On the road again for Brazil

On the road again for Brazil

November 24, 2016

 This is the first passage that we delayed leaving because there was not enough wind to sail on Tues.  We had already cleared out Mon, but fortunately the officials are pretty relaxed in St Helena. They didn't even charge us for the extra days on the mooring ball. We enjoyed staying that extra day because we had a chance to visit with No Regrets. They arrived Tues instead of Mon, also because of these light wind.

We got together for happy hour and heard about the trip to Namibia. They said it was worth the visit. They have some repairs to do and there is nowhere to buy boat parts. Fortunately, they could get what they needed from spare parts on Tahawas. Those two boats are heading to the offshore island of Fernando before going to the marina in Jacare. This is because Bluewind will be there in early Dec. They are currently also crossing the south Atlantic. But the boat has been in the Med since being shipped there in May. They are leaving for this last leg home to Brazil from the Cape Verde islands off Senegal. The crews on Tahawas and No Regrets are flying home but the owners are not so they have more time than us for the detour. We would like to fly home for Christmas about the second week in Dec. We haven't bought tickets as the Internet was too slow for a project like that. It's better not to have a deadline when sailing anyway.

The forecasts are all for light winds this week, so it may be a long trip. It is 1800 nm to Cabadela, the nearest town, on the "bulge" of SAmerica. We have the spinnaker up and left it up overnight. We covered 115 nm the first day. It is at least a peaceful trip, and it is now tee shirt weather. We are almost at the new moon,but you can't have everything. When it is clear, the stars are amazing!

St. Helena is having their driest year in history. We are not likely then to have many squalls. But it is a serious problem for the island's water supply. For their water they use a dam and reservoir on the river through town. This is the first year there has been no extra water flowing over the dam. A desalination plant had been built at one point but not used because of the expense of moving the water made. More places in the world may have to use them despite the cost. Our's on the boat has been working great. (Touch wood)