Tom
21/03/2010, 36 deg 11 min N and 5 deg 56 min W

Two weeks ago a log entry reads "gybed for Gibraltar". A realistic comment at the time as we had made a northerly position that should have allowed us to get to the next objective. It was however not to be. Tantalized and traumatized by contrary winds that would not let us make Gibraltar as planned. Friday found us pushing with all our might to make the Straights during the day with what should have been a fair tidal flow to take us through. What with twenty five knot head winds all day and heavy swells stopping us in our tracks even though both engines were giving of their best it just was not in our favour to get through. Pushing hard the two stalwart engines could only manage around two knots into the conditions but with the fuel on board almost totally depleted they would not carry on forever.

Had it not been for the rain and poor visibility we would have been able to see the Straights, but no way were we going to see them or make it through. With just enough daylight left I decided to abort the attempt and head for shelter in Barbate de Franco. Here we found shelter from the tempest in a friendly and comfortable marina. Having licked our wounds, we set to replenishing some food items and cleaning the boat. All is now ready to take on fuel in the morning and then give it another attempt. The weather has improved and hopefully tomorrow will be kind to us and allow the next stage of our voyage to get under way. The rest and respite has been welcome and we are all positive and eager to get going again.

From Puerto Deportivo de Barbate Marina in position 36 deg 11 min North and 5 deg 56 min West.

Cheers,
Tom, Mark and Troye.

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Tom & Crew
16/03/2010, 36 deg 39 min N ; 11 deg 42 min W

With our long sojourn crossing two oceans it has been most interesting to take note of the ocean patterns themselves. The South Atlantic was very predictable and robust in it's nature. A long steady primary swell always exists with a motion that is purposeful and robust in its constant driving forward. Ceaseless it is there even in the relative calmer Trade-Wind areas, on and on it goes ever surging ahead. By contrast the North Atlantic has been very changeable. It may be that we arrived at the indistinct period of change between seasons, but its ability to change the pattern of motion in the water in a short space of time has been extremely interesting as well as fascinating. During the gales and high winds the swells were menacing and needed watching to negotiate over without slamming the boat but with seeming ease the swell could dissipate and ease of in a remarkable short space of time leaving one with the feeling that there was no malice to start with.

As our track has zig-zaged along an observation has been made that this voyage's track has criss-crossed the tracks of several previous journeys form the Southern Hemisphere to the North. Overlaying the various routes there are at least nine points where this voyage's track crosses the others to have made it possible for me to have been on the precise spots on the ocean more than once.
By way of illustration as to the distance covered so far we have traveled further North of the Equator than what Cape Town is South of the Equator. Cape Town is situated at 34 deg South and our last northerly turning point was 36 deg 48 min North.

Speaking of zig-zags with this trips convolutions it has taken me the furthest North of all to date. The catamaran is proving to be most exasperating with very wide tacking angles. Due to the weather patterns we have been experiencing a lot of easterly winds and of course we are trying to go east but frequently are unable to do so as the boat tacks, or changes direction, with such large angles that we end up going almost due south or due north. With this difficulty Gibraltar has been so near but so far for virtually a week now. It was expected on board that we would be there last week and now we are again hoping that it will be before another week-end passes.

The butternuts are amazing in the way that they have out-lasted everything. Under discussion is a recipe book to be titled "FIFTY WAYS TO EAT BUTTERNUT". Tonight's dinner presentation by Mark was Butternut halves stuffed with chilli-con-carne. Most delicious. There are still two left for new recipe ideas.

Forging ahead at a slow pace this has been written at position 36 deg 39 min North ; 11 deg 42 min West.

Cheers from us on board,
Tom, Mark, Troye and Moby Bear.

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Tom
15/03/2010, 36 deg 40 min N ; 15 deg 16 min W

Pic: Troye with turtle found in the offending net.

Did you have a good weekend? Yes, marvelous! We are glad.

It was decided on board that gentlemen do not work on the weekend, so we went for a sail. Hoping that it would be relaxing and invigorating in the fresh air. Well you will never believe how interesting it got to be.

