Day 16

Another frustrating day of no wind. We only managed to do 20 nautical miles since 10am today, whereas on some days we could average well over 200nm in a day. It is at times like these that you are glad you have no access to the RCYC tracking system, as even the thought of everyone else moving while you are sitting still is soul destroying in itself. Especially when you know old Gerry is out of the high pressure, and this delay will allow them an extra few hours of sipping cold Heinekens before you arrive.

With the sun dropping below the horizon, the first bit of breeze has trickled in. It is wind from the most peculiar angle, but then again no wind this weekend has come even close to what the weather has predicted. During the last few days we have found ourselves no longer dealing the cards, but having to play the cards that have been dealt to us. Not that much fun, especially when you get dealt a rubbish hand.

Everything on the boat is still going smoothly. Ryan has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on one too many occasions, and has now moved to challenging Brennan at draughts. I made the mistake of promising Michaela a book of her choice at Exclusive Books for every book that she finishes on this trip. As I write the tally sits at 3. Thank goodness the only books left on the shelf after this one is an old Louis L'amour western and a book on the subprime crisis, neither of which should inspire too much reading.

It was after six odd hours of not a breath of air today, and nothing but bobbing around all chaos broke loose. The time had come, the kit was off, and a well deserved swim was had by all. Swimming is taboo when it comes to racing, but at that moment it did not matter. The sea below was indescribable. The water was an intense shade of blue, and ever so clear.

There was a little bit of concern around the possibility of Bruce the Shark hanging about. Bren did however quickly clarify that our lack of even a nibble over the past 10 days of having a line out was testament to the fact that there was zero marine life in the area.

Brad and I have been stuck doing the grave-yard shift together. This is the shift between 12am and 2am, and probably the toughest to survive. Besides bulking up on coffee and energy sweets, we have now taken to waking Ryan 30 minutes into our shift. Not because of the level of skill that he brings to the watch, but because of the level of entertainment. He has started his own imitation of Uncle Carlos the Portuguese potato farmer, which has us both in stitches.

Tonight is another beautiful evening. The sky is scattered with stars, and only a little slither of moon is in view. The Southern Cross lies faithfully up in the sky, with her two pointers shining brightly just below.  Shooting stars are in abundance. Brad is sure that he is going to run out of things to wish for by the time he reaches Rio given the many shooting stars.

Many others out here no doubt are wishing that those shooting stars in the night sky are like aeroplanes. Specifically post the frustration that two days of no wind brings. But I think it is safe to say that this crew would not trade those shooting stars for anything

Days 14 & 15

Brad on sunrise watch

Dear friends, fans and followers...

Kathryn has decided to take the day off the blog entering, so I'll be filling in for today...

In order for yesterday not to have been a total waste, we decided that the day of sunshine, sparkly blue water and minimal wind would be dedicated to sleeping and tanning. There was no way of foreseeing or avoiding it, as all forecasts told that we'd have wind aplenty. Guess that's what you get for trusting a weather forecast...

But seriously, there was not a huge amount that could be done in the drifter conditions we encountered, so we set a watch schedule for two people at a time to keep the boat going, and gave the others strict instructions to relax to the max.

Keeping the spinnaker flying in 0-to-nothing knots of wind is an intricate skill that we were forced to master. We figured that the hard yards to be done in this race are not during the 30 knot winds, but rather in the inevitable ghostly calmness experienced in this part of the Atlantic.

So taking the positives out of yesterday, we figured that, statistically, everyone in the fleet has to do their fair bit of bobbing, and that we were just getting ours out of the way before we come screaming into Rio.

Watch this space.

The new kid on the blog,
Brennan

PS:  Loving the mails, keep them coming!  The blog entries are sometimes difficult to read, so rather send a mail to teamciaobella@gmail.com.

PPS:  Theresa, Theresa, looking desperately for a translator & tour guide to show us around Rio. We think you will be perfect and holding fingers crossed you can join us!

Days 12 & 13

Big Bertha is still going strong. The wind is up a bit today on yesterday, and we are managing to make some nice speed. We had a good evening last night, with the wind playing ball and the guys being able to steer a very fast course. They also managed to take full advantage of the gentle rollers (swell of around 1.25m) giving Ciao Bella a chance to catch some good waves at the same time - helping keep the speed up. Gerry and the boys were 275nm in front of us last time we looked. We can catch them, but it is going to be tough.

