Month: December 2025

Current Position: 27 35.942’S 12 14.920’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 5.9 kt; COG: 325; TWS: 19; TWD: 198; Current Speed: 1.4 kt; Current Direction: 280; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 345): 322 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 48752 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 17128 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Sunset should be at 19:48 at 14.25E, but clouds prevented me from seeing it. At 18:00 the wind was 17 with a favorable current giving a SOG of 6.6 kt. There appears to be relatively little commercial traffic tonight, so I set alarms for 1h intervals beginning at 20:40. I did not encounter a single ship, but at 1:30 was awaken because the boat had changed speed … it was doing 7 kt in 18 kt wind. Gusts up to 17 were expected, but the wind speed was sustained. The extra wind was accompanied by the expected backing of the wind from 190 to 170, so the course had changed more westerly. The trace suggested that backing occurred 2h earlier. The course now was essentially away from BAR1 and towards St. Helena. Per my plan to go with the flow, I did not correct the course. Curious, I downloaded a new GRIB at 3:00. The updated forecast predicted the increase in wind earlier. I can expect this wind for at least the next 48h. At 3:30 I encountered the first ship of the night, the tanker Habrut that passed within 0.5 nm (2.5 ship lengths for the 1100’ vessel). It was quite enough that I could hear its massive engines. Because I was drifting into the shipping lane that wraps around Guinea, Senegal, etc., I adjusted my course more northerly, even though that slowed the boat down (I was still averaging over 6 kt). When I leave the Benguela current and head W in a couple of days, I will cut across the shipping lane and not linger. It was almost 7:00 when I got up. Sunrise must have been around 6:15, but I slept because I was wearing a mask. It was dark, mostly cloudy, the seas were bigger than yesterday, and the cockpit was wet and uninviting. I am glad I took advantage yesterday and spent most of the day outside. The wind was still blowing nearly 20, and I believe it had been doing that since about 23:00 last night (hence the bigger seas). For the second night in a row I had gotten 10h sleep, albeit punctuated by hourly checks. I had only encountered one ship last night, in contrast to the dozens that had to be avoided earlier in the passage. I am in a sweet spot, just E of the shipping lane and W of the fishing trawlers along the coast. My course is somewhere in between BAR1 and St. Helena. I suspect I will pass well W of BAR1 (370 nm away) on Friday, but I will still need to make a decision whether to continue northerly or begin heading more westerly. I have begun to run some weather models to help in making the decision, which will be weighed heavily whether I continue to have the advantage of the Benguela current and whether a high has developed in the middle of the South Atlantic. I downloaded the most recent GRIB at 9:00. It seems a high pressure trough is going to develop S of the rhumb line to St. Helena towards the end of this week, whereas winds will continue on a northerly course until early next week. This may favor continuing N to about 20S (500 nm or so), near the Namibia/Angola border, before heading more westerly. This would be perhaps Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning and would mark the halfway point between Saldanha and St. Helena, although I would probably pass N of the latter and more towards Ascension. It has now been one week since I provisioned the boat in Hout Bay. I spent 1-2d more in Saldanha than expected. I need to start thinking about the longevity of the fresh food. I cannot afford to waste anything. Specifically, I need to eat the chicken breast, chicken soup, a quiche, and two pizzas by this weekend. I have enough chicken soup for two days, but I have a package of squash soup that will make two meals with the quiche. I will eat 1/4 of the quiche and the soup each of the next four days. I will eat the pizzas the end of the week (Saturday/Sunday). This is not Christmas food, but I will save the smoked salmon for early next week, when I should be in the trade winds and have calm seas (making proper cooking easier). I am working my way through the usual pecking order of fruit … bananas/grapes, pears, citrus, and apples. I ate half a papaya, but the other half was damaged and had already gone bad. I need to finish the grapes and bananas during the next week … the pears next week. Once I clear the other fresh food out of the fridge, I will move the oranges, grapefruit, and (if I have room) the apples into the fridge. By the time I pass St. Helena, I will be out of all the fresh food besides some fruit and maybe some leftover ham. I will still have five weeks of sailing. I expect to have a piece of fresh fruit and eggs each day for the remainder of the trip, but everything else will come from the non-perishable meal packs I made at Hout Bay. By 10:30 the clouds were gone and it had turned into a nice day. At 11:30 I came upon the fishing trawler Spencer Bay. It was sailing patterns in front of me and I had no way of predicting where it would be when we crossed paths. I went to the cockpit to take control of the tiller should the vessel cross my path again. Half a nm ahead of me, just as I was about to make radio contact, the trawler stopped passing back and forth in front of me and motored a nm away to my port. At 12:15 I was on a collision course with the cargo ship Julia N. Less than 9 nm apart, I changed my course and radioed the captain to pass starboard to starboard and he confirmed. We passed about 0.5 nm apart and I resumed my course. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 457-322=135 nm. The total distance sailed was 17128-16960=168 (168/24=7.0 kt avg).

