Sailing around the world on the traditional gaff rigged schooner Windjammer

Looks like about 2 days left to get us to Trinidad which will be a nice end to our 5400 mile crossing. Since the last post we have been maintaining good daily averages of about 170 miles thanks to the Brazil current and steady trade winds. Crossing the ITCZ was quite comfortable this time round with only the occasional cloud driven squall which never exceeded 40 knots and then only for short spells. We did have a spell of bother when a squall passed over us and left a wind void behind it which resulted in us having to drop sail in a very confused sea on a bucking deck with booms and gaffs swinging wildly. Graham lost his footing and head butted the main mast, coming off second best with a nice bruise on his forehead and partial black eye, looking very much like Johnny Depp in "Pirates of The Caribbean".

With only three of us on board now the watches have changed to 2 on 4 off, so spending lots of time catching up on lost sleep.. The winds have been steady at 12 -16 knots from the ENE giving us a good reaching angle so hardly any sail trimming required and allowing for some deck and rigging maintenance. After our incident in Fortaleza we decided to head directly to Trinidad, the up side is that we should be there in time for Carnival, second only to Rio, at least Graham wont need to dress up!

I half joked that disasters generally run in threes! The glue in our two dingy repair kits had gone off, the guy in the English yacht next door came to the rescue with some hypalon glue, nope also gone off, then the marina maintenance man turned up with a tube, nope also off. So it was tools down, stop filling the water tanks, grab the months worth of laundry and head into town with the old glue tube as a sample. Yesterday we had spent a fruitless afternoon taxiing around the city looking for someone to fill our propane gas tanks, was this going to be a repeat? Fortunately we had a good taxi driver and after only three stops found a little hardware store that sold the "best glue" in town. Things were looking up, there was no queue at the laundrette, we had an unexpectedly good lunch, and I even managed to find a single element electric hot plate to run off the genset as a back up for when we ran out of gas. Now it was just a matter of getting back and repairing the dingy.

Disaster number three....who turned the water off before going into town..... oops!!..... floorboards were floating in the saloon! The rest of the afternoon was spent pumping, bailing and drying out the boat. Cushions and clothing littered the deck and my brand new camera was drowned. By early evening we had things back under control again, dingy glued and patched and decks cleared. We delayed our departure for the morning and went off for a well earned swim in the marina hotel pool with a few cold beers to send off Kirill and Bruce. The next mornings departure was uneventful but what a relief to be out at sea again with a steady breeze and a one knot NW current under the keel.

Oh! and the pirates, the 10 inch pirate knife still lies untouched on the coach house, every time you walk past it you get a bit of a shiver up your spine, I'll have to get rid of it, but not quite yet.

So what do I think of Forteleza ... not worth a stop in fact it should be avoided. The marina is so dilapidated that it is positively dangerous. There are not even basic yacht services and it is quite expensive, although there is a good super market down town. Don't anchor out unless you have to then maintain a watch and be prepared to repel boarders with suitable weapons. If they do get get below decks unannounced and in the dark they will have control of the situation then its best just to submit to them. We have learnt some positive lessons and certainly wont be complacent moving forward.

Our next stop is Iles De Salut off French Guiana (The notorious prison island that Papillion escaped from) - 560 miles to go.

2nd February - Just another day cruising.....or was it? We arrived in Fortaleza under a full moon at 3:00am and made our way across the bay to the yacht marina. A shipwreck lay near the entrance but almost a mile closer than was noted on the chart. As we passed between it and the marina break wall we suddenly noticed more unmarked wreckage just above the water directly in front of us. With our 6 cylinder engine going full steam astern we managed a lucky escape! By 4:30am we had anchored in the bay and sat down with a nerve calming brandy enjoying the moonlight view across to the beaches lined with modern high rise condos.

