General Observations from Cape Town
Thursday, 8.31.06

The Maggie B was launched on January 16, 2006 and set out on her first voyage on March 27th. Since then she has sailed about 9000 miles, and been at sea 84 days. She has thus spent about half her time in port and half at sea. I suspect that the average for most sailboats is 1 to 20, not 50/50.

Just do it!

Last night I asked Bart and Lieve for their observations. Their answer somewhat surprised me — it was essentially “Just Do It!” Their point was that so many people wait for just the right weather forecast or perfecting their rig or finding just the right crew, and never get going. Pretty good and sailing beats not sailing because things are not perfect. Perhaps for some people a boat is just a funny-shaped apartment in a marina, but I’m convinced that many people would go sailing, but there is some minor detail wrong, so they stay in the harbor until it is fixed. One man in Nova Scotia had a lovely new boat,but never went out sailing. I asked why and he said that he hadn’t been able to get the proper sized anchor rode for his #2 anchor.

I was very lucky to have the sailing and mechanical skills of Max, Bart and Lieve. Things would have been much more difficult if they hadn’t been able to jump on our different breakdowns. And we have a lot of redundant systems. But our biggest problem was losing the prop between Barbados and Brazil, and no amount of spares or skilled mechanics could have done much for us. We just had to adapt and behave like a traditional sailing boat, and sail and use the anchor when we couldn’t sail. I think that most things that might go wrong can be treated in the same way of fixing or working around. A perfect boat never sails.

In terms of gear…

One of my mistakes was not assuring that we had spare filters for everything. I thought that I had, but I didn’t. It is easily possible to go crazy about spares. I should have had a “priority” system to highlight the difference between “nice to have” like extra lightbulbs as opposed to “gotta have” like fuel filters.

One real surprise for me has been chafe and corrosion. I knew that things chafe when they rub together and metal corrodes in salt water, but I have been astonished at the speed. Somewhere on the web site is a photo of the windlass control, that had become totally corroded and useless after five months tucked high up in the anchor compartment. The incredibly strong main throat halyard parted after three days of rubbing, just touching, on the gaff saddle. Corrosion eats up the little pins in electrical connectors like a reaper cutting hay.

Next — Cape Town and South Africa

All is well.

Location: 33° 55.1 S, 18° 26.6 E
Wednesday 16:00, 08.23.2006

The Schooner Maggie B tied up to the Royal Cape Yacht Club dock at 1600 on August 23. Our position is 33° 55.1 S, 18° 26.6 E. We went 3903 NM is 22 days, averaging 177 NM per day, or 7.4 knots.

The crew is happy to be ashore, but also rested and fit, and ready to go out and celebrate Lieve’s birthday.

Table Bay lived up to its reputation and we had gusts to 38 knots as we furled sails on approach. The wind was only 30 knots in the RCYC marina.

I’ll have lessons learned and observations tomorrow.

All is well.

20 miles off the coast of Cape Town
Wednesday 12:00, 08.23.2006

We sighted the Cape of Good Hope through the rain clouds right at noon. Now 20 miles out of Cape Town and going hull speed with two reefs in main and fore. Arrival at Royal Cape Yacht Club in three hours. We made it just in time to celebrate Lieve’s birthday!

All is well.

Bolognese & Beaujolais €” 08.22.06

A day from Cape Town, we had Spaghetti Bolognese for lunch with a nice fresh Beaujolais. We have to drink up the French wine shipped from Martinique to make room for all the great South African wines!

Location: 35° 20.5 S, 15° 24.3 E
Tuesday 12:00, 08.22.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 35° 20.5 S 15° 24.3 E at noon on August 22nd. Our wind is steady from the South (185M) at 15-20. We have eased sheets a bit, but still are heading for a conservative turn point about 100 NM SE of Cape Town, so as not to be caught out by a quick big SE’er with a strong foul current.

Our weather advice says that we should be fine coming in, with the strong SE’er holding off for a day or so, and that the current between us and Cape Town is “weak and disorganized” (from a US Navy analysis). But still we will hold a bit of our Southing in reserve. In any case, we are about 175 NM from Cape Town, an average day’s run, so at this speed, or a bit faster when we are reaching, would allow for an arrival tomorrow morning, which is perfect. So no need to rush the turn.

It is a bright sunny day. Smaller terns are around us now, together with the Shearwaters and Petrels from the further reaches. As Commanders has predicted, seas are “quite rough with wind waves and a Southerly swell” but the Maggie B is handling them well, only throwing occasional buckets into the cockpit to keep the Watch alert.

Three weeks from Salvador! Cape Town tomorrow!

All is well.

Location: 34° 53.5 S, 12° 28 E
Monday 12:00, 08.21.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s Noon Position on August 21st was 34° 53.5 S, 12° 28 E. We are only 304 NM from Cape Town! This last bit still seems like a lot, even though we have gone 3565 NM since Salvador. The wind is piping up from the South, currently 210 degrees magnetic at 18-25. JASB = Just Another Southerly Blow.

We are currently on course or better for our “aim point” 100 NM South of Cape Town, at 7.5 knots. We should make it OK for Lieve’s birthday! This wind is due to freshen and come more Easterly, so we will probably need every yard of Southing we have “saved up.” Together with the wind backing to the Southeast, we can count on the Agulhas Current to push us back to the West and North. We are saving up our southing like a skier holds a little high on a hill before a long traverse or as a cautious pilot would save some altitude on approach to a tight runway.

We are beginning to see some smaller seabirds, which must be land-based on South Africa. Their ID’s will have to wait until we get a South African seabird book. I believe that we saw an immature albatross yesterday, but cannot check the ID and we did not get a photo.

Last night was not as bad as the night before, but it was wearying. All foul weather gear is damp or wet. Favorite clothing has become painted on (worn night and day). Knit hats (Canadian “Tooks”) may never be dry again. The cabin was a little nicer by noon today because we ran the main engine for battery charge and ran the heat as well, so at least the pilot house is dried out and the bunks are warmish. My favorite piece of clothing, which I have been wearing for a while, is a top of very fine Merino wool, made in New Zealand. Warm when things are cold, feels fine even when wet and not hot when under layers of foul weather gear and working hard on halyards.

We are sailing under full jib and two reefs in the main. Fore stowed away. Pounding hard closehauled on starboard tack. The seas have organized somewhat, but the current (1-1 1/2 knot from the SW?) has make the them peak up a bit. If the wind lightens any more, we will put the fore up with two reefs, to help us go to weather. Right now that would be too much sail.

