Day 33 - Becalmed and Relaxing

I woke up just before midnight to see the new year in with a cup of wine and good wishes for all.

It's just as well too, because I found the boat to be creeping NNE before a light wind because somehow Jeff had lost control in the changing wind. I took the wheel and put the boat hard to weather which put us on a more acceptable course of 065T. I let the autopilot do the steering for a while but after it went on standby (No damage: the boat steers itself upwind as it yaws upwind then falls back when the headsail luffs.) I put Jeff back in charge. We were at 35S36, too far north for my liking, but I expected that to change soon.

I had another Sailmail session because the download speed had been too slow at the 7 PM session, and I did get a much faster transfer rate.

The latest grib file indicated slack wind during the coming day, followed by the return of the westerlies. I would drop the mainsail during the calm and then resume the downwind sailing under headsail, working my way toward the south. During the lull I would run the engine not only to charge the batteries and gain ground, but also to run the heater and dry out some of these clothes in the cabin.

I received a message from Jeanne Socrates full of great information regarding the approaches to Cape Town, the RCYC marina, and recommendations for various contractors for work and parts that will be needed for the boat.

She gave me the following disturbing information about the RCYC: "If you stay at RCYC any length of time over the summer, your rigging, lines, sails, mast and everything on deck will be smothered in a line of thick, black grime on its SE face - almost impossible to remove!! From sandblasting operations in industrial area close by, upwind of strong SE'er... A major problem with RCYC and one which many a cruiser has complained bitterly about - having discovered it too late!!! Another reason many people prefer the quiet and cleanliness of Simon's Town and the FBYC!" I would be particularly worried about that grime settling into the rigging swages and setting off galvanic corrosion. I'm not sure how to handle this one. I don't want to make any decision regarding RCYC until I have had a chance to see the situation for myself and discussed it with the marina management, but it may be prudent to start getting more information on the FBYC and Simons Town.

If Jeanne meant "90W" instead of "09W" she was at 51S, 90W, 860 miles NW of the Horn. It worried me to read that she is having to deal with something that I didn't have to contend with during my rounding: pack ice around the Horn and Diego Ramirez. This will cause her to wisely stay "well offshore".

At 2 AM the boat was plodding along at 3.5 kts into a gentle wind over a calm sea. It was quite pleasant being in the cockpit, with the sea illuminated by the bright half moon and plenty of stars overhead. I would have to stay vigilant for the rest of the night because the wind was steadily weakening.

The night turned out to be short. I went topside at 3.15 AM for a last look around before retiring and to the east dawn was breaking, and it was a nice sight to see.

I was up at 6.15 AM for the early SAMMNet session and found the boat still making way but with the sails slatting as the boat rolled. I had a good session with SAMMNet. The "missing" boat that was the object of the previous morning's securite had reported in. Graham gave me advice on approaching Cape Town. Because of the fast current I should begin my run up the coast from south of Cape Point which is at 34.3S, 18.5E. I will certainly take that advice, and I took comfort from the fact that 34.3S is about 100 miles north of the 36S I was planning on. Toward the end of the conversation I asked Graham if Cape Naval was still broadcasting weather faxes and I could almost hear him sigh. He told me that the weather fax transmissions have stopped and he has had no response from several inquiries about it. I cannot understand the behavior of Brazil and S.A. in this matter. The weather faxes are already being produced by the weather service, right? It seems to me that digitizing and transmitting the charts should be an almost totally automatic process requiring minimal human resources. Finally, Graham suggested that I should be well within range of Sam's coastal weather service so I will try to work with him in the future.

Immediately after the session I dropped the mainsail and rolled in the headsail. After tidying up I started the engine and turned on the Red Dot heater. Soon the cabin was like a sauna. I hung 3 of the heavier garments outside. After 3 hours of running I shut the engine down and allowed the boat to drift ahull.

At noon our position was 35S30, 009E58. Somehow we had manage to eke out a n-n distance of 82 miles in the direction 076T, precisely in the direction of Cape Town, now 430 miles away. The barometer was steady at 1026 HPa. There was how bright sunshine and I had hung out the washing to complete it drying. I had the cabin hatch open.

In the afternoon I did a fuel transfer and topped the diesel tanks to the brim. There was already plenty of fuel in the internal tanks but I wanted to resolve a problem that I had just noticed. Part of the cap of one of the 23.5 liter containers had broken off exposing a thin vent tube of some sort leading into the fuel. That meant that the fuel had probably been contaminated with water but I wanted to make sure, and the sooner the better. I set everything up for the fuel transfer then brought the container into the cockpit and had a look at the fuel. I could not see bubbles of water floating in the fuel, but on the other hand the container was only half full, which explains why I had been smelling diesel fuel for several days in the high wind. I decided that 12 liters of diesel was not worth the risk and worry of contaminating the boat's fuel supply so I wrote it off and brought down another container. This one had that beautiful ultra high quality diesel that I had purchased at a filling station in Mar del Plata and the tanks took 20 liters of it, all strained through the Baja filter of course. When entering the fuel data into the log I noted that the engine was now at 350.0 hours and I had done the last oil and filter change in Mar del Plata at 235.5 hours, meaning that it has been 114.5 hours of running since the last oil change. Given that the manual stipulates an oil change at 500 hours or 1 year, I see no urgency in an oil change in Cape Town, but knowing me I'll probably do one.

It was a brilliantly sunny day and there was no spray about so I decided to wash more clothes, which I did and hung up on the life lines. That meant that all of my underclothes and three sets of trousers had been washed.

Then it was time to wash myself and I had a deluxe cockpit bath - my first bath in weeks - complete with a kettle of hot water and a shampoo of head and beard with Pert Plus shampoo that contains conditioner. Afterwards I went to the head and combed my damp hair then trimmed my moustache with a pair of scissors and comb. Wow, what a transformation! I had scrubbed up very well indeed. I then returned to the cabin and put a complete set of fresh clothes, all dry and clean and sweet smelling. I then had an ice cold beer in the cockpit enjoying the blue ocean around me. (It doesn't take much to make a lone sailor happy.) This was my first "day off" since the gale on the approach to Tristan da Cunha and I was enjoying it very much. What luxury to be able to relax and not worry about the situation. It was fitting that I had been rewarded with this on New Years Day. I would have an early meal, watch a movie, then go to bed without a care in the world. If I got up during the night and noticed a useful wind I would grumble and set sail, but if it didn't happen that would suit me just fine and I would dive back into my bunk.

When I went to light the stove to prepare the evening meal I saw that the gas detector was in alarm mode. It must have sensed the diesel fumes during the fuel transfer from the sensor located in the lazarette. I reset the unit and this time it detected no fumes. That gas detector, with a sensor in the galley and another one in the lazarette where the gas cylinders are housed, is a wonderful piece of equipment that ensures that I don't get blown sky high by a gas leak. Once in Geographe Bay, Western Australia, the gas detector alarmed several times from the lazarette sensor. I eventually investigated and there really was a gas leak from one of the screw-on fittings. Without the detector the gas would have worked its way into the bilge because it is heavier than air, built up through the sole into the cabin, then with the first spark it would have been Adios Amigo - y Amiga, because Brenda was with me. Don't leave home without it.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com