Year 3 -28 June 2026 -Day 7 -Route to South Africa

John and I were on 11.00pm to 2.00am and we were waiting for the wind to back to the Northeast so we could gybe. It stubbornly refused to back much and so we waited but all the time we were sailing more South.

By about 1.30pm I thought we should take anyway and although this would put us going above our ideal line we would be on the right tack when the wind did back. We therefore took in the genoa to the gap with the staysail -gybed (stern through the wind) and then brought the genoa out on the other side. We are not using the main at all as we would be going too fast.

As you have read we have to wait for a small Southerly storm to pass before we can go into Durban. I had checked with Predict Wind and had a waypoint to go to at which we were going to arrive at about 8-10.00pm on the 29th. We would then enter the storm which would start to wane at about midnight and be gone by 5-6.00am in the morning. It is annoying but there it is. I will report our position to Des in the morning. The point is we have 2 more days of gentle slow sailing before we can go in. We will therefore monitor the wind and speed to arrive some 300nm later in a 2-hour period.

We handed over to Keith and Hisham and I tried to sleep. The motion of the boat was quite rolly and it made this difficult.

I woke about 7.00am and John and I were on watch at 8.00am. There was a tanker coming up behind us we had to worry about which passed us on our port side at about 1nm. We had our usual breakfast and coffee and then set about the daily checks.

I emailed Des our position and he responded quite quickly.

Dear Nick & co

Thanks for latest 0500UTC 28\6 at 28 59S 38 01E - Richards Bay 300nm\271T - Durban 360nm\261T.

The latest gribs show the coastal front with SW winds get to Durban on Mon 29\6 at 1200UTC – 1400 local time. Wind f\cast W25 gusts 33 - swell SE1.8m@11seconds increasing to S3.5m by midnight Mon night. The centre of the current gyro is at 29 36S 34 00E with clockwise rotation. Next 24hrs wind NE15 gusts 21 - swell SE2.4m@10seconds - cloud -sat substantially clear - light cover - no rain. The front edge of the front hits Richards Bay at 1800UTC. The front edge angles SE from Richards Bay down to 30 30S 33 45. Wind speed in the edge S20 gusts 35.

Tue morning 0400UTC wind down to S20 gusts 30 - swell S3.8m@10 seconds. Recommend aim for the centre of the gyro and slow down and allow the front to die down to a manageable level before heading further west to Durban. Have a safe day

I checked the centre of the gyro and it was right beside the waypoint I had set for us to head to so that was very reassuring. We therefore plan to arrive there at 8-10.00pm and then head for Durban as the front begins to die.

We spent the day waiting for the wind to back enough for us to not be too far off our line to the gyro waypoint. It eventually back more and is apparently going to go North at about 4.00am on the 29th.  We chatted, read, eat and slept and did our watches. The sea was a purple blue and we saw no wildlife other than some terns and shearwaters. We have not seen any dolphins for a long time and I had hoped we would see a whale some time. John fished but the fish were elusive again.

We had lunch and enjoyed the afternoon and then had tea at about 4.00am with our second piece of Keith’s banana cake.

The afternoon wore on and we reefed the genoa as we were going too fast and we do not want to arrive with that front too early. Jenny and Peter were on watch in the lead up to supper and we had some heavy rain for a few minutes and some menacing clouds. The Barometer dropped 3 degrees in an hour – which is a sign of a large change of weather and it must be the front.

Keith cooked a great mushroom risotto with chorizo which we enjoyed although Hisham was very tired and missed supper and slept.

We settled down for another night when the wind is supposed to swing North and we need to manage our speed to the gyro waypoint.  

 The picture of the day is of Jenny and Peter on watch.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now on the way to Durban and will then head for Cape Town and then on to St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I have now found additional crew for the moment. If at all interested in joining me at some point please contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.

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