14 March 2005
We are making good progress to St Helene, passed the half way point on day six and now on day seven; we hope to arrive by next Monday making the passage 14 days or less, but the winds are supposed to go lighter as we get further north so who knows. Started with lighter winds with motoring on the second day, then, as predicted 35 plus knots with big seas for a day or so. Made for "spirited sailing" but we made amazing speed with just a small scrap of jib out and no main; did 160 miles compared with our usual daily run of about 120-130. Certainly was nice having this weather with wind and seas behind us and not bashing into it. Things have quieted down now so we can think of doing things like writing emails and may even think of fishing. So far we have just been reading lots of books. Second morning we had a incredible sunrise with an albatross circling the boat flying low just inches from the surface of the ocean. Very magical.
We talk with Fred, the South African weather guy in Durban, twice a day at 7:00am and 5:00pm. As the boats on passage are spread out over 1,650 miles between Cape Town and St Helene, we frequently relay positions for boats passing them thru a total of four people before they get to Fred. Sometimes it seems like all the boats participate in giving the information for one boat, a bit comical at times. We also have a "chat net" to talk with the other boats at 10:00am which is nice. More social, asking questions and just saying hello; lots of good friends ahead of us and behind us. Looking forward to exploring St Helene.
Well about all for now. It's looking overcast and possibility of some rain clouds around but it looked this way yesterday and no rain so who knows. Rain would actually be nice to wash all the salt off the boat. Sailmail has made some changes in the station we are using so email reception has been great. Last year the boats doing this route, said they could not connect until they got closer to the equator so we are very pleased and happy to be able to send and receive so well this year.
Hope all is going well for everyone.
hugs -- Paul and Suzette
Yacht Altair
23 degrees 35 South 004 degrees 57 East
South Atlantic
738 miles to St Helene