Culinary challenge is in full force. Brad bust out some bacon carbonara supreme last night (with tinned gammon to sub for the bacon), a feat which has definitely put him up for a possible placing. Mum is next up, cooking a yum curried tuna and rice meal - just like her mother used to make it.
 
Other than that, our fine dining experiences are limited.  Breakfast is rotated between jungle oats, oatsoEasy (the green packet) or a cereal which Ricky swears comes close to eating Poly-filla. All mixed with water. Lunches have been a bit more creative with a rotation between rice-cakes and provitas with toppings ranging from laughing-cow cheese and packet tuna. And of course peanut butter and syrup - the contents of which have diminished at an alarming rate.

Still no fish. We did realise yesterday however, that we have been using a lure meant to catch dolphin and marlins and not the one for tuna. We have subsequently changed lures. Still the only action that remains is this silly bird that tries to catch our little squid guy around 06h30 every morning. Concerning...

This 'leisurely family outing' has definitely turned to show a bit of competitive edge. Calls to remove the drag behind our boat (which is actually our fishing tackle) have been brought to The Boards attention. A decision is yet to be made.

One of the topics of last nights graveyard shift was what it would be like to be back. Back from a place where the sound of waves against the boat was the only sound penetrating the air. Where making tea is not a twenty minute ordeal, and a good Steers burger is only a few minutes down the road.

I guess we will only tell in nine days time. But until then, will settle for the sound of the waves and the wind in your hair.

Days 10 & 11

Back in business officially and back on track to catching Gerry and the boys (currently lying in first place).  The last positioning we got showed us in second place, but the race is still in its infancy with the big tactics going to come into play as we enter the territory west of 25 degrees. Mum sailed the boat over the 15 degree mark earlier this morning. Rio lies on 43 degrees west, so still a little while to go.

Winds are light and tricky. It's also hard because you don't know what conditions the competition is sailing in, and on occasion messes with your head. The boys however are steering superbly (even had little pocket rocket on the helm yesterday) and we seem to be holding ground. Reading the weather remains tricky. The big problem lies that unlike ten days ago when you were lying 9th and could afford to gamble, the odds in losing when you sitting in 2nd place are much higher.

We are into our third day of sailing along with Big Bertha. She is a big blue and white symmetrical spinnaker (big kite-like sail) who was nick-named Big Bertha by Rick. We use her in the lighter breeze, and Isabella (a black kite) in the heavier breeze. They have both been very good to us so far, and continue to perform at top level.

Our deck has become a flying fish grave yard. Ryan only wishes that our trawling skills were as successful. We have had a line out for two days, and no luck. We put this down to Ryan's lack of fish-feeding of late. Should we have bust that line out on day 2, we would have caught millions of tuna without a doubt.

Earle, thanks for the feedback on the share price movements of the retail shares. I will not have the major report on SA retailers to you by the end of the week, but promise to scoop out the South American retail market and give you the full feedback. That aside, I am sure the provisions shop will have a substantial impact on the SHP turnover numbers. That, together with dad's good taal praating on RSG will surely put me in good stead next time I meet with the boys in the North.

Not in one of the last emails have we been able to give our belta ground crew any credit for the outstanding job of shopping and packing of provisions. Jess, Gina, Ash and Ash - You guys were amazing.  Almost as amazing as Ash's home-baked cookies. Especially thanks for all the games
that you bought for the boat - you know how we all love losing at Chess to a 14 year old.  Ryan has now renamed the game, and comes to you saying, "So you wanna play a game of 'Kathryn feels like losing?'" The only one that has managed to beat the little squirt is Brennan... and only just.

The 7 kilo challenge remains on. While Brennan likes to claim it, we think dad is winning given he has now had to use a sail tie as a belt. The rest of us would not be surprised if we have put on weight given the copious amounts of sugar-filled snacks on board. Brad and Ricky don't seem to think that the freshly baked white bread smeared in butter helps either.

