change to UTC -1, as we cross 15degs west. Cheers all!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A Rethink on Salvador
Gerfried Nebe had warned us that the swells at this time from the
Northern hems winter, made the anchorage rolly, and the landings
tricky. Well he was right! We finally manage to land on Monday, thanks
to being attacked by the Floating Aero fuel line which broke free, and
needed to be repaired. This meant work boats going between Pierhead
and fuel line past the yacht, and we were able to bum a lift. In a big
work boat with serious rope fenders all around, they dont mind driving
quite firmly into the jetty, hanging onto the ropes, to give one a
chance to alight. In ones own small rubber duck, it can be quite
hairy, and is obviously easier in the European summer months,without
the swells from the North. (I pleaded old age, coupled with divorce
threats to get the lift!)
It is a very special, and different environment -Like a Karoo
dorpie dropped into a marine paradise! We are surrounded by mating
Turtles, millions of Black Triggerfish, Frigate Birds, and Sooty
terns. I caught a nice 5kg Black Jack ( kingfish species), casting a
popper from the bow yesterday. The gamefish frequently are seen and
caught in the anchorage, as come in search of smaller prey.
Incidently, for those of you who know Tom Morgans South Atlantic
Circuit guide, it should be noted that his position for North Point on
Ascension is incorrect. It should be 14.22.7 W, and not 14.02.7W. You
won't hit anything, but might question your nav skills!
Now that the Cape to Bahia race is on, we think that Salvador
might be pretty crowded with yachties, and moorings at a premium. We
have decided to sail from here to Rio instead, so that we can spend
more time in the Baia de Ilha Grande. (We might even check in directly
at Angra dos Reis.) We will leave the boat there, or Parati, when we
fly back to SA in March/April, and will then day hop up the coast
during their winter, when the current is slower, and the winds more
condusive to passages up the Brazilian coast. We would like to call in
at Buzios, Archipelgo dos Abrolhos,Camamu Bay,Ilha de Tinhare, and
obviously include Salvador and Cabadelo. We then also have the chance
of doing the Recife to Fernando de Noronha race in September, which is
as good a route around the bulge as one can ask for! In addition, one
gets free mooring and entry on the Isle for a week, which has now
become quite seriously expensive!Thereafter, we would head for
Fortaleza, and plan the next steps from there, towards the Carribean.
Last note on Ascension. Bakery closed due to illness. A frozen loaf
of bread in the only shop costs 2.30pounds, and a Windhoek lager
1.05pounds ! Thank goodness I can bake bread, cos this place calls for
a beer at sundowner time!
Next blog en route to Rio!
Northern hems winter, made the anchorage rolly, and the landings
tricky. Well he was right! We finally manage to land on Monday, thanks
to being attacked by the Floating Aero fuel line which broke free, and
needed to be repaired. This meant work boats going between Pierhead
and fuel line past the yacht, and we were able to bum a lift. In a big
work boat with serious rope fenders all around, they dont mind driving
quite firmly into the jetty, hanging onto the ropes, to give one a
chance to alight. In ones own small rubber duck, it can be quite
hairy, and is obviously easier in the European summer months,without
the swells from the North. (I pleaded old age, coupled with divorce
threats to get the lift!)
It is a very special, and different environment -Like a Karoo
dorpie dropped into a marine paradise! We are surrounded by mating
Turtles, millions of Black Triggerfish, Frigate Birds, and Sooty
terns. I caught a nice 5kg Black Jack ( kingfish species), casting a
popper from the bow yesterday. The gamefish frequently are seen and
caught in the anchorage, as come in search of smaller prey.
Incidently, for those of you who know Tom Morgans South Atlantic
Circuit guide, it should be noted that his position for North Point on
Ascension is incorrect. It should be 14.22.7 W, and not 14.02.7W. You
won't hit anything, but might question your nav skills!