Current Position: 29 11.713’S 14 16.293’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 5.5 kt; COG: 344; TWS: 14; TWD: 226; Current Speed: 1.5 kt; Current Direction: 030; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 343): 457 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5004 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16969 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: Sunset should be in 1h, 19:50. I am almost 100 nm offshore and about 60 nm from the boundary of Namibian territorial waters. The boat is averaging 7.0 kt straight for BAR1, which is 550 nm away, 200 nm N of Saldanha. Sunset was actually at 19:56 at 15.5E. It is 2:00 and the wind and the boat has slowed to 5.3 kt. I would raise the mainsail as planned, but I will wait for light as working in the dark in this sea state would be hazardous. It is 2:30, the wind has slowed to 15 and the boat to 5. I downloaded new data. There is less commercial traffic tonight compared to last night. The prediction is for even lighter winds than previously predicted. The winds are generally going to be in the 15-20 kt range with some periodic gusts in the mid 20s. It is 4:00 and the sails were slatting while the boat rolled because the wind had dropped to 12. The SOG has fallen to 4.2. I trimmed the sheets to help with the slatting. Sunrise won’t be for a couple of hours. I got up at 5:15, about an hour before sunrise. It was light enough to raise the mainsail. I was making 4.0 as in 11 kt wind with no help from the current (which was flowing W) as I crossed into Namibia’s waters at 6:00 will just under 500 nm to go to BAR1. It is cloudy, consistent with the change in wind. I expect this light 12/15 wind from 200 for the next 24h, when it will back to 170 and increase to 16/20. At least the sea should settle down and the cockpit will be dry so I can spend time outside. The conditions were ideal for sleep, and I slept until 7:30, when I received a “collision alert “, a fishing trawler. It kept changing it course, so there was nothing I could do until we were closer. By 7:50 it had changed course and was moving away on a heading the same as mine. For the first time since leaving Saldanha, I was able to enjoy my tea and breakfast in the cockpit. Also, it has been some time since I have felt this rested. I am going to take advantage of the relatively calm weather to cook. I have been nibbling on a roasted chicken the past few days. I am going to remove the meat and use the pressure cooker to make a stock. I have some carrots, potatoes, and onion I can use to make a nice soup. It is 8:00 and the boat speed is 4 kt in 11 kt wind, but I am only making 3 kt on as I am running against a 1 kt current. I know it is a gyro and will rotating counterclockwise. It is a beautiful morning. It has been awhile since I have had such light wind. For weeks all I have heard is the sound of the wind whistling in my ears. Now it is just the sound of the boat cutting through the water. By 11:00 the wind had picked up to 14 and the current was starting to rotate giving me a SOG of 4.5 kt. The boat has been surrounded by seabirds all morning. If I did not have so much fresh food to eat, I’d drop a line. The soup was ready by noon, which was good because the wind had picked up a bit and it would have been more difficult to cook later. After I had a bowl, I put some rice in it to soak up some of the liquid (so it would be easier to store and eat later). The wind increased to 15 and the SOG to 5.2 by 12:30. The distance sailed towards BAR1 in the last 24h was 575-457=118 nm. The total distance sailed was 16960-16810=150 (150/24=6.25 kt avg).