Another culinary spectacular by dad saw us finish off a yummy gammon goulash with rice. Like his mother used to make it. It also gave us all a chance to catch up on all the blog comments and messages from the last few days. They are great and some of them have us in complete stitches. 'Specially when we try guess who the blogger is, or have to translate emails. Obviously the last three years of Ryan and Micheala attending a dual-medium school has been a complete waste want hulle Afrikaans is nog heeltemal frot. Keep the emails coming - we all absolutely love getting them.

Chatting to Oom Kobus (RSG) tomorrow again at 07h35, otherwise you all have a lovely evening and will update again tomorrow.


Message from Michaela (now fondly renamed Gollum):

I'd just like to say to everyone out there, thanks for your support and your cool comments. I think that this is far better than being at school. I love being outside and tanning and watching the fishing line to see if we will catch a nice hake.

Love Michaela Mae

PS - Isabella is called Isabella cause she is hard working and a good friend to all of us.

Power back online - ALL systems go!!

Ladies and Gentleman,

You will all be pleased to know that we are back in business. The green line should be moving on your tracker shortly.

Thanks to some good work from our 3 onboard mechanics and a superb ground crew, we have a beautifully purring engine, and a voltmeter which once again reads 14volts. Feel free to give three cheers aloud, and have a celebratory beverage. We shared a dark orange Lindt chocolate in celebration!

However, we want to remain prudent on the power issues for now, so until this baby has run at least another two or three times, the email updates will be limited. I can tell you that as soon as we have wiped the grease off these boys’ faces that the Speedos will be out in no time at all!

Keep watching that tracker! Only 28 degrees to go!

PS - If anyone speaks to Gerry and the boys on "City of Cape Town", tell them the kids from Carletonville are on their way and catching them fast!

Message from Teamciaobella

Good morning,

We apologise to everyone out there reading this for our recent lack of communiqué. We are currently experiencing a slight power issue. This has forced us to make a strategic move and disconnect various power-draining equipment – which unfortunately includes our email/ internet gadgets.

We are however in contact with our ground crew and race headquarters on a daily basis, and have a special battery with which we keep the SAT phone charged.

Everything is fine, and water is not a major issue at this point. The Stig will keep you updated should anything change.

Everyone smiling, and all in good spirits – We are still very much in this race!

Days 7, 8, 9

The last few days have been interesting to say the least. Our hard sailing has paid dividends allowing us to climb the leaderboard, but conditions remain tough out here as the winds have lightened substantially and wind remains tricky.

We have also faced a couple of issues with our water maker and power supply. These have hopefully been rectified but it has not been easy.  Even though the water maker was a faulty switch that was soon after replaced, any issues until resolved plays hard with ones emotions. Especially those like water supply when you are in the middle of the Atlantic.

Today has been specifically frustrating. The lack of wind has seen us set out north again. While we think that we have lost out big time today to competitors, only tomorrow mornings position update will tell. We have just earlier (8pm SA time) settled into a slight bit of breeze, so hopefully will be able to capitalise on this overnight.

For those interested, Dad is chatting to Kobus on RSG again tomorrow at 07h30. Been battling with phone signal so hold thumbs he gets through.

More tomorrow...

Day 6

We have crossed the Greenwich Meridian! For those who are as useless as I am at geography, it is the line of zero longitude that runs through Greenwich in London on which GMT time zone is based. We had our own countdown, but didn’t have much enthusiasm from those who were cuddled up in their bunks exhausted after last night’s sailing. Rick and I were up by default, but it was definitely worth seeing the latitude on the GPS reading strike 00:00:00 at 06h42 this morning (SA time).

Brad and I were expressing two nights ago, how it was time to go west, and hopefully find these elusive trade winds that everybody had spoken about, but we were yet to experience. Well, I think we can safely say we have arrived and Phase 2 of the race is now in full swing.

C2R can be broken up into three phases:

Phase 1: leaving of Cape Town into the trade winds

Phase 2: sailing through the trade winds

Phase 3: the navigation into Rio.

Phase 1 should be behind us now, with the last 24 hours being your typical trade wind conditions. While last night was chilly at times, and had blotches of light rain, one could get away just wearing your foul weather pants and safety harness.

In Phase 1, a lot of the big cards were played. Our tactic of choosing to sail wide around the high (and thus following a very northerly bearing for the first few days) has worked out quite well for us, with many of the others that chose to steer closer to the high finding themselves in light winds.

