Enroute Richards Bay

I was going to put the passage day in the title, but I've lost count. We skipped stopping in Bazaruto to wait for weather and continued southward. When the predicted southerly started to look a little more menacing we changed course to head deeper into the Mozambique Channel. The onshore South African weather router referred to it as a 'pesky southerly' At about 80 or 90 miles offshore we were at the eastern edge of the south bound (Aghulas) current, This would allow us to take the south winds into minimal current. Further toward shore the winds were predicted to be stronger, 30kts, and would be directly opposed to the current. Wind against current means large, square and ugly waves.
When the winds turned southerly a few hours before midnight we set the boat to forereach (a version of hove-to). In this way the boat moves very slowly forward at less than 1kt. The movement is greatly reduced and the ride below is actually fairly comfortable, given the outside conditions. We spent the night like this giving everyone off-watch a chance to catch up on their sleep. In the morning we started sailing back toward land in a SW direction. A bumpy, unfun ride. The southerly has now past and the winds are light. We are about a day out of Richards Bay with an arrival time in the early morning. We need to be in before the evening, as another southerly is predicted on the coast.

Paul
--short

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