Cool New Video—Adventures On AMARA

Doug sent me this great video of him and the gang during their passage from Reunion Island to Durban.  It's quite entertaining as it shows the whales greeting them as they approached Durban. It also gives you an idea of how rough it can get on the high seas.  He was also able to capture some footage of them while they were in the gale that had winds upwards to 48 knots.  Never a dull moment on AMARA.

Enjoy!  (And thanks, Doug!)

Landfall this morning—Durban, South Africa

AMARA and her crew reached landfall today arriving in Durban.  As they approached land and were just off the coast, they were greeted by Southern Right Whales that came up next to AMARA while breaching and spy hopping in the water.  Martin felt like it was the welcoming committee coming out to greet these tired sailors and escort them in to South Africa.

I spoke to Martin via Skype this evening and it was so nice to get caught up and be able to see each other on our computer cameras.  He was very excited to be on land and was enjoying a breakfast at a local coffee shop.

I'm just so glad that they made it to Durban and am anxious to meet up with Martin in Cape Town in less than two weeks.

More news to come in the morning.

Gales and Currents

Martin sent me an update via email on what they are currently dealing with.  I thought I would share it on the blog.  They are almost there!

"We have about 100 miles to go before we get to Durban, but we are in a full Gale tonight.  I just got off watch and had winds up to 48 knots (which is around 54 mph) and some lightening just to keep it interesting. The boat is doing well in the waves.   We are also just about to cross 30 miles of the Agulhas Current which runs down the African coast at about 4 knots. Fortunately the wind is going the same direction as the current, so the waves won't get any bigger.

Don't worry about anything, I'm having a blast, and just thought you would like to hear what we are dealing with at the moment.

I will let you know when we arrive in Durban.

Love
Martin"

Dispatches from the Indian Ocean

Great news!  AMARA should be reaching landfall by the 12th!  That's just around the corner.  I am so happy to know that they are almost there and that land is near.  It's been a rough ride and Martin, David and Doug are anxious to make it to Durban.

I got a great email from Doug today that I thought I would share with you.  It demonstrates how there is never a dull moment while at sea.

Enjoy the read...

"This morning while I was on watch (at the helm) I saw a Humpback whale breech very close to the boat.  It jumped almost completely out of the water, then fell on its side with a tremendous splash.. less than a hundred yards from the boat.  Very cool!  He then swam along side us for a while before losing interest and moving away.

Then later during that same watch I encountered a very interesting navigational problem.  The instrument that measures boat speed relative to the water said we were moving west at eight knots.  However, the instrument that measures boat speed relative to ground (the GPS) said that the boat was basically not moving at all.  We were in a very strange ocean current eddy that was pushing us to the east at the same speed that we were moving through the water to the west.  The net result was no progress even though we were sailing as fast as we could.  An eight knot current eddy is almost unheard of, but not impossible. The waters in this part of the Indian Ocean are famous for doing strange things like this and today they lived up to their reputation.  (In case you're wondering what I did to solve the problem... I pointed the boat north and ran that way for a while until we were clear of the strange eddy.  If I hadn't done that and things hadn't changed then we could have stayed in that same spot of the ocean forever, sailing as fast as we could but getting nowhere.)"

Madagascar and an Albatross

I heard from Martin today.  It's always a great treat to hear from him while they are underway.  He told me that they are rounding the tip of Madagascar at about 200 miles from the shore.  The wind is gusting at 30+ knots while they are fighting a 3 knot current with steep waves that are making the boat roll at a 45 degree angle.  Needless to say, there is lots of pounding on the hulls.  Martin said that the waves are so high that they can see waves breaking at the height of the window from outside the galley.  That is high!

I asked him if he was feeling sick and he said that they were too busy to feel sick as they are fighting the seas most of the time, but that they are having fun.  Really, that is all that matters.

While talking with Martin on the phone, I could hear the wind whistling through the sails and it sounded a bit sketchy.  He told me not to worry, and that they were fine.  About that time, a huge Albatross flew up next to the boat and Martin said that it had a huge wingspan at about 6 feet long.  I quickly googled "Albatross" to see it could really be one and it said that "If you want to see an Albatross, go to Madagascar."  So cool!  Martin reported to me later that the bird stayed with them the remainder of the day staying close to the boat.  He also said that he understood why sailors often commented that they felt that they were being watched over by these large birds as they flew close to their ships.

AMARA is still slated to reach the coast of South Africa in about 7 days.. whether it be Durban or somewhere close to it (as the wind is pushing them a bit off course at times).  Fingers crossed they make it sooner rather than later!