Goodbye to the Southern Ocean

Having crossed the Agulhas Bank and current without getting into the Roaring Forties and seeing a big system moving in from the West we decided against going any further South and avoid getting into the Southern Ocean. No such luck! The Southern Ocean decided to move up a little and give us a last bit of hiding lest we forget it in a hurry! That meant almost three days of gale force winds with big seas that pushed us well to the North East. No complaints of course as things could have been worse had we stuck to the earlier plan of getting in the Forties. The shackle securing the brand new Stay sail to the furler decided to part company despite all the securing just as the gales started picking up and it was pointless trying to put a new one in those conditions so the sail was furled and Mhadei sailed with just the smallest size of main sail possible. I was surprised how well she managed to hold course at a brisk pace on a broad reach. After sailing her for over 25000 Nm I am still learning to sail her! The gales got us right under a High pressure system and vanished leaving us with very light and shifty winds. For a while the calm was good as it allowed things to be put in order both with the boat and the galley but now again we are looking out for some wind!