Leg 2: Tenerife, Canary Islands to Cape Town, South Africa (cont)

Date: 25 September 2003

Day: 62

Local time: 1200 GMT+1

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: 34.52'S, 06.41'W

Position relative to nearest land: 1,248 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 094 T

Speed: 5.3 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 4,595 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 6,705 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 1,248 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)


Barometric pressure: 1019

Wind direction: SSW

Wind Speed: 16 knots

Cloud cover: 50%,

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 15.7 C
Sea conditions: Reaching across moderate to rough sea with occasional rain squalls


Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado



Notes: Bumbling along under the two headsails, both out to port. Making 5 knots in cold SSSW breeze. Bright day for third day of trouble with the gnashers: Lower left jaw, last one but one, Bill Bennie in Elgin, if you're reading this! Oil of cloves makes your eyes water, and your mouth too! I'm using stuff from your Dad's dental box, Bill, keeping your stuff from this century until it gets worse. I'll get through to you on email or the blower if there is a nose-dive. Meanwhile Macarthur can keep using his extra long tees with his Driver and make sure everyone at Royal Dornoch signs the 'Save The Albatross" Petition!



The average set of birds with us nowadays is: Half a dozen Black Petrels
(of two different types), a Shearwater, A Storm Petrel, and quite often now an Albatross. Good thing they can't see Nick in his Japanese Yukata of a morning, as he emerges from his bunk, dressing for a nosebag of Muesli. They'd soon push off.



Meanwhile 'Rie' is feverishly Marmiting three oatcakes for her own meagre breakfast. It's 0955 and any minute she'll haul herself up the ladder and into the Doghouse. Rodney Stewart's Atlantic' Crossing will be stifled. Then she'll move on out to take the wheel. Knees now tinged with blue, she'll adjust her round black specs, brace herself and head on towards Capetown 1,250 miles ahead.



It's a good day. I'll take the oil of cloves down with me



Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 26 September 2003

Day: 63

Local time: 1200 GMT+1

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: 34.40'S, 04.16'W

Position relative to nearest land: 1,130 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 083 T

Speed: 4.8 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 4,715 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 6,825 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 1,130 miles


Barometric pressure: 1025

Wind direction: Southerly

Wind Speed: 16-25 knots

Cloud cover: 50%,

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C

Sea conditions: Tight reach across moderate to rough sea, lots of white
caps and a big swell on the beam. Great sailing.


Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado



Notes: Not so cracky. A lump is rowing on my left lower jaw. We red and
re-read 3 sets of instructions from dental boxes dating back to the '70's.



Bumpy night. Inky black. 2130. I called across the 20" aisle to Marie
Christine, "That's it, I'm in for a bad night. I've avoided pills all my
life: \now's the time to take my bonus. I'll start the 5 day course of
Penicillin right now."



"Are you sure?"



"Well this lump is growing. Why wait? Why wait? I replied.



It was a bad night - I couldn't sleep - spent some time drumming my foot
against the bulkhead at the end of the bunk.



Joanna Trollope didn't help, I felt I had more problems than her 'Southern Girl'.



10 long, long days and nights to Capetown with an abscess.



Marie Christine kindly did the midnight to 0200 watch on her own, but I did pad round to see how she was getting on. 'Rie' is stalwart as ever and somehow we must ensure Nick get's his sleep.



Dentist Bill Bennie in Morayshire answered the 0730 Satphone call to his
home from Marie Christine. He endorsed the Penicillin V course and said to add the Metronidazole if there's no improvement in 48 hours. Beyond that lie the grisly tools 'to relieve the pressure'.



Maybe that immature Wandering Albatross which has come at dusk on the past two evenings, is me. I was always trying to be immature. At least I'll know to steer clear of fishing boats.



Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 27 September 2003

Day: 64

Local time: 1200 GMT+1

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: 34.14'S, 02.25'W

Position relative to nearest land: 1,040 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 126 T

Speed: 0.5 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 98 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 4,813 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 6,923 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 1,040 miles


Barometric pressure: 1033

Wind direction: NE

Wind Speed: 1-5 knots

Cloud cover: 20%,

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 15.7 C

Sea conditions: Very light with long swell from South.


Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado



Notes: Luckily the memory is short. Much better after 36hrs of Penicillin V though the left side of the face has taken on a rather aldermanic look. I'll try and do without the codeine now but must finish the five day course of Penicillin.



Enough of that. Look forward. I was able to put the boat about and set us heading SE in a near flat calm. Waiting for the next Low to come through.


Alone at the wheel this morning, Marie Christine was freezing cold.
Suddenly, a huge black whale came up on her Port side. Close enough to
touch, it let out a vast wheeze. Looking it straight in the eye, she
stopped feeling cold and yelled for us to come and see it but we were all asleep. She stopped herself from ringing the alarm hand bell, fearing it might alarm the whale, with unknown consequences.



It's sunny but calm, surely I'm better. The prospect of the grizzly dental tools being used 'to relieve the pressure' is retreating, surely. Groggy.



Into the mist...


John Ridgway

Date: 28 September 2003

Day: 65

Local time: 1200 GMT+1

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: 34.30'S, 00.05'E
Position relative to nearest land: 916 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 094T

Speed: 6.9 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 4,943 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,053 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 916 miles


Barometric pressure: 1032

Wind direction: WNW

Wind Speed: 22-33 knots (Force 6-7)

Cloud cover: 20%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.4 C

Sea conditions: Sailing across quite rough sea with strong to near gale
force wind on the beam under No 2 Yankee with nine rolls in it and Staysail
with five rolls. No Mainsail or Mizen sail. Life aboard? er... bumpy.


Bird sightings: In these fresh conditions today birds have been
surprisingly scarce. We have seen occasional solitary albatrosses, Storm
Petrel, and Shearwaters today.



Notes: Feeling much better. We had a grand day of sun and calm until lunch,
then a good northerly breeze carried us onward in the afternoon.



After eight weeks with only the four of us on the boat, things progress at
a happy pace, plenty of space, no conflict. The days rush by, a sure sign
of contentment. An awareness that "This is the time of our lives".



There are four yellow-nosed Albatrosses on our stern right now, glorious,
beautiful things. How lucky we are, to be doing something which may help
their survival.



Of course the excitement of Capetown fewer than a thousand miles ahead
lifts the spirits.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 29 September 2003

Day: 66

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 34.41'S, 02.53'E
Position relative to nearest land: 776 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 084T

Speed: 7.2 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,083 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,193 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 776 miles


Barometric pressure: 1023

Wind direction: NNW

Wind Speed: 33-48 knots (Force 7-9)

Cloud cover: 100%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 15.3 C

Sea conditions: Sailing across rough sea with gale force wind on the beam
under No 2 Yankee with eleven rolls in it and Staysail with four rolls. No
Mainsail or Mizen sail. Occasional waves bursting across the boat.


Bird sightings: Few birds seen today in these fresh conditions. Occasional
Albatross, Petrel and Shearwater only.



Notes: 36 hrs more Penicillin V. Jaw still swollen but no problem.



The wind has steadily increased to a NNW gale. Lumpy sea. We struggle to
keep on a line due west of Capetown.



Nothing much to say or do except concentrate on a safe entry into Capetown.
After +7,000 miles this is the very moment to concentrate harder than at
any time since leaving NW Scotland on Sunday 27 July.



The odd Albatross and Petrel but not many birds today.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 30 September 2003

Day: 67

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 35.00'S, 05.20'E
Position relative to nearest land: 656 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 093T

Speed: 5.5 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,208 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,328 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 656 miles


Barometric pressure: 1026

Wind direction: WSW

Wind Speed: 17-21 knots (Force 5)

Cloud cover: 25%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.0 C

Sea conditions: Running with wind on the starboard quarter, under full No 2
Yankee and Staysail with 2 rolls in it. No Mainsail or Mizen. A gentle easy
sea running with us causing only erratic rolling. A pleasant change after
yesterday's gale.


Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses, Petrels.