After the gale previously reported on, our good ship found itself being pushed further and further in a southerly heading. Counteracting this had us with a head wind coupled to an adverse current and in trying to go north-east the now near gale force wind pushed us north-west instead. This put us eighty odd miles backwards albeit also to the north which we felt was the better part of the deal avoiding heading to the Canaries and an awful job to get back up to Gibraltar. Anyway it cost us a full two days headway.

Battling along motor-sailing to try and make progress the port engine alarms shrieked and it stopped dead in an instant. Restarting it and engaging forward gear it just clunked and died again. Following much investigation and checking it was found that we had a chunk of fishing net around the propeller. Always a major problem when that happens. Continuing for a while on the other engine strategies and options were considered. Troye agreed to go into the water to investigate. Clad in his board shorts and with a harness and safety line attached he entered the icy North Atlantic armed with a knife to see what could be done. Diving under the boat he shot straight back up again spluttering "There's a turtle in the net as well!." Several more attempts with pulling, jerking and cutting followed. This dislodged the net somewhat but by now Troye feeling the cold and having been stung by a blue bottle thread needed to get out of the water and into a shower to warm up. Using a rope I had attached to the net to tug it out of the way of the rudder it came free, dead turtle and all, much to our relief.

There are three large 250liter barrels on the back of the boat containing diesel fuel. Mostly we would transfer fuel to the boats tanks on a calm day but not having had that luck it had to be done on the bounce as it were. Siphon pipe in action and rags to prevent a spill it proceeded quite well. We must be getting good at it.

Using both engines against the head-wind and current we could only make two knots of headway so we tacked again on our zig-zag course to nowhere. Sailing on the new heading gave us some reasonable speed but in a north-easterly direction. Not quite what we had in mind and not to
Gibraltar. For four days we have been 500 miles from our next goal and
frustratingly sailing hither and thither getting no nearer to the objective.

Doing my boat checks this morning I found a baby bill-fish on the forward part of the boat. Having been washed there in the waves around the bow it had gotten caught in the trampoline surrounding. Quite amazing to see a miniature version complete with beak type bill only about 250 millimeters long. Troye considered sushi but then declined. We enjoyed our weekend sailing although not what we expected but then tomorrow it's back to work. Not so?

Temperature in the cabin is 16 deg C and that's with the door closed, so if you have sunshine do enjoy it.

From position 36 deg 40 min North ; 15 deg 16 min West.

Cheers, Tom, Mark and Troye.

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Tom
13/03/2010, 34 deg 21 min N ; 16 deg 09 min W

Several voyages ago I started writing short messages regarding the crews and progress of the voyage. These intention was to keep families of the crews informed as to their wellbeing and safety. With the different voyages the messages have gone through several changes as to style and content, but they still serve much the same purpose except we now have the site set up by Shaun at www.sailblogs.com which is reaching a much wider readership. This is fine and I appreciate Shaun's efforts on my behalf. To be able to share these experiences with armchair travelers, sailing enthusiasts, and even hopeful voyagers at home building a yacht. Since the beginning these messages have been transmitted back to a contact using amateur radio, in this case Tony ZS1TM, and Shaun ZS1RA.

I have been a radio amateur and electronics enthusiast since my school days and through the hobby have made many contacts around the world together with many fine friends. It is because of the wonderful spirit of amateur radio that we are able to not only get these reports back to you but also get up to date weather information to use on our routing, vital to our safety. How is this achieved? Within the amateur radio fraternity there is a marvelous system of relay station around the world. I am not able to transmit direct back to Tony at will but via the relay stations we are able to have almost constant contact. Using up to date technology and their own equipment this world-wide network of WL2K stations accept and forward our messages from the radio transmission to the internet.

The relay stations all use their own equipment and facilities to connect both to the mobile stations such as us and back to the Internet as well. Within the network there are a number of servers situated around the world to handle and forward the data traffic. Quite fantastic for something done on a purely voluntary basis. But that is the nature of the spirit of amateur radio, always willing to do something for the community in which it finds itself. Public service is one of the corner-stones of the fraternity.

