Jumping Off!

I am leaving this morning. Look for a new post sometime in April...

Probably do a "sail by" of a few spots but no plan to stop for awhile. I will try and shoot for Trinidad which is a super long haul but who knows.

My mind is empty and all I can think about is getting around the point in the next four hours and the final slap on the butt I will get on Wednesday off Namibia (check out the weather for that one).

See y0u on the other side of the Atlantic!

Still in Simonstown, RSA

You don't get much sympathy getting caught in gusting forties in "hurricane alley." The name comes, not from trying to be cute, but from the fact that there actually are hurricane force winds right out front fairly frequently. The weekend I arrived, a tourist was killed when a gust of wind blew him off one of the scenic lookout points. Another international yacht got caught in the alley a couple of weeks back and had left the main up. They couldn't get it down and it blew out. I talked with one boat that had gusting sixty. They had to keep the engine full power in reverse in the anchorage to keep the boat from getting caught by the wind.

If you haven't heard about the recent spate of circumnavigating teenagers, it has gotten complicated. Last year, a sixteen year old American male set a new record of being the youngest circumnavigator. His record didn't last long as a British sixteen year old two months younger just completed his circumnavigation. Now, the younger sister of the American just left to reclaim the title. Meanwhile an Australian sixteen year old female is already about half way around right now!

Look for the flash towards the left!