Current Position: 34 02.971’S 18 20.883’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 0; COG: N/A; TWS: 21; TWD: 182; Current Speed, 0 kt; Current Direction, 0; Distance to Waypoint (Hout Bay): in a slip; Total Miles Sailed: 16487 nm; Engine Hours: 388; Estimate Fuel: 5+12+50;
Comments: I received a message that I should arrive about 7:30. This means arriving in the bay about 7:00. It is 11:00 and blowing med-20s steady. I am drifting slowly towards Sandown Bay. It looks like I will need to set sail about 16:00 to sail the 60 nm and arrive at 7:00. The problem is the first half is going to be very slow and the second half very fast. I need to be at the Cape of Good Hope about 3:00 to arrive at the bay about 7:00. To do that I will need to set sail about 16:00. This all assume the weather behaves like predicted, that I have single-digit winds 16:00-21:00, for example. I should target a SOG of about 3 kt 16:00-21:00 and 5 kt 21:00-7:00. It is 11:30 and I am drifting too close to Danger Point, where the waves are breaking heavy. I unleashed the tiller and steered a course for Cape Point. The SOG increased from 1.5 to almost 4. Once I am clear of Danger Point, I will lash the tiller again. After I cleared Danger Point, I changed course to try to come in behind the Point towards Stanford’s Cove to try to get out of the building swell, some of which is beginning to break in the 25 kt wind. The boat slowed down to 3 kt. I am hoping some of the swell will break up in the shoals of Danger Point. It is 12:30 and that was a good call. I am not even out of the wind yet and the sea state is much better. It is 13:00 and I am just beginning to get behind the point. The wind is down to 17 and the current down to 1 with the SOG less than 2 kt. I am hoping things settle down enough to cook a proper meal. I had some soup. The wind is down to 12 kt. I set sail with just the storm staysail at 15:45 and am making 2.1 kt with a 0.7 kt current. I have 40 nm to waypoint at Cape Good Hope. By 18:00, as predicted, the wind speed had dropped to 6 kt and the SOG was about 1.5. I changed the course more westerly for a better wind angle. I can expect these single-digit winds until at least 22:00. I have 37 nm to go to the waypoint. I will have at least 30 left after the wind picks back up after 22:00. If I am to reach the waypoint by 4:00 as planned, I will need to average 5 kt in 10-15 kt wind. I expect to pick up more current by then to help. By 19:00 the boat was just drifting with the current. I received several securite radio transmissions about an entangled whale and a pod of 50 whales in the vicinity (about 35 nm away from my location). It is 21:00 and I have started seeing double-digit winds. With 30 nm to go to the waypoint and 7h to get there (30/7=4.3 kt) , the SOG is 3.5 kt with most of the Yankee unfurled and the staysail. At 21:30 I started seeing 18 kt winds and SOG close to 5. I slowed the boat down for now by furling in the jib. It will be easier to go faster later, but trying to slow down could be an issue. Just flying the staysail was a problem … it only gave me 2 kt and that was not enough to dominate a counter cross current. I unfurled 20% of the Yankee and that let me stay on course with a SOG of 2.8. It is 22:00 and I need to average 28/6=4.7, so I Iet out 50% of the jib to give a SOG of 4.3. Since the wind and current are suppose to increase in the next couple of hours, I believe the speed is okay for now. This will be my only chance to sleep tonight, so I set an alarm for 45m. I was awaken at 23:15 by noise. First, the boat was moving fast. Second, there was some animal calling. It sounded like a seal lion or some other large mammal. I could not see what it was. The boat was going 5.5 kt in 22 kt wind. I rounded up and furled all but perhaps 20% of the jib. I need to go 21/4.5=4.7 kt to arrive at 4:00 and am now going 4.6. I am passing S/V Freya at about 00:15. The name sounds familiar, but I cannot find a previous reference to it in my notes. From the speed, it is headed for Cape Town. I was awaken again at midnight by the boat going too fast. I was now in the main current, 2.2 kt, and had to fuel in the jib completely. I need to go 18/3.75=4.8 kt and am now going 4.6 flying just the storm staysail. I was awaken at 00:45 by the alarm on the TillerPilot. A screw had fallen out of the control arm bracket. Fortunately, the screw was still