Category: By Date Blog

Eight Days a Week, Welcome to Madagascar!…..

25 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere, +3 UTC)

Dear F&F,

Well we\’re here! 8 days, 10 hours and overall, a pretty nice trip. Friends Dave and Kathy on \”Sunflower\” should be here tomorrow afternoon and may be in for a blustery night according to the weather. There are two French boats here, both cats and French Flagged. The islands just to the West of here, Mayotte, Grand Comoro, Europa (and a few others) are actually part of the French Polynesian Department. The second language on Madagascar is French, the first is pronounced \”Malagash\” (Malay).

The trip over the top was pretty good overall. Our strategy was to drop the spinnaker 5 miles before the point and take in a single reef in the main in case the winds accelerated at the point. They did slightly. It was good we dropped the spinnaker sooner than later as we had a winch over-ride and it took a few minutes to get it squared away. There were a few bumps at Ilot du Nord, but no too bad. We approached at about a 40 degree angle to the island from the south, picking up the very nice landmark of Cape Andre Lighthouse (just SE of Cap d\’Ambre). This kept us out of the current streaming over the top of the island from west to east. Our west going current was giving us a 2 knot push, which became a 1 knot shove when we got right to the very top. The adverse current stayed with us for about 3 more miles, but the seas were flat (no swell). The wind stayed strong at 20-28 knots and we blast reached down the back of the island with the single reefed main and staysail. The wind stayed with us the entire 40 miles to the anchorage, mostly from the port quarter. A few weird adverse currents, but again, no worries.

We\’re pretty tired as I\’m sure you can imagine, so we wanted to stop in the lovely Andranoamby Bay and get rested tonight. We\’ve 65 miles to go tomorrow if we push on all the way to Sakitia Island; a resort island next to Nose Be. There is a restaurant/bar and advise on \”checking in\”. As this is a very poor country and very third world, we have to be prepared for implied bribes. We shall see.

So, \”we\’re here\”….write us,

KIT, Scott and Navigator Nik…..

At The \”Top\”, Cap d\’ Ambre, Madagascar…..

25 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere +3 UTC)

Dear F&F,

Land Ho! at 5:30 local time, we spotted several hills ashore on Northern Madagascar from about 25 miles away. We\’ve flown the spinnaker all night and it was a lovely night and sail. The winds were from behind us at 14-18 knots, the seas smooth and we\’re zinging along.

I noticed the lights of Diego Suarez (Antsiranana) about 40 miles out and have heard one radio conversation this morning on the VHF; a first in the last 1500 miles. We did 176 miles yesterday and actually had to motor for 2 1/2 hours as we lost the wind for awhile. Steadily, it came back all day and into the night.

Our plan is to sail up to about five miles from the top (all things permitting!) and drop the spinnaker. We\’ll see if the main should then be furled or not? We will motor around the top as to have easy and quick maneuverability. We\’ve been told there can be two strong currents meeting there and cause standing waves. As the conditions have been pretty benign these last few days, this may not be the case. The suggestion has been to stay very close to the shore and get around as quickly as possible. The other side may or may not have wind, but the seas should be flat. The entire West Coast of Madagascar is very shallow a long way out toward the Mozambique channel. We\’ll have to keep an eye on our track and the depth sounder.

Our next report should be from the west side of the island and I may do another blog later in the day after we\’ve rounded.

We\’ll speak with \”Sunflower\” later today to give them a report; email if the radio propagation isn\’t good. Nikki just got up to see Land Ho!….Ho, Ho, Ho!…

KIT, Scott and Navigator Nik

At The \”Top\”, Cap d\’ Ambre, Madagascar…..

25 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere +3 UTC)

Dear F&F,

Land Ho! at 5:30 local time, we spotted several hills ashore on Northern Madagascar from about 25 miles away. We\’ve flown the spinnaker all night and it was a lovely night and sail. The winds were from behind us at 14-18 knots, the seas smooth and we\’re zinging along.

I noticed the lights of Diego Suarez (Antsiranana) about 40 miles out and have heard one radio conversation this morning on the VHF; a first in the last 1500 miles. We did 176 miles yesterday and actually had to motor for 2 1/2 hours as we lost the wind for awhile. Steadily, it came back all day and into the night.

