31 January: Cape to Rio, day 16

During the night the wind picked up and we first hoisted the spinnaker, then later the Genoa. Back on the 2hour 2person watch system, the wind died while we were on watch. It was so close to sunrise we sat around and watched it. With time on my hands, I took some nice pics of our sponsor logos. Xtra-Link sponsored our satellite communication equipment and Vizada our airtime.

The sailing activity did not end there. While fixing the heads (same problem as before, wet wipes in the system) we were called up to do sail changes…twice. The wind was very varying and shifty. But we were all happy to get out of the doldrums. Ian and I put the final touches to the heads. I’m sure it has never been that clean.

I had a shot at driving with the asymmetrical spinnaker. It is something to get used to. In the conditions I was driving (with this particular kite), if you flog the sail the chances are great that the kite would explode. I was thus VERY careful and I’m glad to report the sail is still in one piece.

The first couple of days clouds meant more wind. Today we have been trying to avoid the rain clouds, mainly because they cause a depression below them. This sucks the boat into it and then you sit without wind. There were about 3 clouds that we were avoiding the whole day. This made for a very interesting sailing day.

30 January: Cape to Rio, day 15

I have been keeping an eye on the phosphor in the water since our departure and was looking forward to seeing the abundance of it in the Atlantic. I was disappointed not to see as much of it as I expected…until last night, when I realised I was there all the time. I had just not been looking correctly. While looking for other boats off the stern, I saw the phosphor that was illuminated by the drag over the rudder. That was more like it. It was so prevalent that when you pee’d (yes we don’t use the heads for that) off the stern, each drop hitting the water would illuminate. I can only compare it to the plants in the movie Avatar.

This morning I noticed a couple of screws loose on the spinnaker boom. Leroy, or Spiderman as I like to call him by now, went along the spin boom to screw them in. I got some great pics. He then took some photos from the tip of the spin boom. Also came out nice.

The wind died this afternoon. We went from 7.5kts with the asymmetrical spinnaker to two sails and eventually the wind died. We were tempted by some light gusts and a bit of wind 200m off, but everything quickly disappeared. Now we try and keep ourselves busy with other things to keep our mind off this frustrating situation. Prodigy should finish tonight. City of Cape Town is about 300nm from the finish and we have about 700nm to do. It is critical that we get wind soon, or Prodigy will beat us on Handicap. We need to be at the finish approx 4 days after Prodigy to beat them. At this rate it is looking bleak.

Leroy went for a swim this afternoon with Hans’ waterproof camera and took some pics of the boat. I haven’t seen them yet, but they must look good.

We have had another heads blockage incident. I went overboard and tried to unclog the pipe from the outside, but no luck. So tomorrow we will be taking the system apart…again :( While swimming, I was amazed at the visibility! It was like swimming in mineral water, it was that clear.

As we watch the sun set, we can only wait for the wind. Hopefully some wind will fill in after midnight. So we are doing 1.5hour solo shifts due to the lack of wind. This gives everyone more time to sleep.

   

29 January: Cape to Rio, day 14

It seems that most sailing manoeuvres are done early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. I guess this is due to the change in conditions. True to this, we started the day with a gibe before breakfast. I felt bad having to wake everyone as they were all sleeping so soundly.

The day has been incredibly hot and all of us have been hiding from the heat. Ironically it is cooler on deck, as long as you remain in the shade. I spent most of the morning sleeping as I have been dead tired since last night.

Before were departed from Cape Town, Dale mentioned his desire to catch fish on this trip. He has packed two instant braais (container, charcoal and blitz incl.) and bought fishing tackle. As we have been sailing slowly due to the lack of wind, there conditions were good to catch fish. Leroy and Hans cast our two lines off the stern and fastened them to the mooring cleats. Now we wait.

Dale has asked me to do a follow up on the article I wrote for “Die Burger”, a newspaper back home, about “life aboard Xtra-Link”. Let the creative juices flow :)

Our initial estimate of our arrival date has been badly influenced by the lack of wind. We have had another “worst day”. The aim is, as it was from the start, to do a sub-“20 day” crossing. I hope the wind picks up so that we can still achieve this.

Trying to catch some variety for our meals

 

28 January: Cape to Rio, day 13

The wind has been light which causing vicious wind shifts during the night. During our night shift the wind did just that. Leroy did well to follow the shifts for about 10min, until one shift was just to abrupt to follow causing the spinnaker to wrap around the forestay (our “ghost sail” has been breaking every night and not up at the time as I was still broken). Everyone came onboard but it still took about 30 to get it down. Leroy was up the mast, once again, untangling the spinnaker’s head from the halyards so that we could get it down. Once down the forestay Leroy, Ian, Hans and I had to unwrap it. Fortunately there was no damage and we were able to hoist is 15min later. This cost us some distance.