on the deck. The screw has a lock washer, but apparently that was not enough to keep it in. I had removed the bracket when I did the repair at Port Elizabeth. I will put some Locktite on it when I get to HB. I am a course now that is almost perpendicular to the strong current as I want to be well W of the Cape of Good Hope because its shoals break heavily. This has caused the boat to slow down. To overcome the pull of the current, rather than offer more sail, I turned the engine on for 20m to drive deeper into the current stream. The main goal is to stay in water that is at least 300’. I figure I only need to move 1-2 nm W. It is 4:30 and I have reached the waypoint just W of the Cape of Good Hope. I changed course to make my way up the coast, but I need to jibe. I am waiting to do that until it is light because there is a warning in the charts about fishing equipment. It is 5:15 and I am 17 nm from the channel into Hout Bay. At that point I will drop/lash the staysail and turn on the engine. I put out about 15% of the jib with the staysail am making 5.8 kt in a near run. The 2.3 kt current is about 40 degrees off my course. I should be at the channel to the bay about 8:15. By the time I motor to the bay where I will deploy the lines and fenders, it will probably be 9:00 before I reach the breakwaters. As I got within 6 nm of the channel into the bay, I moved closer to land and lost most of the current. The boat speed fell to 3.5 kt. Rather than present more sail in the 22 kt wind, I motor sailed at 5.6 kt. The fog/smog (from the fires) is making it difficult to make out features on the land. I am hoping there is enough elevation that when I turn E into the channel I am afforded some protection from the wind. About 4 nm out I was in the wind shadow, the wind speed dropped to 15, and the direction shifted, causing slatting of the sails. I furled the jib first. The staysail didn’t seem to be offering any advantage, so I dropped it and lashed it to the stanchions. It was also relatively calm offshore, so I rigged the lines and fenders. It was good that I did all that because I had up to 45 kt adiabatic winds in the bay. It was blowing 30 when I entered the breakwater, but remarkably the winds dropped to 20 by the time I got to the slip. There were three people to help me with the lines. By 9:30 the boat was secured.
Comments: I received a message that I should arrive about 7:30. This means arriving in the bay about 7:00. It is 11:00 and blowing med-20s steady. I am drifting slowly towards Sandown Bay. It looks like I will need to set sail about 16:00 to sail the 60 nm and arrive at 7:00. The problem is the first half is going to be very slow and the second half very fast. I need to be at the Cape of Good Hope about 3:00 to arrive at the bay about 7:00. To do that I will need to set sail about 16:00. This all assume the weather behaves like predicted, that I have single-digit winds 16:00-21:00, for example. I should target a SOG of about 3 kt 16:00-21:00 and 5 kt 21:00-7:00. It is 11:30 and I am drifting too close to Danger Point, where the waves are breaking heavy. I unleashed the tiller and steered a course for Cape Point. The SOG increased from 1.5 to almost 4. Once I am clear of Danger Point, I will lash the tiller again. After I cleared Danger Point, I changed course to try to come in behind the Point towards Stanford’s Cove to try to get out of the building swell, some of which is beginning to break in the 25 kt wind. The boat slowed down to 3 kt. I am hoping some of the swell will break up in the shoals of Danger Point. It is 12:30 and that was a good call. I am not even out of the wind yet and the sea state is much better. It is 13:00 and I am just beginning to get behind the point. The wind is down to 17 and the current down to 1 with the SOG less than 2 kt. I am hoping things settle down enough to cook a proper meal. I had some soup. The wind is down to 12 kt. I set sail with just the storm staysail at 15:45 and am making 2.1 kt with a 0.7 kt current. I have 40 nm to waypoint at Cape Good Hope. By 18:00, as predicted, the wind speed had dropped to 6 kt and the SOG was about 1.5. I changed the course more westerly for a better wind angle. I can expect these single-digit winds until at least 22:00. I have 37 nm to go to the waypoint. I will have at least 30 left after the wind picks back up after 22:00. If I am to reach the waypoint by 