Dawn came and with it very rough seas. Big swells and waves on top of those swells. Also 'chaotic' could be a term to describe the 'everywhichway' aspect of the waves. But as was predicted the winds were from the NE and so have been pushing us in the right direction - toward S AFrica. Its now about 3pm and things are, thankfully, slowly calming......I hope. In rough seas the incessant banging of water between the hulls, directly upward, can be most disconcerting and, have a cumulative affect. So calming is very welcome, if only because it relieves this unfortunate characteristic common to most catamarans.

So, now beginning stage two of the voyage Mauritius to Africa. Uppermost in our mind is again that nasty SWester. So far it looks good but there is still 700 miles to go.

Every day I send a 'position report' to three people who are helping me with weather forecasts. I thought you might be interested in seeing one of these.

Shearwater Nov 10 05:00 Zulu

POSITION 27 28 S 045 59 DESTINATION:Durban S Africa STATE:all ok but rough seas WIND 15-20 NE WAVES 7-10 ft SWELL 12 foot swell from NE with 7-8 foot wind waves PERIOD COURSE(M) 280 degrees, SOG 6-10 SAILS 3rd reef main and jib WEATHER, scattered clouds BAROMETER 1014 GENERAL Am at the Southern tip of Madagascar under the seamounts about 120 miles south of land

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