Day 49 at sea

Dec. 18th Doug S on "Whale Watch"

Daily Log
Day: 49 at sea
Date: Thursday December 18th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 5279 nm bearing 322
Distance from NY: 4983 nm bearing 323
Distance from Cape Town: 2130 nm bearing 112
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 60 n.m.
Latitude: 27 05.894 S
Longitude: 022 14.873 W
Boat Speed: 3 - 5 knots
Boat Heading: 220 SW
Boat Sails: #1 Jib, full main
Barometer: 1026.5
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Sea State: 5 - 8 ft smaller ocean rollers
Weather Conditions: sunny, cooler
Wind Direction/Speed SE 3 - 10 knots
Temp: Air: 24 C
Cloud Cover: 30%

Doug's log for Noon report, Thursday December 18th

Another night (re Wednesday night) of very light winds. Only did 60 miles for 24 hours but sailed at least 80. On your map it looks like we went straight south, but during the night we had two 90 degree turns and a 45. From s to e to s to sw. We are waiting for a wind shift so we can head more southeast.

I woke up to a beautiful morning at 02:30 boat time. (crew's clocks are on EDT for their work schedule). Sun was just up and we were going about 3 knots e or ne. Winds just started to pick up and shift so Brendan & I tacked and we were going straight south for a while. Then winds picked up some more but we had to turn a bit west. At least saw us going over 5 knts at times.

Not much in the way of wildlife. Just big mostly black birds with white around their eyes. We can't find them in our bird book. Been with us for the last few days, and have seen three together at times but mostly solo. (Editor: Could be Albatross. See side bar under student info. for more details).

No sightings of whales yet. Must have been migrating through when the other guys were here. Other than the sounds the other night. The noise did make me jump when I heard the breathing but I wasn't scared, just startled and wondering where it was. There is an article in one of the magazines on board of a sailboat near Hawaii that was attacked by a whale. It ran into the boat a couple of times and put a big hole in it. The crew were calm. They wrote. "We got into the life raft. Took some pictures of the boat and damage for the insurance company before it sank. Too bad I didn't bring the data connector to the sat phone or I would have started a blog while we waited for the rescue boat".

We are seeing more stuff floating in the water. Plastic jugs, cardboard, we think maybe it's like the centre of a whirlpool here and everything gets drawn in.

Breakfast was self serve. The sea looked like the farmers field near where I live in Ontario. The big ocean rollers looked just like the hills there and with the sun low down, the colour was very dark. Had one of those big black birds flying around me, swooping over the crests and out of sight into the troughs. A lot like the Florida pelicans with their wing tips just missing the water. These guys never go very high though.

Temps in the sun very nice, but when the sun went behind a cloud needed a shirt. (sorry as you suffer in the cold up there!!) John was trying to fix something so I got some tools out of the vee berth. While I was there got out next week's food supply and put it away. Then figured out the cockpit radio and attached a wire Daniel G had bought for his dad, (John) so we can hook up our ipods out there. Put up Bimini by myself as the sun got pretty hot.

For lunch we had some salami & cheese with bran muffins made by Brendan with the last of the apples thrown in. Dinner will be spaghetti sauce made by Doug G.

That's about it for now, Cheers! Doug S.
---------------------------------------------
Greetings from Suspended Animosity Sailors,

"Waiting for the wind - waiting for the wind - waiting for the SW wind"

We figured 2000 miles to CT - only need 10 days @ 200mpd to get there. Or 20 @ 100 or 40 @ 50, but then we'd run right out of HH supplies so we reverted to 130 mpd = 16 days - how do you like our arithmetic now?

Apart from our obvious interest in getting to port, today we spent a lot of time in the cockpit holding lectures on decorum in particular worker-management, and worker-worker relationships, and of course union - management arrangements for which we have several varying opinions.

The SM reports that HH was very successful, with vital information on the body areas which are most painful when injected - The hand was voted the narrow winner. Several crew had this and other experiences.

Tomorrow we will try to do 150mpd regardless.

Cheers from the famous five.

Day 48 at sea

Sunset

Photo by Brendan

Daily Log
Day: 48 at sea
Date: Wednesday December 17th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 5230 nm bearing 322
Distance from NY: 4930 nm bearing 323
Distance from Cape Town: 2160 nm bearing 113
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 64 n.m.
Latitude: 26 04.857 S
Longitude: 022 14.477 W
Boat Speed: 2 - 5 knots
Boat Heading: 180 - 220 S-SSW
Boat Sails: #1 jib full main
Barometer: 1028.2
Beaufort Scale: 1 - 3
Sea 10 - 15 big ocean swells
Weather Conditions: sunny or cloudy, cooling down
Wind Direction/Speed SE 2 - 8 knots
Temp: Air: 25 C
Cloud Cover: 0 to 100%

Greetings from the South Atlantic,

Here we sat broken hearted - paid the piper and hardly started - to Cape Town that is - progress is on the less than swift side. Translation - not wind.
To get through the hard times we resorted to a mini-vacation day. The CD recommended Happy Hour, dinner of chilli and rice, followed by a movie.

The SM obliged with the HH ingredients , the evening sky provided a magnificent sunset for HH, the QM obliged with the chilli, and the CD produced a Clive Owens classic which practiced population control at max rates even for a movie. However we know the popularity of the movie is judged by the resilience of the audience and they stayed the whole distance so it gets the 4stars recommendation.

Meanwhile outside the night sky was brilliant. The smooth and quiet boat motion promoted lots of surreptitious yawning ending up with lots of snoring. Another day in the South Atlantic.

Quote of the day -'I don't snore and I don't f@#t'. Who is the owner of that questionable statement?

Cheers - your vacationing sailors
---------------------
From Doug S.

Very slow day here with light winds coming from South Africa. So we've been heading mostly south today, with some Westing. Not the best situation but you get what you get. Looks like a few days of this variable stuff. No way of knowing an ETA to South Africa now. All depends on the winds.

John made some very nice scones this morning. Jeannette take note, you've got a good baker here. Brendan made lunch with instant noodles and veg. And Stui made a very good chili and rice that Doug G ranked in the top 5 meals of the trip!

Had some excitement last night during Brendan's shift and again on mine. The moon wasn't up yet and it was cloudy. There was little wind so it was quiet. Brendan heard a whale take a breath right behind the boat. Looking around he couldn't see anything. He heard it twice more moving off. He never did see it. Then later with the moon up, no clouds, and a smooth sea, I heard the same thing, right behind the boat. But again there was nothing there. No ripples, no sign at all. I had very good visibility for a 100 yards at least. Sound must travel funny over water!

We've been watching a movie this afternoon called "Shot em up". Pretty funny.

That's all for now!
Cheers, Doug S.

Day 47 at sea

Brendan and Doug S. Laundry day.
photo by Doug G.

Daily Log
Day: 47 at sea
Date: Tuesday December 16th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 5170 nm bearing 322
Distance from NY: 4875 nm bearing 323
Distance from Cape Town: 2200 nm bearing 114
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 94 n.m.
Latitude: 25 07.989 S
Longitude: 022 45.198 W
Boat Speed: 2 - 7 knots
Boat Heading: 130 SE
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz big blue spinnaker or #1 jib, full main (Also motoring)
Barometer: 1026.1
Beaufort Scale: 0
Sea State: 2'to 15' East and from the West at the same time - unbelievable but we saw it.
Weather Conditions: cloudy light rain showers early
Wind Direction/Speed 0 - 10 knots of N,E,S, W wind
Temp: Air: 27 C
Cloud Cover: 100%


Greetings from the once again impatient sailors,

Last night we were tooling along nicely doing the 5's, 6's and 7's,then the wind took a holiday. Down came all sails and motored slowly. Wind back 5 to 8 knots - up sails tooling along then no wind - down sails - motor motor wind back in a continuous cycle until just now ( 1900zulu- that's South African for UTC) when some dirty black clouds appeared from the West. Now tooling along in 11 knots of Westish wind at 5ish knots of boat speed but - get this - straight for Cape Town and close to the Commanders Weather waypoints.

For sustenance we had cereal for breakfast, followed up by polishing off the bread baked last night by the CEO - some sort of a competition going to see who could pile on the most peanut butter - there were some nameless crew who ventured into the Nutella.