4:00 as planned, I will need to average 5 kt in 10-15 kt wind. I expect to pick up more current by then to help. By 19:00 the boat was just drifting with the current. I received several securite radio transmissions about an entangled whale and a pod of 50 whales in the vicinity (about 35 nm away from my location). It is 21:00 and I have started seeing double-digit winds. With 30 nm to go to the waypoint and 7h to get there (30/7=4.3 kt) , the SOG is 3.5 kt with most of the Yankee unfurled and the staysail. At 21:30 I started seeing 18 kt winds and SOG close to 5. I slowed the boat down for now by furling in the jib. It will be easier to go faster later, but trying to slow down could be an issue. Just flying the staysail was a problem … it only gave me 2 kt and that was not enough to dominate a counter cross current. I unfurled 20% of the Yankee and that let me stay on course with a SOG of 2.8. It is 22:00 and I need to average 28/6=4.7, so I Iet out 50% of the jib to give a SOG of 4.3. Since the wind and current are suppose to increase in the next couple of hours, I believe the speed is okay for now. This will be my only chance to sleep tonight, so I set an alarm for 45m. I was awaken at 23:15 by noise. First, the boat was moving fast. Second, there was some animal calling. It sounded like a seal lion or some other large mammal. I could not see what it was. The boat was going 5.5 kt in 22 kt wind. I rounded up and furled all but perhaps 20% of the jib. I need to go 21/4.5=4.7 kt to arrive at 4:00 and am now going 4.6. I am passing S/V Freya at about 00:15. The name sounds familiar, but I cannot find a previous reference to it in my notes. From the speed, it is headed for Cape Town. I was awaken again at midnight by the boat going too fast. I was now in the main current, 2.2 kt, and had to fuel in the jib completely. I need to go 18/3.75=4.8 kt and am now going 4.6 flying just the storm staysail. I was awaken at 00:45 by the alarm on the TillerPilot. A screw had fallen out of the control arm bracket. Fortunately, the screw was still on the deck. The screw has a lock washer, but apparently that was not enough to keep it in. I had removed the bracket when I did the repair at Port Elizabeth. I will put some Locktite on it when I get to HB. I am a course now that is almost perpendicular to the strong current as I want to be well W of the Cape of Good Hope because its shoals break heavily. This has caused the boat to slow down. To overcome the pull of the current, rather than offer more sail, I turned the engine on for 20m to drive deeper into the current stream. The main goal is to stay in water that is at least 300’. I figure I only need to move 1-2 nm W. It is 4:30 and I have reached the waypoint just W of the Cape of Good Hope. I changed course to make my way up the coast, but I need to jibe. I am waiting to do that until it is light because there is a warning in the charts about fishing equipment. It is 5:15 and I am 17 nm from the channel into Hout Bay. At that point I will drop/lash the staysail and turn on the engine. I put out about 15% of the jib with the staysail am making 5.8 kt in a near run. The 2.3 kt current is about 40 degrees off my course. I should be at the channel to the bay about 8:15. By the time I motor to the bay where I will deploy the lines and fenders, it will probably be 9:00 before I reach the breakwaters. As I got within 6 nm of the channel into the bay, I moved closer to land and lost most of the current. The boat speed fell to 3.5 kt. Rather than present more sail in the 22 kt wind, I motor sailed at 5.6 kt. The fog/smog (from the fires) is making it difficult to make out features on the land. I am hoping there is enough elevation that when I turn E into the channel I am afforded some protection from the wind. About 4 nm out I was in the wind shadow, the wind speed dropped to 15, and the direction shifted, causing slatting of the sails. I furled the jib first. The staysail didn’t seem to be offering any advantage, so I dropped it and lashed it to the stanchions. It was also relatively calm offshore, so I rigged the lines and fenders. It was good that I did all that because I had up to 45 kt adiabatic winds in the bay. It was blowing 30 when I entered the breakwater, but remarkably the winds dropped to 20 by the time I got to the slip. There were three people to help me with the lines. By 9:30 the boat was secured.