En route to Perth

Hannah is reading "To the Ends of the Earth -- Journeys of the Great Explorers" by Balchin; Bori is reading "Tibetben a Lelek" (the Soul in Tibet) by Ferenc; Owen is reading Jared Diamond's "Collapse;" and Frank is reading "Heavy Weather Guide;" "Weather for the Mariner" and the famous section 3909 from Bowditch that starts: "The passage of a tropical cyclone at sea is an experience not soon to be forgotten..."

Location: 33° 50 S, 70° 01 E
Sunday 12:00, 02.04.2007

At noon on February 4th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 33°50S,70°01E. We are motor sailing, heading 160 degrees at 7 Kt. The wind is 035 M at 10 knots. There is 5-8 foot swell from both north and SE. The sky is partly cloudy with a textbook variety of forms, at all levels. The barometer, while still highish at 1015, has started to fall.

We have come 2083 NM from the Seychelles, have 2292 to go to Perth and have come 179 NM in the last 24 hours.

We got a rather alarming weather update (posted on www.schoonermaggieb.net) from Commander's Weather at midnight last night. It starts out with "Summary -- Very Impressive Tropical Cyclone Dora...." These are words you don't want to read at midnight, or at any other time, except maybe in a historical novel. Apparently Dora has intensified, now with winds at 120 knots, with gusts to 150. Fortunately 1) it is very compact, 2) it is 850 NM away 3) it is moving slowly to the SW and 4) we are moving quickly to the SE.

I was surprised because I had been getting GRIB updates twice a day (usual is only once/day) and they were only showing 40 knots maximum. Commanders, when questioned, said "GRIB files do not handle tropical systems well, especially small, compact ones." We will be well clear to the South and East, but we worry for our friends and acquaintances in Mauritius, who may get a real walloping. It is forecast to pass south of Mauritius, but there is a fairly energetic cold front approaching from the West, and the interaction of the cold front and the tropical cyclone is tough to model.

We spent the morning shaking out the reefs in the main and the fore as the wind is getting light, and we made some minor repairs to the sails and running rigging. We are continuing south and east to get on the far side of the ridge that should form with the passage of the cold front, which should give us nice westerlies.

On a more fun note, our watches have been immensely improved by the liberal sharing of a series of Garrison Keillor CD's of his Prairie Home Companion show. Giggles on watch can be heard at any time of day or night.

We have noted with some concern that we have come all this way but have not yet settled on a Maggie B work song. Certainly we need one to help us raise the sails. It must have a "haulaway" refrain like "Way, hey! Up she rises." It could have a question and response style like "What shall we do with the sea sick sailor?" Or (and?) it could give various geographical tributes (first verse Canadian, second Caribbean, third Brazilian, fourth South African, fifth south Asian, sixth Australian?). Of course, there is also Gilbert and Sullivan: "He polished up the binnacle so carefully that now he is The Captain of the Maggie B!" Suggestions are gleefully encouraged.

All is well.