So while we were pulling sails up and down, a break time was voted for an athletic event featuring the Electronics Officer performing aquatic feats off of the bow platform -

Another Flying Fish? Or Doug S?

Photo. by Brendan

Dinner of rice, beans, onions, cheese and stuff by the Ceo, chased up by HH and some enlightening stories of roofing accoutrements viz the CEO polishing his stainless steel guttering and downpipes.

Maybe things will be just as exciting tomorrow.

Cheers from the rum corps.

"After the swim"
Doug S soaping up to wash off the salt after his "swan dive"
picture by Brendan

Day 46 at sea

Dec. 15th Blue Spinnaker

Photo by Doug S.

Daily Log
Day: 46 at sea
Date: Monday December 15th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 5081 nm bearing 323
Distance from NY: 4786 nm bearing 324
Distance from Cape Town: 2292 nm bearing 115
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 135 n.m.
Latitude: 24 13.171 S
Longitude: 024 08.872 W
Boat Speed: 7 knots
Boat Heading: 125 SE
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz all blue spinnaker. full main
Barometer: 1022.8
Beaufort Scale: 3
Sea 1 - 3 ft.
Weather Conditions: sunny now, under one cloud all morning, showers around
Wind Direction/Speed N 10 - 12 knots
Temp: Air: 28 C
Cloud Cover: 50%

Greetings from South of the Tropic of Capricorn,

See - it's not always tropical - we are now out of that pesky hot weather although it doesn't feel much different.
Reporting wise things are a bit scarce - running with the 2.2 oz spinnaker and full main straight to Cape Town as we write. We know this is probably not a good idea as we can get caught in the South Atlantic high with little wind.

We have a plan and it goes like this. 'what'll we do? - lets think about it - lets call Audrey. Then it's email- Commanders Weather -( we actually try to follow their waypoints as closely as the wind permits ) that settles any discussion.

So here we are getting closer to CT and doing reasonable daily distances.
Cheers from the sub tropical sailors.
----------------------------------
From Doug S Monday lunch time:

As you can see today we are at lat 24 long 24 just a coincidence. Wind was light all afternoon yesterday, so we left the spinnaker up until just before midnight when Brendon went under a big cloud and the winds got stronger and we had a big wind shift. All hands called on deck and the chute came down. Then we tacked over because we were heading NE.

After tack heading SSW. I took over and tried to keep that heading. We had done a lot of Easting the day before so the little Westing wasn't too bad but we were still under that cloud and the winds clocked a bit more so I was heading SW. Didn't want to wake everyone again for a tack so stuck with that for about an hour 'til John came up to relieve me at 03:00(EDT).

Sky brightning but lots of clouds around. John and I tacked and put up the spinnaker, and that's the way we've been all morning. We were again sailing under one cloud, with a squall line on our starboard side which hasn't gotten any closer all day.

Sun has been in and out with a fine rain occasionally. Looks like we may get hit with the rain later. Only 135 n.m. miles today because of the light winds yesterday afternoon and the tacking and maneuvering overnight but not bad.

Doug G made oatmeal muffins this morning and used some fresh apples he'd found, still good for baking anyway.

Sea state quite flat today so a nice smooth ride with some rocking under spinnaker and good boat speed.

Not much happening today. Did some laundry 'cause some of my clothes got wet taking down the Spinnaker last night. Just about dry, but it's spritzing out so brought clothes in, have to hang them up in vee berth. Doug G making bread today, and snags brought out for dinner.

Cheers! Doug S.

Day 45 at sea

                                                                             Shearwater

                                                                       Picture by Brendan

Daily Log
Day: 45 at sea
Date: Sunday December 14th Noon EDT

Distance from Oakville: 4950 nm bearing 324

Distance from NY: 4605 nm bearing 325

Distance from Cape Town: 2400 nm bearing 116

Distance travelled in 24 hours: 144 n.m.

Latitude: 22 52.768 S
Longitude: 026 07.495 W

Boat Speed: 5 - 9 knots

Boat Heading: 115 SE

Boat Sails: 2.2 oz all blue spinnaker. full main

Barometer: 1022.6

Beaufort Scale: 3

Sea 3 - 6 ft.

Weather Conditions: sunny with high cloud, warm

Wind Direction/Speed NE 8 - 10 knots

Temp: Air: 29C

Cloud Cover: 50% but high thin, letting sun through.

Greetings from the frustrated sailors,

Today started ok and went zippeddoodaa down from that. Wind died, then became shifty,(who are you calling shifty??), confused seas, then not enough wind.

Had the 0.5 oz spinnaker up which lasted 45 minutes before destroying itself - leaving two leech lines up the mast, no head, and a pile of ripped nylon floating around. - Sorry Murray S - we owe you one.

After dark the stuffo hit the fan - wind shifted 45 degrees - all hands removing the 2.2 oz spinnaker, gybing boat, then the sky peed on us. Wet bum - no fish. Everyone went to sleep - sort of .

Ah- the life of a sailor man.

Cheers from the wet ones.

----------------------

From Doug S. Sunday afternoon:

We had a change of plan last night for dinner as the veg locker wasn't smelling pleasant. One bad potato found and tossed and the rest were cut up for a seafood chowder. Now we just have onions left from the fresh food bought in NJ. Actually there is still a loaf of the brown bread in the fridge but no one is brave enough to try it. It does look OK from the outside. The clam & mackerel chowder was very good along with the bread. (Stui made both).

My 18-21 shift was a trying shift as the winds were light and the boat did not want to be on the heading I wanted it to be on. It is easy to steer when the boat is fighting you a little. This puts pressure on the wheel that you can lean against. Last night right on the heading I wanted there was a null spot, and you always had to turn the the wheel to keep it there. If you looked away,then boat would be 10 degrees off, one side or the other and you'd have to steer it back. So a bit of a zig zag last night. Boat was steady last night so a nice sleep with not much motion.

A cloudy morning or more like one big cloud over us. The cloud slowly overtook us. John decided to put up the blue spinnaker which increased our speed enough that we sailed back under the cloud. Sun very hot when the cloud finally left us.

Nice steering today under the bimini. We would bake without it. Steering more towards Cape Town today, because the wind has moved more out of the North. The only problem with this is if we come in too far North and get into the S Atlantic high. There is very little wind there and we'd be stuck waiting. So the plan is to head more Southerly and get the bottom of the high which will blow us right into Africa.

Doug G made a nice early dinner today. It was like a shepherd's pie but with fish, so a sailor pie. Had instant potatoes, bacon, last of Mr. Mackerel, corn, onions, and green beans. Very tasty!!!

We are approaching our furthest point East on the trip, so the sun will set earlier. Also approaching the Tropic of Capricorn ( 23° 26′ 22″ S) which means we will be officially out of the tropics, but being the middle of Dec., the sun is right overhead of us, now approaching the longest day of the year. So the sub tropics are very nice right now!!

Cheers, Doug S.

Another image of Ilhas Martin Vaz.
(Island we passed by yesterday).

Picture by Brendan

Day 44 at sea

Daily Log
Day: 44 at sea
Date: Saturday December 13th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 4812 nm bearing 325
Distance from NY: 4518 nm bearing 326
Distance from Cape Town: 2550 nm bearing 118
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 158 nm
Latitude: 21 13.612 S
Longitude: 027 59.226 W
Boat Speed: 9 - 12 knots
Boat Heading: 150 SSE
Boat Sails: #1 jib #2 reef main
Barometer: 1023.1
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 3 - 5 ft. bigger earlier
Weather Conditions: sunny, air getting cooler, sun hot
Wind Direction/Speed E 9 - 15 knots
Temp: Air: 28C
Cloud Cover: 20% High clouds West, small puffy around here

Greetings from the Culturalists
Today being a Saturday a designated day of leisure, we voted to review our cultural activities.
Now while book readings of Herodotus and Hemmingway were high on the priority list, and playing cribbage counts, and Nintendo seems to be in illicit use, plus movies, the main pleasure is music.
We have 4 ipods, one largish Bose system, and a cockpit stereo. All work great.
The Sm would like to recognize the talents and excellent personality of the Razor K - last seen in the Ford paint spray booth#1. Razor was kind enough to provide me with 850 songs which are in constant use on board the FGT.
During the night watches it is hard to beat great music on the headphones - we have a great selection - oldies to bring back memories, rap, current stuff and the classics - Bach concertos when the going gets rough.
So the favourite songs by crew are Dusty Springfield - Windmills of your Mind, Led Zeppilin - Whole lotta Love, Dixie chicks - Earl, Pink Floyd -Comfortably Numb, ( a nod to Murray S - and we had his chute up today - still is) The Water Boys - the fishermans blues.
Oh yes - we missed the islands - saw our first land this morning - the uninhabited island of Martin Vas (see picture below here in Doug S report) - no wonder there is no one there - it rises straight up - looks like a big green rock cone shaped, with a smaller version a few miles away - never did see Is Trinidad.
Dinner by the QM was a fish and clam chowder - last of the spuds - absolutely delic with fresh baked bread. Mmmm.