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Sent from my iPhone

Current Position: 30 45.903’S 15 49.287’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 6.1 kt; COG: 346; TWS: 22; TWD: 226; Current Speed: 1.2 kt; Current Direction: 320; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 344): 575 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5106 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16810 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I found the problem with the Iridium system. I was running a VPN on my iPhone and the app didn’t like it. It is 20:30 and all the comes are working again (email, iMessaging, PredictWind, etc.). The marine traffic is generally heavy, but after the next freighter passes in 30m, I should have a couple of hours. I will set an alarm interval of 30m. The wind is supposed to lighten up by dawn, but it will pick up again late tomorrow afternoon. I expect to have 160 nm days for the next 3-4 days, which should put me close to the waypoint. At that point I will need to decide if I am headed further N along the coast, or if I change course NW to St. Helena. It is 5:00. Sunrise should be about 5:50. It was a long night of 30m intervals. Perhaps 10-15 ships passed within 1-2 nm. The boat has averaged 6.8 kt over the past 10h, slowing down a bit in the early morning hours as expected. The wind vane has done a very good job. I am exactly on the PW course and 3h ahead of schedule for the course that plotted 10h ago. I will have made 165 nm in the 24h since leaving the bay and turning N around 13:00 yesterday (since I started chipping away at the 750 nm to BAR1). The wind between now and then will fluctuate 15/20 and 25/30. In general the higher winds will be during the day and lower at night, but there are exceptions. I believe PW will continue to underestimate how well the boat is performing under these conditions … she loves big wind and seas. PW suggests I will only average 4.6 kt and will take 6d to sail the 630 nm (arriving the morning of the 27. I believe I will average at least 6, taking (630/6)/24=4.4 days, arriving Christmas. I believe I will let the current and compression zone play out and when I start seeing the single digits of the trade winds and no chance of winds over 15, launch the asym for a the ride over to the Brazilian coast. That should be very comfortable. I am also not going to sweat making BAR1, but rather go with the flow of wind and current. Right now the current seems to be turning out to sea. My average speed over the past 30m has been 6.3 kt. The bilge pump has been going off in the shower sump for 20s every hour or so because the big seas are putting some water in the chain locker, but everything is operating as it should. It is 19:00 and the wind has decreased, but I expect it to build this afternoon and I will see gusts in the low 30s, so I am not going to unfurl any more of the jib right now. I will go through six time zones on my way to Barbados. The first will be about BAR1 (UTC+1), the second halfway to St. Helena (UTC+0), and the third just past St. Helena (UTC-1). I will cross one more on the way to the Brazilian coast. Brazil is in the same time zone as Barbados (UTC-3), which is 1h ahead of EST. As predicted, the wind was light all morning (12-15 kt) and the boat only averaged 4.8. But by noon it was blowing 15/20 and the boat was averaging 5.6. Since the boat was rolling and I expected 25/30 by midafternoon, I decided not to raise the main. I will raise it sometime around dawn (or whenever the seas calm down a bit) when the winds are supposed to 13/17. It is 14:30 and as predicted the wind is picking up.