Earlier on this trip I was having a lot of difficulty with connections to the system. These I was blaming on radio propagation which is low at the moment due to current sunspot activity. I was wrong. One of the relay station operators gave me a heads up to a problem with my transmissions and this allowed me to investigate on my side and correct the relevant settings. The operation is now chalk and cheese to what it was before. Taking the time and trouble to help someone else is what it's all about.

Does that answer how it is achieved? It is achieved with a little technology and a great deal of enthusiastic dedication!

To all those WL2K station operators I give a big THANK YOU and lift my hat. I hope you readers feel the same.

This from 34 deg 21 min North ; 16 deg 09 min West.

Cheers, Tom.

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Tom
12/03/2010, 33 deg 29 min N ; 16 deg 14 min W

Two days ago we were joking about playing "sailing golf" whilst motoring through a calm patch. Little did we know! Everyone know that with laughter comes tears. Even the funniest clown has a tear-drop on his cheek.

Reported on yesterdays position report was the comment of running with a westerly wind. And good it was to be doing so. But as the day progressed the wind strength went steadily higher and higher. Checking the Meteo France weather report that we get each day it stated "No threat of Gale". Normally a very reliable forecast we accepted it. By afternoon we were sailing with two reefs in the mainsail and only half of the headsail rolled out. Boat speed was excellent but the ride was getting rougher and rougher as a gale developed around us. There was a depression passing to the north of us and giving rise to the gale. A long and hard night was in store as we hurtled along with the following wind mostly in the upper twenty knots and with some gusts going up to the high thirties. There was little sleep or real rest as at times there were two of us in the cockpit at a time. What rest we got we took by forgoing our bunks and just laying in the saloon in our foul-weather gear, ready to go outside again.

I have often said that by the law of averages it is not possible to cross an ocean and not have a blow somewhere. This was our turn! Somewhat before dawn the wind veered to the north forcing our course to curve southerly about fourty miles from where we wanted to be but what the heck we were at least OK. Today we have the boat going easy with just the headsail out and no mainsail heading into a north-east wind coming right from where we want to go, on the nose again. For now it's easy does it and we will all appreciate the quieter night with a good amount of rest.

Late this afternoon we passed the islands of Madeira about twenty five miles to our starboard. Just grey mountain peaks in the gloomy horizon.

Now at position 33 deg 29 min North ; 16 deg 14 min West its quickly send off and then hit the sack, on at midnight again.

Cheers,Tom, Mark and Troye.

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Tom
09/03/2010, 31 deg 55 min N ; 23 deg 20 min W

"Head west young man, they cried." In our case it was HEAD NORTH, which as you all know we have been doing ceaselessly. Last blog had us anticipating our way-point to turn and head East, not to be. There was little wind again and the predictions that were on hand showed wind ahead further to the north of our intended turn so we held our course and continued on the northerly heading for another day.

During the early hours of the morning on the three am watch Mark had the wind steadily increasing so that when I took over at six we were able to start sailing again. Continuing on our course whilst waiting for day light we gybed the boat at nine am to head at last for Gibraltar. Although still nine hundred miles away we feel that another important milestone on our voyage has been reached. As if to celebrate the occasion I had the most stunning sun-rise with out having a sun rise. If that sounds peculiar, let me explain. There was a heavy cloud bank on the horizon to the east this morning and as the light slowly started to appear the formed behind that cloud bank a glorious sunrise full of reds and oranges but being behind the nearby cloud bank the actual rising sun could not be seen. not only did i have this marvelous three dimension picture but it spread a myriad of lighter reds and pinks to other parts of the sky heralding a good day for us.

The change of course has also brought about a change to the point of sailing. Having reached the area of the upper level of the high pressure cell we have been on a "run" all day. That is having the wind from behind. A comfortable way to travel, the boat is quite smooth and easy in it's motion and one does not actually feel the speed of the boat sometimes surging ahead as it surfs on the swells of the following seas.

Our current position is 31 deg 55 min North ; 23 deg 20 min West a little northeast of Madeira. Hope you all have found it in your atlas.

Cheers, the crew of A4018.