Cheers from the high brow sailors
Excerpts from Doug S. email:

As things settled down after sunset last night the wind went down below 10. The reef was pulled out. I was off to bed for my 03 shift. The wind came up overnight to over 15 knts so all were out at 01:40 to put a #2 reef in the main. Low clouds around blocking the bright moon but sky to the East was brightening quickly.

I decided to stay up, was playing Nintendo DS in cockpit, with Brendan steering when he asked me to look at funny clouds on the horizon. Nope no clouds, there were the Ilhas Martin Vaz. We were about 13 miles away to the NE. Still in twilight. Not a place to picnic with sheer cliffs to the ocean. Not even a light on these 3 Islands. Think it's just too steep to get anything on. Only way would be by helicopter.

I was steering while Brendan took pics, as sun slowly came up, but a lot of low cloud kept Islands in the shade. We had been heading SE-SSE all night to make sure we avoided the rocks but once in sight I steered due S and we got to about 12 miles away. Sun finally lit up the cliffs, no sign of vegetation. There were a lot of birds flying around. Terns, and one Shearwater. I'm sure the Islands's were full of nests.

Ilhas Martin Vaz
Picture by Brendan

As you can see in the pic there is the main Island with smaller ones to the North and South. Brendan and I were on the lookout the whole time while others came out for a quick peek. Our closest position was 20 27.319 S/028 38.156 W. Around 03:30 boat time..EDT..(time approx).

Then with the wind up around 13, we turned back on our SSE course racing away at about 8 knts. We could just see the main Island on the horizon when we were 25 miles away.

Looking at the chart, even though we were only 12 miles away the water was between 13000-16000 ft deep under the boat. That is one steep mountain. For those who have been to Banff Alberta in Canada.....those mountains (The Rockies) start at 4500 ft (i.e. Banff is at 4500ft above sea level) and are just over 9000 ft high, so just 4500 ft difference. And they look big. Therefore if we were standing on the sea bed these islands would tower over 15000ft above us.

We could not see the bigger Island of Ilha Da Trindade being so much further off to our West. I went back to bed after John came on shift @ 06, in bright sunshine with the Island just visible. John had made pancakes for breakfast. The guys were kind enough to leave me some for when I woke up. Stui is going to make the rest of the Mackerel up for dinner with a mustard sauce. Mmmmmm!

So that was a big event in our trip, The next landfall will be South Africa. Now we need a close whale sighting for all of us to see, just to round things off. It's just before 13:00 here as I wrap this up and as usual the winds are taking their afternoon break, down to 8 knts.
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To answer more of your questions and comments.
About the sun. Right now as we approach the tropic of Capricorn, the sun is directly overhead at noon local as we come up to the longest day and Canada is headed for the longest night, of the year. Dec. 21st down here is equivalent to June 21st at home.

At Equinox the sun would be directly over the Equator but now it is almost directly over the Capricorn line. So Canadians are of course the furthest away from the sun right now as you can be. (Cold!). A picture right now would be the same as a summer
day at home.

Later as we get further South the sun will be in the North at noon, (Australians are used to this, but Canadians are used to seeing the sun in the South at Noon) maybe we can get a pic of that.

If at the equator you are spinning around at over 1100 mph I believe compared to 900 at florida and 600 at home, I'm going by memory here so could be wrong. Sunset therefore will be quicker at the Equator.

About the compass....variations and the difference in the Southern hemisphere. Since we are a modern boat and we live in 2008 we don't use magnetic North, we use true North. This never varies. The GPS,s all are set to that.
Our compass of course does use magnetic but we just steer by a number there, that relates to our true North. We figure our course to the next commanders weather mark, then take into account the wind. And has been the case for most of this trip...the wind is the determining factor. Then we just sail as hard on the wind as we can and see what that is on the compass.

When I relieve Brendan on watch, he tells me what he has been steering. I try that and improve if I can or just stay the same. And the same happens when John comes up to relieve my watch.
As we make our landfall courses will be more important so we will use the GPS and just figure out what the magnetic compass says after that.

For communications we are presently using our satellite phone to email, because Ham radio frequencies are weak at the moment. We will continue to use these two methods of communication throughout the trip all the way to Melbourne. We prefer Ham radio connections, as they are free. Sat. phone is $1 a minute.

Cheers, Doug S.

Day 43 at sea

Portugese Man O' War
Picture by Brendan

Daily Log
Day: 43 at sea
Date: Friday December 12th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 4650 nm bearing 325
Distance from NY: 4328 nm bearing 326
Distance from Cape Town: 2700 nm bearing 119
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 144 nm
Latitude: 19 09.551 S
Longitude: 029 43.133 W
Boat Speed: 4 - 6 knots
Boat Heading: 150 SSE
Boat Sails: #1 jib full main
Weather Conditions: sunny hot sun comfortable breeze
Barometer: 1024.3
Sea State: 2 - 4 ft. short and choppy
Wind Direction/Speed E 5 - 8 knots
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Temp: Air: 28C Ocean: 26C
Cloud Cover: clear overhead clouds on horizon

Greetings from the Fish Eaters and explorers,

Feeling pretty pleased with our haul from Thursday, just after 8am boat time, the CEO smiled slightly, disappeared into the galley, surfacing some 15 minutes later with a plate of chunk size fried mackerel. Deliciious, and they kept coming until the crew groaned enough enough for now - how about a cold one? Our fridge is amazing - want a cold one? Sure thing it's nice and cold - can't beat it with a stick.

Later - having rested up after that strenuous effort - the chart called for a cluster of islands and our route went right into them.
The smartie navigators reckoned we would see them about dawn Sat. - with a bit of luck. We'll see if we are any good at playing explorers.

HH was a celebration of the full Moon rising - a spectacular golden-yellow globe on the Eastern horizon. Moonshine burnished the ocean surface giving us a magnificent night scene on the South Atlantic.

Wind conditions continue favourable and the bets are coming in on the date of arrival in Cape Town - the SM says Dec 29, the CEO Dec 31, The QM Jan 4, the CO Jan 3, and the CD Dec 30.

Cheers from the explorers
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Excerpts from Doug S. email earlier:

As John has told you, we had some excitement with our dinner yesterday, as Stui landed the mackerel. The dinner was really great even with the interruption. They have come a long way with instant potatoes. We had the last of our cabbage. It had been frozen so wasn't the best coleslaw of the trip.

After some quick emails, it was off to bed for me to catch some sleep before my 21:00 shift. My alarm didn't wake me (again) and poor Brendan had to come and get me 25 minutes into my shift. New alarm for me from now on!

Nice winds for my steer, and speeds around 7-8. Mostly clear with a very bright moon. Blotted out all but the brightest stars. Just as John was relieving my shift, a slight rain shower was starting, but it wasn't much.

Today, caught some sun while reading and Doug G started making some fish nuggets,(using shake n bake ) from last evening catch. (He used to own a fish n chip shop so he knows what he's doing. His batter on the Mahi Mahi was better, but this was still excellent). He kept making them and we kept eating 'til we could eat no more. Still lots of fish left too!!

Doug G, Stui, and Brendan coordinated the capture of a Portuguese Man-o-War, with a lookout, helmsman, and bucketman. Got one on their second try. Studied him and took some pics and then set it free. ( Will send pics when we have good connection).

My afternoon steer was uneventful from 12-15. Low winds around 6-8 and boat speeds 5-6.

HH and dinner took place together as everyone still full of fish nuggets. Watched the sunset and moon rise as it looks full tonight.

