A WELL DESERVED REST

Flyer is "on the hard" in Indiantown, FL. This will be her home during hurricane season. Next November I'll put her back in "like new" condition.

Drying the mainsail

Since leaving Indiantown on March 22, 2011..  twenty countries, 28,976 nautical miles, 25 months, 5 days, 6 hours and 40 minutes. It's difficult to explain, but you develop a very special bond with the vessel that looked after you and transported you on the voyage of a lifetime. I shall never forget..

CLOSE THE LOOP

On March 26th at 10:43 am EDT, Flyer and I made our way through the breakwater at the entrance to the Riding Rock Marina on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. By the time I got the lines ready and had Flyer secured at the fuel dock, it was 11:15. On March 26th, 2011, I made an unscheduled stop here on my way to Panama. The winds had been very light so I took on some fuel. The credit card receipt has a time stamp... 11:14:33. I guess that's pretty close to 24 months to sail around the world.

Colleen was there as film crew and welcoming committee. I took on some fuel, cleared into the Bahamas and purchased a sim card for my phone. We then departed San Salvador for an overnight sail to Georgetown, Exuma where Colleen would depart and my sister and brother-in-law would join me for a two week cruise through the Exuma's. Colleen had sailed with me in Tahiti and the BVI but I picked her up and returned her to exactly the same place in both cases. The rules state you may not have anyone on board while advancing toward your destination.

P.S. The reason it has been so long since I have updated the blog is that my computer had a "blue screen of death", as my sister calls it, and it has not worked since. If you can believe it, this occured on March 26th.

Final Leg......

After spending a week in Grand Turk, Mike sailed to Atwood Harbor on Acklins Island in the Bahamas.


Found a fresh water well and did laundry



20 miles north of Atwood is Samana Cay, where he has spent several days... the only yacht in the anchorage. From here the finish line is in sight.... only 75NM remaining.  He plans to sail to San Salvador Bahamas for the completion of his solo circumnavigation.  I am on my way to meet him and celebrate such a amazing accomplishment. 
I can't believe it has been 2 years to date that he left for his adventure.  The time has truly flown by.  I will take photos and update the blog soon.  March 26th is the big day! 
Best Wishes to All!
xoxo,c

That's a sand dollar on the bottom, the depth here is 11 feet











This was taken above water from the kayak

 

The last sunset

BVI- Full Moon Party- Birthday Party... What A Way To Celebrate!

I met Mike in the BVI in February.  We sailed island to island each day.  Along the way we met some really cool people.  We all met up at Beef Island for the Full Moon Party.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday!!  We went snorkeling, hiking and just had fun relaxing at the Baths.  This is truly a secret utopia. 

After I left.... Mike continued on to the Spanish Virgin Islands, then to Turks and Caicos.  He is enjoying the last legs of his journey.  I am so excited and proud for him. 

Well, I just wanted to post a quick update and I will post pictures another time.... thanks for all your support!

Bougainvillea everywhere

Little Harbour Peter Island



Devils Bay Virgin Gorda

Like a kid at the Baths

A TRUE SAILING CIRCUMNAVIGATION

Since I am only about 657 nm from completion, I guess I ought to define what circumnavigation is. First some supporting information. The circumference of the Earth is 24,901.55 miles (21,637 nm)  at the equator. If you were to extend a straight line from some point on the earth through is center it would come out somewhere. Those two points would be “antipodean” to each other and hence are called “antipodes”. According to the Guinness Book, a true circumnavigation must:

• Begin and end at the same place         (San Salvador,Bahamas)
• Cross all lines of longitude                    (I will have)
• Cross the equator                                 (twice)
• Cross at least one pair of antipodes    (12deg S /127deg E and 12deg N/ 053deg W)

If one meets all these requirements he will sail over 26,000 miles (to get around the continents).

Not to take anything away from the competitors of the Around Alone and Vendee Globe Races but most do not meet the antipode requirement and sail only about 21,600 miles. A course from the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) eastward to Cape Horn (South America) passes just off the Southeast Cape of New Zealand.  If you stay on course you will encounter no land, only open ocean for 9,616 miles. This tactic, which most of the constants employ, not only misses all the land but stays in the Southern Ocean where the wind howls out of the West almost constantly. Sailing a 50-60’ boat at 15-20+ knots, in the Southern Ocean, water temp 35 F, with a very real chance of icebergs, alone… my hat is off to them, no thank you.