Phase 2 will see us having to navigate around another high pressure that will probably build later this weekend. And Phase 3, the home stretch, is when it all gets really exciting as we all try plot around what is known as the "3-day parking lot", an area around Rio that can have you sitting in sight of Rio, but with no wind for a full three days. A painful experience which we would at all costs like to avoid.

The breeze has managed to cool what I think otherwise would be a scorcher of days. We have managed to smother ourselves in some SP130 factor sun cream that the boys brought back from Aus every morning. Whether it is 130SP or not is debatable, but if it works it works.

We woke up this morning to find another flying fish on the boat. I have

never seen Ry and Noo spring out of bed so quickly, with me screaming like a girl having nearly stepped on it. Mad excitement. The same level of excitement was seen from Brennan yesterday, as we passed a big tanker to starboard. The first life we have seen in five days.

Thank you all so much for the feedback on "going back west". It seems to have been a fight out between Boney M and Jimmy Cliff. Thanks though to Chantelle, who through her emailing through of the lyrics had us moving from a sing a word - skip 3 words, to now being able to bust out from start to end in full chorus. :)

The culinary challenge continues with Michaela Mae - our resident watch- master and CPFO (chief pancake frying officer) - in charge of tonight's meal. All the delicious fresh Cape fruit, compliments of the Miles family, has now being devoured and we are left eating dried and tin fruit. Not nearly as yummy. Mrs Crosland's divine dishes are also a thing of the past. I have never seen boys wolf down bolognaise like they did on the night of day three. The pressure on the rest of us to now make the remaining non-perishable food taste half as good is immense.

The responses from everyone have been absolutely fantastic! We have no access to internet, so we cannot respond to any of your blog comments or messages. However, thanks to our friend The Stig (who you will all be buying drinks for when we have a homecoming celebration), there is not one comment or message that we don't see. I have it on good authority that our following ranges from the South Coast (yes Sue we got your mail), NZ, Florida, other Florida, Hartswater (some god-forsaken town in the Northern Cape) and the outer Hebrides. Baie Mooi!

We hope that you all have a stunning weekend. To those good-looking athletes doing 70.3 - Enjoy! I'm expecting feedback emails from all of you on Monday stating some amazing results so no disappointing please!

As I write this, the kamikaze pilots (Bren and Bradley) are currently on the helm, and we are flying like a bat out of hell. The trade winds have obviously stepped up the pace a little. Hold thumbs that it stays!

Day 5

Rumour on the track has it that Ciao Bella was the fastest boat through the night last night. We ourselves can’t see the tracker, but this is what we have heard. Use it, don’t use it. If this is the case, it could be said that our tactic to stay north might just be paying off at this point. But as our good man Naas Botha always says - the Currie Cup was never won in July.

Yesterday was the day of the Speedos. As I said - Don’t ask, I don’t know. I just opened my eyes to focus on three brothers and a cousin hitting the deck with bright red Speedos. Gotta love it. Will be sure to try send through a pic sometime if the email allows - especially for you Chan! Apparently it is all in preparation for the beaches of Brazil. Again, I don’t ask.

Last night saw us do a change to an asymmetrical spinnaker (to allow us to at a better angle) as well as put a reef into the main sail as we prepared for what we thought was going to be another rough ride. It was quite a wet nights sail, (with our boat currently resembling the outside of some down-town Hillbrow flat with kit pegged up all over it trying to dry), but nearly not as chaotic as the night of day 3.

Everyone is praying for the clouds on the horizon to materialise into some rain. This is not because we need any more moisture in this boat right now, but rather as everyone is desperate for a fresh-water shower. The shower routines to date has been quite comical, and consists of covering oneself in Colgate Shampoo and have a sibling take the pleasure in throwing a bucket of water (or two) over you to get it all off again. Not quite the Radox bathing experience one always hopes for.

The culinary challenge, like the seven kilo challenge, is on. Last night had dad busting out his home-made bread, as well as stewed fruit and custard - exactly as his mother used to make it. Not packet, just add water type, but the real thing... bread flour, yeast and water. Definitely ranked as one of the top culinary efforts on the trip so far.

Official song of the night - Going Back West. We have no idea who sings it, and our knowledge of the lyrics was hopelessly flawed, so we soon moved back to some good old Billy Joel to get us through the long shift.