We are about 60 miles from a pair of islands that we're going to get fairly close to. This should happen in about 10 hours, during daylight. We plan on being well away from them, so probably won't see them.

They are at latitude 20 29 S, longitude 028 51W (Ilha Martim Vaz) and Ilha Trindade latitude 20 29s, longitude 029 28W.

Both Islands are tops of underwater mountains so there are no reefs around and it drops off very quickly to very deep depths. This will be our closest approach to land so thank you GPS and charts!! Let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Zoom right in as close as possible, on map, for clear and close up view of the islands. Also click on higlighted word above to read more info. or check out "Student links" on the right side of the main page of our blog for same link. Be sure to scan down the information page to read some interesting information of past sailing expeditions that have called in to these islands, including my favourite..Scott...and even a mention on episodes of Star Trek, (for you trekkie fans).

Cheers! Doug S.

Day 42 at sea

Dec. 11th Stui catches a 15lb Mackerel
Photo by Doug G.

Daily Log
Day: 42 at sea
Date: Thursday December 11th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 4515 nm bearing 325
Distance from NY: 4220 nm bearing 326
Distance from Cape Town: 2805 nm bearing 123
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 162.5 nm NEW HIGH!
Latitude: 16 52.082 S
Longitude: 030 28.003 W
Boat Speed: 5 - 9 knots
Boat Heading: 180 S
Boat Sails: #1 jib #2 reef main
Barometer: 1022.6
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 2 - 6 ft. short and choppy
Weather Conditions: sunny warm puffy clouds
Wind Direction/Speed E 8 - 12 knots
Temp: Air: 30C Ocean: 26C / 79F
Cloud Cover: 40%


Greetings from the Thursday Slackers...until dinner time,

Thursday in the South Atlantic tropics - 500 miles, 500 miles (that dang Peter Paul & Mary song), 500 miles off the coast of Brazil and 800 miles from Copacabana - the crew insisted on going to the beach but the SM vetoed that because the dress code there is simply not up to the FGT standards. Apparently they all wear thongs and not shoes, and they have something known as a Brazilian haircut which the crew were anxious to investigate further.

Having warded off that crisis, the disgruntled crew then insisted on a beer after pancakes - some nasty eating habits surfacing after 6 weeks at sea. Slacking continued until the next crisis - the starboard fishing reel rachet broke so with the combined brains of 5 men( which equals 1 women ) it was fixed in under 3 hours. Very satisfied with our efforts we broke off work to continue slacking .

The SM woke up to the smells of steak BBQing, with mashed spuds, onions, coldslaw, and mixed veges - the 3 crew team prepared this magnificent feast.

So there we were - 5 hungry guys tucking into the mashed spuds when the Port reel screamed - mackerel, mackerel, big mackerel - Stui - being the closest sprang into action, while the rest of us continued munching for about 10 seconds before we headed for our battle stations. Gaff, knives, buckets, hammers, lots of advice, minor amount of yelling, instructions from the 5 experts, and there she was - a 15lb King Mackrel landed on the transom.

Within 10 minutes there was 10lbs of fillets in the freezer - one slightly wounded QM - the bleeding stopped with the ½ hour, and 5 quietly satisfied sailors sitting down to knock off the steak dinner.

HH in the cockpit watching our 42nd ocean sunset.

We are saying nothing about the wind forecast.

Cheers from the Fishermen.
-------------------------------------

Excerpts from Doug S email Thursday morning:

Very nice warm weather here the last few days. Might be too hot if the boat wasn't going so fast. Yesterday, Stui made some bread, and we had chicken salad, salami, and cheese to go with it. A nice sunset with some high wispy clouds. John and I saw a muted GREEN FLASH. (click word to read definition). There is a lot of motion on the boat and the sun went down and came up again and did turn green but it wasn't as distinct as the one I saw with Audrey on the Gulf coast years ago.

My shift last night from 15:00 - 18:00 was the sunset cruise, and it was a very nice sail with steady winds and fast boat speed between 6 and 8 knots. Everyone sleeping at 18:00 so off to bed for me too. (The time would be about 20:00- 20:30 local) My trouble is I only sleep about 5 hours at a time. Awake just after midnight, so played Nintendo DS for awhile. It's hard to do in the Vee berth being bounced and rocked around. My morning shift was 06-09. I set my alarm for 5:45, (accidentally p.m.) so woke up with a start at 06:05. I always seem to be late to relieve Brendan's shift. Funny the other Doug is always late for Stui. Must have something to do with the name Doug. Again a nice sail with winds about the same.

Only thing of note this morning was a Portuguese man-o-war jelly fish floated close by the boat. At first it looked just like a pink plastic bag, but Stui and I got a good look it. Just the one all on it's own.

Doug G made pancakes for breakfast, and Stui and I fixed up a fishing reel ratchet. That was about it.

Some of you are asking if we are getting bored yet. It has been a long trip but it is so different from normal life that it hasn't gotten old yet. Not sure if any would be quick to do such a long trip again, but that was the whole point. A once in a life time trip. Lots of things to keep oneself occupied. Fixing things, sailing, cooking, cleaning, hygiene, resting, reading, it is very relaxing. The view is always the same but different also. The waves are always bigger, smaller, longer, shorter. The water colour is always changing too. The blues are just amazing. Flying fish are skimming the waves. And we're always on the lookout for dolphins, whales, ships, or something different. So far so good.

A correction for a statement made the other day. Sorry about that but I'm always getting my left and right mixed up.
Port tack is when the wind is coming over the LEFT SIDE of the boat as port is on the left.

Cheers, Doug S.

Day 41 at sea

Daily Log
Day: 41 at sea
Date: Wednesday December 10th Noon EDT
Distance from Oakville: 4385 nm bearing 325
Distance from NY: 4089 nm bearing 326
Distance from Cape Town: 2886 nm bearing 123
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 161 nm NEW HIGH!
Latitude: 14 09.611 S
Longitude: 030 23.977 W
Boat Speed: average 6 knots
Boat Heading: 180 S
Boat Sails: #1 jib #1 reef main
Barometer: 1022.1
Beaufort Scale: 3
Sea State: 2 - 5 ft.
Weather Conditions: sunny warm high cirrus cloud
Wind Direction/Speed SE 7 - 10 knots
Temp: Air: 31C / 88F Ocean: 26C / 79F
Cloud Cover: 10%

Greetings from Whale watchers,

The CEO saw a large whale jumping out of the water this morning. It was the same fish that now has broken 3 hooks on our fishing gear. At least it felt like a whale on the line.

Didn't see anything else today despite looking out at the brilliant blue sea frequently.

At 2:30am the wind went from 3 knots to 19 knots in 15 minutes, resulting in the boat charging through the night on its side until we adjusted the mainsail. Then the wind stayed 11 to 15 knots for the next 12 hours so we've been makin' bacon! Got the 161 miles this 24 hrs - nice.

Breakfast was supposed to be fish. Lunch from the QM was savoury bread - olives, bacon, cheese and lurve baby.
Delicious.

Now for HH and some uninhabited chatting.

Cheers from the Mile Makers

--------------------------------------------------------
Excerpts from Doug S email:

My 00-03 watch started with very nice winds of 10-12 with boat speed 7 - 8.5 on GPS. Mostly clear night, and Brendan pointed out the Southern Cross in the SE sky quite low down. First time I've seen that.

About 2 hours into the shift the wind shifted about 20 degrees towards the South and then died to 5 - 6 knots for about 15 minutes. All of a sudden winds blowing 16 - 19, boat a bit overpowered and I'm going 6 - 7.5 and hanging on! John came up for his shift at 03, with the sun just about to come up. Winds going down slowly. I was off to the Vee berth to get some more sleep.

This morning another big fish hit the line and got off bending the hook. Big guys down in the southern hemisphere.

Hard on the wind as usual, so lots of heel. Stui lost a yeast mixture as it was tossed off a counter top. Doug & Stui spotted a whale off in the distance. Stui saw a spout and Doug G saw it breach and splash down. No others sighted yet. Pretty slow day. Boat going good, quite hot out.

Here are some more questions answered for those asking:

Would you like anything sent to South Africa for when you stop there?
-No, we don't need anything sent to South Africa but thanks for asking.