Two days!

All is well.

American Sea Writing

I just finished a lovely book American Sea Writing edited by Peter Neill. It was given to the boat by my friend and future shipmate, Robert Farrar. It has pieces by obvious authors like Melville, Dana and Twain, but also lovely pieces by James Fenimore Cooper, James Agee, Eugene O’Neill, Langston Hughes and may other less likely. Well worth it!

Location: 34° 38.4 S, 09° 49.6 E
Sunday 12:00, 08.20.2006

Schooner Maggie B was at 34° 38.4S 009° 49.6E at noon on August 20. We had our first Strong Gale, Beaufort 9, last night. Winds to 44 knots. We ran “Lucille” a bit close. Probably the first inkling was at 1730, about sunset, when the 1″ high-tech Fore sheet parted in only 25 knots wind with the sail with one reef. We quickly secured things, and Lieve remarked, “Cape Town comes with a price.”

We had been happy at 2100 with the barometer at 1015 and the wind about on our beam at 30 knots. We were running along with two reefs in the main, one in the fore and about 1/2 jib. The centerboard was 1/2 way down to help with stability in the confused sea. The second clue came about 2130 when the Maggie B jumped off a large wave and the impact on the centerboard burst one of the hydraulic lines. The centerboard was wedged down with a handy 2 by 4.

By 2230 the sea was becoming large and confused and the watch was called to take in the fore, which was done quickly and efficiently. The jib was further reduced to the size of two overcoats. By midnight the barometer was down only to 1010, with the wind steady from the north at 30. By 0100 the barometer dropped to 1005 and the wind peaked up to 44 knots. The Maggie B swam fine over the very confused sea with its double reefed main and scrap of a jib. Sail area was about 1/4 full sail.

By noon we were back on course, close hauled on port tack (again…) with the wind from 045 at 15, doing 8.3 knots directly for Cape Town, which is 448 NM away. We are drying out the cabin and our foulies. We did 185 NM in the last 24 hours and 3418 since Salvador. We actually are holding a little South of Cape Town to be ready for a strong SE’erly in two days.

We hope to arrive by sunset on the 23rd, so that we can find the Belgian Brew Pub in Cape Town, to celebrate Lieve’s 27th birthday with lots of different Belgian beers!

All is well.

Location: 34° 01.8 S, 06° 13.2 E
Saturday 12:00, 08.19.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 34° 01.8S 06° 13.2E at noon on August 19th. We are close hauled on the port tack, getting beaten up a bit in 25 knots of wind and a confused, rough sea. Cape Town is 630 NM on a bearing of 124 degrees magnetic. We are headed 124 degrees at 6.5-7.0 knots. The wind has been backing all morning and is now about 080 magnetic at 20-30. We have a reef in the fore and the main, and the jib is partially furled. We will probably put a second reef in the main after lunch (steak filets wrapped in bacon with garlic butter, mixed vegetables and rice).

A new low is quickly forming just South of us, and is the cause of this rough weather. It (Lucille?) should be our last low before Cape Town and we hope to ride the North side of it like a remora attached to a basking shark. We just hope that it doesn’t turn out to be a tiger shark or hammerhead!

This morning’s surprise was a nice 10″ squid on deck. It was on the high side, so must have jumped six feet to get aboard. Despite having an eye as big and sad as Bambi, it was fried up in butter and delicious.

According to the GRIB files and Commanders, this should be the worst of it, with the wind clocking around to the North, West and then South, all at 20 to 35. We should have a pretty good ride in. Did I mention moderate rain also? You can’t tell if the water on your face is salt of fresh until you taste it. A real foul weather gear test. Fortunately, we are all pretty well suited for the conditions.

All is well.

Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Friday, 08.18.2006

Route: Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, SA

Departed: approx. 1200utc, Tue, Aug 1, 2006

Position: 32 52s/04 04e at 1200utc Fri, August 18

Prepared: 1530utc Fri, August 17, 2006

Summary

Slowly decaying swell the next 24-36 hours with a return to a reasonable sailing wind by tomorrow night

• Progression of gale centers well south of you between 50-60s is causing large SW sea
• Strongest of these is now over at about 35e and swell generated by it should begin to move past you tomorrow
• Swell now estimated 16-20 feet with both SW and WSW components should diminish to 9-12 feet by tomorrow
• Should move up to at least 28s and dissipate
• Cloud and drizzle should move past overnight
• High pressure center to the S near 38s 03e will move eastward along 38s
• You will remain close enough to ridge to keep fairly light wind through tonight
• Wind direction will gradually back into the ESE or E by this eveningand ENE by early tomorrow
• Low pressure developing to the west near your latitude will move to near 34s 01e by 12utc Sat and then to near 34s 10e at 12 utc Sun, weakening near 33s 16e at about 12 utc Mon
• Low redevelops and deepens east of Cape of Good Hope by Tue
• Winds should back to NE Sat afternoon and to NW by Sun morning as low moves by close to your S
• Then shift first to w, then SE as cold front passes and low pushes just to your E
• Based on forecast track of the low, think it important that you avoid more southing until Mon
• This should keep you in some type of westerly wind quadrant wind north of the low through Sun eve on north side of the low
• While if you are south of the low you will have NE shifting to SE as it passes
• Remaining between 32-33s should be adequate for this
• I recognize that being further N late in the period gives you increased distance and poorer wind angle to beat down to Capetown at the end
• Think that heading direct for Capetown later Sun night or early Monwhen winds turn SSE/SE is best compromise
• As next low approaches look for rain or showers and perhaps a period of squally conditions to develop by midday tomorrow with unsettled weather and occasional showers continuing through Monday
• Swell should build again to 10-14 feet on Mon, but from more of a SSW or S direction

Routing

1) Suggest holding between 32-33 until Sun night to avoid headwinds S of low center

2) Then take rhumb line for Cape town on wind shift to SSE/SE Sun night or early Mon at about 13e

3) Project your arrival in CapeTown sometime Tue afternoon depending on how much you are slowed by SE winds at the end

4) Waypoints listed below.

