Received on the 27th Dec 2011
Life on board Kwela has been good for the most part. Our biggest frustration at the moment is that we have had very little wind. We are travelling 50nm a day which is pathetic – at this rate we will get there end March! We haven’t even left African Coastline yet... Obviously the concern of running out of water is quite an issue so we have already started to ration ourselves to using the bare minimum. Having only a little bit of wind, brings more issues than only a time one. Our automatic steering mechanism only works optimally in wind, so hence with no wind we are having to hand steer the boat ourselves. It is very tiring. You have to sit in the cockpit (which is that area at the back of the boat) and then steer, obviously trying to steer a sailing boat with no wind has its frustrations because the boat doesn’t do much without wind. The nights are freezing out there in the cock pit, so our biggest prayer at the moment is that we get some wind to get us moving and also give us a break. We work 3 hour watches - which sounds easy, but trust me it is not. You can’t even take your eyes off the compass for 2 minutes to look at the stars because the boat goes off course so easily and then you have to take 20 minutes to turn the boat around again to try and catch the littlest bit of wind that there is.
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Darling Leeky. U R amaizing. Keep t up. I can only imagine the hardship (but also the beauty) of your journey. Remember it is epic. Remember we love you. I lie awake every night wondering. remember: we c the same moon, and feel the same sunshine. Keep going. I have a poem for you. Have to send next time due to character limit. lovingly junie.
ReplyDeleteMy darling Leeky. The way i pray for safe winds for you 2. My word, u might just get an almighty blast lol. Fascinating reading your entries. Remember even though u r out of touch with our voices, we r all thinking of u every day.keep onward.lovingly,junie
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