Tenerife, Canary Islands to Cape Town, South Africa

Date: 13 August 2003

Day: 18

In Los Gigantes, Tenerife

No Log published to H2G2 this day

Date: 14 August 2003

Day: 19

Local time: 1630

Leg Number and name: Leg 1, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position: 28.12'N, 15.50'W

Position relative to nearest land: 5 miles south of Los Gigantes, NW Tenerife

Course: 190M

Speed: 6 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 5 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5 miles

Total distance from Ardmore: 2186 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Barometric pressure: 1033

Wind direction: SSE F3

Wind Speed: 9 knots

Cloud cover: 0%

Air temperature: 26 C

Surface sea temperature: 26 C

Sea conditions: very light

Bird sightings:
Notes:

After 2 baking days in Los Gigantes, Tenerife, we finally sailed at 1630 today. Motoring 25 miles south down the channel between Tenerife and Gomera and hoping to pick up the NE Trades again at the southern tip of Tenerife. Everybody was so helpful and kind. We gave a Save the Albatross talk to the Lions last night which was a very valuable evening for us, anyway!

John Ridgway

Date: 15 August 2003

Day: 20

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 1, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global

impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 26.33'N, 17.04'

Position relative to nearest land: 35 miles SW of Gran Canaria

Course: 218M

Speed: 5.5 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 105

Total distance from Ardmore: 2286 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: tbc miles

Barometric pressure: 1031

Wind direction: NNE F4

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Cloud cover: 0% but hazy

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 26C

Sea conditions: light sea with some whitecaps

Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater, Sighted first Flying Fish

Date: 16 August 2003

Day: 21

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The education of fishermen - the role of Projecto Albatroz (Brazil)

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 24.39'N, 17.45'W

Position relative to nearest land: 150 miles off Spanish Sahara

Course: 206M

Speed: 4.3 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 103 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 208

Total distance from Ardmore: 2,389 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 5,114 miles

Barometric pressure: 1029

Wind direction: NNE

Wind Speed: F2 7 knots

Cloud cover: 50% very hazy

Air temperature: Hot

Surface sea temperature: 26C

Sea conditions: Flat with gentle low swell

Bird sightings: Very Occasional Shearwater

Notes:

150 miles off Spanish Sahara (1967 chart). Jogging south in light
winds. Settling into 6 week haul to Capetown. Time to think - about the albatross: "Wonders never cease. Do they?"


John Ridgway

Date: 17 August 2003

Day: 22

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global

impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 23.31'N, 18.17'W

Position relative to nearest land: 130 nm off Sahara coast

Course: 228M

Speed: 6.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 66.9 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 275.9

Total distance from Ardmore: 2,456.9 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 5046 miles

Barometric pressure: 1030

Wind direction: NNE F4

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Cloud cover: 20% hazy

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 24.6C

Sea conditions: Calm

Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater, Flying Fish

Notes:

Very light winds close to Sahara Desert. Barred by Seamail for overuse is a blow for the Albatross Campaign. Must think...

John Ridgway

Date: 18 August 2003

Day: 23

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 21.16'N, 19.33'W

Position relative to nearest land: 145 nm west of Nouadhibou on the Sahara coast

Course: 205M

Speed: 6.6 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 429

Total distance from Ardmore: 2610 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,893 miles


Barometric pressure: 1030

Wind direction: NNE F5

Wind Speed: 18 knots

Cloud cover: 0% slightly hazy

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 26.2 C

Sea conditions: Moderate following trade-wind sea

Bird sightings: Storm Petrels, Flying Fish

Notes:

Off Sahara Desert coast. NE wind has improved. Rolling south. Hot. Albatrosses still far away. Settling in. Finding coolest spot on boat. Tropics are 2,500mmiles wide!

John Ridgway

Date: 19 August 2003

Day: 24

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18.27'N, 20.07'W

Position relative to nearest land: 200 miles north-east of the Cape Verde
Islands

Course: 198 M

Speed: 7.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 170 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 590 miles

Total distance from Ardmore: 2,772 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,731miles


Barometric pressure: 1029

Wind direction: NNE F5

Wind Speed: 18 knots

Cloud cover: 80% hazy

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 27.9C

Sea conditions: Calm/modate

Bird sightings: Occasional Storm Petrel, Flying Fish

Notes: Flying fish in the galley via Doghouse. Foot high sharks fin 60 ft on starboard quarter. Splendid wind. Andrea Bocelli
sings to inspire us for the Albatross. That's the good part.

Worryingly:

1. Barred from SailMail, we have not been in touch with London for a week. We can't afford Iridium data at one £ a minute.