Notes: A good taste of what is to come. Northerly gale all day. We're
heading east, so we were plodding across a big sea with waves breaking over
the boat.



Rolling heavily, everything shifting from side to side, particularly
humans. Misjudgment of balance leads to a heavy fall. I am particularly
aware of not wanting to crunch my face with something.



Nick and I have run up a long list of minor jobs to do in Capetown. Each
easy enough when the boat is still but tricky on a switchback.



I dropped the cap of the water can. It exploded into life and bounced all
over the place, shouting "I can see a place even deeper and harder to
reach!". Breaking all gymnastic records it reached the very bottom of the
bilge, beneath the gearbox of the engine.



Marie Christine and I looked at long thin Nick, Nick's fined down after 8
weeks - a human pipe cleaner. We grasped an ankle each and lowered our 9ft
Dyna-rod towards bottom dead centre. For a while the Gollum-like fingers
writhed around in the darkness, then "Got it!" and we heaved him back plus
white plastic cap. The old veins in his forehead were going like Hitler. A
beautifully-built boy.



At 1800 a purple rain squall heralded a 90 degree wind shift North to West.
Suddenly we emerged into blue skies. Bright sinking sun and an easing wind.
Immaculate Albatrosses and Petrels swung about us in glee, celebrating our
surviving a storm in a teacup, and we watched the great bank of cloud
shrink to the far horizon.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 1 October 2003

Day: 68

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 34.46'S, 07.55'E
Position relative to nearest land: 528 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 088T

Speed: 5.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,333 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,453 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 656 miles


Barometric pressure: 1029

Wind direction: W

Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)

Cloud cover: 75%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.0 C

Sea conditions: Still running with wind on the starboard quarter, under
full No 2 Yankee and Staysail with 2 rolls in it. No Mainsail or Mizen. A
gentle easy sea running with us causing only erratic rolling.


Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses,
Petrels, see below.



Notes: Early yesterday morning we narrowly missed being run down by a
west-bound fully laden container ship. She was out of Hong Kong and Burma,
had come round Cape of Good Hope and hoped to be in Buenos Aires next week.
We need to keep a better look-out. You go for a month seeing nothing then
you nearly hit one - not many lives left in this cat! We'll Brasso the
Doghouse windows.



Closing Capetown, nursing the rig. We mustn't lose the mast aafter 5,000
miles of limping along. Softly, softly catchee monkey.



Marie Christine's vegetable store is looking spacious: 18 shrivelled
potatoes, 20 onions, 5 sweet potatoes, 7 lemons, plenty garlic, a few
sprouting ginger. Maybe five days to go! "Ready, Steady, Cook!" It was Toad
in the Hole last night. Corned beef, Batter, Fried Onion and generous
gravy. Finger-licking good. Pasta and rice coming up on the outside - fast!
Frankly, Headmistress, I've had enough Pesto sauce. Olive oil's OK but
Basil reminds me of your cousin Marjorie and that hotel off Sloane Street.



Steady retinue of Black Petrels (two types), a few Piebald Pintados, the
odd Shearwater and Storm Petrel. Yellow nosed Albatrosses usually around

and occasional Black-browed albatrosses. We pass the odd fishing buoy,
usually ballasted with a comunity of Goosenecked barnacles. Same as those
on the hull!



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 2 October 2003

Day: 69

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 34.42'S, 010.19'E
Position relative to nearest land: 401 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 088T

Speed: 5.7 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,453 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,573 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 401 miles


Barometric pressure: 1031

Wind direction: WSW

Wind Speed: 4-6 knots (Force 2)

Cloud cover: 10%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C

Sea conditions: Motoring over smooth sea with moderate underlying swell
from the West


Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels



Notes: Just seen our 2nd Wandering Albatross, also immature. But it was
really following a west-bound bulk carrier 'Thor Pilot'. Registered in
Bangkok, she was carrying rice to Brazil. The huge bird just gave us a
quick looking over and chased after the 'Thor Pilot' which we passed only
some 200 metres apart.



