Category: 2013 Richards Bay, SA to Simons Town, SA Voyage – Positions

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/03/15 12:00 LATITUDE: 33-54.47S LONGITUDE: 018-25.14E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 14 WIND_DIR: NW CLOUDS: 50% VISIBILITY: 7 BARO: 1013.2 AIR_TEMP: 23.3C COMMENT: Beach House -DOCKED- V&A Waterfront Marina-Cape Town, South Africa We\’re next to Sunflower our old friends Kathie and Dave from the US whom we met in Chagos. They were most helpful in assisting with my un-artful docking maneuver. No harm, just a bit embarrassing. Lovely spot, we\’ll be off to do some land touring Sunday – Wednesday by car, then back here to begin getting the boat bits done and off to the great north. KIT, Scott with Domestic Diva, Nik!

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/03/15 04:32 LATITUDE: 34-22.44S LONGITUDE: 018-29.39E COURSE: 237T SPEED: 7.9 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 15 WIND_DIR: NW CLOUDS: 100% VISIBILITY: 5 BARO: 1011.5 AIR_TEMP: 15.1C COMMENT: Beach House -ABEAM Cape Point – Cape of Good Hope We left Simon\’s Town this morning for Cape Town, about a 55 mile trip. Weather has been cold with on off again rain. Wind is from the opposite direction (against us) from what was predicted. Seas at the Cape were bumpy, but are calming down now north of Slangkop Light. The locals call the Cape – \”The Cake of Good Soap\”. I figure it\’s because it can be like a washing machine around it. We played \”Lighthouse\” (James Taylor) in honor of Cindy as we rounded. Lots of Lobster boats out and about. We almost got a pot caught in our props! About 4 hours to Cape Town from here, we\’ll be docked at the V & A Waterfront Marina in view of Table Mountain. Blue Sky\’s are chasing us from behind. Hopefully we\’ll be able to see the beautiful coast here when the blue arrives. A few weeks and we\’ll be off toward the Caribbean. KIT, Scott and \”on watch\” Nikki

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/17 17:15 LATITUDE: 34-11.48S LONGITUDE: 018-25.96E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 6 WIND_DIR: SW CLOUDS: 40% VISIBILITY: 5 BARO: 1006.5 AIR_TEMP: 22.8C COMMENT: Beach House – DOCKED – False Bay Yacht Club, Simon\’s Town, South Africa Just about 36 hours, 290 miles. It reminded me of coming OUT of New Zealand. Big winds and seas, but fortunately on the stern. It was blowing 36 knots as we came up to the marina, but we had a nice wind break here and quite a welcoming committee to help tie us up with. At the dock, it was only blowing 6 knots!…. We are in Simon\’s Town, but Cape Town is right next door. We did finally get to see the Cape of Good Hope as we entered the bay (through the heavy haze) and were greeted by hundreds of dolphins playing around the boat for about a half an hour. We\’ll be here for at least two weeks and then may move over to the Victoria and Alberts Marina before heading off to the Caribbean and parts north. Nikki will arrive next Sunday and Alex will depart on Saturday. Some boat maintenance and touring this week including having to get the auto pilot sorted. KIT, Scott

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/17 14:11 LATITUDE: 34-24.70S LONGITUDE: 018-42.18E COURSE: 317T SPEED: 8.0 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 24 WIND_DIR: ESE CLOUDS: 20% VISIBILITY: 5 BARO: 1007.2 TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 23.3C COMMENT: Beach House – ABEAM – Cape of Good Hope to port, Cape Hangklip to starboard. Entering False Bay (Simon\’s Town). Should be docked by 7-8pm this evening. A very BLUSTERY sail.

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/17 03:15 LATITUDE: 35-11.12S LONGITUDE: 020-00.12E COURSE: 299T SPEED: 6.5 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 23 WIND_DIR: ESE WAVE_HT: 0.5M WAVE_PER: 7 SWELL_DIR: SE SWELL_HT: 2.7M SWELL_PER: 9 CLOUDS: 70% VISIBILITY: 8 BARO: 1014.7 TREND: -1 AIR_TEMP: 21.7C COMMENT: Beach House – ABEAM – Cape Agulhas Light; Welcome to the Atlantic Ocean!… It\’s been a blustery night. We\’ve had only 2 reefs in the main and no head sail for the last 5 hours. It\’s almost dawn and then may set the staysail to starboard as we gybed 30 minutes ago. About 100 miles to False Bay YC. Arrival will most likely be this evening after dark.