Do you miss seeing other people?
-We miss seeing loved ones but not strangers. It's nice being away, thus far.

Do you miss seeing land?
-It would be nice to see some of the small islands we are coming close too, but they are too far out of our way.

Have there been any scary moments?
-No, it's not scary at all, The boat is very secure with the bars all the way around. We don't venture out of the cockpit at night unless we have to do a sail change and then there are 4 or 5 of us. There is nothing to hit out here except whales, and ships. The 401 highway is a lot more scary!!!

Do you have lights on the boat at night time?
-Yes we have a light at the top of the mast. It is called a tri-light. Red to port, green starboard and white aft. Also if the visibility is bad we have a strobe up there too.

Have you had any fog?
-No fog as of yet.

What has been the worst weather so far?
-For worst wxx, we've had very heavy downpours, small hail for a few minutes. Some lightning, but not too close. Big waves at the beginning of trip with the boat plowing right into them. Lots of noise and big splashes. Not scared but wondered how strong the boat was. She gave us the answer. Very strong!!

Any repairs been needed so far?
-No major repairs needed so far, Small ones have been replacement parts or work around solutions.

Do you see more stars out there than at home?
-Yes a lot more stars on clear nights but lots of blank spots too.

Any particular constellations?
-Orion and Big Dipper, are easy, Little Dipper still hard to see. Now we see the Southern Cross. Planets very bright. Moon very bright but on those nights then the stars are hard to see.

Do you miss your privacy in such close quarters?
-Privacy, no one seems to care. All old guys

Do you use fresh water or sea water to brush your teeth?
-fresh water to brush teeth

Do you miss any particular food or drink?
- Don't miss anything, food is good, we still have treats. Will run out of coke next day or two.

Do you miss steady land?
-Steady land will be a treat.

Do you get exercise?
-Walk around deck is slippery so no exercise there. Not really very much of that going on, other than trying to stay upright. That can be a workout.

Thanks for your interest. Any queries are welcome, send them along to svfalcongt@yahoo.ca and we will try to answer them a.s.a.p.

Day 40 at sea

Daily Log
Day 40 at sea
Date: Tuesday December 9th
Distance From Oakville: 4243 n.m. bearing 325
Distance From NY: 3946 n.m. bearing 325
Distance From Cape Town: 2994 n.m. bearing 125 under 3000 Straight line.
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 151 n.m.
Latitude: 11 30.041 S
Longitude: 030 48.006 W
Boat Speed: 5-9 knots
Boat Heading:180 s
Sails: #1 jib #1 reef main
Barometer: 1021.8
Sea State: 3 - 6 short choppy
Weather Conditions: warm sun, nice breeze, small puffy clouds
Wind Direction/Speed: SE 7-12 knots
Temperature: Air 30C Ocean 27C
Cloud Cover: 20%

Greetings from Tuesdays sailors,

Another day in tropical watery paradise.
Kicked off the days action with blueberry scones for breakkie, courtesy of the QM - what can you say? Delicious.
Then the reel screamed big fish, big fish , really big fish - the CD was tasked with reeling in the 1000 meters of 100# line with a little help from his 2 of his friends. Took 3 guys 10 minutes of frantic and hard winding on the reel to get it within sight - then - you guessed it - broken line and no fish. If anything deserved a cold beer that did - so we had just the one.
Looking out to the port bow - a pod of dolphins raced by leaping out of the water with nary a care in the world. Seaworld visits FGT.
Later, reviewing the port bow scene again showed a fishing boat 2.5 miles away - action stations - it passed by 0.5 miles ahead and continued on its merry way - we decided it was a Brazilian fishing boat because we spoke to a similar boat a couple of days ago. We think they spoke Portuguese.
We stood down, and the CEO produced Pizza - almost unbelievable because we only phoned in the order 15 minutes before. Great service out here. And great pizza.

Life is good.
Cheers from the fast food sailors.
-----------------------------
Answer to another question from Doug S Email:

Some info about the boat- We have a Force10 Stove on board that uses propane just like most people`s BBQ. The tanks are located in the back of the boat in the water tight compartment. The stove has 1 big burner and 2 small. It is gimbaled from side to side, so you can cook without too much worry of stuff flying off. It is a full stove also with a bottom burner and broiler.
We use a lot of electricity. There are large batteries that are charged by our main diesel engine.(70hp yanmar). Space and expense ruled out solar panels and wind generators. We run the engine twice a day to charge the batteries. We use this computer, 1 large &1 small chart plotter, radios SSB & VHF, auto pilot, boat instruments, the fridge freezer, navigation lights at night, cooling fans in the cabin, along with reading lights, all our personal stuff like I-pods and cameras that have to be charged up. The engine must be run if we use the microwave, or electric kettle. So as you can see we are really roughing it out here.
Cheers, Doug S.

Day 39 at sea

Daily Log
Day 39 at sea
Date: Monday December 8th
Distance From Oakville: 4125 n.m. bearing 324
Distance From NY: 3827 n.m. bearing 325
Distance From Cape Town: 3078 n.m. bearing 127
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 157 n.m. New High!
Latitude: 09 00.636 S
Longitude: 030 42.607 W
Boat Speed: 5 - 8 knots
Heading: 180 South
Sails: #1 jib #1 reef main
Barometer: 1021.3
Beaufort Scale: 3
Sea State: 3 - 6 ft./ short choppy
Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny, showers
Wind Direction/Speed: East 8 - 10 knots
Temperature: 30C
Cloud Cover: 10%, Heavy showers occasionally

Email from Doug S today:
A hitchhiker came aboard last night, while I was on deck talking to Stuart during his shift. A black bird cruised up the side of the boat and landed on the rail, stayed until dawn.
My shift was 3 - 6 a.m. Light rain had just started, so put on wet weather stuff. Good thing, got into a good downpour about 1/2 hour later. Wind died to about 6 knots and rain quit. I was just going to throw the fishing line in, when the wind came up to 18 knots so turned and ran with it. Too much sail up for that. The boat heels way over and you need a lot of strength to hold it straight. So you turn and run downwind. That lasted about 15 minutes and then the wind fell to a nice 10-11 knots, so back on course. One good thing about all the wind was that it blew us away from another heavy rain shower.

Rest of the crew woke up around 05:30. Stui did some laundry, John got some breakfast, and then took his shift. We all put a reef in the main because of rising winds. Then I was off for a nap. While I was sleeping a big Mahi Mahi was on the line, but got away. Big enough to have straightened the hook out on the lure!

We have been asked why we have headed towards South America. No we're not off to Rio. It's just the way a sail boat has to go to take advantage of the winds in the different hemispheres. In the North there was supposed to be a clockwise rotation that's going East off NY and then comes back to the west from the Sahara to the Caribbean. You've all seen how the hurricanes come across (during hurricane season which is why we left in Nov.)

Unfortunate for us, we didn't get the Westerlies and had to go against the wind for the first week. We then caught the North East trade winds just north of the Cape Verdes. These only lasted 3 days and then we got into the doldrums near the equator. For us the doldrums where nice Easterly winds until a big cloud would come over us and then the wind would stop. Sometimes rain, heavy rain and if we got wind it was trying to blow us out of the storm.

This lasted till just South of the Equator. Now, the Southern Hemisphere is opposite with a counter clockwise flow. So as we crossed the doldrums we entered the South East trades coming off Africa towards South America. That accounts for our heading South West right now.

As we gradually get further South, the wind is switching to Easterly, so then we can go straight South. Just before the bottom of Africa the winds will be Westerly and we can just ride them into Cape Town.

With a sail boat you can't go directly against the wind, always at an angle. And so far about 80% of the time we have been hard on the wind. This trip was supposed to be downwind sailing. That's the only way the old square riggers could go. This year the old ships would have had a very hard time.

One other point. Our boat speed is a range not average. Our course is not a straight line between points. Some days there are curves and tacks as the wind switches around. Not many tacks lately. We've been on port tack since the Equator. That is the preferred one. Easier in galley, the Vee berth and the toilet. Can't sleep in Vee berth if big starboard heel. (The wind over which side determines tack). Wind on left side of boat is port tack.