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Tom
07/03/2010, 29 deg 01 min N ; 25 deg 32 min W

After having our meals "al fresco" out at the pool today's inclement weather had us eating inside for the first time. The day dawned grey and heavily overcast. There was no sunrise or any dramatics. It just slowly got lighter and lighter until the light reached a level of semi-full that was pleasant on the eyes with no harshness. Not really a moody sky but it stayed all day watching over us without any sign of where the suns position might have been. Had we been using celestial navigation there certainly was no possibility of a sextant sighting or fix. One of those days when you hope that your dead-reckoning is up to scratch.

The sea however gave is a splendid day. Quite smooth with a long, gentle rolling swell that the boat eased over ever so comfortably that it was hard to believe the good speed we were making. Often when the boat is fast it can be felt in the cut and thrust of the motion but not today. Swift and graceful in it's gentle rising and falling to the swell as it sped along.

To cap it all this afternoon we saw dolphins leaping out of the water four or five hundred meters to starboard, watching them we wondered what they were up to and where they might be going. After a while they came across to the boat and probably more than twenty surrounded us, swimming this way and that effortlessly keeping pace with the boat sailing at about 7 knots. Going to the front I saw five swimming abreast just ahead of the bows skimming the crests of the swell. Like a team of stallions they "pulled" us along effortlessly. Even when a wave came and thumped the bow down in the water and I thought they might be harmed they were instantly away from danger and back in formation again. Coming in from the side another would take up a spot displacing one of the originals and continue the game. These were a smaller species with a speckled body. Regretfully I do not have my dolphin
book with me so can not give an accurate identification.

Customary practice has one reefing and setting the boat up for the night just before sunset when there is still enough light to do the job easily. Two nights ago we looked at the wind predictions and the weather that we were experiencing at that time. Everything indicated a night with out increasing wind strengths, also the previous nights the wind had dropped off after sunset. It had us foxed and a while after dark with the wind increasing we knew it was time to reef. Harnessing up Mark and Troye went up to the mast whilst I kept the boats head into the weather to shorten the mainsail down to the first reef position. They did a splendid job of it and very little tidying up needed to be done much later when it was light again.

This from position 29 deg 01 min North ; 25 deg 32 min West as we eagerly anticipate reaching our next turning point heading even more easterly than now, this should be late tomorrow.

Cheers from A4018

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Tom
06/03/2010, 26 deg 51 min N, 26 deg 55 min W

Well it's six weeks now and still on the go. Pressing on although yesterday and today have been quite good as far as the daily distances go. We have the wind from the west pushing side ways in right direction for a change.

Earlier we had a picture of Mark displaying his culinary skills. Mark is quite a dab hand at the art of chopping and dicing. Wielding a kitchen knife onions and such like are soon pan ready. With the flaying kitchen knife he produced some super cole-slaws. my favorite salad! Alas the carrots have long since expired, the mayonnaise jar dried up leaving only some cabbage behind. The last of the "greens", albeit some=what bleak and faded. Not to be beaten Mark chop-chop-chopped and with the resources of Kikkoman and trusty olives we have relished in our very own style salad. Sadly there is now only one serving left before it too is a memory.

Another favorite of mine is the freshly caught fish that tastes so different when eaten soon after being caught. Hence my picture with the fine tuna thankfully received as a birthday present. Mark is not fond of fish and I do not wish to catch and kill just for the sake of it so the lures have been put away for this trip. We have enough in the freezer to get us to our destination.

Third member of the crew is Troye, the young one. Take note girls! No sooner than we had departed Cape Town and his shirt was off and out came the tanning oil for the adonis body. Remarkably here in the North Atlantic, still trying to shed its winter chill, he has taken to hiding in his hoody. Hence the picture without the tanned body.

Much has been said about the sunsets but in order to have a sunset there has to be a sunrise. These can also be spectacular. A few days ago when struggling with our zig-zag course the boat was heading east whilst I was on the early am watch. The sun rose right ahead of me directly in our path. A memorable sight shared with you all via the picture.

Shaun, who is managing the blog, advises of the many readers. On telling Troye of this he responded "So we are not alone out here." I hope you are all enjoying our voyage with us.

The coordinates are correct, just a marvellous coincidence.

Cheers Tom and Crew

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