23 February 2018 Jamestown, St Helena
The anchorage is has been really bouncy for the past two days with katabatic gusts and a 2 foot swell from the east – I wonder if this is a warning of the incoming 2 metre North Rollers. In between the gusts, I replaced the (now clean) genoa and staysail sheets.
We caught the 10:00 ferry boat and went into town to clear out. It only took 15 minutes to call in at Immigration; then pay our mooring fee at the Port Control (£13); and finally get the outward clearance from Customs - it’s probably the fastest clearance that we’ve ever done.
With time on our hands, we popped into the little town museum, which is free. It was a nice way to spend an hour or so and was very informative. At midday, we picked up the two brown loaves from “The Star” supermarket - I’m glad that I ordered them yesterday because all they had left on the shelves was limp, sliced white bread.
After a quick burger and chips at Anne’s restaurant, I went into the Consulate Hotel to do our last bit of internet, while Glenys went to the bank to exchange our remaining £70 of St Helena Pounds for British Pounds. The St Helena money cannot be changed anywhere other than on St Helena.
Unfortunately, there were 40 people queuing in the bank, so she gave up and came back. She asked the lady behind the bar in the Consulate Hotel and to our surprise, she had loads of British pounds and exchanged the lot for us, even the coins.
After catching the ferry back, I went for another snorkel on the wreck of the Papanui. I spent a pleasant hour free-diving and saw many Bearded Fireworms and a couple of Scrawled Filefish , but there was a lot of surge making photography a challenge.
When I got back to Alba, I had a look at the bottom of the boat and found that the zinc on the propeller had wasted away completely – I fitted a new one in Richards Bay, only three months ago. I think that it’s eroded so fast because we’ve spent so much time in marinas in South Africa, probably with stray electrical currents. Unfortunately, I don’t have a new zinc, but found a partially worn one, which will be better than nothing.
After I’d had a lovely hot shower, a 5 foot wide Chilean Devil Ray swam around our boat for five minutes, but by the time that I’d got my camera and snorkelling gear out again, it had disappeared into the depths.
24 February 2018 St Helena to Brazil (Day 1)
After a lazy start to the morning, we pottered about getting the boat ready for the 1,800 mile trip to Brazil. While I still had the dinghy in the water, I attached the Hydrovane rudder and untied the mooring lines, looping them through the mooring ring for easy release. After lashing the dinghy on deck, we dropped our mooring at 10:30.
St Helena is a large, high island and severely disrupts the prevailing SE winds, so we had a frustrating time for the first 4 hours, with the wind veering around all over place. We motored for an hour and then tried to sail, but after gybing a few times, we gave up and motored-sailed until 14:00. By this time, the wind had settled down to ESE 6-12 knots and we were able to sail wing-on-wing with the genoa poled out to port, albeit only at 3 to 5 knots.
As soon as we’d left the mooring, I put out two fishing lines, hoping to catch something while we were close to land. A Brown Booby took an interest in our lures and dived down to catch one. Unfortunately, it managed to get the hook through its wing. I reeled in the squawking bird and lifted it on to the aft deck.
The Booby was not happy, snapping with its vicious 3 inch long beak at me as I tried to get close. After several attempts , I managed to drape a towel over its head and pin it down so that I could extract the hook from its wing. I lobbed the bird overboard and it seemed to be okay, floating for a minute and then flying off towards land.
The light winds continued throughout the afternoon and into the night - at times we’d manage 5.5 knots, but at other times we’d be down to 3 knots. I suspect that this is going to be a long slow trip. If we’re lucky, we might be able to average 5 knots, which would mean 15 days at sea. However, if we only average 4 knots it will take us 19 days.
For once, we seem to be starting a passage at a good phase of the moon. We had just over half a moon tonight, with a full moon in 6 days’ time, so we should have moonlight on most nights. Tonight was lovely, with 50% cloud cover. A one point on my 7-10 watch, I heard the blow of dolphins and could just see them, jumping out of the moon-dappled water at the side of the boat.
