We are approaching Madagascar on our way to Richards Bay South Africa. Most of our trip has been more consistent downwind sailing while now we are dealing with fronts more. There is a low pressure system south of Madagascar which will develop winds from the west, that is head winds which will be 10-15 knots. The next factor is that there is a current along the east coast of Madagascar which runs up to 2-2.5 knots We are trying to ride that current south. We expect the winds to drop some tomorrow so riding the current will be nice. The next strategy is the closer we stay to the southern tip of Madagascar the further we will be from the low that is the expected to produce the headwinds. The biggest concern is that he long range forecast for arriving at the coast of South Africa. The Agulhas current runs south. If you try to cross the current with the wind from the southwest against the current it generates bad waves that can be dangerous.
All in all our weather has been very nice. We had a small squall that we passed yesterday. It has been mostly sunny.
We caught a nice mahi-mahi yesterday. I cooked it in the oven. I use aluminum foil to lessen the mess a little. I put fish fillets , sliced potatoes, sliced apples, a mango, sliced lemon, sliced onion, olive oil, salt and pepper inside the foil and baked it at about 400 degrees. The potatoes were not done well enough but everything else was good. It was simple fresh fish eaten out of a bowl. We have large red bowls that Karen found in Mauritius that are excellent. Sailors speak of eating out of dog dishes to keep things simple.
We are progressing well. We will have a break in Capetown for the holidays. After that we will have about 3 more months on the ARC.
I hope everyone is doing well in their more normal situations. I realize that our trip is a few standard deviations outside of normal.
Photo is sunrise yesterday
May fair winds fill your sails with fresh favorable winds flowing with favorable currents!
Bob
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