 |
| COCOS TO RODRIGUES |
| We could tell from the forecast we'd be in for a blow, and it didn't disappoint us with 25-35 knots and gusts up to 44 for 3 days. The sea was ugly with swells as high as the first set of spreaders coming at all angles. Alistair was confused, so we hand-steered by day and hove to at night, parking almost head to wind and getting a good night's sleep. After crossing the submerged mountain range down the centre of the Indian Ocean, the sea evened out, and Alistair was happy again. With a couple of 180 Nm days under our belt, we were eating the distance with 3 reefs and a staysail. |
|
 |
| The only marine life we saw were these suicidal skimmer fish Jude collected from the foredack and threatened to make into "stupid fish pie". And it was COLD! We discovered the dorade boxes on the fordeck were letting in a bit of water, and the impeller in the raw water intake to the engine spat the dummy! Here Duck is seen taking a well-earned power-nap after doing some running repairs! We'd been filing daily YOTREP reports over sailmail, and picking up weather reports from good friend Ian Schmidt, but the HF radio propagation was so bad we overran our ten minute limit just logging in and were cut off from sailmail. We felt very isolated. |
 |
| Fortunately we'd arranged to keep sked with Gerhard and the boys and girls on Krautnet, our name, and even though Patrick on Eagle Dancer was the only other yacht on the same passage, it was comforting to tune in at 7.30am every day and hear "Destiny Destiny this is Gerhard, how are you today?" in heavily accented tones! A great blessing was our "shed" the waterproof cockpit covers which kept us perfectly dry in all conditions, including the odd greeny splashing over the top! Here's Jude ON watch keeping Alistair company! Another great blessing was the ergonomic arm we'd tracked down in a second-hand office furniture shop in Darwin, and adapted and installed to keep the computer safe and stable. It worked wonderfully. Please note the picture was taken in Darwin without the boat on her ear! So, no baked dinners or barbacues on this passage, just lots of bruises and spilt coffee, but it passed quickly enough, Destiny handled it exceptionally well and made excellent time. We learnt a lot and hope it's prepared us for future rough passages!! |
 |