John is itching to get the tail winds so he can fly his spinnakers. Those are the big colourfull sails at the front of the boat when we get an extra 2 or 3 knots. So we'll see what the wind gods have in store for us. So far the Southern Hemisphere has been so much better than the North. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Thanks to everyone for emails, support, interest and questions.
We'll try to answer more of your queries over the next few days,

Cheers,
Doug S.

Day 38 at sea

Brendan setting up camera for "Hemispheres Christmas Card"
(this photo taken by Doug G.)

( Click on image for a much larger view ... if you dare ) !

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE NEW HEMISPHERE(S)

We're sending out our Christmas card early, We didn't want any 5 o'clock shadows creeping in. As you can see King Neptune was given a close shave for excessive punishments, during the crossing.
But the rest of the crew felt sorry for him and it was agreed that all should get the same treatment!
The crew seems to have changed.
We now have a Monk, Leprechaun, Terrorist, Rabbi, and Wrestler on board!
Can you guess who's who??
Hope you like the new look. Still having fun out here.
Hope all are well and keeping warm in Canada.
Love to all
Your Crew on Falcon GT

Daily Log

Day 38 at sea
Date: Sunday December 7th
Distance From Oakville: 4035 n.m. bearing 323

Distance From NY: 3736 n.m. bearing 324

Distance From Cape Town: 3142 n.m. bearing 128

Distance travelled in 24 hours: 140 n.m.

Latitude: 06 25.810 S
Longitude: 030 15.615 W

Speed: 6 - 8 knots

Heading: 200 SSW

Sails: #1 jib Full Main

Barometer: 1022.9

Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4

Sea State: short choppy 3-6 ft

Weather Conditions: very sunny, cool breeze, hot sun

Wind Direction/Speed ESE 7-14 knots

Temperature: Air 29 C / 84 F Ocean 26 C / 79 F

Cloud Cover: 10%

Greetings from the tropical sailors,

Our report today is of observations made both night and day. Night-time had the flying fish whack the SM in the face scaring him while he added to Tom and Courtney's bucket, and man - do they stink like fish! Saw one shooting star, 2 aeroplanes, one freighter, and a fair amount of sparkles and phosphorescence in the wake. Lots of glittering stars - why do they glitter? especially just before dawn. Anika - maybe Spencer C can help with that question.

Daytime observations - one Corey Shearwater messing with the sails - trying to figure out what that white thing is. Came back a couple of times.

The Quartermaster Stui excelled once again - drunch of lentils and yoghurt, - a side dish - followed by grilled and spiced pork chops, corn niblets, fried potatoes and onions - absolutely delicious.

HH discussed management of banks, small business's, then anthropology, and birding. Plus a sidebar on bicycle accidents.

One more magnificent day in the South Atlantic - 6 years in the shed - well worthwhile.

Cheers from the satiated sailors.

----------------------

Editor's Note: Many people have expressed an interest in why the crew of FGT are presently sailing closer to the coast of South America rather than South Africa.

Details of the planned journey are posted on Brendan's website, click here for details of the: Sailing Route.

The planned route may also be viewed at the top of this page in the map graphic designed by Doug S.

Their journey takes the route of the great clipper ships from North America and Europe on the way to South Africa and Australia. For those who may not have had an opportunity, click here to read Falcon GT brochure explaining the journey, the crew, the building of FGT and the fight for cancer that motivates the crew ever forward.

Thank you to everyone from the crew of FGT, for your keen interest and support.

Day 37 at sea

Daily Log
Day 37 at sea
Date: Saturday December 6th
Distance Fr0m Oakville: 3927n.m. bearing 322

Distance From NY: 3627 n.m. bearing 323

Distance From Cape Town: 3214 n.m. bearing 130

Distance Travelles in 24 hours: 141 n.m.

Latitude: 04 11.113 S
Longitude: 029 44.706 W

Speed: 5-7 knots

Heading: 210

Sails: #2jib #2reef main

Barometer: 1020.6

Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4

Sea State: 2-3 ft. short chop

Weather Conditions: Warm sunny

Wind Direction/Speed: SSE 7-14 knots

Temperature: Air hot 32C Ocean 26C

Cloud Cover: 5%

Greetings to our ladies,

We dedicate this to our wives Jeannette, Audrey, Vivian and Elena, who have allowed us, completely by ourselves, to leave town, get outta Dodge, sail away, be selfish, think of no-one but ourselves, go away with our mates, P O, get on our bikes, hit the road, leave it all behind, leave the mess behind, slip out the back jack, see a watery world, throw up, eat mens type food, freeze our a's off, sweat, live in a washing machine on HD cycle, swim away, go fishin', have one beer before lunch, have HH, solve world problems, tell large stories, manage huge corporations, swear like drunken sailors, look for and pass wind, dress up, look silly, and sail, sail, sail.

While we indulge our fantasies, our ladies have been, taking care of business, looking after numerous and wide spread children, keeping tabs on the extended families, friends and neighbours and the visa bill, mowing the lawns, raking leaves, shovelling snow, going shopping anytime and anyplace, going out to lunch, eating salads and drinking white wine, sweeping and vacuuming the house, washing, ironing, dispensing advice, replying to our frivolous emails and never ending demands to do stuff for us, predicting weather, keeping tabs on Mum, Mom, and Pop, and hoping we left them some loot to live on.

For this you have our eternal love

John, Doug, Douglas, and Stuart

Day 36 at sea

Daily Log
Day 36 at sea
Date: Friday December 5th
Distance From Cape Town: 3207 n.m. bearing 132
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 150 n.m.
Latitude: 02 27 S (S now instead of N)
Longitude: 028 53 W
Speed: 6-7 knots
Heading: 205
Sails: #2 jib #4reef Main
Barometer: 1020.9
Beaufort Scale: 5
Sea State: short 4-6 ft. from S/E
Weather Conditions: mostly sunny, hot
Wind Direction/Speed: SE 15-20 knots
Temperature: Air 31C 88F
Cloud Conditions: 30% to West 0% to East

Cheers from the Southern Hemisphere Sailors,

A windy day and no baked beans involved - cracked the 150 miles daily run - we're getting better - the FGT is fairly hard on the wind crashing into the 4' to 6' seas coming from 45 degrees in front of the Port side. While the letdown of the boat down the back of the waves is gentle, every 5 minutes or so a wave slaps the side or front or aft just pushing the boat sideways - bottom line was jib2, and 4 reefs settled things down. Lots of warm salty spray.
Lunch of the CEO's spaghetti bolagnaise, ( a French specialty) followed by a session of the Library Club, snoozes, and then dusk fell. The day was celebrated by HH where the QM reported sighting an 18" diameter turtle waving hello right next to the boat.
Also a Brazilian fishing boat was close by. They called us on the radio. He spoke only Portuguese. Doug G tried some English, Spanish and an Italian "Ciao", from his recent travels. No one understood anything! Lots of talking though. We didn't hit each other anyway.

We are saying nothing about the weather predictions just in case of a jinx. Cross our fingers , knock on wood, Cape Town here we come.

Cheers from the SH sailors

Day 35 at sea

Brendan crossing the Equator (with a little flour)
Pic by Doug S.

More Picture evidence from Falcon Gt, crossing the Equator December 4th 2008

GPS CAPTURES THE MOMENT.
13:57 EDT / 06:57 International Date Line Time on GPS
Photo by Doug S.

Stuart bakes a "Zero" cake to celebrate.
Photo by Doug S.

King Neptune and his assistant the devil
Photo by Doug S

Crossing The Equator and Slimy Pollywogs become Trusty Shellbacks (click on words to read definition and details).