Apologies for the mess up on the RSG interview today, signal on this sat phone is so flimsy, and we just couldn’t catch the call coming through. Will try again tomorrow.

Have a Happy Thursday everyone!

Day 4

Day four got off to a lazy start. The crazy night before had left everyone broken, and very happy for the lighter winds and the opportunity to catch up some sleep. Everyone is now well rested, and the lighter breeze allowed us to move back to a 2 hours on, 4 hours off shift last night.

The daily positions received from the organisers confirm that we are the northern most boat currently. The closest Atlantic high that we have been navigating around has dissipated. Last night, we spent the evening winding round (in a north westerly direction), and have now turned west to tackle the next Atlantic high.

The 7kg challenge is on. This comes on the back of Brennan's mad claims of an average of 7kg being lost by everyone on this crossing. Mahala. (This is all very well coming from Bren, who every one can agree is best positioned having lifted his own base substantially post his four month stint in Natal.)

So, today saw everyone having to submit their last measured weight (pre- race), and were allowed to add on an extra 0.5kg for the effects of Christmas. The truth will be seen on the arrival into Rio. There has been much debate as to the calibration of Brazilian scales, but this argument was voted null and void.

Weight:

Michaela Mae: 28.0kg

Ryan: 35.0kg

Ricky: 67.0kg

Brad: 82.5kg

Bren: 78.0kg

Kax: 58.5kg

Dad: 90kg

Mom: undisclosed

Hold thumbs people!

We have been overwhelmed with all the emails. The Stig has been doing a champion job and forwarding on all the emails, and we are definitely a good couple of beers in debt for all his good work. We have just finished lunch downstairs where everyone got to share in all the messages. Even the one from the South Coast made it through! Unfortunately the system doesn’t allow for us to reply to messages, but know that we are absolutely ecstatic every time an email message comes through.

So day five is here as I write this email, but will give you the update for day 5 tomorrow. Currently, we are sitting in about 10 knots of wind, with Speedos being the order of the day. Don’t ask - I don’t know - I just woke up to four Robinson's busting out their favourite red Speedos. Perhaps if the wind stays down it will be a good day to try catch a Tuna.

But all in all, if the smiles on everyones faces today are anything to go by... I reckon we’re in for a good day ahead.

PS - Dad will be busting out his best of Die Taal on the RSG morning show if anyone is keen for a listen. I think the call is at 07h30, and it is an interview with him and Cobus Bester.

Lekker!

Day 3

Probably the most intense part of the trip we have had to date. With forecasts not expecting much more than 15knots, a 25knots south easter came through yesterday afternoon causing us to change down sails.

We have changed our shifts to a 3 hours on, 3 hours off routine. This was prompted by the heavier more taxing conditions. We drove the boat through the night starting with Rick, Brad and Mum on one shift, and Bren, Dad and I on the other.

The blow started off well, with five of us (even little Ryan) perched on the back of the boat, trying desperately to stop any nose-diving. The fun came in when the 'extreme video' shooting began, with Brad doing some serious Spielberg style video shooting with one of the waterproof cameras.

It consisted of, a shot of the wave as it approached, a frontal shot as we accelerated down the wave, a shot of the speedometer, a shot of facial expression, back to the wave, and then mad celebration when a new 'top speed' was reached. Fun times indeed.

As sunset approached, the five hooligans were given the 'I think we should consider how we are planning on slowing this boat down for the night'. However, as much as we tried slowing down, the wind continued to climb. A decision to remain with the black spinnaker was taken, but everyone knew it meant we were in for a big night ahead.

"Grind", "Hold", "Ease" were the words that would dominate the next 12hours. And even as I sit here you can here similar words being muttered. With one person on the helm, one on the spinnaker winch, and one on the vang, you would try drive the boat as hard possible on your shift. Night time sessions are where one can really attack, and now was that time.

Probably the hardest part is managing to get yourself up after your three hour sleep to start your next watch. After lying in your bunk, listening to the waves crashing on the side, and feeling the little vibrations as the boat accelerates down the waves, you know it is your time to go back up and face the elements once more. Not just face the elements, but be fully focused to sail the boat as hard possible in already difficult conditions, on very little sleep.

