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.