Half an hour later I was woken by Kirill shouting that there were people trying to board Windjammer. Expecting customs officials I was surprised to find 3 knife wielding bandido's shouting pirata, pirata trying to climb on board! There were no guns, at least that I could see. Kirill appeared next to me with our largest galley knife and it suddenly dawned on me that we were in a tricky situation. I dashed across the deck, grabbed the boat hook and set about defending our position. A boat hook used as a thrusting javelin by a half naked shouting maniac makes for an awesome weapon. I managed to dislodge my pirate with some handy body blows while Kirill's pirate decided to take to the water. The third pirate still in his wooden dingy kept coming at us with his knife and paddle. Making no gains he then attacked our inflatable, still in its davit's, with his knife slicing a nice big gash in the side. This turned me into a bit of a pirate, fortunately my boat hook is made of stout Tasmanian oak. Graham, now also involved had a close shave when one of the pirates in the water threw his knife at him just missing. Cathie had turned the deck lights on making the whole thing seam quite surreal, then jumped in the front line with a can of Alaskan bear spray, luckily she did not have to use it as we were down wind from the Pirates! Needless to say we were quite shaken by the experience and were only to happy to be tied up alongside other yachts in the security of the marina. It soon came to light that a French yacht anchored out the previous evening was also boarded and held up, having all their electronics and money stolen. Probably the same guys.

This story continues.........

At 16.30 hrs on Friday 30th,we arrived at Ilha De Fernando De Noronha, a small island roughly 7 miles long, 2 miles wide and 200 miles off the coast of Brazil, just in time to race Holly ashore to clear customs and sound out the immigration people. We were somewhat concerned that as the Island was not an official port of entry that there might be a problem releasing her from our crew list for her return to the UK. The officials, dressed in casual T shirts looking like we had just interrupted their day on the beach could not have been more accommodating. Half an hour later we were sitting in a delightful bar restaurant on the hill overlooking the anchorage with a splendid view of Mount Pico, a volcanic plug, drinking capariniha's and Mojito's. We managed, in the true manner of a sailor to eventually find our way back to the boat in drips and drabs with support from the crew of "Spirit of Adventure"

Next morning we all filed into the immigration offices at 10.00 am sharp, looking rather worse for wear, then it was goodbye to our ship mate Holly, London bound. Perhaps we will see her again in Antigua for race week.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the island with its 4000 inhabitants and hordes of tourists from the mainland indulging in mainly scuba diving and beach activities and driving around in beach buggies. The cost of living on the Island is very expensive even compared to European prices.

At sunset we stowed the anchor and once again set sail, this time for Atol Das Rocas 85 miles to the west.

This morning we dropped anchor off Isla do Farol, a low sand spit on the north west side of Atol Das Rocas. Graham and I took the dingy to scout out a passage through the reef to the sand spit which housed two small wooden huts a radio antenna an old ruin and four windblown palm trees. We managed to thread our way into a lagoon where we met a guy and two girls taking marine samples. It turned out that we were trespassing a marine sanctuary... gone are the days of hedonistic exploring! After a quick swim we upped anchor and set sail for Fortaleza 272 miles to the west.

Yesterday (25th) was Bruce's 21st birthday and up until 3pm she could be forgiven for thinking that we had forgotten it was such an occasion. Other than a few hugs and quiet "Happy Birthdays" it was a quiet normal day onboard Windjammer. But, unbeknownst to Bruce, we had been plotting... As Bruce settled in for her afternoon watch we all disappeared below and the companionway hatch was closed. Within was a veritable buzz of activity, the galley and mess area were decorated in netting, stars, sea creatures, "21"s and keys, a tower of cupcakes cake was assembled, decorated and safely stowed for later, and the fancy dress outfits we had been surreptitiously assembling for the last couple of days (out of whatever we could pillage on board) were dug out. The theme was 'Children of the Ocean' and so assembled a pirate (me), a seal (Ashley), a flying fish (Cathie), Neptune (Kirill) and Africa-in-da-net (Grahame). Considering the lack of resources the outfits were pretty damn ingenious and a photo definitely needs to follow this post at a later date. Cathie's wings were so big that she could only move sideways, Ashley's seal mask defies description and Grahame's outfit definitely left very little to the imagination! Windjammer was put on autopilot, Bruce was allowed down into the galley and I think we impressed with our efforts.