Wind Forecast

Wind directions are TRUE, wind speeds in KTS, and time is UTC

Fri, August 18

18: 110-090/5-12

Weather: Any drizzle ending and clouds thinning

Seas 12-16 feet, confused with SW and WSW swells, slowly subsiding a little

Sat, August 19

00: 100-080/ 8-15

06: 080-060/12-18

12: 070-050/15-20 near 32 40s/07 30e

18: 060-040/16-24

Weather: Thickening clouds early with rain or showers developing midday Seas 9-12 feet, SW swell and increasing wind wave chop

Sun, August 20

00: 030-360/24-32 06: 350-320/18-28

12: 300-280/15-22 near 32 40s/ 11 00e

18: 270-250/12-20 direction uncertain - should be SE-S not far to your south

Weather: Mostly cloudy with showers and chance of a few squalls Seas 8-11 feet but quite rough, SW swell and wind wave chop

Mon, Aug 21

00: becoming 180-160/16-24

12: 160-140/ 14-20 near 33s/ 15e

Weather.Mostly cloudy, still scattered showers

Seas 10-14 ft, SW swell and wind wave chop

Tue, Aug 22

00: 140-160/18-25

12: 140-160/20-30 gust 35 near 34s 18e

WeatherCloudy to partly cloudy, still chance of a shower

Seas 9-13 ft, quite rough with wind wave and S swell

Wed, Aug 23 - CapeTown

00: 140-160/20-30

12: 110-130/18-25

Weather.Partly cloudy, chance of a passing shower

Location: 32° 51.5 S, 04° 04 E
Friday 12:00, 08.18.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 32° 51.5 S 04° 04 Eat noon on 18 August. We are motor sailing, headed for our point off of Cape Town, heading 136 at 7.6 knots. The wind is variable, but generally South at five knots. Cape Town is 754 NM away. We have come 3063 NM so far and did 191 NM in the last 24 hours.

It is not a great sailing day today. Long, confused swell, no wind, cold and drizzling. This morning we did what any hard core South Atlantic shellback sailors would — we put Jimmie Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band on loud, picked cleaning stations (1. Floors, 2. Walls, 3. Head and Shower, and 4. Vacuum) out of a hat, cleaned up the boat, made blueberry muffins and decided on lunch (a kilo of steamed shrimp with four different dipping sauces — garlic, mustard, curry and spicy tomato). It made for a great morning. On top of that the engine has heated up the hot water and we have made lots more with the water maker, so we all are relatively clean, and even clean-shaven!

Yesterday I got an amazing email. Regular readers will recall that I ruined the keyboard of one of the two Dell laptops by spilling Coke on it. A computer is critical for us to receive weather information, useful to plan routing and nice to have for email. Max fixed the computer by switching keyboards (the backup was not sufficiently complete…) and we went on our way. Yesterday, out of the blue, I got an email from Dell Customer Service saying that they had seen my posting about needing a new keyboard. Could they help and was everything OK? Amazing support. And yes, a new keyboard has been shipped to Cape Town and will hopefully be waiting for us.

Sailing language is sometimes confusing, even for the initiated. Last winter, when we were planning our first leg from Lunenburg Nova Scotia to Bermuda, John Steele, President of Covey Island, the boat builder and an experienced sailor, said, “Don’t worry, once you cross the Gulf Stream, it will be ‘tooks off!’” I didn’t know what a “took” was. Maybe the garboard frapping on the aft buntline holdback (note: nautical gibberish). Actually, “took” is Nova Scotian for “toque,” a knit hat. “Tooks Off” means Spring in Nova Scotia. Well, John, as we approach the Roaring 40’s, tooks are definitely back on.

Location: 31° 11.7 S, 01° 11 E
Thursday 12:00, 08.17.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 31° 11.7 S, 01° 11 E at noon on 17 August. We did 214 NM in the last 24 hours, and have gone 2872 NM since Salvador. Cape Town, or at least our aim point 100 NM South, is 927 NM on a bearing of 131 degrees Magnetic. The wind is 320-330 at 15-25.

We jibed at dawn and are now on Starboard tack, heading 170 at 9 knots. Heading South may allow us to catch the tail end SW’erly of the last big low to come through South of us. It appears as if we are in for three or four days of relatively unsettled weather, including the possibility of some fairly strong winds on our nose. We will probably have lots of tacks and jibes, reefing and shaking out of reefs, before we are tied up at the Royal Cape Yacht Club.

Now that we are getting close (yes, 1000 NM is close), we are looking hard at charts of approaches to Cape Town. One interesting spot is Monte Vema, a sea mount about 500 miles off the coast of South Africa. The bottom goes from about 5000 meters to 11 Meters in a few miles. Bart says that it must be a great place to watch whales, but I think that we’ll stay clear. The Agulhas Currents runs strong SW’erly past Cape of Good Hope, we are in the edge of the strong Easterly Southern Ocean Current and the strong Benguela Current runs NW along the West Coast. Enough currents to brew the whole ocean into a froth!

The swells and waves are now coming at us broadside. The boat is riding them well, but occasionally they alarmingly rear up alongside, as if they trying to peek into the cabin. Sometimes it is like driving in the Rocky Mountains or the Highlands of Scotland, where you go in a moment from being in a nasty tight gorge to popping out to see a lovely open meadow.

We are seeing lots of big boats now, as we are crossing the tracks of every steamer that comes around the Cape of Good Hope for North or South America. Radar watches have been increased.

We are down to our last six eggs, all of which have been assigned to baking. Blueberry muffins yesterday for tea did not survive to see the sunset. Besides getting GRIB weather files daily, we get updates from Commanders Weather every couple of days. We are going to start today trying to contact some South African weather men on our SSB radio. Nothing like local knowledge.

All is well.

Location: 31° 38.7 S, 02° 32.1 W
Wednesday 12:00, 08.16.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 31° 38.7 S, 02° 32.1 W at noon on August 16th. After an unsettled night, we are back to the usual of a 15-20 knot NW’erly, booming along at 8-9 knots, heading 110-120. Cape Town is now 1096 NM on a bearing of 128 degrees. If we can keep this speed, we will be there in five days, or a passage of 21 days from Salvador. It looks as if the “door” might be open for us to slip into Table Bay without a SE’erly gale beating us up. Maybe. But it is too early to tell for sure. A very big storm well south seems to be taking most of the energy.

We have gone 2658 NM so far, 194 in the last 24 hours. Today is mostly cloudy with occasional light drizzle. We have a big Westerly swell, enhanced (?) by the remains of the SW’erly from the last storm. Jorge (the Furuno autopilot) is steering well, with occasional wild stupidities as it puts the Requested Heading 50 degrees right or left of what we humans entered. At least it peeps pathetically when it goes stupid (Deviation Alarm), but it would be a lot nicer if it just kept on course.

