Year 3 -23 August 2026 -Day 5 Cape Town-St Helena

Julian and I were on the 5.00am to 8.00am watch. The winds were still quite strong namely 20-27 kts. Mark and Dave had put two reefs in the main and reefs in the genoa. The swell had increased to about 2-3 m but we were sailing well and fast with some 9, 8, & 7’s for different hours. It was very dark and quite cold bearing in mind we were about 25 degrees from the equator.

The light started to appear about 6.50am but the sun did not come over the horizon until about 8.00am. The sea was a disturbed mash of water but we had the swell behind us and we were surfing with the waves which increased our speed for a few seconds whilst the wave ran under the boat. That surfing feeling is a great feeling as you surge forward and it speeds us toward our destination.

We handed over at 8.00am to Mark and Dave and I decided to make Banana pancakes which are delicious and a treat for all which was appreciated.

We were reasonably on course and sailing well but in front of us and between here and St Helena is the Valdivia Bank.

Valdivia Bank is a large, elevated underwater volcanic feature in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Walvis Ridge and formed during the Late Cretaceous period through a mix of hotspot and ridge magmatism. Oceanic plateaus are shallow rises on the ocean floor that are emplaced by thick accumulations of lava. It is like a mountain range under the sea. The problem for us is that the usual depth of 4,000 m rises to in parts 16.3m and 23 m. You can image the waves that would be caused by this large body of water passing across these shallow sections which we would obviously wish to avoid. The problem was that the chart on the plotter does not show these very shallow sections but my large chart of the Southern Atlantic did. In fact when you look at the chart there are lots of seamounts and other ridges in the ocean.

I therefore worked out where the difficult sections were and plotted how we are going to get round them. The forecast is for the wind is to strengthen again overnight and to calm to about 15 kts tomorrow midday and for it to remain like that for about 3 days. This should mean we can use the Blue Barron again.

We sailed on and Mark and Dave did the daily checks and noticed a little bit of chafe on the new halyard where the Blue Baron had been flying. Paul and John were on the 12.00noon watch and lunch was prepared and we all helped ourselves. Julian did some work, others read or rested and I even had a shower which was good. As we have a water maker we can make our own water and so we have the luxury for a shower a day each.

Paul and John checked the fruit and vegetables, one of the jobs for the 12.00noon watch to check what is going off and what we need to eat next. This way we reduce wastage and avoid bad fruit making others go off.  They also cleaned the mats in the galley which get dirty with all of us cooking and walking around. Our 24-hour run to midday was 178 so a bit better.

Mark and Dave prepared a fishing line and put it out and later caught a fish on the line. However, it snapped the line and was probably too big bearing in mind the speed we were doing.

I planned that we would stay on this tack until the 8.00pm change in watch and then gybe North to move out of the way of the Valdivia Bank before gybing back again West.

The afternoon passed and the watches changed and we were making good progress albeit that it was a bit lumpy.

I had been interviewed by a Radio Producer in Cape Town from Manchester who asked me all about my trip. That went live and if you want to listen you can get the link to the podcast or the You Tube channel recording on the front page of my website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk which one of my daughters has kindly put up.

Julian and I took over at 4.00pm and we had 2 reefs in the main and 3 in the genoa and were seeing winds up to 29 kts. Stormbird was coping well. The forecast were for winds to strengthen overnight and to calm down on the early hours and the morning.

John prepared a lamb stew which took him 2.5 hours and which was delicious. Mark had prepared some chocolate brownies but was not impressed when the gas ran out half-way through the cooking. However, the cylinder was soon switched over.  

As we were somewhat further West we noticed that the sunset was later and about 7.00pm so we are now getting longer days.  

Our watch finished at 8.00pm and I helped Mark and Dave gybe and we decided to put up the staysail for the first time on this leg. This felt a bit more in control. I went to bed and the gybe meant that the waves were more on the aft quarter which meant more rock and roll so although I rested I could not sleep. Mark and Dave later put an extra reef in the main due to the conditions and apparently saw gusts of 35 kts (a good Force 8).

We will see what tomorrow brings but it should be calmer and we should be able to gybe West again toward our destination and we should be reaching the halfway point.  Everyone is now getting into the swing of things and getting used to the watches and what their roles are and we are working well as a team.

 The picture of the day is of Julian and Dave in the cockpit still smiling!

 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