Current Position: 32 28.167’S 17 12.991’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 7.5 kt; COG: 348; TWS: 27; TWD: 217; Current Speed: 2.1 kt; Current Direction: 340; Distance to Waypoint (BAR1, 346): 700 nm; Distance to Endpoint (Bridgetown): 5208 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+12+50;
Comments: I woke up at 4:00, at the end of the first quarter of the OU/Alabama game. OU was up 10:0 and seemed to be in control. I couldn’t get back to sleep. By the end of the half, the game was tied 17:17 after an interception by Alabama that was run back for a TD. The game is almost over and it looks like Alabama will win. Since I cannot download weather maps for the entire South Atlantic while offshore, I have been studying the wind patterns over a 4w period. In general, I will want to stay N of the rhumb line to the Brazilian coast, then use the coastal winds to get past the ITCZ. How far N is a gamble since there are periodic highs in the middle of the SA. If there isn’t one, heading for St. Helena and then W works. If there is one, it will be necessary to head much further N. My plan is to take advantage of the high winds and favorable current along the African coast to about Walvis Bay, then make a decision (since there is no way to predict the weather that far out). I started the engine to leave and there is a problem. The first injector is leaking (I can see bubbles in fuel that pooled). I cannot tighten it with disassembling everything. One of the advantages of having had it apart so many times is it only took me 20m to disassemble, tighten the injectors, reassemble, and put the tools away. The injector is not leaking now. I threw off the lines at 9:00, as planned, and was underway. Once I was in the main channel, it was obvious I was going to be motoring directly against the wind (and swell). The swell was short and steep, causing the bow to plow. It was going to be slow going to get far enough off shore to get an angle to use the wind, at least 2h. It’s 750 nm to my first waypoint (BAR1), off the coast of Namibia. The seas were very confused and the boat corkscrewed violently as I approached the entrance to the bay. Within 1 nm of the entrance, the wind shifted and I could finally make use of the storm staysail, which not only gave me a kt of speed in the 15 kt wind, but stabilized the boat overall so the prop spent more time in the water. The net result was an increase in SOG for 3 to 5 kt at 2000 rpm. I reached the entrance of the bay about 10:45. The seas were becoming less confused. I figured I needed to head about 6 nm W offshore before I could safely head N towards the waypoint, but I could probably start curving in that direction sooner to make for a more comfortable ride. I checked the AIS as I left the bay, and there did not appear to be any commercial traffics in the area (except that anchored in the bay). I turned the engine off about 11:00. It was as blowing in the 20s and I just had the storm staysail and perhaps 20% of the Yankee unfurled. I was averaging 4.6 kt. I decided to wait before showing more sail until I was further offshore and had a better angle to the wind and swells. I figured that about 12 nm, so in 12/4.6=2.6h, or about 14:00. I should pick up the Benguela current, about 1 kn, about there. Since I am using the TillerPilot right now and there is no commercial traffic, I decided to go below to warm up a bit. As I expected, the boat sped up as I moved offshore, primarily because the seas became less confused (the boat was sailing more efficiently) and I started to pick up some current. I switched over from the TillerPilot to the windvane about 12:30, about the time the seas settled down. I was hungry and chilled and although I had plenty of cold food in the fridge I made some Raman noodles to warm me up. At 13:00, about 8 nm offshore, I unfurled about 80% of the Yankee, which with the storm sail gave me 6.8 kt. I expect close to 7 kt when I get the full effect of the current. By 14:00 I was doing 7.1 kt. I am almost 12 nm offshore and about to loose Starlink. Not sure I will be close enough to land to use it again until I am in Barbados. It is 14:20 and I just lost SL, as soon as I hit 13 nm offshore. Jordan texted me a few minutes before I lost the signal and sent 62 photos of the grandkids. It is 15:00 and the wind is blowing consistently 28 kt. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt with 80% Yankee + staysail. The waves are big and steep. It is clear the boat is surfing. The ride is not particularly uncomfortable. Since there are zero boats around me and I will be entering the shipping channel tonight, I am going to try to get some sleep. It is 16:00. I slept for about 45m. Still no boats on the AIS. The boat is averaging 7.5 kt and I am seeing surfing speeds of over 10 kt. The windvane is performing well. The sea is big and the cockpit is wet, with waves periodically breaking over the port quarter. It is 17:30. I have tried for 90m to connect to the Iridium system and have failed. The network seems to be unstable. I observed this once before. I will just have to wait until I am in a different satellite pattern. Some e-mails downloaded and a noticed the tracking data is up-to-date (meaning the DataHub is connecting). The last position was reported at 16:10 and SL went down at 14:20, so the data were transmitted over Iridium. At 18:00 I started to see commercial vessels appear on the AIS. At 18:30 a huge cargo ship passed a couple of hundred yards off my port on the opposite course and it was not running AIS. Even though the Iridium and Offshore apps say they cannot connect to the Iridium GO, the DataHub through 10.10.10.1 says that it is, so I am going to try to send this log post via PredictMail. That did not work. I will try a Gmail account.