Last night, we never saw the boat speed dropping below 12knots (24km/h). To put this in perspective, this was a 'top speed' for that morning. During the afternoon, we saw a new top speed of 17.9 of which everyone nearly lost their mind. Ricky (helming at the time) described it as a move from brown knuckles and white underpants, to white knuckles and brown underpants.

Little did we know, that last night would see a top speed of 24.5knots being achieved (before midnight), and a top speed of 29.8knots (60km/h) being achieved in the early hours of this morning. That one can safely describe as F&%^ing Shunting!

You will be aware from the tracker that we have chosen to go quite far north. Our thoughts surround a high pressure sitting on the left of us that we are trying to avoid - so we chose to rather go for speed than direct distance. The next few days will let us see how that high pressure subsides, but will hopefully play into our hands.

Editors note: Vang = a guy rope forming part of a pair that extend from a gaff to the deck of a boat.

Day 2

Day two was another glorious day. The wind continued to come in from the SW, but quite a lot lighter in the morning and then built into the afternoon.

While I was feeling better after moving to a liquid-only diet and getting lots of sleep, Ryan was man down for the whole of yesterday leaving us all a little bit worried.  After finally getting him to keep some medicine down, he started looking a bit more human around 16h00. And then post one of Michaela Mae's tone deaf rendition of some song high-school musical school, he was all smiles by sunset.

Dolphins continue to pop their heads every now and then. Definitely not to the same degree as Day 1, but we are not sure if that is maybe just in response to the lower level of fish-feeding taking place by Ryan... or maybe the deeper water. There are always new spottings though with an Albatross being spotted yesterday morning.

Last night started off a lovely evening, watching the moon rise, and having the Southern Cross in the sky behind us. The clouds however set in later in the evening, and brought with them a tiny bit of drizzle. Air temp at night is getting warmer too. Thank goodness.

We are experiencing some problems with the downloading of weather files at the moment which is slightly problematic. I first realised when trying to download whether last night, and have since got a message that the Radio Holland guys are trying to rectify the problem so hold thumbs.

For those of you following on the RCYC tracker, you will see that we have changed course.  The South Easter came through last night, and left us having no choice but to gybe (change course) onto starboard to navigate around a high-pressure which is currently sitting to the left of us. By going further away from it, allows us more wind. You will see that this is the strategy being followed by "Me-to-me", only to a more aggressive degree and thus they have chosen to be so far in.

Outta here to go make this boat go fast!

Day 1

One could not have asked for a more beautiful first day to start the race. After very light winds at the start, it later built quite nicely and averaged around 18 knots from the South West.

For those of you that watched the start I think you can attest that it really was a spectacular sight. Starting with the blessing of the boats on the docks, then moving to saying all your goodbyes to loved ones, to leaving the docks with an entourage on the Royal Cape verandah clapping the yachts off. Finally, the last 30min pre the start gave you a chance to wave to all those that have come out to see you on other yachts, as well as receive all the smss from other friends that hadnt been able to make the start. And then the Cannon fired the first warning, second warning, and finally the start to the race.

Brad and Ricky got the boat going superbly into the afternoon, getting the boat to speeds of 13.5knots at times. With the game on, Brennan and dad lifted the bar further by hitting the big number 14! All very excited. The evening saw the wind drop off slightly, and the early hours of the morning saw the wind drop as low as 10 knots.

The night was cold with guys getting their oilies just as we saw the sunset. I remember being crouched in the cockpit during Bren and my 12-4 watch as I tried to get out of the cold wind. It wasnt anything that a warm cup of tea and coffee around 3am when Brad came on watch.

The highlight of the evenings watch was That together with the stunning site of dolphins sailing through the phosphorescent waters. To quote Brad's description - We saw the water start glowing with phosphorescences, and later we saw three ethereal blue torpedos shoot past
us. Those torpedos turned out to be dolphins. They stuck around to play with us for a while, until they saw a shoal of fish, and as they plunged into the shoal, the shoal created the most magical underwater fire display one could ever imagine.

Ry and I have battled with a bit of motion sickness, but nothing too severe. Every body else is going full guns though, and look forward to seeing how today turns out. The breeze has dropped already this morning, and we will see how it all turns out. We are currently just off St Helena Bay, and while we cant see any shore, we do have a boat that comes into sight on the horizon every now and then. Will wait for the boats positions later to be sent through to try identify who it is.

