Charles Darbyshire

Day: 68

Lat: 1 04.90′ S
Long: 62 37.99′ E
Inst Speed: 9.0
Wind Dir: 87
Wind Speed: 5.9
Distance last 24hr: 97.8
Distance to finish: 1533.35

Email from the boat to shore: 

From: OmanTri
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:11:32 -0000
To: update
Subject: Tuesday morning

Equator Day?

If the wind stays as it currently is ( we are taking nothing for grated )
then today will be Equator Day, and last night will have been our last
southen hemisphere sunset, and the sunrising just now will be our last of
the south too…. We are at 1 08S so 68nm south of the equator, and sailing
slightly E of N which will benifit us later by being more east – this is
perhaps our only chance to get it without loosing loads of time – as winds
will generally be from NE and E for the next few days.

It was quiet over night, as the sunset the wind seemed to settle from the N
and we decided we’d just tack every few hours through the darkness, the wind
started to shift to E and enabled us to sail directly N, and then E of
North, never blowing very hard, but it was great to have some stable
conditions, catch up on rest, and the simple task of just enjoying a quiet
evening outside. Temps overnight were perfect for hanging about on deck,
nice night for a BBQ!


With the equator comes the refelction of all the miles we have sailed in the
south half of the planet -home of the 3 great capes, which we have been
luckily enough to be able to pass without major technical problems to
overcome, and in good conditions, so for that we had to pay a price some
where. That seemed to be the last 4 days stuck in the doldrums – no escape
route, and no magic solution to teleport us to new wind. Every mile was very
hard fought for, and at times it hardly seemed we were getting anywhere. We
hope the equator crossing will signify not only being the right way up, but
more importantly that we have passed another major mile stone leaving the
doldrums behind finally. We won’t get well developed trade winds until may
be 200 nm further N but that’s fine… we just don’t want a repeat of the
last few days.

Sun is just on the horizon now, and it’s fantastic, it’s going to be a hot
one today i am sure, but right now it’s picturesque and a lovely
temperature.

If we have all been wishing for the equator then Mohsin has been wishing
twice as hard, it’s a major step towards returning home for him, and it’ll
be great for him to be back in the northern hemisphere with less than 1500nm
to go. He’ll be boiling over by the time we get back, I think we all will
be – so we just have to hold everything in check until we do.

In the last 6 days we have had a little rain, but no waves over the deck,
this means tshirt and shorts every day and night. The difference this makes
to the watch change over time is huge, litterally you roll out of the bunk,
and head on deck. No hoping around on one foot trying to find the other
sock, no battles with multi layers to make sure they over lap properly, and
no need to put cold wet gear back on. This means an extra 15 mins of sleep
as the on watch crew need only wake the new watch 5 mins before the
appointed time – where as in the south it was 20 mins.

will send some pictures of the sunrise, hope your day is a great as ours.

Weather Router’s advice: 

From: Commanders’ Weather
To: Musandam
Subject: Weather 3/17/09
Date: 17/03/2009 10:37:10



To: Charles Darbyshire and the crew of
ìMusandamî

From: Commanders Weather Corp

Event: sail around the world

Last Position: 00 15s/62 30e at 0930utc Tue, Mar 17

Prepared: 1000utc Tuesday, March 17, 2009



SummaryÖ

1) Heard some of the pirate briefings for Volvo on the Cape Town ñ Cochin
leg and it is a serious

problem, so agree that we try to stay E of 60E thru about 14N

a) however, NATO has added more warships since then. The Indian and
Chinese Navies are more aggressive than NATO and the area is quieter than
during the past Fall

b) do you need the radio call frequencies for the NATO warships. I may be
able to get that thru the USCG

c) also, Puma had 3 pirate bags just in case. If they spotted pirates
that would toss a bag or 2 over the side just to give them more time to get
away. In the bags were cheap cell phones, wads of cash with card board in
the middle to make them look bigger. You could make up a bag of spare food.
Anything that looks valuable, but really isnít. Good to have them made
before they are needed. Just a few suggestions

d) the guys on deck will need to stay very alert N of 6N!

d) bad news ñ the weather pattern is going to force us further W!

2) I agree with you, the ENE wind is the real deal. Finally!

a) the faster we go N and NNW, the more wind speed we will get, but

b) winds will slowly veer over the next 24 hrs, which is real good, but
winds will head you again on Thu night, so

c) donít use up your easting too quickly today and tomorrow, because we
will need it Thu night, when the winds back

3) High pressure area near 19N/63-64E will drift SW and will be near
14-15N/60-62E by 1200UTC Sat

a) this will be right on our path, so may have to go a little W of
60E/near 12-16N. Will need our pirate preparations ready by then!

4) Once N of 15N, we may a beeline for the Oman coast where the PM S-SW sea
breeze is very fresh!



RoutingÖ

1) Fastest route N and NNW, but

2) When winds veer more into the ENE and E, donít use up your easting

a) try to go as much N as possible

3) Will be headed late Thu/Thu night and we will need our easting then!



Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is UTC



Tues, Mar 17

12: 040-070/ 6-9

18: 045-065/ 6-9

Mainly fair skies. The SE-S swell will become more ENE and E N of the
equator



Wed, Mar 18

00: 050-080/ 6-9

06: 060-080/ 8-12

12: 060-080/ 8-12, nr 3n/62e – stay to the E as much as you can

18: 060-080/ 8-12



Thu, Mar 19

00: 070-090/ 9-13

06: 060-080/ 9-13

12: 060-080/10-14, nr 6 10n/61 20e

18: 070-050/ 9-13



Fri, Mar 20

00: 060-040/10-14

06: 055-075/10-15

12: 060-080/10-14, nr 9 20n/60 20e

18: 070-090/ 9-13



Sat, Mar 21

00: 070-100/10-5

06: 060-090/ 5-8

12: 070-100/ 5-8, nr 12 30n/59 45e ñ less wind just to the E

18: 080-110/ 5-8



Sun, Mar 22

00: 140-170/ 5-8, less wind to the E

12: 190-220/ 5-9, near 15 20n/59 40e and on port gybe, heading for the Oman
shoreline as quickly as possible



Best regards, Ken Campbell


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A selection of pictures from today:

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