Current Position: 33 01.608’S 17 597.628’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG:0; COG: N/A; TWS: 10; TWD: 006; Current Speed: 0.7 kt; Current Direction: 199; Distance to Waypoint (Saldanha): Moored; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 60+14+50;
Comments: I slept almost 11h last night, waking up at 5. I met the driver and had the injectors to the diesel mechanic when they opened at 8:00. I was told they would be finished about 13:00. I returned to the boat and drained the day tank and changed the fuel filter. The steel top of the fuel filter was once again corroded, suggesting some water is getting to the engine. While pumping the fuel out of the day tank into the main tank, the sound of the pump suddenly changed. It seems it has failed. I have already installed the backup. This means I will need to transfer fuel from the Jerry cans directly to the day tank, and I will not have access to the 60 gal in the main tank. This is probably just as well because I gave had nothing but trouble keeping sea water out of the main tank. I am going to replumbed the day tank temporarily to empty it into the main tank by gravity. I will fill the day tank and top off the Jerry cans before leaving. This will leave me with a range of about (65/0.7)X5=460 nm. Well, it turns out the pump is not broken. It stopped pumping because the main tank was full of fuel and the lines had filled up to the level of the day tank. I pumped the rest of the fuel from the day tank into a container I got from the ship yard (actually pumped it out of the main tank while allowing thr day tank to drain into the main tank to make sure I got all of the fuel out of the day tank. Note after adding 5 gal the gauge read 5 and it read 10 after 10 gal, but 13.8 after 15 gal. I suspect that is because I had the boat healed over to the port, so 1 gal was sent to the overflow. I picked up the injectors at 16:30. The mechanic suggested I add 300 ml of ATF to my day tank to help with lubrication. I filled the three empty Jerry cans on the way back to the boat. By 17:30 the injectors were installed, I had bled the fuel line, and fired up the engine. It ran smoothly with a little smoke at first, probably burning off soot in the cylinders, then it ran without smoke. I ran the engine at all speeds for about 15m. Before dark, I had put everything away, cleaned the cabin, washed clothes and got a shower.

