3-4 February: Cape to Rio, day 19. The big finish!

By now there isn’t that much to write about the day-to-day stuff as you have heard most of it. With the exception of the heat and humidity. I have never felt so uncomfortable for such a long time. The fact that we haven’t showered since our departure in Cape Town (excluding the rain squalls we went through) means that we all are feeling very tacky.

There has been some commercial ship activity today. I saw two freight ships at the same time during my morning shift. Hitting a shipping lane meant that we were getting close to shore.
Later the day we saw 5 oil drilling platforms…at once! The one was burning excess gas from the drilling process which we could see long before we could see it. We had to sail quite far around the platforms as they get agitated if you get too close.

A school of Dolphins swam with us. I tried to take photos, but they swam too fast. So I made a video :)

We saw our first piece of land! Its an island about 40nm offshore called Cabo Frio. This caused some excitement. At our current pace we should reach Rio by sunrise. We can only hope the wind plays along all the way. Since we can almost smell the finish, we decided not to sleep tonight & all push through to the finish line.

We kept our pace after the sun set, maintaining an average of 9.5kts and catching surfs up to 14kts. This was the best sailing we had the whole race. We were hoping to keep close to the coast to keep the wind, but it didn’t work out that way. Fortunately the wind was with us…well almost. At the 10mn mark (to the finish) the wind died :( We were down to 1.0-2.5kts of boat speed…with a 1.6kts current from the front. This caused us to creep the last bit in 2-3hours to the finish. By this time we were all pretty tired & nerves were a bit on edge.
We motored into the bay, where the yacht club is, at about 5am local time. We couldn’t get a nice view of everything, but what we say by the city’s lights was beautiful.
Tying up on the dock, we were welcomed by John Martin (the commodore of RCYC and main organiser of the event), Marcus (the committee’s main liaison person with the yachts, who also did lost of work with the organising) and admiral Louw (of the SA navy), with fresh Caparinia’s (a local drink: Equivalent of “Wit blitz”, sugar and lemon) on hand. Leroy and I finished our 2nd Caparinia just as the sun rose. I understood why so many people like the views of Rio.

After our long anticipated shower we headed for breakfast at the Penguin bar (on the yacht club’s premises) and cleaned the boat out. There were lots of wet stuff as the bow has a bit of a leak and the last 2 days were our wettest of the race.

Our “Groot Trek” across the Atlantic had finally come to and end. I have heard some good and bad stories of what happened on other boats, and one thing come to mind…I did this trip with some great guys! Unfortunately this is the end of my sailing with these guys for now…as my adventure is only starting.

If anyone connected to the race is reading this, I would like to thank the organising committee for all their hard work and late night to make this event possible. All the competitors for putting time and effort to make the crossing. I don’t think I will do this event soon, but then again the next one is in 4 years. I will probably change my mind by then :)

This has been an amazing experience that I am happy to have done!

The final stretch

 5mn from the finish

 

From our mooring

2 February: Cape to Rio, day 18

Shortly after nightfall last night the wind picked up to 18kts. This was very welcome considering the light winds we have been experiencing. Besides the spinnaker change due to the wind, it was a quiet sailing night.

I took the morning driving shift again. Two hours later I couldn’t keep the required heading and called Dale, but by this time the starboard steering wheel had started to fail quite badly. It has 5 spokes and only one was still attached! We took the wheel off and put the port wheel on. With 400nm to go we can’t push quite as hard as we want. Eish.

Night fell with my favourite meal of the journey, tuna & flavoured rice. We all sat around on deck enjoying the cool breeze and sunset. By the time shifts had started, it was so hot & humid down below (we couldn’t open the hatches due to water coming over the deck) that the rest of the guys couldn’t get to sleep. I had the same problem later.

This should be our second last night at sea and we all are dreaming about what we are going to do once we hit shore. Steak & beer top the list, for all but Hans who is a vegetarian.

1 February: Cape to Rio, day 17

Shortly after our shift started last night, the wind changed and we had to drop the spinnaker and hoist the Genoa. Everyone got on deck, but halfway through the sail change it started to rain. Naturally no-one wants to go to bed wet, so when things took a bit longer than expected the rest of the guys went down below. Leroy and I then preceded to hoist the Genoa and trim the boat. By this time both Leroy and I were drenched, fortunately not cold…yet. The rain receded and we were doing well.
We were almost dry when it started to rain again. This time we got cold, quickly. Not that it was cold, just wet. So we cut our shift short by 30min to go dry off.

This morning there was a bit more wind and by the afternoon there was a steady 11kts keeping us going. I drove for 2hours with the asymmetrical spinnaker and realised that I still have a lot to learn. While driving, Leroy made a video clip which will give you a glimpse into the surroundings that we have had. The wind held up and by nightfall we were sailing at a good rate of knots.

 

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.