We all assembled on deck for rum punch and it promptly rained more than it has all trip, lucky it is so warm it doesn't matter. The rain soon cleared and next came pink champagne, a card and present, and a wonderful lamb roast dinner on deck bathed in the warm evening light. Bruce's present was fairly unique - a piece of scrimshaw, carved by Ashley, depicting Schooner Windjammer and her route from Cape Town to Brazil via Saint Helena. To shake us back to normal, Ashley gave the order to drop sails (we've lost the wind again) and our rag tag bunch, still in fancy dress, jumped to obey. This schooner had Neptune in the rigging and a pirate on the bowsprit! Sails stowed we called Bruce below decks again for another surprise of the cake and candles.

Needless to say we all ate far too much! Once all the washing up was done we returned to watches as usual, although some of us were on far too much of a sugar and rum rush to sleep. I started my watch on the helm at 0300, put my iPod on shuffle, stripped down to my bikini and danced my way under luminous star-filled skies through the sunrise to 0830. Just one of those tropical nights when everything is perfect. Oh, and revenge was had yesterday for the airhorn wake up call... a metal pan and spatula brought an abrupt end to Ashley's nap (and the his face upon waking was enough to make me scarper quickly!).

20th Jan. Yesterday evening we ran out of wind. Having tweaked sails and course (and crew) trying to keep going we were eventually forced to conclude defeat and drop sail in the evening and motor. Back to a world of noise and vibration. On the plus side, running the engine allows us to get a good charge into the batteries and, for the first time since we left St Helena, run directly towards Fernando de Noronha.

The south-easterly wind continues to tease us as we can only head west or north of the rhumb line- we are not able to run very square to the wind, particularly with a swell running and low winds. Highly frustrating given that we have a deadline for arriving in Brazil! The dreaded deadlines! Bright and early this morning the wind was back and a rag tag bunch of zombies assembled on deck to raise all sails. Ashley attempted to rally us as we raised the main sail, fore sail, staysail, topsail, fisherman staysail and spinnaker. All this up we were then able to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and some toast for breakfast and finally wake up.

Communications from ship to the outside world are done through a modem connected to HF radio, this provides us with emails, a means though which to receive grib (weather forecasting) files and, of course, a route through which to update the blog. While emails are not sent frequently, it is still nice to be able to pass on messages to family and friends occasionally. Between Cape Town and Saint Helena our nearest station was Maputo (in Mozambique), but in the last few days connection has proved increasingly difficult and we are now beginning to use the station in Chile. If anyone reading this blog is sending us emails... please keep them short and sweet, and be aware that we may not receive them for a couple of days.

After the excitement of leaving St Helena, getting back to sea and settling down, life onboard has resumed its normal routine. We have all passed the day - the one just out from port, when all the crew, transitioning from normal hours to watch hours suffer from a bout of exhaustion - and everyone is starting to function (relatively) normally again. Although, looking at some of us sitting bleary eyed at the helm this morning you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise! Thanks to Ashley for capturing that moment on camera... revenge will come.

We've also resumed our previous activities, picking up where we left off with books and ipods, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are being watched (again). A session of dominoes was played yesterday, however having done a round of the ship we realised that everyone knows how to play but no-one knows the rules! The winner is somewhat undecided - it may be Ashley who had the most points or Cathie who has the least - to be settled by a re-match today. As part of our supplies raid we pilfered a yachting magazine, this acquisition of fresh reading material is being read to within an inch of its life, including amusingly an article on 'How to plan your Atlantic crossing' - ironic reading given that we're already halfway across. Food remains important and we have been enjoying yet more lovely meals from Cathie, with Kirilo and Bruce making pizza for lunch yesterday which went down a treat; we're also eating plenty of fish curtesy of the Strumpet boys - thanks guys! Homemade fish cakes for lunch. The plan for today also includes some baking... current options include croissants, cup cakes, or (my favourite) pineapple and rum upside down cake. We also need to start planning for a birthday, it is Bruce's 21st in 7 days.