Colleen will join me next week and we will spend ten days or so sailing in the BVI. Around the first of March I will sail to Grand Turk and spend a week or so. Next is Samana Cay in the Bahamas and then just an overnight sail to the Riding Rock Marina on San Salvador which will close the loop, hopefully on March 26^th. That will make it two years to the day. So there you have it. I’ll post pictures as I take them.

FOR FRANK & AXEL

          For my sailmakers, Frank and Axel Schattauer in Seattle, Washington.

THAT’S A LOT OF WATER

St. Helena  to Virgin Gorda in the BVI – 4038nm, 28 days ,24 minutes… It is amazing how quickly the time passed. I’ll add a bit at a time to the post. For now a few pics.

What the ocean looks like with no wind 

Imagine his surprise

Montserrat

Saba

Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor

Cape Town to Saint Helena.... onward to BVI

Since Mike left Cape Town he has not had internet and won't again until he reaches the BVI.  He asked me to add a brief post to let everyone know his whereabouts.

Mike said he had very slight winds so it took him 2 weeks to sail from Cape Town to St Helena (1688NM).  Saint Helena is a huge volcanic island in the South Atlantic ocean.  The island is small... and has a population of 4,255.  Mike said there is not really any vegetation. just all rock.  He ran up the mountain 600-ish steps.  Yes, he counted.  He said it was quite steep!  

Mike only stayed a few days and decided to keep going.  He set sail again on Tuesday, January 8th headed for the BVI.  This will be his longest crossing 4036NM.  If he has good weather and wind...  it should take about 30 days....  he expects to arrive around February 8th -10th. 

He called this morning (01/21/2013) and is doing great.  He crossed the equator yesterday.  He toasted the event with rum for luck!  He is at the half way mark to the BVI.... about 2225 NM to go.  The wind has pretty much died, so he asked me to do another wind dance.  Let's hope it works!    ; )

I think most of us would go crazy.... alone with ourselves for that long.  Fortunately, Mike loves the sea and is always content. He has his daily routines that keep him busy.  Exercises daily, does 2 Sudoku puzzles, and continues to listen to his music. 

Well, that is all for now....  Mike sends his best and wishes everyone a Happy New Year!  Thanks for all your kind words and prayers.  We both appreciate your friendship.

xoxo,
Colleen

THE ROOF OF AFRICA

At 5895 meters (19,341 ft.), Kilimanjaro is the highest free -standing mountain in the world (no other mountains around it like Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier). It requires no technical skills to climb (crampons, ice axes, ropes etc.) but there is some class 3 scrambling and the effects of altitude are significant. Colleen and my good friend Steve Jackson flew from the States to join me on the climb. We had 2 guides, a cook, a waiter and 8 porters.  It was like a mini expedition and gave you an idea, on a much smaller scale, of what an Everest climb would be like. The route was 6 days and with the exception of summit day, we hiked/climbed 6 to 7 hours a day. Summit day started at midnight. We reached the summit at 0730 and got back to base camp at 1030. We then packed up, ate lunch and hiked down another 5 hours to our camp for the last night.

The moon was so bright we were able to climb without headlights

After Kilimanjaro we drove to the Ngorongoro Crater for some game viewing, the highlight of which was a lion pride / buffalo herd standoff.

Cape Town is considered to be one of the most beautiful
cities in the world

I will spend the holidays in Cape Town and then depart for St. Helena after the 1st of the year.  