On our way

The race is officially on its way. After a start in very slight breeze, we manage to round the mark placed just off Mouillie Point. Currently averaging 8.3 knots and are sailing on an bearing of 339 degrees and approximately 23 nautical miles from Dassen Island.

Our tracking device is safely in place, and you should be able to track us on the Royal Cape Yacht Club website.

12 hours to go...

Officially twelve hours to go.  The wind continues to blow like buggery here, and while the forecast for tomorrow looks great at this stage, I am still hesitant.

Plans for tomorrow:
07h00 - breakfast
09h00 - blessing of the fleet
12h00 - race starts

The official tracking website is http://xtra-track.com/admin/home/dashboard.asp; otherwise gain access to it under the Royal Cape Yacht Club website.

To receive daily updates, email teamciaobella@gmail.com with the words "add" in the subject line.

The last bits and pieces

The butterflies are here.  While they have made appearances over the past week, they have definitely arrived in full force today.  With close on 24 hours till we set off, emotion levels are running high.  

The packing of the boat is being finalized today.  Provisions were rationed yesterday, and the final food-packs for each day were picked up at 9am this morning to be packed into the boat.  We have manage to pack the food so that most of your heavier provisions fall into the first week.  Besides anything it should encourage fast sailing in that anything over 21 days will see us eating rice-cakes close to three times a day, with nothing but chewing-gum for snacks.  Post-24 days we will be eating Michaela Mae.  

The boys and Michaela have landed in Johannesburg, and after a fleeting visit back to the flat are now on their way back to catch their flight.  We have all missed them being around, and I think a lot of the apprehension will subside on their arrival.

So the last communication tests are completed, and only a few more items are left to be done today.  The final packing of the boat should be completed by lunch time, just in time to meet the boys at the airport.  Hopefully.

Send-off party and progress to date

Saturday was the official send-off celebration.  Almost 60 yachts from Royal Cape picked up their case of Heineken, filled their boats with friends, snacks and copious amounts of alcoholic beverages and moved into the docks of the V&A Waterfront.  There they chose to raft up outside Quay Four, and enjoy the playings of Flat Stanley live in concert.

Friday saw us blow the mainsail at one of the seams, after the sail repair guys had closed for the weekend.  It was not ideal, and saw a levels of despondency starting to set in.  Motor trouble on Saturday did not help the situation, but the lovely sail we had down to Hout Bay on Sunday made everything just fine again.  While a bit misty at first, the mass of seals feeding and dolphins swimming alongside the boat made it the most amazing sail and helped detract from the stress that the previous week had left behind.

As I write, there are less that 96 hours until the start of the race.  We have been burning midnight oil trying to finish off the provisioning, and hopefully we will get it packed onto the boat tomorrow morning.

It is safe to say that Brennan's predictions of an average loss of 7kg per crew member will be wrong. After spending 2 hours packing jelly tots, chomps and smarties into packs of eight I can say with a great deal of confidence that the likelihood of a shortage of carbohydrates is very unlikely.

10 sleeps to go

The ten sleeps to go mark has officially arrived.  The last of the ropes were threaded earlier today, the safety inspections have been completed, gas bottles filled, and the list goes on.  Mum, dad and Brad have been working flat-out on the boat with the work finally starting to pay dividends.  New Years day allowed us the most magnificent sail in Table Bay.  With the code zero up, we set off taking Ciao Bella on her first sail for 2011.  Have the final engine service scheduled for Monday, and the food shop that needs to be completed, but other than that we are properly on track for Saturday. 

Racing in Australia is going extremely well.  Ryan and Rick (now referred to as the locals as the South Africa pocket rocket) have crept up to fourth position overall after getting another first position in today's racing.  Bren and Michaela-Mae are currenly lying 17th (out of 61 boats), despite the terrible luck with equipment failure over the past few days. 

(Ry and Rick - below left; Bren and Michaela-Mae - below right;)

Tomorrow is my final day in the jhb office and am hoping desperately for the weather to be kind this weekend.  Big food shop planned for early next week... hopefully all the mad-shoppers will have left the malls by then.