It's not nice out here.
29 May 2015 | 05 47.584s:061 01.867e
Bill/overcast with storms brewing
This is not the nicest place in the woods to sail. We heard today on the radio net we participate i one of the boats farther south of us on their way to Rodriquez Island had lost their mast and everything that was attached to it--boom,sails, wires, antennas etc. We don't know the specifics but they are in an area thats been having steady 20 knot plus winds for quite some time. They are now motoring. Another sailboat blew out his mainsail and thinks it's to far gone for repairs. We, in the mean time are slowly moving along in about 7 knots of wind, still heading west to ward the Seychelles. We took a far more northern route where the winds are typically less and hence less of a problem on a sailboat or any kind of boat. These other cruisers are going south to Rodriguez and then up over the top of Madagascar. We will be north of Madagascar and have to get ourselves farther south to top the island. It may not be a pleasant sail we have coming but if it causes less damage and allows us to have the relaxing days we have had so far, that's fine by us. I'd hate to have to try and find a replacement mast for our boat on a small island on the western edge of the Indian Ocean plus all the rigging parts it will take to get it up again. Our heart goes out to them for what they are now facing.
As for us, well it's totally over cast and has been all day. Last night was iffy as small storms came and went with only one dropping rain on us. While the clouds that cover us don't appear threatening, we are always watching just in case. We changed our clocks back another hour this AM so we are now UTC +4. I just came back on watch as its close to 1100 hours. Now we have to get used to a new timezone. The kids are all sleeping with Blue on the stern bunk where I had been snoozing and Tracy is now and Snowshoe is ticked into one of the cubby holes in the cockpit, his favorite place to hideout. The generator isrunning on th email stern. Recharging all the batteries in the boat and our computers and Kindle and IPad and IPOD. It's a battery world out here on boats any more. We have both gone to electric book readers to save some space. We both still like paper but on a boat, space is limited. Thats it for now. I'm off for reading and storm watching. --------------060108000002070304000101--