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.