Torkel Blogg

Godahoppsudden

Well that's it. Another ocean and cape down! It took a while with light winds for the last few days but Ella's Pink Lady has passed under Cape Agulhas, but being 400nm south of land I couldn't quite see it this time. A bright orange half moon and a spectacular sky of stars was enough of a celebration. But of course, I also put a bit of a dent in the chocolate supplies and let off a few party poppers! There's still so many miles to cover across the Indian and then around the bottom of Australia, but it really feels like we're on the homeward leg now. Only 4,200nm till Cape Leeuwin and Australia, a very exciting and slightly scary thought! The lovely weather over the last few days has more than made up for our slowish speeds. As a high pressure system passed over us, we've had perfect clear skies, warm sunshine, gentle seas, plenty of birds and the odd albatross for company. In between a lot of enjoying the sunshine and contemplating how perfect it all was, I also used the quiet conditions to keep up with a few jobs and give everything a good double-check over. I made a total mess re-applying Sika flex to the odd persistent leak. Also snapped another two needles and put a few holes in my hands re-stitching one of the tears in the mainsail. As always, good things can't last forever and with a front and some nasty weather expected tomorrow, my quiet few days are over for now. Back to reality and more typical Southern Ocean sailing. Hopefully we can use the strong winds to make a serious dent into the Indian Ocean! Jesse