The breeze remains light and fickle, pushing us further WSW than was intended but not quite far enough to be worth putting in a gybe yet. The distance to run is still over 1400nm, and we're not even heading in the right direction. Oh well, we'll get there eventually! We're being accompanied by several yachts sailing on from St Helena to Brazil, but none have been visible since we left the island. We haven't even sighted a ship. The storm petrels and flying fish are keeping us company but cetaceans and larger seabirds haven't been seen for a while. Now where was that book....

0600 this morning the bell rang for all hands on deck to stow the tender and prepare Windjammer for her onward passage to Brazil. The crew were a tad tardy in responding and everything seemed to take twice as long, but then again, we did have a rather big final night ashore! It soon became evident that one crew member had gone AWOL, however, arrived back on board as the sun was creeping over the horizon.... No names! Last night we attended a formal reception at the Governor's House with drinks and hors d'oeuvres served by uniformed waiters and waitresses on the grassed terrace. We were all dressed in our best, although given the limited wardrobe that was still definitely on the casual side of the specified 'smart casual' attire, flip flops were still in evidence but at least the dresses came out.

The view over the green hills and valleys with the blue Atlantic ocean as a backdrop was quite awesome, particularly with the late afternoon light. In the foreground, next to the tennis court were the famous tortoises wandering around on the grass Jonathon the eldest was shipped in from the Seychelles in 1877 . Wine, beer and nibbles flowed freely and the reception offered another opportunity to get to know the other crews, local characters and island visitors. For the most part everyone behaved as suits at a formal reception and we all headed off back to town to Ann's Place for a far less formal braai. Fish was supplied by the Strumpet boys following their successful fishing trip, with Ann's Place providing a wonderful braai area, bar and accompaniments. Needless to say, more than a few drinks were had and we all had a lovely night with friends new and old, some of which are heading out along the same route as us over the next few days and some of which are soon heading back to Cape Town on the RMS Saint Helena when she leaves on Saturday. We wish them all fair winds and calm seas!

We left Saint Helena at 0730, having dropped the flags and performed a quick raid for additional supplies. The sun was out and it was going to be another gorgeous day. It was bittersweet to be leaving, there is so much to see and do on the island that 5 days doesn't do it justice but we are all excited to be heading off to the horizon and on to somewhere new. The mooring was dropped and we headed out to the west - our next stop is Ilha de Fernando de Noronha, another 1700 nm to the north west. There was initially 18-20 knots of breeze and we were all happy to be sailing again. By midday the island was no more than a shadow in the distance and we are all settling back into our watches and into the rhythm of life onboard; Cathie cooked a fab Thai fish curry and we watched another stunning sunset... life onboard is good.

Our exploration of the island started with a tour of the island on an old classic 1929 Chevrolet open truck seating 16. There was a canopy which could be pulled over for rainy days however the weather was magnificent as we headed off with our local driver Colin whose family has been on the island for many generations. The first stop was the local distillery where they make a number of different spirits, the most popular being Tungi, a schnapps made from the local prickly pear. It's about 50% proof so not for the faint hearted! They also make rum, brandy, lemon liqueur and a gin made from local juniper berries that grow in abundance on the island. Paul the owner is busy making a special batch of brandy to commemorate 200 years since the exile of Napoleon, who spent the last 5 1/2 years of his life on the island. This will be specially bottled and shipped to Paris.
After a lovely drive through wooded mountains and flax plantations we ended up in Longwood at the farmhouse where Napoleon spent his time in exile until his death in 1821. He was buried in a quadruple coffin in a beautiful valley looking out to sea, his favourite spot on the island. The body however was exhumed 19 years later and shipped back to France.

The population of St Helena has been hovering around 5000 with a mixture of Portuguese, English, Dutch and South African, however just recently they lost approximately 1000 who took up citizenship in the UK when it was offered. The local accent is very musical and quite pleasurable.