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/16 14:57 LATITUDE: 34-38.61S LONGITUDE: 021-45.84E COURSE: 236T SPEED: 8.7 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 27 WIND_DIR: ESE WAVE_HT: 0.5M WAVE_PER: 7 SWELL_DIR: SE SWELL_HT: 2.7M SWELL_PER: 9 CLOUDS: 30% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1018.7 TREND: -2 AIR_TEMP: 22.8C COMMENT: Beach House – ENROUTE – Knysna to False Bay YC, Simon\’s Town (Cape Town) Very fun morning for those of you who watched and sent us the webcam shot as we left Knysna Heads. We\’re half way to Cape Agulhas (90 miles to go) which is the bottom of Africa. It\’s a long story that goes with this and I\’ll update it in the blog. But for now, those of you who have James Taylor\’s \”Lighthouse\” on your music lists….play it for Cindy…. Hugs, I\’ll send another report in about 10-12 hours when we\’re abeam of Cape Agulhas. Scott with Alex

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/13 04:51 LATITUDE: 34-02.56S LONGITUDE: 023-02.63E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 3 WIND_DIR: NW CLOUDS: 10% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1008.1 AIR_TEMP: 20.0C COMMENT: Beach House – DOCKED – Knysna Yacht Club, Knysna, South Africa Arrived at first light and right at high tide. A bit narrow on the entry, but nothing exciting. Conditions were very good. A bit of left over lump from last nights 25-30 knot ESE winds. A very beautiful and up market location. A few days here and then off toward Cape Town. Scott with Alexandra (who is asleep – she had the last watch)…..

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/12 14:31 LATITUDE: 34-14.83S LONGITUDE: 024-53.99E COURSE: 252T SPEED: 8.1 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 19 WIND_DIR: SE CLOUDS: 10% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1015.1 AIR_TEMP: 23.9C COMMENT: Beach House -ENROUTE- Port Elizabeth to Knysna. Abeam Cape St. Francis Expect early a.m. arrival. Lovely afternoon sail with full main and reacher. We are abeam of Cape St. Francis made famous as the beach with the \”perfect wave\” in the late 1960\’s surfing film, \”The Endless Summer\” (google it)…. No internet, sending via sat phone. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS KIT, Scott with Alexandra

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/08 14:48 LATITUDE: 33-58.02S LONGITUDE: 025-38.14E MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 11 WIND_DIR: SSE CLOUDS: 10% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1013.5 AIR_TEMP: 26.1C COMMENT: Beach House -DOCKED- Algoa Yacht Club, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/02/08 04:00 LATITUDE: 33-45.05S LONGITUDE: 026-54.27E COURSE: 252T SPEED: 6.2 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 8 WIND_DIR: W WAVE_HT: 0.0M WAVE_PER: 4 SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 0.5M SWELL_PER: 10 CLOUDS: 10% VISIBILITY: 15 BARO: 1013.1 AIR_TEMP: 23.3C COMMENT: Beach House -ENROUTE- Durban to Port Elizabeth. Approaching Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) It\’s a big bay. It\’s 6 am local time and expect to arrive around 3pm this afternoon. Currently motoring in light winds and flat seas. We sailed for about an hour last night, but the wind just wouldn\’t hold. NEXT TRIP, we do not go with any expected westerlies!!! We\’ve lost the current and it\’s cost us 3-5 knots of boat speed. It was truly amazing motoring yesterday in the \”washing machine\” of the Agulhus Current. We were only going 1-3 knots through the water, but 7-9 over the bottom. The current was usually 4-5 knots in our favor, but with the wind and sea on the nose, one of my most memorably uncomfortable rides. Lots of coastal traffic to keep us on our toes. The lightening knocked out our primary auto pilot system, back up is working fine. I\’ll catch the blog up when we get internet back in Port Elizabeth. Scott with sleeping Alexandra