Sep 15, 2005 – 1300hrs UTC

1300hrs 15 Sep 2005 UTC 06’29”N 022’16”W Ref 365

0629 02216 15/1300 – we seem to be in a steady southerly at last – what we were expecting when we trekked east from the Cape Verdes to give us the angle when it arrived. Here’s hoping it sticks and carries us into the tradesBands of NW and SW winds either side of the equator that blow with more or less constant speed and direction all year. proper and then lifts us east of Fernando de NoronhaA Brasilian archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, 354 km (220 mi) offshore from the Brazilian coast. More on Wikipedia. and down to TrindadeTrindade and Martim Vaz is an archipelago located about 1,200 kilometers (740 mi) east of Vitória in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Brazil. More in Wikipedia. Cross your fingers for us.

[more for Belmore South…]

Hi – this is Alex in Berrimilla in some awful weather just off the Gulf of Guinea. We are surrounded by big storm clouds and heavy rain and it’s hot and sweaty even at night. We have just started to get a steady wind from the south, so we are hoping that we can sail over towards Brazil and then down the coast of South America. We are heading to pass close to a tiny island called TrindadeTrindade and Martim Vaz is an archipelago located about 1,200 kilometers (740 mi) east of Vitória in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Brazil. More in Wikipedia, part of the Ihlas San Martin Vaz group of islands belonging to Brazil at 20 degrees 27 minutes south, 28 degrees 44 minutes west. See if you can find them on a map – they are pretty small.

It’s really nice to be able to talk to you all, even in this rather clumsy way and we’d like to hear from you too if you are interested. We are going to be sailing towards Australia for another 90 days or so. We send these emails over a high frequency radio – a bit stone age these days with satellite phones and other high tech goodies, but it works. Unfortunately, we can’t send photos. Probably just as well – we’re not the prettiest – I’ve worn the same clothes for 10 days now and they are damp and cheesy, but it saves water if we don’t wash them. As for water – we need about 6 litres per day to survive, cookBritish explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. He made 3 voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. More on wikipedia., shave and all those things. We brought about 200 litres with us from England and we have a watermaker called a Reverse OsmosisA process that can remove salt from water by forcing the water through a semi-permeable membrane under high pressure; 365; see also desalinator de-salinator which gets the salt out of sea water by passing it through a membrane. It’s clever and necessary – we could save some rain water, but not much and it’s always salty

I hope you enjoy your class

Best wishes from Alex.