The tour around the island gave a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the diversity of the island. From the approach by sea the island looks barren and arid, rich red/brown earth forming inaccessible cliffs and land slides. Once you enter the interior of the island you find a lush, tropical, green land crossed by narrow lanes that wind up and down the hills and mountains. Walking around this island would keep you fit as every road is a steep gradient. Closer inspection of the greenery confirms the influence of many countries and a number of non-native species form part of the vegetation. Jamestown is the main town on the island, but there are several districts around the island - Half Tree Hollow, Longwood, Mount Pleasant and others - which vary from small collections of houses with a shop or two, or a cafe, to the large Half Tree Hollow district with bakeries, shops and daycare which houses nearly a quarter of the islands population. The island is now British (it was once Dutch) and was initially owned by the British East India Company. It's location was strategically important and even today it offers a good anchorage sheltered underneath imposing cliffs which offer protection from the prevailing winds. The Main Street in James Town is lined with beautifully maintained Georgian houses extending just over a mile from the water front and up the valley.

07.30 hrs Sunday 11th January and it is day 15 out from Cape Town. I have just sighted land hiding beneath a large cloud on the horizon. The isailor app on my Ipad confirms that it is indeed St Helena Island and we should be there in about 2 hrs time. There are now lots of red billed tropic birds and fairy terns visiting us as we broad reach under full canvas towards James Town anchorage.

09:30 hrs and we hug the shore beneath shear cliffs passing close to the islands fishing boats and onto our designated anchorage where seven of the seventeen competing yachts have already arrived. The crew do a smart sail drop and we pick up our mooring to a round of cheers and welcome from the other yachts and committee boat. The moorings are arranged in lines with risers fixed to heavy ground chains all in good condition.
10:30 hrs and we hurry ashore to catch the customs and and immigration who are fortunately still on duty this Sunday morning, clearing out the departing passengers on the Royal Mail Ship. Once the formalities were completed the race organisers were on hand to brief us on the Island and scheduled activities. A short walk from the waterfront to the Castle Gardens found us at the renowned Anne's, a watering hole and restaurant decked out with memorabilia from past visiting yachties. There was even a memorial plaque in the gardens dedicated to Joshua Slocum who gave a lecture on his solo voyage around the world in 1898. Annie's provided us with a good lunch and a few Windhoek lagers before we hit the wall and headed back to Windjammer for some well earned sleep. First impressions are very promising So tomorrow we start exploring.

Day 13 and the St Helena high has finally moved back south allowing the trade winds to settle in at a steady 12 to 14 knots. The days are clear with polarized blue seas and fair weather clouds on the horizon. We are now 170 miles from St Helena and expecting to arrive early Sunday morning. We managed to catch two Dorado's yesterday and served them up for dinner with JT's lemons. Today we caught another so will have him for lunch as sushi and sashimi. Holly has turned out to be an ace fish filleter and is now in charge of the fish knife, 'must be all those years of dissecting!

I am amazed by the lack of sea birds on this passage, we occasionally see a solitary little "Wilson's Storm Petrel" but other than that very little, though I expect we will see a lot more as we get close the Island. Grahame had a busy session in the galley this morning baking a corn and honey bread loaf which we renamed the "tsunami loaf" due to its unusual shape, must have been the ships heeling, but as they say the proof will be in the tasting.

The crew are now becoming quite adept at gybing Windjammer as we zig zag our way down wind. First the fisherman sail has to be lowered to the deck and lines secured, then its on to dowsing the spinnaker and releasing the preventers and running backstay before gybing the main and foresails. Once completed we then hoist the fisherman and spinnaker again, secure preventers and finally coil down ...all under 10 minutes.

Had a big day sorting and exchanging music files, uncovering some real beauties, so Windjammer is now rocking to some "cool tunes"

Current position 20o 11'S, 000o 15E. - 422nm remain between us and Saint Helena but we're being pushed west by SSE winds. The winds continue to be fickle, tempting us with promises of breezes; clouds and ripples and dancing patterns on the water but a consistent, steady breeze is proving hard to find. In response to this we raise sail, we lower sail, we motor and then we raise sail again. And repeat. The night's sleep has become punctuated, not just by watches, but by interim wake up calls to haul up or drop sail. As a consequence Windjammer frequently looks a strange scene with crew strewn asleep in the galley, mess room, bunks or scattered on deck catching a few moments snooze.

