Day 49, Year 6 Anchored in Mossel Bay
Date: Sunday, December 12, 2010
Weather: Windy and Gusty
Winds: SE and SSE 20-30 knots with gusts to 45
Latitude: 34 10.542 S
Longitude: 022.08.455 E
Location: Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa

Passage Statistics:
681 miles in 4 days 2 hours, 10 minutes (98 hours + 10 minutes)
Sailing Hours-46 hours + 35 minutes
Motor Sailing Hours-51 hours + 35 minutes
Average Speed-7 knots

Another one down. We arrived in Mossel Bay at 6:30 am and had the anchor down by 6:45 am. And were we ever glad to get here. The last twelve hours were very windy and gusty with the seas at three meters (12 feet) and a bit confused. We were sailing dead downwind again with only a double reefed main but with the wind and a half-knot to a knot of current with us, we couldn’t slow it down enough to be really comfortable. When we checked into the Peri Peri weather net at 7 am, we were told that no one should leave Mossel Bay until at least the 16th as the Cape Agulhas to Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope) area is having a very windy period. Last night there were 60 knot winds around the Cape and one boat that tried to get around had to be towed in by Sea Rescue. The inner harbor here is full so there are five sailboats plus Windbird bouncing around in the 20+ knots of wind behind the breakwater. One of the boats announced on the radio that they were leaving at noon as they thought they could make it to Cape Town before it gets even windier on Tuesday, but no one has left, so maybe they had second thoughts. Our next stop is beyond Cape Agulhas and just before Cape Point so even if this is not the most comfortable anchorage in the world, we will stay put until we can get a good two day window to make the next 250 miles.

You can tell that it is summer here, not by the temperature, but by the number of people in the water off the beach that is just behind us. After four dreary days, we have enjoyed the sunshine today even if we are still a bit cool at 70 degrees F. Late this afternoon we will go to shore to the yacht club and meet up with Carla and Pieter of Odulphus and maybe some of the people off the other boats here. Duncan and Irene of Moose are here. We met them at the Zululand Yacht Club before we went to Kruger so we look forward to getting to know them better. And we’ll have a few days here to do just that.

101213b Day 50 South Africa–Braai at Mossel Bay Yacht Club