Daily Log
Day 35 at sea
Date: Thursday Dec. 4th
Lat: 00 00.000N FGT & her crew CROSSED THE EQUATOR AT 13:47:42 EDT
Long: 027 38.344 W
Distance from Cape Town: 3288 n.m.
Speed: 6 knots
Baro: 1018.5
Beaufort Scale: 3-4
Sea State: short choppy 2-4 ft.waves from the SE
Weather Conditions: warm mostly cloudy with heavy showers
Wind Direction/Speed: SE 8-14 knots- stronger in rain showers
Temperate: Air hot 30C Ocean 26C

Greetings from the Big E,

The count down to the Equator took an hour. Cameras ready for the quintupal zeros. The CEO got the perfect square. Others made it just N or S. Then King Neptune appeared on the good ship FGT, disguised as a wicked bug-eyed monster, ably assisted by his side kick the devil.
No mercy was spared starting with the eldest member of those accused of crimes against the ocean. He - The CO - was guilty of talking seriously with his better half while absolutely sober. - disgusting - he copped it good. Then the QM stepped up to receive his punishment for having the gazoobras to leave his beautiful and long-suffering wife to swan around the world as free as a stormy petrel. He was a sorry boy when KN and his sidekick finished with him. The next victim - the CD really is a wastrel - his crime of abandoning a v rewarding and satisfying career in the bank , plus no longer supporting the GO train, resulted in a nasty volume of flour liberally spread all over him.
What happened next is really unbelievable - the Devil and the crew captured the King, and subjected him to a v demeaning, embarrassing, and damaging personal assault. Now who is in charge - these mutineers? Or the King? Shades of Captain Bligh.
After, KN swam the ½ mile back to the boat , dried off, looked in the mirror and an image of his grandfather appeared.
The CD produced a magnum of champers - courtesy of Geo S - which was greedily drunk - so HH then followed on - and of course - during this time - the wind came up nicely and now off we go - it's all downhill in the Southern Hemisphere - gravity helps.

Cheers from the Southern Hemisphere Sailors and KN

Earlier reports......(for those who missed 'em)

Daily Log
Day: Day 35 at sea
Date: Thursday Dec. 4th NOON
Distance travelled in 24 hours: ~125 n.m.
Lat: 00 07.400N 7.4 MILES TO THE EQUATOR
Long: 027 39.640 W
Speed: 4-5 knots
Heading: SSW
Sails: #2 jib full main
Baro: 1018.3
Sea State: short choppy 1-2 ft.
Weather Conditions: warm mostly cloudy with heavy showers
Wind Direction/Speed: SE 6-10 knots- stronger in rain showers
Temperate: Air 30C
Cloud Cover: 80%

Editor's Note: As of 13:30 the guys are under heavy showers and motoring to the Equator fighting a head wind from the South South East. John made pancakes for "Brekky" and lunch was yam soup made by Doug S. Doug G cleaned out the fridge and all is reported to smell nice and clean.
Full report to come later after they celebrate crossing "The Line" and the Slimy Pollywogs become Trusty Shellbacks.

Update from Doug early Thursday Morning:
No radio signals at the equator so our blog is going out by satellite phone... brief report. Checked the station signals and at the equator can't get a connection. I guess signals go straight up, and no angled atmosphere to bounce anything. Playing with sat. phone connection all morning and finally got it to go.
Looks like stop at Horondo a no go. No dock, main problem. Gas will be rationed is all.
As of 8:30 a.m. about 20 miles from the Equator. My shift starts at 09 so should cross just after my shift. So that will be John steering as we cross. (if winds hold).

Day 34 at sea

Daily Log
Day: 34 at sea
Date: Wednesday Dec.03
Distance travelled in 24 hrs: ~125 n.m.
Latitude: 01 59.430 N
Longitude: 026 42.387 W
Speed:6-7 knots
Heading: 190
Sails: #2 jib Full Main
Barometer: 1017.2
Sea State: 2-4 ft
Weather Conditions: mostly cloudy rain storms around
Wind Direction/Speed S /SE 7-10 knots
Temperature: Air 30 C/86 F Ocean 26 C /79 F
Cloud Cover: Earlier 20% Noon 80%

Greetings from the squeaky clean Sailors,

That SM recalls that small things amuse small minds. The small thing today was water - water water everywhere - right from the sky. Stormy clouds all over. The CEO demanded the rain catching tarp ( has a garden hose attachment in the middle) be set up ready for the expected deluge. Everything ready and waiting - sailor laddies in the buff with shampoo in hand waiting.

Didn't wait long - down she came - lots of whooping and hollering as is our usual behaviour when there's cold water pouring on you - it even tends to be cool 100 miles from the Big E - filled one water jug - thank you Huey - water tap off and everyone a non-stinko. V nice. Took down the water catching stuff - congratulated ourselves - as usual - smug bastards - then it just bucketed down. Nice and dry inside though - so we re-scheduled HH and got with the serious business at hand.
King Neptune we are close.
Cheers from the non-stinkos - at least for a few hours.
----------------
Nice wind today, boat going well. Nice day. Mostly cloudy so not hot. John did a few odd jobs, I helped. Doug G made muffins, and Stu made bread. Stew for dinner. Showers came, winds up and down, got 1 full jug, 25 ltrs in rain catcher. All had showers. Nice to have fresh water shower. Temp cooled down. Wind back up by night fall.
That's it for now!
Cheers! Doug S.

Day 33 at sea

Daily Log
Day: 33 at sea
Date: Tuesday Dec. 2nd
Distance from Oakville: 3680nm bearing 318
Distance from NY: 3380nm bearing 318
Distance from Cape Town: 3395nm bearing 136
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 101nm
Latitude: 03 59.822N
Longitude: 026 06.139W
Boat Speed: 2-4 knots
Boat Heading: 210 ssw
Boat Sails: #2 jib Full Main
Barometer: 1019.5
Sea State: Lumpy 2-5 ft
Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny with TB around
Wind Direction/Speed SE 6-8 knots
Temp: 30C
Cloud Cover: 20%

From Captain John:
Greetings from the not quite at the big E Sailors,
Today we have a new way of getting some decent winds. We look about and decide the fickle wind is still fickle. Go about our boat business with excitements like regreasing winches and doing laundry. Pretty soon lunch is made by the QM - what a great chef he is - rice salad with mandarins, walnuts, and berries - a nice light lunch, snoozes then HH - that's when the Big Ideas are pronounced.
Todays B.I. was to rev up the pace of the voyage (due to lack of wind) by stopping for a load of diesel at a Brazilian island. So off go the emails for the logistics of this.
Of course up comes the wind so now we are off to the races - at least for the next few hours.
Eagle eyes Stui spotted the sailboat 'Senta' from Europe with Wilfred and his lady aboard - spoke to them on the vhf radio. V friendly.

Next fun comes at the big E. We'll see what King Neptune does to whom.
Cheers from the Big Idea sailors.

Excerpts from Doug S email:
Not a whole lot happened today. Stui made cheese bacon scones for breky. A winch had seized up and that was seen to. Stui making the discovery of why it was seized. Salt crystals had packed underneath and raised up a disk about 1mm. This had jammed the gears. All cleaned up, and it works great. A rice and fruit salad for lunch. And a meat spaghetti for dinner.
Right now we are heading close to St. Pauls rock which is at 00 55N 029 20w. It's still 180 miles away but something we'll have to watch for. Our course will take us no closer than 40 miles as of now but that could change with the wind. The chart says you can see the light 15 miles away. It is just a rock with a light house on it and only about a mile across. So no stopping and no beach parties.
Last night it was cloudy at sunset so we missed Venus, Jupiter, and the moon lined up, but tonight was clear. Of course the moon is quite high tonight, so we lost the full effect. Brendan took a picture, but its blurry. Hard to do a night shot on a moving boat.
Cheers, Doug S.

Day 32 at sea

The CEO (D.G.) watching a movie
photo by John. G.

From Doug S Monday morning:

Welcome to the Doldrums.
Our wxx service said they start around 5 degrees N and we hit them as soon as we crossed 6.
Hoping for the wind to fill in, in the next 24 hours or so.

According to our weather maps, from 08n to past the equator and between the continents, the wind is all filled in except for this hole. It's at 06n 26w and guess where we are and guess which way it's moving? So we have decided to save gas and sit and let the hole move away from us. Burning fuel while staying in the hole wouldn't make sense.

We hit that rain shower yesterday and the wind has been all over since. From 20 knts to nothing and all over the compass. It's overcast, with a mix of light rain and heavy rain around.

Oh we found a couple of stowaways this morning. Brendan found at least 3 crickets. Big suckers too. All out in the cockpit area. None in the cabin.

Last night we had to tack. Doug G was steering. Stui and I went out to help, wind was 20 knts. We had to go up to the middle of the boat and there saw a Dove trying to stay on the boat. He didn't want us near him so we left him. No sign of it this morning. He should have stayed, he could have had some crickets.