To keep occupied we have raided the Windjammers library, working our way through a variety of maritime themed literature, from stories and rigging books to marine life guides, windjammer history, Wooden Boat back issues and flicking through cruising routes of the world. Ashley gave us all a knots workshop; testing our knowledge before getting us to tie them backwards and blind. There's also been carpentry, rope work, baking bread, sea shanties and attempting to learn celestial navigation, squeezebox and ukulele to keep us from boredom. Nature has been continuing to entertain, with somersaulting bottlenose at sunrise and porpoising tuna at sunset but it has been quiet on the bird front for the last few days.

Officially we have retired from the race. The 100 mile motoring allowance has been exceeded as we became painfully aware that unless we motored further in search of wind we would miss the race cut off date but also the end of race celebrations and the Royal Mail Ship leaving St Helena! Continued forecasts indicate that if we had waited for wind we may well still have been in the same 50 miles of ocean as we occupied 2 days ago. We are not the only yacht to retire and motor in search of breeze, and from the position updates it looks like there may be others. Unfortunately it was only after our decision to retire that the race cut off was extended, ho hum! The first yacht Banjo, a trimaran, has reached Saint Helena.

After plain sailing for the New Year, on the 2nd of January the wind finally left us. 5 days of plain sailing then nothing, nada. The sails flapped in the swells, the blocks rattled and kept us awake as we attempted to ease Windjammer forwards on ever decreasing puffs of air. Finally we dropped sail and motored. Race rules for the Governor's cup allow vessels in the cruising class to motor for 100 miles. Now we chose to use this wildcard, motoring north in an attempt to escape the Saint Helena high which has us (and the rest of the race participants) frustratingly without wind. For the next 2 days we hoist sail at the slightest breath and then, disappointedly lower them again as it evades us. We ghost along at night with light breezes under a full moon. During the days the cockpit awning comes out. In the evenings Kiril emerges with the guitar or we tell stories and sing sea shanties. We drink coffee. We lunch on deck. We jump over the side for a swim in the impossibly blue ocean and make like pirates climbing back aboard on the bobstay and swinging off the bowspirit. We sunbathe, we read and we snooze, lots.

As soon as the wind left, so too did the albatrosses. The oily calm of the ocean surface seeming desert like, save for drifting Portuguese men-of-war and by-the-wind-sailors. Yesterday evening this was broken spectacularly by a pod of pilot whales joining us at sunset. Dorsal fins breaking the flat ocean surface, all around us. Combined with rain clouds (a free shower!) and the promise of breeze it raised a smile from all the crew. As it was it was all coupled with a glass of wine, some of Cathie's fabulous cooking for dinner, chocolate brownies and coffee - life doesn't get much better.

This morning there was long awaited breeze. As we hoisted sail we spotted dark torpedoes, cruising along, effortlessly keeping pace with us - tuna! Gorgeous flashes of yellow and iridescent blue just below the waves. We watched spellbound... and then we reached for the fishing lines. We dangled the hand lines attempting to get a tasty looking lure in their general vicinity. An initial investigation and then they ignored it and us. Failing this Ashley dug out the fishing rod, selected a shimmery lure and we tried again. They seemed to sense our less than honourable intentions, moving away and re-appearing somewhere else alongside. Hmmm, smart fish. 5 minutes later Ashley reappeared with a speargun...nah no luck .. what else can we do? the wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce remain patiently on standby!

900 miles to go until we reach St Helena, we have been without wind for most of the day. There is a high sitting just to the west of us and keeps moving our way. We motored for a while but then decided to stop and go for a swim to cool down. The sea was very calm and we came across a turtle also enjoying the calm seas and sunshine. Also saw a small shark cruise by. The whole fleet seams to be becalmed, if this go's on we wont make the finish in time.

We took advantage of the down time, baked some bread and everyone caught up on a bit of sleep. The wind has just come in again albeit very light so we have just hoisted all sails again and are moving along slowly, hope it holds. It is however a beautiful night.

