Year 3 -27 August 2026 -Day 9 Cape Town-St Helena

Julian and I had got off watch at 8.00pm and I finished off the blog and posted it. I did a little bit of admin and then went to bed. The wind had filled in and we were sailing nicely about 6-8 kts when we handed over.

I was woken by John at about 12.45am saying that the Blue Baron had twisted round the forestay (the foil that the genoa is on). I quickly got dressed and rang the bell which is our signal for everyone up with life jackets as quickly as possible. I put on deck light 1 (the lights under the first spreaders on the mast) which lit the foredeck. I went up to look and in the wind it was twisted somehow and flapping in the wind. I released the furling line and shouted to release the sheet so we could start to furl it. John came to help and between us we managed to start to furl the sail down into its sock and as we got it down the flapping ceased and we managed to get it to the bottom. As we did so the rest of the crew arrived except Paul who remained on the helm.

We hauled the end of the sail on deck and then I released the halyard and we coiled the sail down the port side and secured it. We tied everything down and returned to the cockpit. Noone was sure how it happened but at least we got it down it appears in one piece. However, we will check properly tomorrow. 

We put out the genoa and started sailing again and John made some tea. It was about 1.20am now and there was no point in going back to bed as Julian and I were on again at 2.00am.

As the wind angle was favourable we also put out the main and were soon sailing well toward our waypoint.

John made some tea and I stayed up and we chatted. Julian and I took over at 2.00am and the wind was backing and so pushing us more off course. There was nothing we could really do about this so we made the best course we could doing 5-7 kts. The watch was uneventful and we handed over to Mark and Dave. We were going into a wind hole in the morning and we expected the wind to die. I went to bed and felt quite tired.

I heard Marka and Dave bring in the sails and the engine go on and presumed we were now heading directly for our waypoint on the way to St Helena. I was woken by the smell of bacon and Paul was cooking bacon and eggs which we had with tomato and Julian’s bread which was very good and it was all demolished by the Motley Crew!  After washing up and making the coffee I went for a welcome shower with lots of hot water as the engine heats it up for us. I then got on with some admin.

The customs and Immigration at St Helena only operate Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.00pm so we cannot check in on Saturday or Sunday which is when we are likely to arrive. I therefore emailed the Harbour Master about anchoring and he gave the various options and also told us how to get more fuel if we need it. I therefore emailed the fuel people to arrange and discovered that Monday like in the UK is a holiday. The Harbour Master said that we cannot get off our boat until we have got authority from Port Control. I had emailed them twice from Cape Town and they did not reply. I therefore emailed them and explained when we are likely to arrive and that we need to remove John’s staples from his head as soon as possible and could we get off on Sunday to do this and we will check in as soon as the office opens. I hope they will respond positively as I fear that on Sunday and Monday (due to Bank Holiday) the Customs and Immigration offices will be closed.

The 24-hour run to 12 noon was only 153nm due to the low wind strength and slow speeds. However, it is not a race and better to be there safe and sound and we have had some good days.  

Dave made lunch of home made houmous, bread, coleslaw and tuna with mayonnaise.

Julian and I came on watch at 12.00noon and the wind hole meant light winds until about 5.30pm so we continued to motor slowly toward our waypoint. Mark and Dave set about producing a provisioning list for St Helena and I then sent this to our contact we had been given by the rigger Chris Boock. He kindly said he will start getting it together.

Mark also made some flapjacks to keep us going on our watches. We motored on seeing more cargo ships as we seem to be on a route now as we have seen a number passing. We started to approach the Western Hemisphere and at 14.24 we passed from the East to the Western Hemisphere.  

We have seen little wildlife apart from the odd Albatross. We have also been fishing since midday and so far no luck.

The wind started to improve again and so we put up the sails and we were sailing well and fast as the wind was more Southerly. It was good to have the engine off. We handed over to Mark and Dave who decided to put out a fishing rod out and who later got a fish on the line but it got away.

We rested, read, slept and chatted and the afternoon passed quite quickly. We talked about last night and getting everyone up and how we could improve. I had rung the bell but it was felt that I should have rung it longer and should have shouted what the problem was as getting everyone up took a little time as they had to get dressed etc.

I had volunteered to do a Thai Chicken curry which I prepared using a paste which I had bought in Thailand which we had with potato and cauliflower. It went down well and 4 of the 6 crew went for seconds.

We settled down for the night and hope the wind continues as it is as we are in a period of light winds until tomorrow afternoon.   

The picture of the day is Mark showing us the lovely flapjacks he had made with Dave his trusty sous chef.

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