Year 3 -22 August 2026 -Day 4 Cape Town-ST Helena

Our 11.00pm to 2.00am watch was quiet with little traffic and a gentle wind which pushed us along on a Broad Reach between 5-6.5 kts. I was glad to get to bed after our watch and was beginning to catch up on sleep after the rolly night.

I was woken by Paul cooking bacon and eggs and tomato at about 7.30am so I got up and enjoyed a plateful. Julian and I took over at 8.00am and really it was time for the Blue Baron again. We could have flown it all night in the end but took it down for the right reasons and then we were not going to put it up in the dark.

We therefore got everybody up and prepared to launch but the snuffer line was very stiff. We looked under the headcap and the line was jammed in one block and both blocks looked like they had melted. No wonder it was quite difficult to snuff the last time. Luckily I had 2 spare blocks which were slightly bigger but would do the trick and Mark and Dave set about cutting the circular complete line in order to get it through the new blocks. This was then sowed together and whipped. This took some time but  we thought should do it.

It took a while to check for twists but when we came to launch it, it went up and was caught on the parachute section and then it cleared itself and it was up to great relief. The repair had worked and it had been a joint effort. This is one of the reasons for having a diverse crew as everyone brings something to the table and can contribute.

The parasailor is very forgiving and we were sailing on a port tack and needed to be on a starboard tack as we need to move North to get out of a wind hole which was forming to our South. The beauty of this sail is we can gybe it round the front of the boat using the 4 lines attached (by loosening one tack line and sheet and pulling on the other tack line and sheet) and we were soon sailing on the other gybe North about 7-8 kts

We went off watch at 12.00noon and lunch was leftovers from a few meals with salad etc. The 24-hour run to 12.00noon was 155. We have not had good consistent winds to date to do more than we have done so far. However, we are making steady progress.  

I was still having problems with Starlink and I had to switch things on and off etc and was liaising with the technical team. However, it was still not working despite doing all they asked and luckily Julian has a mini Starlink on board which I can use to get weather and of course to write and publish this blog.  

The afternoon wore on and we were sailing well and about 7 kts in 10-13 kts of wind. It felt warmer as we were now about 500nm North of Cape Town. We decided to take down the Blue Baron which had been pushing us along well at about 5.30pm in anticipation of stronger winds. After the repair all went well until the snuffer line got caught in the soft shackle preventing it from flying up in the air. We will change it for next time. 

Julian prepared and cooked a delicious chilli with rice which we all enjoyed and we settled down for another night. We are forecast to get 20-25kts winds (gusts up to 29) over the next few days which will help. Julian and I were on watch 8.00pm-11.00pm and the winds gradually increased. We saw 23 kts maximum and had full genoa and one reef in the main. Mark and Dave took over and put another reef in the main and reefed the genoa. We sailed into the night and directly toward St Helena at about 7-8.5 kts.  

The tracking page may not be working until I can get Starlink working.

 The picture of the day is of Stormbird sailing in the conditions.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now on the way to St Helena, Cape Verde, Azores and back to the UK. 

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com