2. There are two broken strands in the 1x19 port lower cap shroud, Hood's wire holding up the mast. How I rue that time in Burnham in Crouch July 2000.

John Ridgway

Date: 20 August 2003

Day: 25

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 17.06'N, 21.09'W

Position relative to nearest land: 100 miles east-north-east of the Cape Verde Islands

Course: SSW

Speed: 4.4 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 767 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 2872 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 4631 miles


Barometric pressure: 1029

Wind direction: ENE F3

Wind Speed: 8 knots

Cloud cover: 10% bright sun

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 30.7C

Sea conditions: Smooth

Bird sightings: Flying Fish

Notes: At last the wind has gone too far to the East for us to sail with the twin poles. They have brought us all the way from Portugal. Now we are making 5.5 knots under 4 sails: No 2 yankee, staysail, main and mizen sail. The boat is steady on the port tack and the rolling has stopped.

John Ridgway

Date: 21 August 2003

Day: 26

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 16.00'N, 20.23''W

Position relative to nearest land: Between Dakar (W.Africa) and the Cape Verde Islands

Course: 187M

Speed: 4.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 75 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 767 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 2,948 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 4,555 miles


Barometric pressure: 1029

Wind direction: NNE F3

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Cloud cover: 100% but bright

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 29.1C

Sea conditions: Light

Bird sightings: Flying Fish

Notes: Frustrating day of light wind. High pressure blocks the normal power of the Trade Wind. Poles down. Wind vane steering
with four sails. Shooting stars. SeaMail working again.


John Ridgway

Date: 22 August 2003
Day: 27

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 14.33'N, 20.34'W

Position relative to nearest land: 180 miles west of Dakar, N Africa

Course: 192M

Speed: 5.2 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 92 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 859 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,040 miles

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,443 miles


Barometric pressure: 1028

Wind direction: E F3

Wind Speed: 10 knots

Cloud cover: 100% grey and humid -imminent squalls

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C

Sea conditions: Light

Bird sightings: Flying Fish and Pilot whales

Notes: Scarcely any wind in channel between Dakar (West-most point of Africa) and Cape Verde Islands. V.hot+prickly heat. Fruit and veg rotting. 900 nautical miles to Equator. Apart from that - GREAT!

John Ridgway

Date: 23 August 2003
Day: 28

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 13.23'N, 21.22'W

Position relative to nearest land: 280 nm west of Gambia

Course: 182M

Speed: 5.2 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 88 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 947 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,128 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,375 miles


Barometric pressure: 1027

Wind direction: ESE F4

Wind Speed: 15 knots

Cloud cover: 30%, patches of blue in between squalls

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C

Sea conditions: Light

Bird sightings: Flying Fish - no birds

Notes: Bumping along, wind on port bow. Monitor wind vane steering system broken and we can't extract broken pipe.


Really no birds to be seen.


Backlog on SailMail now cleared at last. Persons wishing to contact us should do through Rebecca Ridgway or Richard Creasey.


We have been unable to transmit, only receive on our 10 minute daily SailMail allowance.


John Ridgway

Date: 24 August 2003

Day: 29

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global

impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 12.29'N, 21.13'W

Position relative to nearest land: 250 nm west of Kazabane, Guinea, West Africa.

Course: 136M

Speed: 5.5 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 55 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 1,002 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,183 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 4,320 miles


Barometric pressure: 1030

Wind direction: S F3

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Cloud cover: 10%, Trade wind sky...

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C

Sea conditions: Light

Bird sightings: Flying Fish - no birds

Notes: Crinkly sea, swell coming from all directions. Hot + prickly heat. Going 30 days and nights now. The light wind goes right round the compass in 24hrs. With never any birds in sight it is sometimes difficult to focus on the reason we are out here, "To prevent the needless slaughter of the albatross". But there is much going on behind the scenes: The Global Petition, organised by Forest and Bird far away in NZ; the Sat phone interviews for the media; The UN Conference in Rome next June.


When will we see our first albatross? The last one that Marie Christine and I saw was from this boat leaving the South Atlantic in 1995. I wondered then if I'd ever have the chance to see this great bird again.


Well, I do have that chance.


Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 25 August 2003

Day: 30

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global

impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 10.55'N, 20.54'W

Position relative to nearest land: 300 nautical miles west of Bissau, West
Africa

Course: 198 M

Speed: 6.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 103 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 1105 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,286 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,215 miles


Barometric pressure: 1028

Wind direction: SW F2

Wind Speed: 8 knots

Cloud cover: 100%, Grey

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 30.3 C

Sea conditions: Very confused swell with wavelets in all directions

Bird sightings: Flying Fish, occasional Stormy Petrel and Shearwater.

Notes: The winds become lighter and more variable in direction, governed by huge black thunderheads which have lightening and thunder in vicious squalls.