Now that the Cape to Bahia race is on, we think that Salvador
might be pretty crowded with yachties, and moorings at a premium. We
have decided to sail from here to Rio instead, so that we can spend
more time in the Baia de Ilha Grande. (We might even check in directly
at Angra dos Reis.) We will leave the boat there, or Parati, when we
fly back to SA in March/April, and will then day hop up the coast
during their winter, when the current is slower, and the winds more
condusive to passages up the Brazilian coast. We would like to call in
at Buzios, Archipelgo dos Abrolhos,Camamu Bay,Ilha de Tinhare, and
obviously include Salvador and Cabadelo. We then also have the chance
of doing the Recife to Fernando de Noronha race in September, which is
as good a route around the bulge as one can ask for! In addition, one
gets free mooring and entry on the Isle for a week, which has now
become quite seriously expensive!Thereafter, we would head for
Fortaleza, and plan the next steps from there, towards the Carribean.
Last note on Ascension. Bakery closed due to illness. A frozen loaf
of bread in the only shop costs 2.30pounds, and a Windhoek lager
1.05pounds ! Thank goodness I can bake bread, cos this place calls for
a beer at sundowner time!
Next blog en route to Rio!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Mistaken for a turtle
We tried to check in with the Port control today, but after reaching the landing pier , I decided they could wait until the landing was more manageable! There is a huge swell running, and breaking on the landing jetty, and we decided not to be the locals only form of entertainment for the day! They were lined up on the pier just waiting to see us wipe out! We had also picked up Andy Lepiarczyk, who is busy doing a solo circumnavigation in his 30 ft Beneteau Figaro, as he had no dinghy. We had seen him in St Helena, and he arrived here this morning having lost a halyard. So we took him back to his boat, "The Mighty Chicken",and helped him up the mast to replace the halyard. That done, he has just upped anchor and left for Martinique, ETA Jan 31.
Rowing Tinker back from Mighty Chicken to Sheer Tenacity, we were follwed and almost chased by a monster turtle who had conjugal bliss in mind,and saw Tinker being rowed as his idea the ideal partner! He eventually popped his head out 2 ft behind the transom, recognized it as a case of mistaken identity, and turtled his way away! There are in fact turtles all round the boat, as they are in the middle of their laying season on the beach in front of us. They appear to be mainly Green Turtles, but the one who followed us must have been either Leatherback, or Loggerhead, as it was much too big to be a Green Turtle!
Meanwhile, we will just do a bit more R & R and fishing, and will check in when we feel like its safe! Cheers for now!
Rowing Tinker back from Mighty Chicken to Sheer Tenacity, we were follwed and almost chased by a monster turtle who had conjugal bliss in mind,and saw Tinker being rowed as his idea the ideal partner! He eventually popped his head out 2 ft behind the transom, recognized it as a case of mistaken identity, and turtled his way away! There are in fact turtles all round the boat, as they are in the middle of their laying season on the beach in front of us. They appear to be mainly Green Turtles, but the one who followed us must have been either Leatherback, or Loggerhead, as it was much too big to be a Green Turtle!
Meanwhile, we will just do a bit more R & R and fishing, and will check in when we feel like its safe! Cheers for now!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Ascension
We arrived here at 14.00hrs and are currently about to enjoy a bitterly cold beer! Having had a gentle breeze, for exactly 6 days, and all 818 miles of the way from St Helena,we turned into the lee of Clarence bay to drop sails and prepare to anchor , and got a rude shock! 28 knots on the nose!Its settled down to a reasonable 15 now, and we are securely anchored in 17mts, with 55mts of chain on a 30kg Bruce ! We are the only yacht here, and have really been looking
forward to spending a little time here. It looks like a cross between the back of the moon James Bond location, and a tropical paradise! ! We have been asked to present ourselves to "Immigration" by 10.00hrs tomorrow, and that could be quite a challenge in itself! We will have
to inflate Tinker, fit the engine, and take on something of a bay challenge to reach the pier, which is the only landing area. At the moment it looks like dungeons, so I guess we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Right now its time for a beer and a spot of fishing ! Cheers!
forward to spending a little time here. It looks like a cross between the back of the moon James Bond location, and a tropical paradise! ! We have been asked to present ourselves to "Immigration" by 10.00hrs tomorrow, and that could be quite a challenge in itself! We will have
to inflate Tinker, fit the engine, and take on something of a bay challenge to reach the pier, which is the only landing area. At the moment it looks like dungeons, so I guess we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Right now its time for a beer and a spot of fishing ! Cheers!
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