Our plan is to sail up to about five miles from the top (all things permitting!) and drop the spinnaker. We\’ll see if the main should then be furled or not? We will motor around the top as to have easy and quick maneuverability. We\’ve been told there can be two strong currents meeting there and cause standing waves. As the conditions have been pretty benign these last few days, this may not be the case. The suggestion has been to stay very close to the shore and get around as quickly as possible. The other side may or may not have wind, but the seas should be flat. The entire West Coast of Madagascar is very shallow a long way out toward the Mozambique channel. We\’ll have to keep an eye on our track and the depth sounder.

Our next report should be from the west side of the island and I may do another blog later in the day after we\’ve rounded.

We\’ll speak with \”Sunflower\” later today to give them a report; email if the radio propagation isn\’t good. Nikki just got up to see Land Ho!….Ho, Ho, Ho!…

KIT, Scott and Navigator Nik

A Slow Day…..

24 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Yesterday was a slow one. It started out fast but then we hit a strong and unexpected \”head current\” which retarded our speed up to 2 knots for awhile! This along with the diminishing winds (as predicted), have slowed us considerably. Yesterday\’s run was a paltry 160 nm.

The sun is up, the seas calm, the winds around 10-12 knots. When Nikki gets up, we\’ll hoist the spinnaker and get going as I\’m concerned about rounding the \”top\” tomorrow during daylight hours. The spinnaker is the large kite like sail most of you have seen in the sailing photos. It\’s three times the size of our genoa which is what we\’ve had up for three days.

I\’d planned on being there tomorrow at first light, now I\’m hopeful for noon! If it gets really light, we\’ll motor to insure a day time passage of the \”top\”.

Dave and Kathy on \”Sunflower\” we\’re 125 miles behind us last night and hanging right in there. Very impressive for a 44 foot monomaran!…:-)

Nikki\’s been navigating, cooking, reading and watching the stars on her IPAD program every night. Last night was a good one for it too. Very clear, nice moon, but you could still see Jupiter, Mars and the brightest stars.

We expect an easy sailing day today, but I\’m a sailor and hence I knock on wood and am superstitious of such things….:-) KIT, landfall tomorrow…

Scott and Sleeping Beauty Nik….:-)

We\’re Getting Close…..

23 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Last night was a beautiful sail. The seas at only 2 meters, long and pretty smooth. The wind has been around 17-20 knots just aft the port beam, but we\’re able to carry our genoa winged out to weather on the pole. We\’re starting to see lots of birds (getting close to land). I\’ve never seen more flying fish than on this trip. My first job of the day is to remove them from the deck. Yesterday, I had 10 to throw back.

We just moved our clocks again to +4 on UTC (Greenwich); were getting closer in longitude to the Western European and US World\’s.

Interestingly, I\’ve been able to listen to the Presidential Debates on the BBC!

We\’ve 360 miles from the \”top\” of Madagascar, another 100 from there to where we\’ll check in at Nose Be (Big Island). The weather looks to be good and maybe getting a bit lighter from here to Madagascar. We should arrive on our Thursday morning and hopefully going around the top won\’t be too bumpy. The \”top\” has a notorious reputation for standing waves and big currents. The strategy for others who\’ve gone before us is to stay very close to the beach and get around quickly. The other side (West side), is supposed to be nice and calm. We shall see?!….

Short blog today, not much to report other than the back to back 197 mile days. Day 6 run – 197 miles.

KIT, Scott and Sleeping Celestial Navagatrix-Nikki

We\’re Getting Close…..

23 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

Last night was a beautiful sail. The seas at only 2 meters, long and pretty smooth. The wind has been around 17-20 knots just aft the port beam, but we\’re able to carry our genoa winged out to weather on the pole. We\’re starting to see lots of birds (getting close to land). I\’ve never seen more flying fish than on this trip. My first job of the day is to remove them from the deck. Yesterday, I had 10 to throw back.

We just moved our clocks again to +4 on UTC (Greenwich); were getting closer in longitude to the Western European and US World\’s.

Interestingly, I\’ve been able to listen to the Presidential Debates on the BBC!

