YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/04/15 05:26 LATITUDE: 28-54.38S LONGITUDE: 015-45.11E COURSE: 336T SPEED: 7.0 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 4 WIND_DIR: S WAVE_HT: 0.0M WAVE_PER: 0 SWELL_DIR: SW SWELL_HT: 1.0M SWELL_PER: 8 CLOUDS: 100% VISIBILITY: 10 BARO: 1014.2 TREND: -1 AIR_TEMP: 12.2C SEA_TEMP: 15.6C COMMENT: Beach House – ABEAM- Orange River Mouth – Border of SA & Namibia. 140 miles to go Yesterday we had a very calm day, it\’s just about a lake out here. We\’ve motored all but 3 hours of the trip and expect that if a sail is to be had, it will be this afternoon. The water is still cold, night time is overcast to foggy. We\’re just inside the main north/south shipping lane, so we still get about 10 vessels a day in our general neighborhood. We currently see two vessels, one is stationary about 20 miles off the coast and the other about 40 miles off the coast which are \”dredging\”. We suspect for diamonds! From the Orange River, the way up to around Walvis Bay there are shore based diamond mines. The Namibian Desert on the coast is the oldest desert on earth and it\’s strikingly beautiful. This is one of the reasons we\’ve decided to make the two stops in Namibia. The public cannot travel to areas where the mines are. No tours here! Just the red/pink sand dunes. MORE on those after we\’ve been there in the blog. I\’ll catch the blog up shortly. KIT, Scott and Off Watch Nik, motoring along the Namibian Coast…..
Category: Position Reports
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/04/14 07:39 LATITUDE: 31-24.27S LONGITUDE: 016-56.95E COURSE: 336T SPEED: 7.0 MARINE: YES WIND_SPEED: 7 WIND_DIR: N WAVE_HT: 0.0M WAVE_PER: 0 SWELL_DIR: SSW SWELL_HT: 1.5M SWELL_PER: 8 CLOUDS: 100% VISIBILITY: 7 BARO: 1017.9 TREND: 1 AIR_TEMP: 15.6C SEA_TEMP: 14.4C COMMENT: Beach House -EN ROUTE- Cape Town, SA to Luderitz, Namibia……160 miles south of the SA/Namibian Border Last night\’s beautiful skies turned to pea soup fog at midnight. We had to turn on the radar and indeed saw a small fishing boat right on our line. We hit something in the water last night. No worries, but we were concerned it might have line on it. We put the engines in neutral and just sat for a few minutes. Back up and then proceeded on. We\’ve bumped two big strands of cold water \”bull kelp\” (sea weed). Again, just a bump, no worries. Yesterday afternoon we had do dodge the cray fish pots off Dassen Island (half way to Saldana Bay from Cape Town). Seas calm, gray gray day. It\’s cold (the water is the reason – The COLD Benguela Current). Motoring in flat seas with a very slight 5-8 knot headwind. 300 Miles to Luderitz KIT, Scott and \”on watch\” Nik! If RESPONDING, USE OUR SAILMAIL ADDRESS (WDB5638@SAILMAIL.COM)
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/04/13 18:32 LATITUDE: 32-50.50S LONGITUDE: 017-39.44E COURSE: 323T SPEED: 8.5 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 12 WIND_DIR: SSE CLOUDS: 0% VISIBILITY: 10 BARO: 1015 TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 15.0C COMMENT: Beach House -EN ROUTE- Cape Town, SA to Luderitz, Namibia……ABEAM Cape Columbine We got in a two and half hour sail this afternoon but despite the 14 knots of wind, it\’s from dead astern so we\’d go to slow. Nice current push giving us over 9 knots regularly. Should beat the low if it doesn\’t speed up due to hit Cape Town in two days (Nambia in three). Tried to listen for the Peri Peri net tonight, but heard nothing. Absolutely cloudless, calm night with a 2 meter swell. Nikki asleep, Scott on watch. KIT, Scott and Sleeping Nik
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POSITION REPORT
YOTREPS: YES TIME: 2013/04/13 09:18 LATITUDE: 33-47.50S LONGITUDE: 018-24.02E COURSE: 330T SPEED: 7.9 MARINE: NO WIND_SPEED: 9 WIND_DIR: SSE CLOUDS: 0% VISIBILITY: 20 BARO: 1016 TREND: 0 AIR_TEMP: 21.1C COMMENT: Beach House -EN ROUTE- Cape Town, SA to Luderitz, Namibia – ABEAM Robben Island…… It was really hard to get off the dock to start this cruising \”mini season\”. First, Cape Town is really nice and the view of Table Mountain nothing short of spectacular Second, the usual boat projects and their coordination were a bit of a challenge. Robben Island is the island where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner during Apartheid. It\’s the Alcatraz Island of South Africa and now like Alcatraz, a tourist attraction; no longer a prison. I\’ll catch up the blog in the next day or so and \”tell all\”…..:-) KIT, We\’re back on Sailmail for the time being and maybe for quite awhile. Scott and Sailor Nik
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POSITION REPORT
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!
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POSITION REPORT
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
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POSITION REPORT
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
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POSITION REPORT
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.
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POSITION REPORT
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.
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POSITION REPORT
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