Last night’s excitement was running out of the “old” gas for the stove and having the Brazilian tank not work. The prospect of no coffee for breakfast put the whole team to work. Regulators were dismantled, cleaned and re-mantled (proper word?). Systems were checked up and down. Finally a wire running to the switch-off solenoid was found to be imperfectly installed, and the heat shrink fitting had filled with salt water and only a strand or two was left. Once that was fixed, it was espresso all around!

We have had a lot of delicious fresh fish. Almost too much. Max has not been allowed to put lure into the water since the lovely Mahi Mahi. I recalled that we had shipped some lovely filet mignon’s in Barbados and there were four left in the freezer. Getting to them was rather like an archeological project, as Bart worked his way down through layers and layers of ice and frost. Finally he prized them out, and we got a defrosted freezer in the bargain. They are now marinating in olive oil, garlic and herbs, and Bart has requested Lieve’s peppercorn white sauce. Maybe we will let Max fish tomorrow.

All is well.

Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Tuesday, 08.15.2006

Route: Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, SA

Departed: approx. 1200utc, Tue, Aug 1, 2006

Position: 31 51s 06 05w at 1400utc Tue, August 15

Prepared: 1530utc Tue, August 15

Summary

Looks like a continuation of favorable conditions through Thursday night, then a cold front will pass through bringing a period of headwinds Friday and Saturday

• The current weather map features a ridge of high pressure to the northoriented from west to east mainly along 28-29s.
• A very deep gale is centered well to the south near 65s/2w and is veryexpansive covering much of the southwest South Atlantic Ocean.
• This pattern will continue to bring you favorable wind directions fromthe WNW to NW through Thursday night as we have a blocking pattern with the weather systems not really moving too fast.
• Direction should continue mainly between 270-310.
• Speeds will be mainly 12-20 knots today and Wednesday, but increasing a bit Thursday as a cold front approaches from the south.
• Unfortunately it looks as if the tail end of this cold front will makeit through your route with winds quickly backing to ESE to E by Friday morning.
• The front looks to make it as far north as about 30s before stalling out
• Winds do not look terribly strong behind the front as there is only weak high pressure to follow, so that is good news.
• However, it looks like you will be in for a period of headwinds Fridayand Saturday with the pattern coming in.
• Guidance indicates a low developing to your west this weekend and if this verifies, expect winds to back to more of a NE direction and increase in speed, so at least that would bring an end to your headwinds.
• General weather will be mainly fair and settled today and Wednesday, then as the front approaches later Thursday into Friday, expect some showers and squalls around.
• Seas will continue on the large side with a large SW long wave swell continuing to come in, but there will be times when it eases a bit.

Routing

1) Looked at taking you further north to near 30s or even a bit further than that to try to avoid these headwinds coming Friday and Saturday but the problem with that is you would then have SE headwinds over the weekend and for your approach to Cape Town early next week, so that is not advisable.

2) Still not a good idea to go further south due to even higher seas and stronger winds either.

3) Suggest continuing mainly along 32s through Saturday, then beginning to head ESE on more of a rhumb line towards Cape Town.

4) Waypoints listed below.

Wind Forecast Wind directions are TRUE, wind speeds in KTS, and time is UTC

Tue, August 15

18: 290-310/15-20

Weather: Partly to variably cloudy Seas subsiding to 6-10 feet, SW swell

Wed, August 16

00: 280-310/12-20

06: 280-310/12-20

12: 280-310/12-20 near 31 50s/3w

18: 290-310/15-20

Weather: Partly to variably cloudy Seas building back up to 10-15 feet, increasing SW swell

Thu, August 17

00: 280-310/15-22

06: 270-300/15-25

12: 270-300/18-25 near 31 55s/00 40e

18: 280-310/18-25

Weather: Variable cloudiness with a chance of showers Seas 8-12 feet, SW swell and wind wave chop

Fri, August 18

00: 270-290/18-25

12:100-130/12-20 near 32s/4e

Weather: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and squalls

Seas 10-15 feet, SW swell and wind wave chop especially early

Sat, August 19

00: 080-110/12-18

12: 060-090/12-18 near 32 10s/7e

Weather: Variable clouds with a chance of showers Seas 10-15 feet, SW swell and wind wave chop

Sun, August 20

00: 040-070/20-30

12: 040-060/20-30 near 32 45s/9 40e

Weather: Mostly cloudy with an increasing chance of showers and squalls Seas 8-14 feet, SW swell and choppy

Alexandra’s Best Ever Lemon Cake €” 08.15.06

Last night’s culinary success was Alexandra’s Best Ever Lemon Cake, from the Maggie B’s Cookbook. It had mostly disappeared by dawn. I had to make it with limes, both because we had limes (not lemons), but also in honor of all the Caipirhinas we enjoyed in Brazil.

Lunch today will be chicken in garlic and oil with a bottle of Entre deux Mers (even though it’s the Dordogne and the Garonne, we’re between two seas — get it?) White Bordeaux.

Location: 31° 51 S, 06° 05 W
Tuesday 12:00, 08.15.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s Noon Position on August 15th was 31° 51 S, 06° 05 W. We did 218 NM in the last 24 hours. Cape Town is 1266 NM away, heading 120M. We have come 2473 NM so far. Our clocks are now set to Greenwich Mean Time.

The wind is fairly steady at 330M at 15-20. It is a nicely dry day and ports are open, bedding is airing out, people are showering and some laundry is getting done. The cabin has warmed up to a relatively comfortable 65° F (18° C for our European readers). The barometer is up to 1028 and it is only partly cloudy.

Our electronic compass differs from our electronic heading sensor by about eight degrees, and the handheld is in between. We have been trying for the last three days to get a bearing from sunrise, sunset or moonrise, to check the compasses from the predicted azimuth (Zn for you nautical star sighting types), but, alas, it has been cloudy.

Today’s excitement, which perhaps shows that we have been at sea too long, was Max exclaiming, “Oooh, the spread legs rig!” To Livie and my disappointment, it was just that Bart was showing Max an esoteric sailing rig with two masts set up like an A-frame. Ah, well.

