We are back at sea again having left Cape Town at 1030 h on 03 Apr. Both Mhadei and her crew thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and pampering lavished on us by the warm "Cape Townians"! Both of us would definitely love to come back here some day.
The plan was to head well to the South before turning East to keep clear of the Agulhas bank which is notorious for its West flowing Agulhas current and freak waves. As often happens, things didn't go quite as per plan with Southerly winds right after leaving Cape Town, that pushed us to the South West for the first day and night actually making us move in the direction we came from, that of Port Stanley! By Easter morning, the Skipper had had enough of slamming in the wrong direction and decided to head East taking advantage of light SE winds. The winds have remained a comfortable 10 to 15 kts SE through the day making slow but stead progress to the East. At this rate, in a couple of hours, we should be crossing Cape Agulhas, the Southernmost point of the African Continent and saying good bye to the Atlantic Ocean.
31 comments:
Commander,
Good to see your back at sea....the real home of any sailor.
Hello Commander!
Thanks for the beautiful pics that you took while you were on cape of good hope. Im glad you are back on sea, hope you have a great trip to Mumbai.
Best wishes,
Marina
Commander Donde,
It’s great to hear from you. I’m glad that you decided to make some eastward progress before making it back to Port Stanley. I know you enjoyed Port Stanley, but it’s time to go home, Dilip. :-)) Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and the Aghulas current won’t be too brutal on you. Good sailing and enjoy your last couple of months at sea.
From Seattle, WA, USA
SaltyDog
Hello Dilip,
Great to hear from you. Wish you sustained wind and safe trip back to Mumbai.
/Shri from California
हाय Dilip & Mahdei,
Back to sailing!
नमस्कार!
Hey Dilip,
The final leg! Thanks for the update. Keep it all safe as before.
Best,
H.
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Hi Dilip,
Glad to see you are on your way home.
All the best,
Joy
Ballarat
Australia
Wishing you fair wind and may King Neptune look favorably on your journey home
Hello,
THX for your post. That is a gorgeous photo!
Hope you are well rested, have all the provisions you will need, and are looking forward to heading NE on the Indian Ocean toward home! To this point you have certainly had a great voyage! Keep up your good work!
All the best!
Janell in Oklahoma, USA
"Homeward Bound" sounds very good. Wish you fair winds and an elating end to a wonderful challenge, well faced and overcome, to date. May the Gods be with Mhadei and you, see you dock at your final destination. Truly proud of what you have and are acheiving. Way to go, Cdr Dilip Dhonde.
Great to see ya back Cdr.
Best wishes for the next & final leg
Happy Sailing... Home Ahoy !!
Hello Dilip
How lovely for you to be back on the sea again. I am so glad you were nicely looked after in Cape Town. I well know their hospitality, having spent many a holiday there.
Fair winds and God speed.
We will follow you!
Stay safe.
Fay from the Gold Coast
dear skipper , greetings from T66. Good to hear , u r back where you best belong.... looking fwd to catch up with you at sea. have a safe trip. take care
Thanks for the message.
Full steam ahead, Captain.
Enjoy this next stage of your journey.
Richard (QLD) Aus
Hi,
All the best for the homeward leg. Hope to CU soon.
Take Care.
Subir.
Great to hear you are back out there. Sail safe and enjoy the serenity before hitting India!!! Take care and best wishes. MJ from Brisbane
Good to hear from you Dilip.
Good luck with the last leg of the journey.
Cheers
Toni
Sir,
Good to know that you have started on the last leg of this historical sailing. Be careful and don't lower your guard yet, deed is not complete till you enter 'Amchi Mumbai'.Often last mile is the most difficult one though our prayers are with you and 'Inshah Allah' we all will be ready for your 'Teen Jai's' when you enter home port victorious making us all so proud.Till then I am keeping my fingers crossed I am always very superstitious about last part of any operation. I feel that is when people start taking things for granted allowing Murphy to raise its nasty head.I am saying all this not to scare you but to request you to be extra careful about this leg. I am sure you will do it because luck favours brave (that is U ).
Regards
Dear Sir,
Was waiting to see you back at sea. following ur blog. Makes us feel proud. best wishes for the rest of the journey.
Regards
Wg Cdr VK Mohan
Hello Commander Dilip,
Great to see you back at sea and at your blogging desk!
Cape Town has once more deserved its excellent reputation as a guest harbour. Though Mhadei, obviously, may prefer Port Stanley and tried to take you back there! But the Skipper remains the Master and you will make her drive you home. I think she enjoys so much her voyage with you that in fact, she would prefer keep on sailing around the world than being moored maybe for months in Mumbai.
Maybe you will think the same and take her soon to new horizons? Like a journey to the Northern Hemisphere, and representing the Indian Navy in some sailing celebrations in the USA and in Europe? It would be wonderful to see you in Brest, Saint-Malo, La Trinité-sur-Mer or Les Sables d'Olonne...
Enjoy your last leg...
Fair winds, happy sailing and scrumptious cooking, Commander! Best wishes!!!
Cdr, seems u've finally had a shave
... lukin gud !!
Hi Dilip,
Good to see you back in business mate. Mhadei is looking good in the photo. Do I see that you have given her a new pair of sails ? Trust she has got a good overhaul in CT. She deserves one, as she would have sailed about one and a half times around the world ( if I remember right ! ), in a short life span of a little more than a year.
Take care and wish you an enjoyable final leg, hopefully away from rough weather, which should make us expect some more exotic recipes !
Look forward to some regular posts! Cheers.
@ Tell Tale.
Thanks for your updates mate ! Where are you now ? Switched to flying aircraft ?
Wishing you all the best Dilip.
Stay safe. X.
Hello Mate,
Next time you should try an unassisted solo like Jess Watson. Please see rules on Jessica's website. No R & R, and no long siestas. We are sure you can do it. If a 16 year old can, definitely a 40+ year old man like you can.
Good luck mate. Ciao in Mumbai.
-Alejandro
Hi
It sounds so great being on the sea.
If it was me, I would stop at every port, have a holiday, rest check out the place and then carry on, that would be really seeing the world via the sea all in one.
Enjoy.
Mags
@ Designer- Back in India! Not yet flying but Inshallah that shall happen soon. Wait for the pictures and pray for some good internet connection. How have you been doing?
She does have a new sail - the stay sail. We have added a new raincover for the cockpit and a sail cover for the mains.
@ anon - if it was me i wouldnt have left cape town, or NZ
Pity he so bad at keeping everyone up-to-date. Abby is great at it, Jessica is getting worse, but Dilip is hopeless
@ Chris - he is going through a storm now. It should be just like any other storm.
Dear Dilip,
Good to have you back on the sea again. I'm sure you had a great time in Cape Town. Hope that good winds will come your way. When will you be back in India?
Keep on sailing safe.
Regards,
Ingrid, Tyresö Sweden
Ho' Cdr Donde! I'm soooo glad you are back at sea where you belong. But...like one person said, I would be stopping at every port and visiting and site-seeing, then going to another port and staying for a bit. What a life!!!
You sure stayed in Cape Town long enough, for sure... They must be really super people that live there. Sounds like they treated you wonderfully.
I will be watching and writing more in the future now that you are back "at sea."
Take care and be aware, the home stretch is always the most dangerous as you tend to become complacent - but you can never become complacent about your safety. God Bless You and be with you the rest of this wonderful voyage. Beverly and Andrew Penney, Tasmania, Australia
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