25 February 2018 St Helena to Brazil (Day 2)
The pleasant weather continued after dawn - we had scattered clouds and 8-14 knot winds allowing us to sail at 5 to 6 knots. At our 07:00 position check, we’d sailed 105 miles in 21 hours, which is a average of 5 knots – better than I first thought.
In the morning, we sailed past a Brown Noddy resting on a small log. As soon as our fishing lures were level with the flotsam, an 18lb Dorado took the popper lure on the rod. It took me 20 minutes to haul it in and gaff it onto our aft deck. We put a towel over its head to stop it flailing around; splashed a bit of cheap rum in the gills; and it was dead within a few minutes without too much blood and gore.
I then spent 25 minutes gutting and filleting the beast while we rolled along at 6 knots in 2 metres seas. Unsurprisingly, we had fried Dorado sandwiches for lunch and Dorado in Creamy Sauce with mashed potatoes for dinner.
We had consistent 8-14 knot winds for most of the day and racked up a fair few miles, but the wind became a little fickle after dark, dropping to as low as 5 knots for some of the time. Unfortunately, we still had 1½ metre seas, so during the lulls, we were being rolled about, causing our sails to bang and slat around as we drifted along at 2 to 3 knots – very frustrating. The lulls seemed to be caused by cloud banks passing us by, but they didn’t last more than an hour.
During Glenys’ 10-1 watch, we picked up a hitch-hiker – a small Brown Noddy took a liking to our solar panels and took a chance on a landing in the moonlight.
26 February 2018 St Helena to Brazil (Day 3)
Dawn brought us another beautiful day with a light SSE 8-12 knot breeze, which continued all day allowing us to average 5 knots.
At the moment, there’s not a lot to do, so I’ve been working on an Owner’s Manual for Alba. Over the past seven years, we’ve built up lot of knowledge on the use and maintenance of all the equipment on the boat. We’re expecting to sell Alba within the next 12 months and I’d like to pass on all my knowledge to the next owner.
It’s turning into an epic document. I have manufacturer’s manuals for practically every piece of gear on the boat and lots of notes and drawings that I’ve compiled over the years, so bringing it all together will keep me occupied until we get to the West Indies in May.
By sunset, the wind had increased by a few knots to 10-15 knots. It’s surprising how much better the boat feels with that extra little bit of pressure on the sails. It’s also good when the boat speed increases to 6 knots.
Overnight, we had some rain showers go through and the wind increased a bit more to 12-20 knots, so we were screaming along at 6.5 to 7.5 knots. When we started to plane at 8 knots, I put a reef in the main.
27 February 2018 St Helena to Brazil (Day 4)
The showers dissipated by 08:00, leaving us with blues skies with fluffy white clouds. The wind slowly backed, so we gybed the main to port and re-rigged the pole & genoa out to starboard. The afternoon was idyllic, sailing along at 6 knots.
We have three time zones to pass through before we get to Brazil, which is at GMT -3. Sunrise didn’t happen until 06:45 this morning, so we put the clocks back one hour and now Glenys will get an earlier dawn.
Night brought us showery weather again. The first shower hit Glenys at midnight, giving rain and variable winds. For my 1-4 watch, the wind was all over the place, changing in strength and direction as showers went past. Eventually, I gave up and ran the engine for 40 minutes; and then sailed for 20 minutes; and then motored a while. Glenys had more of the same on her 4-7 watch, so we ended up running the engine for 2.5 hours overnight. Oh well, we wanted hot water for the shower anyway.
28 February 2018 St Helena to Brazil (Day 5)
Once again, the showers dissipated after dawn, leaving us with fluffy white clouds and a nice day. The clouds built up a bit in the afternoon and messed about with the wind, but we managed to keep sailing at 4 to 6 knots all day.
The days are starting to blur together now. We’re both feeling weary with the three hour watches and the constant rolling, so we’re sleeping as much as we can. The most exciting event of the day was that Glenys washed some of our underwear and hung it out to dry in the sun.
It was a beautiful moonlit night with a few small clouds and a steady 8-12 knot breeze – we slid along at 4 to 5 knots. Fabulous, easy sailing.
There are more photos in our Photo Album section.
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