We are about a week away from landfall and are watching our weather systems very carefully. It is too early to nail anything down, but it looks as if we will have this nice NW’er only for another day or so and then a big and somewhat confused high will form around us, which we will just have to work our way through, with lots of wind shifts. The next low seems to be setting up somewhat more to the South, perhaps blocked by the high. We shall see. We are keeping the reef in the main for now.

All is well.

Lunch €” Monday 08.14.06

Today we had the end of Max’s lovely Mahi Mahi (served with a white sauce with little shrinp and garlic). Six or seven meals for four from one fish! We will let Max start fishing again tomorrow. I want him to get another little Yellow Fin tuna, the others are favoring another Mahi Mahi. We have found the wasabi, so we are ready.

Location: 32° 8.2 S, 10° 15 W
Monday 12:00, 08.14.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on August 14th was 32° 08.2 S, 10° 15 W. We have a lovely Northwesterly (340-350 at 18-25) and are headed 120 degrees, right for Cape Town, at 10 knots. We only did 177 NM since yesterday noon due to a very slow period (my watch…) while the High was forming South of us.

Cape Town is now 1462 NM, or six days if we could keep up this speed and direction. We have gone 2255 NM since Salvador. Tristan da Cunha is now about 320 NM away to our SW. We seem to be having a SW’erly current helping us a bit, adding 1/2 knot to our speed and a bit of a lee bow push (moving us North a bit).

The waves are somewhat mixed up as there is a big Southerly swell, plus the remains of the SW swell, all livened up by the wind waves being kicked up by the strong NW’erly. But we are riding them well and little spray comes on board.

We are beginning to plot our approach to the African coast. Cape Town is 34 degrees South and we need to hold perhaps another degree South for room against a possible SE’erly. But each degree south of 30 edges us towards bigger weather. There does look like an interesting break coming towards the end of the week, but we will not be far enough along to take much advantage of it.

To date we have run the main engine for 47 hours and the generator for 48. Very conservatively, this means that we have used about 115 gallons of diesel, leaving us about 200 gallons, or 100 hours with the main engine, or 700 miles steaming. Plenty for our approach!

The sea today is a steely blue gray. Occasionally a wave will rear up so that there is a thin “window” which is the bright azure of a South Seas lagoon. Lovely contrast, and reminder of the marvels ahead in the Seychelles and South Pacific.

One Blue Water emotion that is hard to explain is how nice it is to be a thousand or so miles from land. Yes, we are all on our own in the South Atlantic in winter, with a series of gales not too far to our South. But so much of a sailor’s fear of gales is the danger of getting driven ashore either because of an anchor not holding or a mooring parting or getting dismasted and the engine conking out. In Blue Water you have the ability to work on your problems without crashing breakers reducing your options. Here you have the ability to run a hundred miles in one direction or another to stay out of trouble and time your exposure.

All is well.

Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Sunday, 08.13.2006

Route: Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, SA

Departed: approx. 1200utc, Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Position: 31° 43 S, 21° 12 W at 1600utc Friday, August 11, 2006

Prepared: 1645utc Saturday August 12, 2006

Summary

• Gale center (984 mb) now well to your SE near 45s 01e and moving rapidly eastward
• Satellite images indicate that the cold front from this low is well toyour E and NE with only lingering lower level cloud and scattered showers
• High pressure center near 35s 29w is moving ESE
• Should be near 37s 14w at 12utc Sun
• Should be far to your ESE by 12utc Mon
• SSW winds 20-30 kts should gradually back and diminish during the next24 hours as the high center moves by not far to your south tomorrow
• Another large low tracking eastward south of 50s will push a cold front to near 45s 09w to 40s 15w to 35s 28w by 12 utc Mon
• Winds will continue to back to NW Mon and increase to 20-28 kts by Mon evening
• Cold front loses northward push and is expected to stall just to your S
• Tue on a line near 35s 02w to 33 30s 10w to 32 30s 15w
• Winds north of the front will back to more W and diminish to 15-20 kts by evening
• On Wed you should be on the S side of high pressure centered near 29s 8w and elongated east-west
• Winds will be rather light between the high and the stalled and weakening frontal zone near 33s
• Next cold front remains well to the SW and will likely not affect you with increasing WNW/NW winds before later Thu and Fri
• Intense storms tracking by to the south are generating large sea which will be increasing over you tonight and tomorrow, likely peaking near 20 feet early Mon.
• Largest sea should propagate past you later Mon with slowly subsidingconditions, becoming a longer period
• 10-14 ft WSW swell Tue and Wed

Routing

1) Am assuming based on yesterday’s position that you may be holding about 31 30s

2) Further north will give you a little less wind and should make a significant difference in peak sea also

3) Conditions shown below assume holding 31 30s, but would recommend closer to 29-30s tomorrow and early Mon if convenient as this will reduce sea a little

4) By Tue/Wed you may want to be closer to 31-32s again to stay further away from center of high and remain in W wind, but suggest you not go below 32s as wind and sea will be stronger S late in week

5) Please see waypoints listed in the wind forecast below

Wind Forecast

Wind directions are TRUE, wind speeds in KTS, and time is UTC

Sat., Aug 12

18: 300-320/8-15

Weather: Fair to partly cloudy

Seas decreasing to 3-5 ft WSW swell

Sun., Aug 13

00: 160-180/18-26

06: 130-150/12-18

12: 110-130/10-16 near 31 30s/14 30w

18: 090-1

10/ 8-14

Weather: Variable cloud, chance shower early, then partly cloudy

Seas building to 16-20 ft SW swell but with decreasing wind wave chop

Mon, Aug 14

00: 040-060/12-18

06: 350-010/14-20

12: 330-350/16-24 near 31 30s/11w

18: 310-330/18-26

Weather: Partly cloudy

Seas 16-20 ft SW swell early, subsiding to 13-16 ft by evening. Increasing wind wave chop

Tue, Aug 15

00: 300-320/22-32

12: 280-300/15-25 near 31 45s 07w

Weather: Variable clouds, few showers developing

Seas 10-14 ft WSW swell, quite rough with wind wave chop

Wed, Aug 16

00: 260-280/12-20

12: 280-310/10-18

Weather: Variable clouds, scattered showers

Seas 10-14 ft WSW swell

Lunch €” Sunday 08.13.06

Lunch was a ….Mahi Mahi fish soup, done Chinese style with rice and ginger. Lieve used just a bit of the famous Susie’s Hot Sauce from Antigua, which was enough to light all our fires.