When we came on watch, at 0600, after a night of just dribbling along, Marie Christine and I switched on the engine and headed due south. Straight into the heart of a dark cloud.

At 11 degrees N I still felt anxious that we were too far north to be into the Doldrums. I had set aside three days fuel for motoring through calms on this six week leg of the circumnavigation. Was I wasting precious fuel?

It grew dark in the cloud, stair rods of rain flattened the sea. Marie Christine and I stripped down into our altogether and soon had shampoo in our eyes. That was the signal for the rain to stop.

But the cloud wasn't watching for signals, the wind shrieked up to 45 knots and the boat lay right over onto its side. The surface of the sea was raw white with rivulets of foam and the two innocent bathers cut a sorry sight. But at least the shampoo washed off.

Nick's face grinned up from the galley, "Sardine sandwiches?" he called.

The wind died and our world became shades of grey. A shearwater appeared, as if nothing had happened.

We motored on, in search of a steady cool south wind frm the southern hemisphere.. This will allow us to tack and head for Brazil, away from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Charles Taylor and all that. I don't suppose he cares for the albatross either.


Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 26 August 2003
Day: 31

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 08.26'N, 20.39'W

Position relative to nearest land: 450 nm west of Freetown, Sierra Leone

Course: 151 M

Speed: 6.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 1,255 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,436 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approox 4,067 miles


Barometric pressure: 1028

Wind direction: SW F3

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Cloud cover: 15%,

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 28.7 C

Sea conditions: Sailing into light sea from the SW

Bird sightings: Flying Fish, occasional Stormy Petel and Shearwater.

Notes:
No birds save the occasional Shearwater or Stormy Petrel.

The water temperature has climbed daily, since 10C on leaving Ardmore to 30.6C! at noon yesterday. Today it fell for the first

time. The fresh wind is from the SSW. Have we crossed the Doldrums?

We are sailing under four sails and we would look a bonny sight at 7.5 knots. A cloud of white sliding across a blue, blue

sea.

Just before dark last night we saw a ship, way out on the port quarter. Bows up and empty, with black smoke puffing from her

funnel she was a scruffy sight.

Ten minutes later her bearing from us had not altered.

"If the bearing does not appreciably change, risk of collison may be deemed to exist" I chortled to Nick, Rie and Marie

Christine, as we munched our vegetable curry in the stern. They looked dis-believing, surely this further memory from my

Merchant Navy days of 1956 would be a boast too far.

Half an hour later I spoke with the Officer on watch on the radio. the Greek ship was jogging along at 10 knots,on the way

from Naukshott on the Sahara coast to Brazil with a Ukrainian crew. He was the 'Giving way vessel'.

"We'll be passing rather close" I suggested.

"Yes" came the reply in a thick accent. Clearly he thought us so small that we should surely get out of his way.

We both held our course and he crossed our bow with 250 yards to spare. The welder never looked up from the rust bucket.

We were glad this hadn't happened in the dark.

Marie Christine said she thought they were carrying slave children to South America. I was thinking that if they had run us

down they might have just kept going, it's a rough old world, down Liberia way. Not much health and not much safety


Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 27 August 2003

Day: 33

Local time: 1200

Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'

Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global

impact on the albatross population

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 06.42'N, 18.52'W

Position relative to nearest land: 480 nm west of Monrovia

Course: 193M

Speed: 5.6 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 155 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 1,410 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 3,591 miles

Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 3,912 miles


Barometric pressure: 1030

Wind direction: S F3

Wind Speed: 8 knots

Cloud cover: 75%,

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 29.1C

Sea conditions: Motoring south into light swell from the S

Bird sightings: > 15 Shearwaters

Notes: Since leaving the Gannets and Fulmars of home, we could be forgiven
for thinking that only Shearwaters and Stormy

Petrels inhabit the ocean waters down to the Equator, and precious few of
them too. This afternoon Nick had 15 Shearwaters
round the boat, with most landing nearby, though I can see only one,
curving across the swell, as I write this in the aft
cockpit just before six o'clock suppper.

We've been thinking a lot about Charles Taylor and his long, firm rule of Liberia and the Americans who have helped him move
his things to his new home. He'll have a lot of time on his hands now,
maybe he'll take up bird watching.

After our grand sail of yesterday, the wind died at dawn and Marie Christine and I put away the four sails.

A couple of days motoring due South at six knots should set us across the SE flowing Guinea current and into the NW flowing south Equatorial current. Then we can sail west towards Brazil on the expected SE Trade Wind.


Its a bit of a gamble with our small reserve of diesel


Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Now go on to the next two weeks 28 August to 10 September 2003

Or back to the Contents page