Once More Maceió
Author: Shirlz
Sunday, 4 March 2012
I’ve been at sea since early on Thursday morning, making another brave attempt to reach Maceió.
Ron left a short while after me and was soon passing me heading directly for French Guiana and then on to make a pile of money producing gourmet pizzas.
This time the weather has been kinder and after a slow start I am now half way there. A grand total of 145 nm in 3 1/2 days. The knowledge gained is that one must somehow get at least 15 to 20 miles offshore before attempting to work your way north as a ferocious current runs against you closer in. It’s all very well flopping about in light-to-non-existent airs but to be drifting inexorably backwards as well is more than my patience can bear. So the engine was resorted to.
Chugging along, only able to maintain 2 knots against the current. Well eventually we got out of it and right now things are going more to plan. With a gentle SE breeze just forward of the beam we are doing a comfortable 3.5 knots. Sinbad has perked up and stopped looking disbelievingly at me.
The sail is working well and looking a bit more respectable now that I can almost completely raise the bottom panel. Before leaving Itaparica I had a chance to play about with it and found that moving the boom forward a few inches made a big difference. When I stop next I’ll try moving it forward a smidgeon more which should get rid of a few more creases.
Tuesday, 6th March 2012
Yesterday was a slow day with alternating calms and sudden squally rain showers. The wind constantly shifting. The sea looking as though a giant hand was fooling about with an egg-whisk. The Navik was threatening to opt out. Hand steering was required. But at least we were lurching fairly steadily along. There was an alarming number of big ships and a scattering of oil rigs that had to be negotiated. Not much opportunity to sleep. My kitchen timer, that I have used for years to wake me up every 20 minutes to have a lookout, had died.
When I sail I remove my hearing aids to protect them from the damp salty air so I need a loud alarm. The iPod provided a perfect solution. With one earbud plugged In to a naked ear I could set it’s timer-app and be reliably woken by a deafening alarm. It made a big difference as I was able to relax and drift off, confident that I could depend on being startled awake.
The timing worked out well and at about 10 this morning I was on the final approach to Maceió. A cruise ship looking like a floating block of flats passed close by, also on it’s way in. Heavy rain clouds were threatening and it was a race to get in before them. I glanced at the fish finder to check the depth and just then it gave out a tired little ‘peep’ and went blank. Oh dear. Well there didn’t seem to be any immediate dangers. Soon I was looking for a place to anchor. Lots of fishing boats and a handful of yachts on moorings. I tested the depth with a lead on a string and anchored a little way off in 5m. It was half tide so that was fine. Just had time to put the cockpit awning up when the cloudburst happened. Absolutely solid water for about 20 minutes. Excellent timing.
It’s exactly 10 years ago today that I sailed away from Port Owen heading for St Helena.
Tags: cruising
March 13th, 2012 at 02:14
Well done, You’re an inspiration. Enjoy many more