The wind has failed. It's hot and sunny. We are motoring to charge our
batteries as the Fischer Panda generator has gone on the blink. We hope to
meet the Fischer Panda agent in Capetown. The little generator has worked
faultlessly for eight weeks but the automatic start and cutout have just
failed. I think there is very little wrong and we could probably run on
manual but I feel it's best to wait until Capetown.



The sea appears carpeted with tiny bubbles, on closer inspection they turn
out to be baby Portuguese Man'o'war jellyfish.



There are few birds today. Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses come
occasionally. The odd Pintado now and then. The black Petrels must be busy
elsewhere. Four Terns passed, in a team, heading south, for the Antarctic
summer?



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 3 October 2003

Day: 70

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 34.42'S, 012.43'E
Position relative to nearest land: 282 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 164T

Speed: 1.4 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 110 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,563 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,683 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 282 miles


Barometric pressure: 1030

Wind direction: ENE

Wind Speed: 7-10 knots (Force 3)

Cloud cover: 100%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 17.6 C

Sea conditions: Just starting to sail again over very smooth sea with light
variable breeze coming from E-N . Full No 2 Yankee, near full Staysail,
full Mainsail, no Mizen.


Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels



Notes: We have been becalmed for the past 32 hours and motored for 24 of
them. But we are now out of fuel, so we'll just roll about on the glassy
swell - and whistle up the wind.



The main job for the day will be to unpack the Liferafts and Emergency
stores from the centre cockpit and then pour our reserve 7 x 5 gallon
containers of diesel into the main tank.



But we do need to keep that fuel for emergency use when we close Capetown,
only 282 tantalising miles to our east. And tantalising these are, on Day
70, ten weeks out from our home, faraway now on the NW coast of Scotland.
It will be autumn there now, the first touch of frost will turn the bracken
red. Sandy will have to gather the sheep on his own. Down here we have the
first promise of spring.



Motoring in flat calm and pitch dark last night, we left a broad track of
white fire behind us. Luminous squid surfacing to feed in the
phosphorescent soup of life which is all around us. They say that in some
places the plankton is so dense it colours the sea and causes rain.



Trouble is, no one country owns the ocean, so we have that old bogey:
shared responsibility. And yet it is the hub of life on the planet. I doubt
if the crew of 'Thor Pilot' notice they had only one bird following them,
as they bustle along Bangkok to Brazil with their cargo of rice. Perhaps if
they never saw even one, they would not mind.



We have seen only two immature Wandering Albatrosses in our 70 days. They
may well be nesting at this time but not all of them.



Doom and gloom is easy. Positive steps are needed. The Petition lies just
over the eastern horizon.



The calm's getting to me!



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 4 October 2003

Day: 71

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 34.22'S, 015.18'E


Position relative to nearest land: 154 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 72T

Speed: 4.5 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,703 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,823 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 154 miles


Barometric pressure: 1025

Wind direction: NNW

Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)

Cloud cover: 50%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 17.4 C

Sea conditions: Lumpy, following passage of weather front and 90 degree
shift in the wind direction. Just starting to sail again under full No 2
Yankee and Staysail.


Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels



Notes: The first absolute silence for ten weeks! People whispered. Silent
sea, all sails rolled away.



We had six hours of flat calm. In my bunk, coming off Watch at 10.00,
there was no chuckle of water passing my ear, no rattle of blocks or squeel
of winches, no banging of sails. Eerie!



I awoke at noon, all the sounds were back. Nick was setting sails and
tuning his baby - the wonderful Monitor wind vane steering system. We were
hard on the wind.



While it was still smooth we rushed into unpacking the centre cockpit: 4 x
5 gal cans of diesel, 2 x 5gal cans of water, 2 x 8 man Life Rafts, 2 x
5gal cans engine oil, 5 x 2 1/2gal cans petrol, 1 x can hydraulic fluid, 1
x can anti-freeze, 4 x flare containers full of survival grab bag stuff, 1
x Avon speed boat, etc.