We\’ve 360 miles from the \”top\” of Madagascar, another 100 from there to where we\’ll check in at Nose Be (Big Island). The weather looks to be good and maybe getting a bit lighter from here to Madagascar. We should arrive on our Thursday morning and hopefully going around the top won\’t be too bumpy. The \”top\” has a notorious reputation for standing waves and big currents. The strategy for others who\’ve gone before us is to stay very close to the beach and get around quickly. The other side (West side), is supposed to be nice and calm. We shall see?!….

Short blog today, not much to report other than the back to back 197 mile days. Day 6 run – 197 miles.

KIT, Scott and Sleeping Celestial Navagatrix-Nikki

Thoughts from the West Indian Ocean…..

22 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

We left Los Angeles, California 5 years ago. So much has happened. Yesterday \”Beach House\” was literally half way round the world from where we started.

Playing on the old riddle, \”How far can you run into the forest?\”…..\”Half way, as beyond that is toward home\”.

The sail yesterday was brilliant once we made our turn down wind at the top of the Mascarene Mountains. A bit of unusual sea surface disturbance was seen as we went near the 100 meter depths, but nothing exciting.

The skies seem to cloud up at night and get clear during the day when the sun heats everything up. No real rain in the last 24 hours and we\’ve about 525 miles to the top of Madagascar\’s Cape d\’Ambre. The weather should be pretty good from here to there and we plan on approaching the Cape from the Southeast as the winds will come more from the south up the East Coast of the island. We\’ll be very near the port of Diego Suarez, but don\’t plan on stopping there. We\’ll hopefully arrive at the Cape just after day break on our Thursday and stay very close to the shore as has been recommended to stay out of the turbulence at the top. Apparently it can be pretty exciting for about 10 miles…we shall see. After that, if we\’re feeling strong we\’ll sail the short overnight passage to Nosy Be (Big Island) where we\’ll check in at the Port of Hellvile (named after French Admiral Hell), locally known as Adonay.

As I write, we\’ve taken down the headsail and are just going on one reef in the main till the day\’s winds let us know what\’s up. We had wind from the SSE last night at 20-25 on our beam, so we were a bit over canvassed and just rolled up the genoa. We also took advantage of that and headed a bit south to begin positioning ourselves for landfall in three days.

We\’ll hear from Dave and Kathy on s/v \”Sunflower\” via email and radio this afternoon and see how there crossing of the Mascarene Plateau went.

We had a nice enough day to start to clean up, do the chores and relax. Here\’s hoping that\’s how the rest of this ride goes!..:-) Day 5 run, 197 nautical miles.

KIT, Scott and Nikki

Thoughts from the Mascarene Plateau…..

20 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

As I begin this blog, it\’s 6:45 a.m. local time and I\’ve just had to wipe the spray from the cockpit off the keyboard! It\’s a bit \”boisterous\” out here…:-) We\’ve had two reefs in the main and the staysail up since sunset last night. We were just going too fast and jumping off waves. With the wind and sea then a bit forward of the beam, it was a bit of a \”Mr. Toad\’s Wild Ride\”, hence the small sail plan.

Our southern strategy is now paying off. As the wind has risen to 18-26 knots, the seas have built and going as hard south as we were would now be very uncomfortable. It\’s still a bit wild, but much less so with the wind on the beam or a bit behind. In about 20 hours, we\’ll hit an intermediate waypoint at the Mascarene Plateau,(the big shallow area – which we will stay south of), and then head almost due west toward Cap d\’Ambre. The Cape of Amber (In English), is the northern most point of Madagascar. Our destination will be the Port of Hell-Ville (named after French Admiral Hell!). It\’s local name is Adonay. This is on the small island of Nose Be which means \”Big Island\”.

We\’ve done about 192 nm, much more to Miss Piggy\’s usual standard. Once we turn the corner, we may be able to maintain these type of runs all the way to Madagascar.

Yesterday was good sailing and notably, the current is with us and the sea state for the amount of wind we\’ve had is quite reasonable. We do get the odd 3.5 meter (11 foot) swell; they are sometimes close together.

Noisy, bumpy, but quite manageable. The boisterous weather keeps the unwanted away too! We did see one AIS target yesterday; a freighter heading towards Diego Garcia. They were on a reciprocal course about 30 miles to our south.