Location: 31° 15.6 S, 13° 12.5 W
Sunday 12:00, 08.13.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 31° 15.6 S, 13° 12.5 W at noon on August 13th. We did 202 NM in the last 24 hours. We have gone 2078 miles since Salvador and Cape Town is now 1627 miles away. Tristan da Cunha is just 350 miles South of us.

The wind is backing around as forecast. Currently it is 120 degrees at 12-15. We have shaken out our reefs and are under all plain sail. The barometer is way up to 1030 as the next high (Hector) forms just South of us. We should have easy sailing for the next three or four days with the wind backing to Northwest and steady at 15-20. The next big wave of pressure should catch up to us on the 17th or 18th.

As Commanders say, we are seeing a bit of a “large sea” (up to 20 feet), generated by the storms to the South of us. While the waves sound big, they really are not a concern as they have a rather long set, and rarely combine with the other series to peak up. Occasionally the Maggie B will be perched like a skier just at the top of a Black Diamond run, looking rather far down, but then the wave passes smoothly on its way to Africa, perhaps just leaving a little splash of water for the face of the duty watch.

We have flocks and flocks of sea birds around us, petrels and shearwaters, probably all nesting on Triastan da Cunha.

All is well.

Location: 31° 38.5 S, 16° 49 W
Saturday 12:00, 08.12.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 31° 38.5 S, 16° 49 W at noon on Saturday, August 12. We did 236 NM in the last 24 hours, for an average of 9.83 knots, not bad for a 35 ton gaff schooner with a design hull speed of 10.2 knots!

This is just what the Maggie B was designed and built for — 30 knots of wind (Beaufort 7 or Near Gale) at 120 degrees relative. We are also getting a nice assist from some major SW’erly swells, averaging 12 feet with many much higher. The Maggie B surfs along the wave, like a pro, not just diving down them. We have seen 14.3 knots on the GPS whilst surfing.

We were on port tack last night, with the NW’erly, but very much anticipating the cold front passage. It came at 5 AM, on Lieve’s watch (just like the last one….) and we all turned out to jibe her over in the pre-dawn grayness and 28 knots of wind. All went smoothly.

The boat is nicely steady. The lee rail is mostly about two feet out of the water and only occasional packets of spray come off passing waves. The sails are balanced with two reefs in the main and one in the fore with a full jib. The wind has been 25-35 knots with a gust or two to 40. Jorge (the Furuno autopilot) is doing an excellent job in very tough conditions, probably better than the humans on board. Both yesterday and today we were able to sit down at the crew mess and have a nice hot meal while she was at hull speed and surfing occasionally. Today’s lunch was Mahi Mahi steaks breaded and done in a hot pan, with fried onions and a cole slaw with tomatoes, pine nuts, apple and raisins.

We are joined by a dozen or so seabirds — petrels and shearwaters — with today’s newcomer being the dazzling Pinterato Petrel, the fighter pilot of the Blue Water birds.

We are continuing heading right for Cape Town or actually 100 NM South of Cape Town as many have advised us to hold off South until a bit past lest we be blown back West in common SE’erly gales and the additional push of the very strong Westerly current. It looks as if we will have another day of “riding” LaVerne — this low — before she leaves and is replaced by Hector, our third High of the passage, which will again give us no winds or a light head wind, while we wait for Libby, the next low racing East.

We have some great photos and video, which we will get up on the site as soon as possible.

All is well.

Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Friday, 08.11.2006

Route: Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, SA

Departed: approx. 1200utc, Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Position: 29° 54 S, 26° 31 W at 1600utc Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Prepared: 1430utc Thursday August 10, 2006

Summary

• Currently, high pressure is centered near 27s/23w and is moving off to the E
• Look for freshening NW winds today and Friday from 30-31s
• Wind speeds may reach 20-30 kts by Friday night
• Low pressure is currently located near 40s/46w and is moving off to the E
• Estimate for 12 utc Friday: 44s/29s
• Estimate for 12 utc Saturday: 49s/03e
• Its associated cold front will catch and pass you during Saturday
• WNW winds will continue to increase ahead of this cold front Friday night and Saturday morning possibly to 22-35 kts
• For lighter winds, you will need to be at 28-29s
• Winds shift into the SW-S behind the cold front, still at 20-35 kts
• There is a chance of a few scattered showers, maybe an isolated squall with the cold front, but most of this activity should remain to your S
• By Saturday morning, another high pressure area will be near 36s/33w
• This high will be near 35s/13-14w by 12utc Sunday
• Should be near 30s/07w at 12utc Sunday
• As the high moves the ENE, winds will decrease by turn left into the SE-E-NE later Sunday and into Monday
• As the winds ecrease and turn ESE and E, you can head to the ESE or SE back towards 31s
• You will see freshening NW winds later Monday on the SW side of the high
• The next cold frontal system will be approaching you during the early to middle part of next week
• Watch for seas to become quite rough and choppy late Friday and Satursday as the winds increase and large swell from the storm passing to your S affects you
• SW swells may reach 13-18 ft and seas may be quite choppy
• Very rough seas will continue for Sunday, then begin to settle down Monday

Routing

1) Would recommend that you be close to 30s for Saturday/Sunday to avoid higher winds to the S

2) If winds are too strong at 30s, head N to 28029s for lighter winds

3) You will encounter a period of E headwinds Sunday into Monday and you can turn more to the SE back towards 30-31s to bring you back to NW windslater Monday

4) You may want to be close to 30s again for Tuesday to avoid WNW winds at 25-40 kts S of 31s

5) Please see waypoints listed in the wind forecast below

Wind Forecast

Wind directions are TRUE, wind speeds in KTS, and time is UTC

Thu, Aug 10

18: 300-320/8-15

Weather: Fair to partly cloudy

Seas decreasing to 3-5 ft WSW swell

Fri, Aug 11 €” winds higher to the S

00: 320-340/10-15

06: 310-330/14-20

12: 310-330/16-22 near 30 15s/20 45w

18: 300-320/17-24

Weather: Partly to variably cloudy

Seas 6-10 ft SW swell with developing wind wave drop

Sat, Aug 12 €” winds lighter to the N

00: 290-310/20-30

06: 280-300/22-32

12: 220-240/25-35 g40 near 30s/17 30w

18: 210-230/23-35

Weather: Variably to mostly cloudy with chance of a few scattered showers, maybe an isolated squall

Seas build to 13-18 ft SW swell and choppy

Sun., Aug 13

00: 170-190/20-30

12: 120-140/14-20 near 30s/15w

Weather: Partly cloudy

Seas 8-12 ft SW swell and choppy

Mon., Aug 14

00: 060-080/ 7-14

12: 320-340/14-20 near 30 30s/11 50w

Weather: Fair to partly cloudy

Seas decrease to 8-12 ft SW swell

Location: 31° 34.96 S, 24° 44.6 W
Thursday 12:00, 08.10.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on August 10 was 31° 34.96 S 24° 44.6 W. The wind was 330 degrees at 10-12 knots and we were heading 115 degrees at 7.3.