CAPE TOWN

The trip down the East coast of Africa is a challenging one.  Richards Bay to Durban is 100nm and is an  overnight sail. This is not too difficult as one only needs a 24hr window of favorable weather.  The next leg, Durban to East London, is the most difficult as it is 250nm with absolutely no safe harbors in between. A favorable forecast of at least 3 days is imperative. Since the forecasts are only accurate for 3 days, at the most, there is an element of chance involved.  The Agulhas current can reach 6 knots near East London and with any southerly wind over 15 knots, conditions can become dangerous very quickly. As luck would have it, there was a 3 day forecast for light winds 4 days after reaching Durban so I made use of it. The conventional  wisdom is, “if you get a window you must not hesitate”.  During the trip I had only 6 hours of southerly wind @ 12-15 knots but even that made the seas very rough. I don’t even want to think about what it would be like in 30 knots. I received another forecast on the satellite phone enroute and decided to continue past East London to Port Elizabeth. I was there for only 12 hours and decided to keep moving toward Cape Town. The Agulhas current had now spread out across the Agulhas Bank and is no longer a factor. Now all I had to worry about was the infamous ”Cape of Storms” Cape Agulhas itself. Port Elizabeth to Mossel Bay was not too bad save the last 8 hours. With only the smallest mainsail set, the knotmeter (an instrument that measures the boats actual speed through the water), not the GPS, read 10.2 knots… pretty wild. Mossel Bay port control reported 40 knots +.  After 4 very rolly days at the yacht club marina I received a forecast with a 24 hour window of light winds at the Cape. Again I decided to give it a go. At 1057 local time on the 22^nd of October I passed Cape Agulhas and from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic. I was able to make a 30 degree right turn and for the first time since leaving Thursday Island at the top of Australia, the wind, current, waves and swell were all behind me. The remainder of the sail up the West coast was very pleasant and  took me past The Cape of Good Hope.  There is a funneling effect of the SE wind off Table Mountain and into Table Bay which is why one should plan a dawn arrival as it should be much calmer. Not for my dawn arrival. If someone would have told me that the highest winds to date for the entire circumnavigation would be inside the breakwater in Cape Town, I would have said, have another drink pal… 47 gusts to 55!! Holy crap.

I am snug in the V&A (Victoria & Alfred) Waterfront Marina right in the middle of Cape Town.. Awesome.

P.S. Most of the other cruisers are stuck in Richards Bay waiting for weather.

IMFOLOZI

I was lucky enough to meet Eric, an avid hunter at the yacht club, who offered to guide us (Risto and Helina, my Finnish friends and I) on a game drive in the Imfolozi Game Park. It is Africa's oldest game park and has the largest population of white Rhino in the world.

The dung beetle is a curious creature. I'm not sure how he sees where he's going.

The impala is the mainstay of the lion and leopards diet 

Not altogether happy with our presence  

"I am smiling"

THE LAST CONTINENT

My good friends from Reunion

10 days, 10 hours and 58 minutes is what it took to sail from St. Pierre to Richards Bay, South Africa... 1392 nm. This was the most challenging leg of the voyage so far. Usually when sailing in trade winds one is not concerned about the weather (provided you don't sail during cyclone season). This leg is different because the Agulhas Current must be crossed. It runs just off the coast of South Africa and averages a speed of 3-4 knots. About every three days a weather system called a "southerly buster" moves up the East coast of SA bringing southwesterly winds. These are many times gale force (30-40kts). This wind against current produces more abnormally high and "freak wave" conditions than any place else in the world. The trick is to cross the current with NE winds. This becomes problematic on a ten day passage because the weather forecasts are only accurate for 3 days. As luck would have it I had a small window (4 hours) to reach Richards Bay before a southerly wind arrived. The night before crossing I had winds of 35 knots with gusts of 40+. Its interesting that the highest winds of the journey so far have been on September 26th 2011 and 2012.

GRAND BASSIN

A last set of pictures before I set sail for South Africa. Grand Bassin is a tiny village at the bottom of a 2500 foot ravine. Very near the village is a small lake fed by a waterfall. One must work their way along a vertical wall of rock with very few hand holds to reach it.. Magnifique, as the French would say.

TOUR DE LA REUNION

Looking up the Ravine du Mat toward Hell-Bourg.

The beautiful chapel in St. Philippe

What could be better than sorbet and beer?

I found a cycle shop that rented bikes so I thought I would see some more of the island. The bike was a one year old Trek "Madone" all carbon, about 4000 euros new, for 15 euros/day. I liked the town of Hell - Bourg where I had stayed during the hike so I decided to ride back. The next day I returned to St, Pierre by way of the southern coastline. 140 miles, mostly up and down was well worth my sore sit bones.

THE THREE CIRQUES

One of the reasons I came to Reunion is because I heard the hiking was very good. "Very good", doesn't begin to describe it. Basically the island was one big volcano whose interior collapsed millions of years ago, forming three cirques... Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie with Piton des Neige, the highest point in the Indian Ocean, in the middle. My hike took me to all three cirques and to the top of Piton des Neige.

The chapel in Cilaos

The trail is cut into the solid rock

The beginning of a 7500' climb

This is meters...each 305 meters is = 1000 feet.

The top of Piton des Neige.. just over 10,000 feet