Quick macaroni lunch, then the delicate business of pouring the 4 x 5gal
Jerrycans of diesel into the main tank, through the filler in the floor of
the now-empty centre cockpit. Plus the other three cans we keep beneath
the saloon deck by the galley.



Plenty relief to have a conservative 30 gals in the fuel tank now, as we
close Africa. Oh, how exciting. Do I smell the flesh pots already?



The wind filled in during the afternoon and the Albatrosses and Petrels
took interest in us again. What joy it has been to see a Yellow-nosed
Albatross skim barely a couple of inches above the low silver banks of
swell in the calm. Perfection.



How could anything gauge the distance so nicely? I do so want to be an
Albatross.



Rations are low, corned beef has many disguises. Nick and I had our Chilli
Con Carne supper together in the Doghouse. Nick the Whippet was detailing
the process by which he had lost so much weight between his visit to
Ardmore in January and his stripping off for the Durness Highland Games
Hill Race on Friday 26 July.



"PSSHHTTT!"


"What's that noise?" I interrupted, ever eager to draw a veil over my own
inadequate performance in the Race.



Out of the corner of my right eye I saw the vapour from the Blow, followed
by a long shiny black back, rolling up, followed much later , by a small
curved dorsal fin.



"Could be bigger than us" murmured Nick.



"Whale! Whale!" I called down the hatch. Nick and I jumped out of the
Doghouse door. Marie Christine came hopping up he ladder, Con Carne in hand.



"Longer than us, would be over 60ft Nick!" I said.



"Rie" stayed firmly below. She doesn't like the squid that land on the
deck. And she certainly doesn't want to see a 60ft fish.



I hope he's just coming along for company. Maybe we look like a 60ft whale
from under the water. Very chummy. He easily cruised along at our 7.5 knots.



I'm not looking for any mating games, where he sees us as a rival. One butt
from him and we start the two-mile glide to the sea bed.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: 5 October 2003

Day: 72

Local time: 1200 GMT+2

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: 33.55'S, 017.57'E Position relative to nearest land: 19 nm west of Capetown.

Course: 81T

Speed: 081 knots

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles

Distance traveled since last port: 5,843 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 7,963 nm

Headed to: Capetown, South Africa

Distance to next port: approx 19 miles


Barometric pressure: 1031

Wind direction: NW

Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)

Cloud cover: 0%

Air temperature: n/a

Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C

Sea conditions: Big swell left over from very fresh overnight blow from the NW


Bird sightings: See below



Notes: Our old chum, Rob Duncan, called on the Satphone at lunchtime
yesterday. He had flown down from Zimbabwe to meet us.This had a great
effect on morale. There's nothing like the thought of having someone to
meet you, on arrival in a foreign land.



We were 150 miles west of Capetown when Rob called. He mentioned that we
might expect strong NW winds and he was right. Soon we were rushing along
under a bit of Yankee and a scrap of Staysail. The sacrificial tube on the
vane steering broke (the third tube) and later the stopper knot on one of
the steering lines pulled through.



We had gusts to 50 knots in the night. No time for overconfidence. we can
still lose the mast!

But they're all here to meet us.



This morning: Blue skies, bright sun, big white crested waves. There are a
couple of Yellow nosed and one Black-browed Albatrosses. Various Petrels
and Shearwaters, and Pintados. What with Mother Carey's Chickens, flights
of Golden headed -
Gannets, a Tern or two, Black-backed gulls and even a grizzley old Great
Skua, it's almost like home was, 72 days ago.




Marie christine and I last sailed in here, 25 years ago, almost to the day.
We were skippering this good old boat in the second Whitbread Round the
World Yacht Race 1977/78. there were 150 brave souls in 15 boats. I wonder
if any others will show up for the 25th anniversary this week.



Table Mountain wore a table cloth but 8,000 miles and ten weeks from home,
Capetown and Africa look full of surprises.We finally tied up at the Royal
Cape yacht Club at 1630 and Bob and his wife Leslie were there to meet us.
We were thrilled.




Into the mist...




John Ridgway

Now go on to read about the Cape Town stopover 6-19 October 2003

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