Current Position: 33 01.608’S 17 597.628’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG:0; COG: N/A; TWS: 10; TWD: 006; Current Speed: 0.7 kt; Current Direction: 199; Distance to Waypoint (Saldanha): Moored; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 409; Estimate Fuel: 54+11+50;
Comments: I woke up in the middle of the night and figured out what went wrong with the engine. When I overfilled the main tank it pushed unfiltered fuel into the day tank via the vent line. I need to drain the day tank. The problem is I am at capacity and don’t have anyplace to put the fuel. I ran the engine for 408-393=15h. I probably used 8-9 gal of fuel. However, the main tank was overfilled by maybe 3-5 gal, so I need to find capacity for perhaps 10 gal of fuel to drain the tank. The only way I can think of doing that is to give away the fuel in two Jerry cans. The good news is the injectors may be fine. If I can clean up the fuel, I will test the engine before pulling the injectors. After soaking the old injector nozzles in PB Blaster overnight, I was able to separate one of the pintles from its nozzle. I returned the others to the bath to soak. This means I gave at least one backup if I end up pulling the injectors from the engine and find one is fouled and cannot be cleaned. After thinking about it a bit, I realize I had already anticipated the problem of emptying the day tank into the main tank. I just had to turn two ball valves. There should be just enough room in the main tank to do it. While the fuel was pumping, I decided I needed to look at the injectors. Just as I did in Dawin, I broke the fuel return manifold while getting the injectors out. I bought a spare, but only one. When I install it I will not have a backup. It was good that I pulled them as they were fouled. More significantly, the second from the front came out with its heat shield because I had accidentally used two copper washers in Darwin. This means that cylinder was probably not firing as well. I was able to get the heat shield off without damaging it. I had an important decision to make. Should I two to take the injectors apart and clean them while risking damaging one. It seemed unlikely I would be able to get the pintles out, and the rest of the inside of the injectors were probably fine. I decided to soak the ends of the injectors for half a day and reinstall them. I dare not risk pulling them out again without getting another fuel return manifold. I changed the oil, but remarkably I did not have a spare oil filter. That is very surprising because I thought I had plenty of them. I was so sure I had them, I didn’t check before I started changing the oil. I thought perhaps I put the “extra” spare air and oil filters somewhere else, but I do not think so. I have decided I cannot go without these filters, so I am taking a Uber to a local AutoZone. Before going, I checked the day tank and it had still not been emptied after several hours. I changed the Racor fuel filter and the back pressure dropped significantly. I can hear the fuel dropping into the main tank. I visited two auto parts stores, but neither had either filter. I can back, reassembled the engine, and pumped fresh fuel into the day tank. The engine runs smoothly but it still smokes. I tried removing the air filter to make sure enough air was being delivered, but that did not help. I put some additive in the day tank that is supposed to clean injectorsand ran it for an hour, but that did not help. My choices are to pull the injectors again or just leave. I can try to take the injectors apart, but given my experience with the other set, that probably is not going to happen, so I would have to find a place that can service them locally. That probably means moving the boat. Also, I am certain I would have to check out again. If I pull the injectors again, I risk break the return line. It could take weeks to get a replacement. I am going to sleep on it, but I am inclined to leave. If I do, it means only using the engine when absolutely necessary (in and out of ports, etc.). Just fire it up every few days to keep it lubricated. I found the name of a person in a nearby town who cleans and calibrates diesel injectors. I contacted him and tomorrow is the last day his shop is open until they close for the holidays. He said he could service the injectors tomorrow. I managed to remove the injectors without damaging the fuel return manifold. I spoke with the marina office about not being able to leave tomorrow. They said don’t worry about it … even if I cannot leave until Monday it will be fine. I am Going to pump the fuel back out of the day tank, remove the fuel drain line, and empty the last little bit that the pickup tube misses. I will also replace the fuel filter (thereby removing the last of the fuel in the engine.