So today is shades of the Lake Ontario 300 race last summer. We sit drifting ESE between 0 and 2 knts. John is making scrambled eggs and using up some of the brown bread that's still good. Will do some fix ups, and watch a movie or two.
---------------
Daily Log
Day: 32 at sea
Date: Sunday December 1st
Distance from Oakville: 3625 n.m. bearing 318
Distance from NY: 3328 n.m. bearing 317
Distance from Cape Town: 3462n.m. bearing 137
Distance travelled in 24 hours: 80 n.m.
Latitude: 05 39.345N
Longitude: 025 49.267W
Boat Speed: 2 knots
Boat Heading: 160 SSE
Boat Sails: #2 jib #2 reefed main
Beaufort Scale: 1-2
Barometer: 1021.0
Sea State: 2 ft ocean rollers
Weather Conditions: High thin cloud, storm clouds around.
Wind Direction/Speed E 2-5 knots
Temp: 30C/86F
Cloud Cover: 90%

From Doug S later on Monday:

Hi!
Well we are moving. Going between 2-4 knots. Some small mtc jobs being looked at. We all watched the movie The Green Mile. The auto pilot took care of the steering. Not much wind. Looks like we may be a bit late for the Equator.

We also saw a Sparrow and an Egret (land birds) along with the crickets and Dove today. We figure there must have been a big storm blow these guys far out to sea. Brendan and I took up the grate in the cockpit to get at a cricket and gave all underneath a good scrub. No stowaways allowed on this clean ship!

John and Doug G made some new wedges for around the mast where it goes through the ceiling. They would sometimes fall out, as the mast is constantly moving side to side and fore and aft. Then the mast would creek and groan 'till someone forced them back in. About the only noise on the boat so far.

Since the boat had stopped Stui, John, Doug G, and Doug S all went for a swim. Brendan stayed up as lookout. Water very warm, and the waterproof cameras are great........

FGT drifting through the Doldrums
photo taken by Doug G while swimming.

Brendan on board FGT
Photo by Doug G. while swimming.

Late Evening Report from Captain John:
Greetings from the patient Sailors,

What can be said about today? - waiting for the wind , waiting for the wind - waiting... for the wind. Kind of reminds the Senior Member of a 60's song by the Doors. We guess this is what the ITCZ is all about - unpredictable- no wind right now and perhaps just as well no nasty squalls.
We figured the waiting for the wind was a good option - actually the only one as diesel is needed for power rather than miles at this stage.
So what to do? The Cruise Director advised movies and popcorn were ready for our entertaining pleasure, starting with the highly identifiable 3 Stooges. The Main feature was the T Hanks 'Green Mile' noted for its slight fantasy and its length. Every one stayed till the end, declaring that was fun.
The dinner menu was discussed but postponed while the crew refreshed themselves by treating the boat like a beach resort and diving into the ocean - disporting and splashing about with nary a care in the world. Photographic evidence to follow.
Following the visit to the beach, dinner of curried chicken and rice was wolfed down by the tired and hungry vacationers. Then snooze time, and now here we are at 8 pm Oakville time roaring along southwards at 7 knots in 14 knots of wind - that's the IZTC, or similar, for you.

Cheers from the Vacationers.
Ps - good job CD

Funny Flying Fish!
Photo by Brendan

Day 31 at sea

Day: 31 at sea
Date: Sunday November 30th
Distance from Cape Town: 3494 nm
Latitude: 06 36N
Longitude: 026 04W
Boat Speed: average 6 knots
Boat Heading: 180 S
Boat Sails: Spinnaker #2reef main, later after rain, #2 Jib #2 reef main
Beaufort Scale: 2 to 5 range
Barometer: 1020.5
Sea State: ocean swell with short choppy 4-7 ft. from NE
Weather Conditions: Warm, hazy start. then big TB build up and cooled after rain showers
Wind Direction/Speed NE 3-16 knots
Temp: Air: 30C/86F Ocean: 26C/79F
Cloud Cover:hazy 30% in morning, 60% TB later

Greetings from the Clean Well-Fed Sailors,

Dawn broke at 4am your time in Oakville promising another day of brisk Trade wind sailing. Spinnaker up and off we went.

The SM was feeling pretty good about this so in an attempt to imitate his father - Makaha Bill - famous surfer boy and backyard bbq pancake chef since the 30's - whipped up pancakes for breakfast. Then he actually managed to change to deluxe vee belts on the big alternator to get a tad bigger charge.

Boat was cruising along nicely at 7 to 9 knots.
SM thought to read a little but, most unusual, fell asleep. Dreamed of BBQ pork chops, sautéed cabbage, fired onions and rice.
Woke up and lo and behold - there it was on the table! Magic!
The magicians were the CEO commanding the BBQ, and the QM at the stove.
More than enough for five hungry guys - wonderful late lunch. However, we had guests.

The weather had changed to squally great big black clouds lined up in front of us and we knew we had sailed out of the North East Trade Winds - Lasted a whole- what ? 2 days.

Dinner was just finished when the rain started and didn't stop for the next hour.
Whoops of joy, all clothes abandoned, and the next thing the boat looked like a high school boys locker room. Naked guys running about cleaning up! We are now nicely clean, and smellin' fresh lika rose.

We are in the ITCZ ( Intertropical Convergence Zone )or doldrums - squally - lots of wind - no wind - rain -sun - sounds like fun for the next week .

That Bbq lunch and shower was just great though.

Cheers from the squeaky cleans.

-----here are excerpts from emails from Doug S throughout Sunday....

We have been watching the planets since we left. Have a computer program and we've been looking at that too. Thanks for the info Audrey, about the crescent moon joining them this weekend. We are going to try and get a pic of that. Moon is just showing itself above the horizon at sunset as a sliver yesterday. Venus and Jupiter so bright they had a silver trail on water just like the moon does. Orion is straight above us nearing sun rise. And is about to stand on his head. We've lost most of the big dipper. Just the pot showing now, and the north star is very low. May lose it as we cross equator. Makes sense, we will I guess. Trying to find the Southern Cross but according to the star program it is right on the horizon so will not see it yet. Thought I saw it last night right in front of us at midnight boat time. It was a cross with the 5 stars and looked just like it. Pointed right at South too. Maybe I'm looking at the program wrong. It's pretty hazy down low but straight up the stars are very clear and bright. Right were Orion is.

Last night, I was listening on the ssb to NY atc radio for the Caribbean flights. Heard two Air Canada flights and a Westjet among others. No US airways though. Be funny if I heard you Dan!

As long as the boat is moving we have a very nice breeze. The V berth was very hot when I woke up at 22:30 boat time. So I opened the big front hatch. Have to be careful cause if a wave comes over the front, a ton of water would come in. Wind was from the side so just a few small splashes came in.

This morning we had the spinnaker and bimini up, so to catch a little sun, I sat right up front and watched the water go by for about 1/2 an hour. Not much happening. Saw a new bird, have to look it up, (a few flying fish, not too many), we think they are Storm Petrels. Small birds that swoop and dart low among the waves. Can't figure out what they eat. I helped John change the belts on the alternator. Just handed him wrenches and stuff. Didn't take long. John made pancakes for Breky. Stui cut up a pork tenderloin for chops to be bbq'd later.

Had a rare afternoon nap, during which I was asked to help put up the BBQ. Rain ahead, and the wind died, so took down spinnaker. Stui sweating over a hot stove making veg & rice, and fried onions. Poured rain while we ate. Auto pilot on. Great dinner, thanks Doug G and Stui. Then we wanted to sail so all went outside but the rain was so heavy, we were all soaked so nothing better to do than strip down and pass the soap around. The rain was a bit cold but not bad. Washed out a pair of shorts also. The wind died and we motored for a bit till the wind came back @ 7 knots. Then off sailing slowly, Brendan steering. Then my turn to steer. Low winds as the sun went down, couldn't see it behind all the big clouds. Venus, Jupiter,and the moon all peeking thru occasionally. Distant lightning. Slow sail 3-6 with winds 6-9. Clouds finally blotted out everything and then it was very dark. Just started to rain and my shift was over. John came up, the wind has come up, and some lightning but haven't heard any thunder so must be far away. Didn't rain much either. Hopefully the winds stay up over night. Never got to look up that new bird.... tomorrow. My shift was the sunset cruise and everybody else sleeping after dinner, so was nice and quiet with the light winds.

That's about it for today!
Doug S.