We\’ve been in contact with \”Sunflower\” in the afternoon\’s by HF radio; I suspect we\’ll be around 100 miles ahead of them on our late afternoon report?

Not much else to report except Nikki is making sure via celestial navigation that our GPS is really correct…..:-) Don\’t leave home without it! Fresh stores are getting low, it will be good to get to a market when we arrive.

KIT, Scott and Offwatch Celestial Girl (aka Nikki)

What a difference a day makes!…..

19 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

We\’re just completing our second day at sea and surprisingly, we\’ll do around 170+ miles. I say surprisingly, because yesterday we had at least a one knot \”counter current\”. This is a phenomenon where the counter clockwise circulation of the Southern Hemisphere meets the clockwise circulation of the Northern Hemisphere. Intuitively, you would be led to believe that this should become synergistic and complement the prevailing west bound current.

But…you\’d be only partially correct. The world spins in mysterious ways and as such, there is a counter current which flows in the opposite direction. This is true in all the world\’s major oceans. We certainly found a branch of it yesterday as we were going almost a knot faster through the water than we were \”over the ground\” per our GPS. The seas certainly acted like it as well giving us a much more uncomfortable sea state than we would have expected for the approximately 15 knots of wind we had most of yesterday. We seem to be south of the counter current now as our speed over the ground is faster than our speed through the water AND the sea state is half what it was yesterday. The ride has become downright comfortable.

Our strategy is to maintain a southwesterly heading for about another day. This will get us close to the latitude of the top of Madagascar, around the Mascarene Banks (of very shallow water – we don\’t want to go over it as it could create steep waves) and keep us further south of the HRA…just in case! There is an island group called the Angalega\’s which looks to be uninhabited, but could be a safe haven for boats trying to \”hang around\” if you know what I mean. Hence, we\’ll stay roughly 100 miles to the south; remaining a needle in a haystack!

We move our clocks today to +5 UTC (We\’re now 5 hours ahead of England, 10 hours ahead of the US East Coast and 13 ahead of the US West Coast). We\’re almost at the half way point to being around the world from Los Angeles where this voyage began.

Lots of squalls last night, but more threatening looking than anything nasty. We flew the main with one reef and full genoa all night. Nikki gets to sleep in an extra hour with the clock change, so Captain and Crew are both happy this morning with the much more comfortable conditions.

We just cracked the \”1100 miles to go\” number on our log and it\’s official, we\’ve done 173 nm the last 24 hours. Love to hear from you,

KIT, Scott and off watch Nikki

Photographs and Memories…..

18 October 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Dear F&F,

We left Peros Banhos yesterday around 10:30 a.m. and had a slow but lovely sail all day. Just after mid-night (why is it always mid-night?…:-)) the wind came up a bit too strong for our sail plan and we changed the reacher out for the staysail with the full main sail. We\’ve been doing 6.5-8.5 knots and are staying as south as we can. There are a few reasons we\’re staying south. First, the prevailing wind will eventually shift a bit more south putting the wind and sea uncomfortably on our beam. Second, there is a very large shoal area at about the half way point and we want to go south of it to stay out of any big/unusual wave patterns. Next, it keeps us further south of the (HRA), military speak for \”high risk area\” which is north of 10 degrees south as we approach Madagascar. We\’ll be around 12 degrees south when we get there. Lastly, as we get closer to Madagascar, the winds will shift even further south and we want to keep them on our stern.

As to the bad guys, the first big cyclone (hurricane) of the season has blown ahead of us on our path and is likely to send anyone away from the area we\’re intending to go. \”Anais\” was the strongest \”early\” cyclone ever recorded in the West Indian Ocean at Cat 3, it had winds of 115 knots. Not something to be near! The weather forecast for the next 5 days looks good, with building trades for a day starting tonight or tomorrow, then backing off a bit. The good news is that there appears to be no repeat scenario for \”Anais\” setting up as it cleared all the instability out of this area for awhile.

The usual small squalls on the horizon, nothing out of the ordinary….

We enjoyed our time at Salomon and Peros Banhos and \”Took only photographs and memories, left only foot prints\”….. Except for the yet still amazing amount of floating plastic and \”flip flops\”, it was much like 1000 years ago.

KIT! Scott and Sleeping Nikki