Current Position: 33 01.608’S 17 597.628’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG:0; COG: N/A; TWS: 10; TWD: 006; Current Speed: 0.7 kt; Current Direction: 199; Distance to Waypoint (Saldanha): Moored; Total Miles Sailed: 16600 nm; Engine Hours: 408; Estimate Fuel: 55+11+50;
Comments: As the sun goes down, the wind is veering. It is 20:00 and it is still light enough to see I am surrounded by rain showers. The wind is still due N and single digits. The swells however are to the berm, and the rocking is causing the sails to slat at any course that makes progress. Since the wind is supposed to die down for the next six hours, I have furled the jib and am motoring directly towards the waypoint. I tried to drop the main, but the boat rolled violently. When the wind picks up again around 1:00, it will be coming from the S. It is almost midnight. The wind is only 5 kt. The glasses I wear offshore have broken at the hinge and cannot be repaired. I am wearing my “good” glasses. I will have to try to cannibalize the glasses to make another “offshore” pair. I am passing Dassen Island. It is midnight. I have 24 miles to go to the channel into the bay. I’d like to be there no later than 6:00, 6h from now, so I need to average 24/6=4 kt. I have only been averaging about 3.6 with the sails down. However, I am starting to pick up a current and I expect some wind in a couple of hours, which should allow me to motorsail 5 kt or so the last 4h. Speak of the devil … it is 15m later and the 10 kt wind has suddenly shifted to the S. I unfurled the jib and am making 4.3 kt. It is 2:30 and I am 15 nm away. It is 4:00 and I am 8 nm away. The chart plotter says I will arrive at 5:45. I will stop early, drop the sails, and contact the Port Captain on VHF 12 to request permission to enter the harbor and proceed to Yachtport (which will be about 5 nm away. I should be approaching the docks around 7:00. It is 4:45 and the wind has dropped to lo single digits and veered, rendering it useless. I furled the jib. I am about 5 nm from the channel into the harbor. I lowered and lashed the storm staysail and the mainsail about 5:15. I reached the entrance channel at 5:45 and request permission to enter the harbor and proceed to Yachtport. The dolphins showed up to welcome me. The wind is blowing 14 with gusts of of 19. It was blowing about 12 at the dock and I had no problem securing the boat. I informed Yachtport that I had arrived. They gave me paperwork to fill out. I met with Immigration at 10:30. It couldn’t have been easier. I have cleared out. I am required to leave within 48h. I did not sleep at all last night, so I was going to take a nap, but decided to get to work on the injectors. I wanted to start by cleaning the old injectors, I had no problem finding them and the carburetor cleaner I needed. I understand how the injectors work now … they’re the pintle nozzle type. There should be no problem cleaning them. I’ve left the originals soaking overnight. In the morning, I will drain the day tank back to the main, pull the injectors and clean them, change the oil and filters (air, fuel, and oil), reassemble everything, and polish new fuel into the day tank. I plan to leave Friday morning. I am not going to spend much time exploring Saldana. Most of the stuff is too far to walk to.

Current Position: 33 48.800’S 18 08.688’’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG:3.8; COG: 063; TWS: 7; TWD: 006; Current Speed: 0.7 kt; Current Direction,:010; Distance to Waypoint (Saldanha): 46 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 16522 nm; Engine Hours: 393; Estimate Fuel: 60+11+50;
Comments: I woke up about 5:30 and washed the deck again. There are some clouds, but it does not look like rain quite yet. The forecast is for rain sometime between 21:00 and 24:00. For Hout Bay, the wind is 1-10 from the S veering to the W until 12:00, so there is no rush getting out of here. The route has me going due W for 10 nm, then due N for about 60 nm. If I leave about 9:00, I should arrive about sunrise while averaging 3.7 kt. I will only see double digit winds to is afternoon until dusk and again early tomorrow morning. The winds will start out from the W and veer to the S by midnight. By then I will be well clear of Cape Town. Because of the light winds and the changing directions, I will use the TillerPilot. The wind will be from the S 10-16 with gusts of 19 kt at dawn tomorrow in Saldanha, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to dock. From the photos, it looks like the docks are very sturdy (intended for big yachts), but will be easy to step onto. Using Sailclear, I submitted my Arrival Notification for Barbados for February 5. I pushed off at 9:00 sharp. Once I cleared the shoals at the mouth of the bay, I set a course due W. There was no wind, so