The noon position using GPS was confirmed by sun sight, which came up with a latitude of 31 degrees 35 minutes South. Right on! During the morning watch, it was noticed that we were getting an increased amperage draw from the Furuno GPS/radar/plotter, so it was shut down. After breakfast and an extra cup of espresso, Max and Bart went on the chase of the electrical fault like junior versions of Inspector Morse and Hercule Poirot. Instead of “Ah ha, it was a left-handed woman between the ages of 45 and 50!” it was “I have a ground fault in the secondary DC negative buss!”

All was cleared up by lunch (Mahi Mahi baked with potatoes and cauliflower), with the culprits being a damaged circuit breaker (poor construction) and some loose fittings. Meanwhile Lieve and I brushed off our musty memory of sun sights and cleaned up the sextant. We will try for star sights tonight at dusk. We also broke out GPS #2 (there also is a GPS #3).

The weather today is what in Maine we would call a smoky southwester, except here it probably would be called a norte/oeste fumaria, being Brazilian and from the Northwest. We are watching to the Southwest for LaVerne, but the wind stays light and the barometer steady at 1024.

One question we have gotten over email is how we keep in shape at sea. There is no one answer. One thing that is hard for landsmen to realize is that on a sailboat at sea, walking to the bow is more like playing on a jungle gym than walking down a street. Even sitting to read or eat, you are always tensioned or braced in some fashion. Even now while wedged into the ship’s office to type, my left leg is braced against the step and both elbows have to actively keep me relatively level with the keyboard. Certainly, also, raising, lowering and adjusting sails give you a regular upper body workout, as does coiling lines, polishing the binnacle, etc. During night watch I do some yoga to stay flexible, dimly-remembered ballet exercises using the binnacle grab rail as the barre, and occasionally pull in and let out the main sheet by hand to get the muscles moving. We probably eat less than when on land. Generally our big meal is all together at lunch. Dinner, due to different watch schedules, is usually pretty light — cold potato and a cup of soup, or a few slices of salami and cheese with some crackers. We don’t have many sodas on board, so a Coke is a small celebration and we drink almost no alcohol — just a glass of wine or a beer every other day.

Another question is about how we stay in contact. The inexpensive Dell lap top is connected to an Iridium sat phone. Email is handled by an organization called UUPlus. On the computer, UUPlus is the email program. When you finish a letter and press “Send,” the program takes the file, compresses it and stores it in a “Send Queue.” UUPlus does not allow fancy formatting, different fonts, “smilies,” or anything but basic letters and numbers. On the other end, UUPlus will regularly sweep any email accounts (except AOL…) and collect your mail, compress it and strip off fancy coding and most attachments. Big files are sent back to the sender with a note. Then when you are ready, you press “Connect” on the computer and it takes over the Iridium phone, dials up the UUPlus connection, dumps your mail “ashore” and grabs the packet ready to go. It will also pick up specific web files, like weather charts. Connection is usually pretty slow for land-based, perhaps 4800 bytes, but with the compression and simplification, I can uplink 5-10 messages, get the same back, plus a big weather file, all in perhaps a minute, which costs about $1.50 (plus the cost of the sat phone). I could do all this on SSB, where there is generally one fixed charge, but connection is rather more chancy, much, much slower, and the weather charts less usable.

I smell chocolate chip muffins ready for tea.

All is well.

Location: 29° 54.6 S, 26° 313 W
Wednesday 12:00, 08.09.2006

At noon on August 9th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 29° 54.6 S, 26° 31.3W. Our course is 155 degrees magnetic at 7.8 knots and Max is making Mahi Mahi fish cakes for lunch!

Tristan da Cunha is 831 miles, Cape Town is 2306 (13 days at this speed, if we were heading right for it, which we are not), we have gone 1335 miles so far, 151 in the last 24 hours (including 14 1/2 hours motoring).

Last night surprised us all. It was forecast, but shocking none-the-less. It was flat calm. Not a light breeze, but Beaufort Zero. At 29 degrees South in mid-winter. The next high was forming over us (Herb) and we motored South to get on the right side. The wind is now 290 at 10-12 and we are continuing Southeast to make some Easting while setting up for the next big blow.

It is rather like surfing in the sense of positioning yourself in the ocean to wait for a wave. We are headed Southeast to wait for the next big weather wave, the low I’m calling LaVerne, which should approach us from the Southwest in two days. We are setting ourselves up between 30 and 32 degrees South, hopefully far enough South to get decent 15 to 25 knots of wind from the Northwest, then West, then Southwest. But also far enough North to stay well clear of her center, which should have sixty knots.

But right now the weather is warm enough that shoes are back off and shorts on, hatches are open and laundry is hanging out to dry. The barometer is nice and high at 1023. The sea water is down to 66 degrees and we have lots of shearwaters around us.

When I went on watch last night at 2100, I brought up my concertina for practice. I told Max, who I was relieving and sleeps in the pilot berth, that he should tell me if I bothered him. He replied that he had good ear plugs and was going to use them. Fortunately, my attempts to work through “Spanish Ladies” did not keep him awake.

All is well.

Lunch €” Tuesday 08.08.06

After Monday’s excitement catching at 49″ Mahi Mahi, today’s lunch was Mahi Mahi steaks marinated in oil and garlic, lightly poached, with roasted potatoes and a cabbage/carrot salad.

Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Tuesday, 08.08.2006

Route: Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, SA

Departed: approx. 1200utc, Tue, Aug 1, 2006

Prepared: 1730utc Monday August 7, 2006

Summary

• Current weather map has low pressure located near 37s/27w and racing off to the E
• Its associated cold front extends NNW to 28s 30w and then WNW to 27s 40w
• This front will pass you tonight or Tuesday morning with some scattered shower activity, maybe an isolated squall
• The bulk of the shower activity should remain to your SE
• Winds ahead of the front will become more W and freshen to 15-25 kts
• Behind the front, winds shift into the S in the teens
• High pressure now near 33s/41w will to near 29n/32w at 12utc Tuesday and strengthen
• This will put you on the E side of the high and S winds will decrease to less than 10 kts
• High will move off to the NE to 25-28s and elongate E-W later Tuesday and Wednesday
• You will want to head to the SSE this afternoon and Tuesday and then turn towards the ESE Wednesday to minimize headwinds and then light and variable winds

Routing

1) Would recommend heading to the SSE keeping the ridge axis to your E today and Saturday with ESE winds prevailing

2) As the high settles to the N and begins to elongate E-W at 25-26s later Monday and Tuesday, you will want to be at 27-28s before you adjust to a mainly E course

a) this will allow you to pick up a favorable NW or W wind on the SW and S side of the high

b) you may be able to change to a more E course between 26-27s if position of the high is more N

3) Have kept your routing about 150 nm/day through Saturday, then gradually increased to about 180 nm/day by Tuesday as winds become more favorable

4) Please see waypoints listed in the wind forecast below

Wind Forecast

Wind directions are TRUE, wind speeds in KTS, and time is UTC

Fri, Aug 4

18: 110-130/12-18

Weather: Variable clouds with slight chance of a shower

Seas 6-10 ft S swell

Sat, Aug 5

00: 110-130/14-20

06: 120-140/12-18

12: 090-110/10-17 near 21 45s/34 50w

18: 100-120/10-17

Weather: Partly to variably cloudy

Seas 6-10 ft S swell

Sun, Aug 6

00: 110-130/12-18

06: 110-130/12-18

12: 100-120/11-17 near 24 30s/34w

18: 060-090/ 8-15

Weather: Partly cloudy

Seas build to 8-12 ft S swell

Mon, Aug 7

00: 050-070/10-17

12: 010-030/12-18 near 27s/32 20w

Weather: Partly to variably cloudy with a slight chance of a shower

Seas 8-12 ft S-SW swell

Tue, Aug 8

00: 320-340/14-20

12: 280-300/14-20 near 28s/29w

Weather: Partly cloudy

Seas diminishing to 6-10 ft SW swell

Location: 28° 14 S, 28° 53.6 W
Tuesday 12:00, 08.08.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on August 8th was 28° 14 S, 28° 53.6 W. At noon our speed was 6.2 knots with a course of 150 degrees. The wind was 240 degrees at 8-10, but fading. We are headed to Commanders Weather next turn point, (30S/26W), which is 185 miles away. Tristan da Cunha is 991 miles, Cape Town is 2462, and we have come 1170 miles since Salvador. Yesterday’s run was 189 miles.

We are still headed South and East, to get to 30 degrees South to stay below the next high (Herb?) which is forming about over us here at 28 degrees South. We have our eyes peeled to the Southwest for a small low (Lacie) which is preceding a relatively intense one (LaVerne). The barometer is still holding up at 1021, which provides this great weather, but we are headed South for lower pressure and more wind.

Yesterday’s afternoon excitement was the catching of a beautiful Mahi Mahi. Max reeled it in and Bart landed it. 49 inches! It will provide marvelous meals for some days. Landing the Mahi Mahi almost upset tea time, where chocolate chip muffins were in the oven when the fish struck. It took some multi-tasking to handle the boat to help land the fish while checking the “doneness” of muffins. All went well.

We officially switched to GMT minus 2 today, to move us towards being ready for our eventual arrival in Cape Town, which is on GMT plus 2, unless there is some “daylight saving” foolishness.

All is well.

Location: 25° 47 S, 31° 20 W
Monday 12:00, 08.07.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 25° 47 S, 31° 20 W at noon on August 7th. We did 195 miles in the last 24 hours, in winds of 15-18 knots! During my 9-midnight watch, I saw hull speed, 10.2 knots from time to time. As planned, we are just south of our first high. The wind is now 340-350 at 15-18 and we are “making hay as the sun shines” and heading right for Cape Town on a course of 120M at 8.5 knots. At this speed, we would make Cape Town in 13 days, but that is way optimistic.

As this first High (Hank) passes East of us, the wind should back more and get light. Later in the week the next Low (LaVerne) will track off the continent. LaVerne should have winds of 60 knots in her center, and we will aim, as best we can, to be about 200 miles north of the center in 20-30 knots, from the NW backing to the SW. Right now we will head East as long as this nice NW’erly lasts, then make some more Southing in what should be light Westerlies backing to Southerlies. Our aim is to be at about 31S for LaVerne.

With the wind behind us and the sun out, we are back in t-shirts and hatches back open.

Max’s attempt to salvage the Cokified Keyboard failed, though he applied heroic measures. Hopefully Dell will part with a new one.

All is well.

Location: 24° 21 S, 33° 48 W
Sunday 12:00, 08.06.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 24° 21 S, 33° 48 W at noon on Sunday, 08.06.2006. We have gone 786 miles so far. Tristan da Cunha is 1345 NM and Cape Town is 2800 NM.

Today is splendid. I know that I may run out of adjectives, having used “idyllic” yesterday. But today is different from yesterday. The swells of yesterday have organized into long 8-12 foot South Atlantic rollers, that slip easily under us every twelve seconds or so. The white caps are more general, the Beaufort scale having eased up from three to four, and the wind waves are more sharp and angular. It is cooler, with the water now at 70 degrees from a tepid 83 in Barbados. More hatches are dogged down, the Reep’s lashing rechecked, t-shirts have given way to polypro, favorite blankets are searched out from the linen locker and knives are resharpened.

We have started our turn to the east. At noon the wind was 080M at 10-14, now at 1500 it is 060 at 15. Sheets have eased more. At noon we were doing 7.8 knots, at 1500 we are up to 9.0. We are in the high, with the pressure up to 1021, but need to make a bit more Southing to keep the coming NW’erly as long as possible.

Greater Shearwaters with their four foot wingspan have joined us, hopefully preparing us for Albatrosses, if we are so lucky as to see one. Last night I ran a surface krill troll, picking up some tiny fish as well as red, orange and white tiny shrimp. Also many fish eggs. Tonight I will use longer line and some weight to see what wonders are lower down.

Last night’s disaster was spilling Coke onto the computer. This morning I switched to the backup, which, as always was not very backed-up. Max has made a keyboard transplant and is working to de-Cokify the bad one.

All is well.