And a Happy New Year to all our friends and relatives from the crew of Windjammer, may 2015 be everything you hope for and fairwinds and safe anchorages to all. We celebrated with an early sit down dinner this evening with a suitably good bottle of Cape wine followed by a sticky date and banana pudding (starting to loose the bananas) which was delicious.

We have had to put in a couple of gybes to get us up to the St Helena layline where there is more forecasted wind but this will be short lived as a high pressure system is moving into our area which will stop us dead in our tracks. False Bay Yacht Club are providing position updates on their website as well as corrected times and apparently we have been leading the cruising class for the past few days - sure this wont last for much longer with the wind dropping off. This morning we set the light weight balloon jib (spinnaker) which has made quite a difference so are flying absolutely everything we can, even contemplating setting our spare jib as a"water sail" on the underneath of the main boom!

The new crew are all adapting well to life onboard and the rotation of watches with Bruce (Ashleigh) now able to stand a steering watch on her own which is quite an accomplishment in these tricky down wind sailing conditions. We have been collecting a few squid on board in the mornings so hoping to land a nice tuna or yellow tail soon but then again with our luck......but it is a new year!!

Have had a steady 15-18 kn breeze for most of the day but the wind direction put us further south of the rhumb line which is about 55 miles. Hoisted the fisherman at sunrise this morning which added another knot to our boat speed. The weather has been warm and sunny and the crew have been quick to exploit it with clothes washed and drying in the rigging and deck showers were had by one and all.

This afternoon the sea swell had subsided so we took the opportunity to bend on the main topsail so now running under full canvas with 6 white sails billowing aloft, a sight to warm even an old scurvy dogs heart. We even managed lunch on the deck. What a pleasure it is to be sailing in the trades again. Winds look good for the next few days. All are happy and healthy and the "mal de mer" is all in the past. Lost all HF radio communications this afternoon but were able to talk to a passing ship on VHF and they notified Cape Town radio. Eventually found the problem with the external antenna cable, at some stage we must have nicked the outer cover and overtime water found its way in and corroded the copper strands.

The start of the race out of False Bay was always going to be challenging and the 25knt sou'easter didn't disappoint. We worked our way out of False Bay to Cape Point which took about 4 hours and was wet and uncomfortable with a little "mal de mer" amongst some of the crew. You could read the "what have we got ourselves into" etched on their faces. We finally bent around Cape Point inside the bellows which was spewing white water, eased the sheets and ran off toward St Helena. A collective sigh of relief and smiles all round. We were met by a pod of orca whales surfacing just meters from Windjammer. What a wonderful send off from the fairest Cape of all, and after 8 months it is a great feeling to have water rushing under the keel again.

Windjammer has a spring in her heals and the 18:30 log entry 24 hours later recorded a 202.2 mile run. Not bad considering we had a, not very clean bottom. The seas have settled down and the wind is a comfortable 25knots. Crew are in good spirits, "Boeuf Bourguignon" on the menus tonight thanks to Holly. Oh and it looks like we are one of the lead boats which means 1st on handicap, might as well enjoy it while we can!

It was a busy morning at False Bay Yacht Club. The air was full of excitement and anticipation as the 17 yachts entered into the Governors Cup race from Cape Town to St Helena were doing their final race preparations. Crews milling around, chatting, having coffee and saying their goodbye's. The new Windjammer crew were assembled briefed and ready to go.

We had lots of friends and family come to see us off which was great. Haven't had such a send off since we left the Whitsunday's. On board we have Grahame, Ashley's cousin in law (if there is such a term), Holly from England whom we met on our stop over at Tristan de Cuhna, Kirrill who lives in Israel but grew up in the Ukraine and young Ashleigh from Cape Town. We decided it was far to confusing having a Captain and crew on board with the same name so she has been renamed "Bruce".

After our eight months of living, exploring and enjoying everything that Southern Africa had to offer, from 4 wheel drive safaris in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to the vineyards of Cape Town it was a sad moment for us. New adventures were beckoning and we lowered the rainbow nations courtesy flag. Thanks to all those who made it such a great stay for us in Cape Town.