We have been joking about showering in the rain since we left Cape Town. Well, today we had a rain squall hit us. All of us stood outside and rinsed ourselves. I even brought out all my other dirty clothes and rinsed them.

The wind has been mostly light, again. So progress has been slow. It has been our worst day, distance wise, to date.

27 January: Cape to Rio, day 12

For the third day running I have taken the morning helming shift and drive until after breakfast. I have also been driving in the afternoon/evening during supper and until the night shift start. This means that I am a bit tired by the time our shift starts.

The current weather prediction is looking good for us. It means that we can stay on a starboard tack and the wind will “curve”, taking us straight to Rio.

There has been some discussion about our arrival date aboard. If we keep the current pace, chances are we will arrive in Rio by next week Wednesday or Thursday. By now Leroy and I are fantasising about the things we can enjoy in Rio. Steak, beer and the company of the local ladies :)

26 January: Cape to Rio, day 11

The day started quite normal, with me helming once again. Shortly before breakfast we got word that another competitor, team Izivunguvungu, was running out of water. We contacted them via radio and organised a rendezvous north of our current position. I was curious of how we would transfer the water (140 litres) and 30 cans of 100 Plus (an isotonic drink we have been sponsored with). Both yachts dropped sail to prevent damage with Izivunguvungu aft of us. We drogued a rope to them and tied a sail bag halfway along it. The bag would be pulled back and forth to get the all the water and drinks to them. You could see the guys were VERY happy to have a new supply of water. They finished their first round of cans shortly after the transfer. It was nice to see other faces and exchange some words.

Early the afternoon we received thanks and congratulations from the event organisers for our actions.

The rescue

25 January: Cape to Rio, day 10

Today was uneventful from a sailing point of view. Two gibe’s and that's it. The wind has been shifting us around a bit, causing us to sail lines we weren’t expecting/intending.

I did two helming shifts, the first from before breakfast until late morning and the other till sundown. It was nice to zone out for a while and concentrate solely on helming. It is a feeling that I love when sailing, getting into “the groove”.

I slept a bit better, partly due to the change in shifts. Our shift now starts at sundown, which means that there isn’t that 2 hour gap between sundown and our shift. This gives me a bit more continuous time during the night to sleep.

24 January: Cape to Rio, day 9

I was awoken by a frantic call from Leroy. Something was wrong. During the night the “ghost sail”, which prevents the spinnaker from wrapping around the forestay had broken, and the spinnaker was now one with the forestay. Leroy quickly went up the mast and he untangled it.

I did some steering after the spinnaker incident and with the lack of wind, 10kts, it got hot!

Due to some severe wind shifts, we made a couple of gibes today. No always smoothly, but we didn’t break anything so you could probably consider it a success. During one of the gibes, the guy slipped and Leroy’s head got trapped between the forestay and the still loaded guy. This caused some serious rope burn on his face and he lost his sunglasses in the process.

 The mark made by the guy on Leroy’s face.

 

23 January: Cape to Rio, day 8

Today we had no repairs to do! It was nice to be able to relax for once.

By midday there was a quick wind shift which Dale picked up and all of us had to rush on deck from where we were resting. It wasn’t the smoothest gibe, but at least without incident. For the first time since leaving Cape Town, we were on a starboard tack. I wonder if and how it effects the boat (us).

Due to the light conditions, we had to trim the boat for an hour after the gibe. I was nice to do some proper sailing for once. Now we are heading north-north-west in search of more wind.

Leroy went up the mast to check out some wear on the main and took some great photos from the top of the mast.

  

22 January: Cape to Rio, day 7

I have been struggling to sleep the last two nights. Today I got woken up for breakfast and wanted to go straight back to sleep. Unfortunately the port steering wheel had developed some play and we needed to fix it. The key keeping the steering wheel’s sprocket and shaft aligned was missing, causing the play. While stopping the boat to repair it, the swage (crimp on cable) broke, rendering the steering wheel’s useless. It took us 2 hours to repair it. Ian did a good job doing the jury rig.

About an hour later the boat had settled back into racing mode with sails up and spinnaker flying. Only at this time I was able to make up for my lost sleep.

21 January: Cape to Rio, day 6

Following last night’s spinnaker issue and struggling to sleep the night, I was very tired. We were thinking of hoisting the spinnaker again, but the wind was still too strong.

We had our first catch on deck. A flying fish and a small squid on the deck.

I had a “coaching session” on helming with Leroy in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day sleeping and reading.

Our first night shift was nice. I could keep myself busy by checking wind velocity and course, but by the second shift I was struggling to stay awake and wished the shift would end.

 

Sailing shots, Laundry day

 

Life in the cabin

Me & Catch of the day (x2)