Archives by: JML Rotary Scout

Delivery day 19 S 35°39.420’ W 011°33.000’ The crew are all anticipating arriving in Cape Town - at the moment the ETA is on Friday - and there have been a few schemes hatched for our arrival; Stan insists on coming in, beer in hand, blaring music, (‘coming in hot and blowing out snot’ he calls it) whilst some of the more aesthetic-seeking minds fancy coming in on a nice sunset. The wind has been consistently inconsistent; we know roughly at what times it ... Read more

Delivery day 18 S 35°45.235’ W 009°06.311’ Everyone is missing the sunny weather, otherwise not much on board has changed. There is little to no activity besides the daily duties. Basically the atmosphere is drowsy and cold, but kept alive by those favourite playlist on various devices, and good natured teasing. The tack we are on is less ideal for using both the galley and the heads; the tilt makes food more likely to fall out of the oven because of the way it ... Read more

Delivery day 17 S 35°46.607 W 006°44.136 The crew have all retreated into hibernation mode - those who previously swore alliteracy are now comfortably awaiting their watches in their bunks, eagerly reading and swapping books from people’s various stashes. The sun comes and goes, and the wind has a chilly bite, but we are speeding along and enjoying such comforts as warm beds and hot foods. But alas! Our hot drinks supplies are dwindling! We are now rationing our hot chocolate, rooibos and coffee - ... Read more

Delivery day 16 S 35°42.100’ W 004°03.348’ The evidence of our southerly position is the growing bite in the air. After the wind changed yesterday the air has been chilly, so the frequency of crew members in the cockpit is mostly limited to being on watch and eating lunch and supper. Foulies are all the rage, and the various coloured suits are being modelled aboard the Rotary Scout. We are happy to report that the spinnaker we repaired is as good as new, and ... Read more

Delivery day 15 S 35°45.817’ W 001°57.200’ We all are thoroughly enjoying the wind - with our spinnaker up, we reached the whopping speed of 10.5 knots! This morning at around 4:00 we crossed the Greenwich meridian with a proud hoot of the airhorn - and mumble of a sleepy crew, some of which did not even hear the horn! Warrick has been bent on catching us a nice fish for when our tuna stock inevitably runs out - every time a fishing ... Read more

Delivery day 14 S 35°20.445’ W 001°13.530’ The whole night was super chilled for all the crew members. We bobbed around… due to lack of wind at the mercy of the huge ocean. We found ourselves silently wishing we still had a fully functional motor. (Even a functional one would’ve been amazing.) Thank goodness the high didn’t last longer than the night. We got decent wind this morning and have been going very nicely since doing a sail change; the spinnaker no longer ... Read more

Delivery day 13 S 34°41.241 W 002°11.580 On awakening, we found ourselves back in another high pressure system. We have all been rather amused by the calm and chilled return trip weather thus far, although the grib files foretell an incoming low pressure system that will speedily send us onwards to Cape Town. We spent the day drying laundry, mending our fabulous spray-dodger (which has worked wonders thus far) and lamming in the hot sun. We have been gorging ourselves on all the tuna, ... Read more

Delivery day 12 S 33°35.595’ W 004°06.535’ The big Dorado caught yesterday was halved, and one half was fried up and eaten with the burgers for a scrumptious Surf & Turf dinner, and the other half was thrown in the freezer. We got very excited about the fillet, as it took up half of a large Zip-Lock bag, and felt substantial. Just after supper, the fishing rods called out to us again in their high-pitched voices, beckoning us with haste. There was something ... Read more

Delivery Day 11 S 32°33.070 W 005°37.333 During the nights, we played around with our spinnaker, getting really good speeds and all in good spirits. This morning however, we heard a suspicious ‘clunk’, and ran up to discover that one of the spinnaker sheets had broken (a simple enough repair in itself) which had caused the spinnaker to flap around and obtain a small rent. The crew have all taken turns in helping mend the spinny, and otherwise seeing what familiar towns and cities ... Read more

Delivery day 10 S 30°53.950 W 007°27.737 The crew has had a relaxing day chilling, sleeping, reading and eating. A short rope was tied to the back of the boat, and some of the more energetic crew members swam off the stern - the speed that the boat was going made this quite the adventure. We have enough fish left over for supper tonight! Stan’s fishing endeavors have served us well. Kerryn has also been cooking ferociously, baking most of the bread as well ... Read more