We waited patiently all day for the winds to shift to the ESE as they were predicted to do today. However, they stubbornly resisted and just moved from the south to the southeast. Their strength was as predicted: 15 to 20 knots, but we are more anxious for them to move more to the east another 30 or so degrees. If we had left today, we would have faced winds just off our nose and the apparent wind would have been over 20 knots and the swells would have been just off our port bow. It would have been horrible as the winds and swells would be contrary to the strong Mozambique Current that flows south. Thus, in frustration, we opted to sit tight throughout the day in hopes that we can leave tomorrow morning around 0500.

The winds are then predicted to be a bit less: 10 to 15 knots and coming from 120 degrees True. While still with a bit of a southerly component, we only have about 40 nm of sailing on a heading of about 180 degrees before we can tack a bit to the west and sail on a course of 230 degrees True as Maputo Bay starts to open up to our west at that point. Also, the spot forecasts show that once we get into the very large bay (it's about 135 nm wide), the winds start to shift to the east and then to the north-northeast. Our hopes are that we will only have to bash for 8 to 10 hours before things improve.

The spot forecast for where we are currently anchored just does not show the winds shifting to north of east at any time in the next number of days. Thus, it looks like tomorrow will be our best bet to strike out and get to the better winds as we head into Maputo Bay and then south to Richards Bay and Durban. Keep your fingers crossed for us and pray that the winds and seas are not bad during this first short leg.

If they are bad, we may just have to return to this anchorage and sit, sit, and sit some more because this weather window looks like it will only hold until November 1. The thought of sitting here another couple of weeks is too much to bear.