A sleigh ride last night, continuing this morning.
When Alex asked the Skipper over supper, having looked at
the line of black clouds ahead of us, the Skipper said that he thought it
would be a quiet one, probably with the motor going all night.
The band of South West winds, which many of the other yachts were
experiencing, was due to pass to the North in front of us. Well we knew
that was asking for trouble. After supper, a gentle breeze could be felt,
so the Skipper and Alex put up the mainsail, all of it. The Skipper was
next on watch, so after he had cleared up the meal, Norfy and Alex went happily
off to bed. The Skipper was delighted when the breeze began to strengthen,
so soon the full Genoa and Mizzen were flying, and the engine was
silenced. At this point, the Skipper must have started wondering, because
it was not long before he had to lower the Mizzen quicly, and pack it
away. By now we were really flying, and it was all he could do to hold the
course. But we were flying in the right direction, and knowing that we
have a very small time-window through which we can enter Richards Bay, the
Skipper hung grimly on. It could not last, and realizing that he wanted a
chance of some uninterrupted sleep, as Norfy appeared for his watch, slightly
ahead of time as ever, the skipper put two reefs in the Main and rolled
away a lot of the Genoa.
And so it stayed all night and into today.
Unlike some of the other boats, although she rolled along a bit, Cleone relished
the conditions. We averaged over six and a half knots all night. We
have caught up with our schedule, and hope to be able to slip into Richards bay
some time on Monday night, and before the next weather system catches up with us
from the South.
All is well with us, and best wishes to everyone.
James, Norfy (Chris) and Alex