I didn’t bother raising the sails. What little wind there was came from the W, and I was motoring right into it. I need to get out about 10 nm to catch the current. I didn’t bother stowing the mooring lines or the fenders since I will need them again in the morning. One of the screws that hold on the TillerPilot bracket came out again … the same one. Don’t understand as it has a lock washer. I put it back in with some blue Loctite. It is 10:00 and I have some white smoke in the exhausts there is some water in the day tank. I shut the engine off. Fortunately, there is 15 kt of wind from the N. I am making about 2.5 kt SOG against a 0.6 kt current in a close haul. I am circulating the fuel through the filter to try to remove any water. I raised the storm staysail with 90% of thr Yankee and a double-reefed main I was making 3.1 kt. I am going to wait to see what happens with the current before thinking about shaking a reef out of the main. Need to be careful not to go too fast. It is 10:30 and as I expected the current is beginning to rotate. The SOG is now 3.6. It is 10:40. I have not collected any water from the day tank, perhaps because I am heeled over to the port and the take-up tube is on the starboard. I turned the pump off and wait until I tack. It is 11:00 and the wind has dropped to 10 kt, but I do have a favorable 0.6 kt current, so I am still averaging almost 3 kt. The wind is from 038. I expect it to back to the W in 3-4h. I will tack sometime before then. The wind backed to 350 and I tacked at 12:30 only for the 8 kt wind to veer back to 40, so I tacked again. At 13:30 the wind direction was between 010 and 025, so I tacked again (and turned on the polishing pump). The course was parallel to the coast but towards Robben Island. If the wind does not veer, I will need to tack again in a couple of hours. I am making about 3 kt in a close haul. It is 18:00. I have been sailing 9h, but have only made about 20 nm on because the wind has been blowing directly from Saldanha, and I have been tacking back and forth all day. The wind has backed a bit, to 015, but not nearly as much as was predicted. The engine still smokes. I do not believe there is water in the tank. One or more of the injectors must be fouled. I will been to remove and try to clean them in Saldanha.

Current Position: 34 02.971’S 18 20.883’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 0; COG: N/A; TWS: 40; TWD: 182; Current Speed, 0 kt; Current Direction, my Distance to Waypoint (Hout Bay): in a slip; Total Miles Sailed: 16487 nm; Engine Hours: 388; Estimate Fuel: 60+15+50;
Comments: I woke up about 2:30 and took care of some business on-line. I was awaken by fishing boats that were running generators for some reason. Don’t know why they just didn’t connect to shore power. I fell back asleep and woke up at 5:45. The generators were still running. I received a notice that my package is out for delivery. I washed the boat again because the birds had a party last night. I settled my bill with the marina. I received instructions and an appointment for clearing out at 10:30 on Wednesday. At 9:00 I went shopping. By 11:00 I was unloading the provisions. I probably have two weeks of food in the fridge. I will have to be careful to eat it in order of most perishable. There some things I need to put in the fridge as I make room (citrus fruit, apples, etc.). Most everything was stored by 11:30. The solenoids arrived at 12:30. By 1:30 it was installed and tested. I left the line pressurized but the bottle turned off while I returned the rental car to pressure-test the connections. I was back from dropping the rental car off by 3:00 and submitted a Passage Plan with the OSASA. The gas line does not leak, so I put the tools away. Everything is stowed and the boat is ready. I want to do a quick cleaning of the cabin, get a shower, and call it a night.

Current Position: 34 02.971’S 18 20.883’E; Timezone: UTC+2; SOG: 0; COG: N/A; TWS: 40; TWD: 182; Current Speed, 0 kt; Current Direction, my Distance to Waypoint (Hout Bay): in a slip; Total Miles Sailed: 16487 nm; Engine Hours: 388; Estimate Fuel: 60+15+50;
Comments: I woke up a little after 5:00 after sleeping very hard. By 8:00 all the laundry was washed and I started pumping out the main water tank. By 9:00 the water tank and jugs were filled. I “processed” three dozen eggs (coated them with canola oil and stored them in plastic egg crates). The eggs I bought were never refrigerated and they had down on them (had never been washed), so I know these will easily last two months. Another 20 or so ere left in the cardboard egg crates and were not coated in oil. I will use these up in the next two weeks (hard boiled eggs, etc.). The clothes were dry by 11:30 and I put them away.by 13:00 I had cleaned the fridge and put the random food away.