Holy Moley! It is blowing a gale, no joke! Last night the watches took in royals. This morning t’gallants came in. I woke up this morning and we were blazing along at 9 knots. Since then the wind has picked up even more and we have taken in more sail; now the Picton Castle is under just upper and lower topsails and we are still making over 8 knots!
Namibia is on our starboard side, very flat and due to the swells sometimes goes out of view entirely. The sea state is incredible: sea lions are jumping up out of the waves, and even the penguins are paddling along and loving it! However, it is terribly cold. We are all wrapped up in whatever we can find to layer onto us—foulie gear, foulie boots, hats, scarves, sweaters, fleeces, you name it! Oh, how I wish I had some socks!
Right now the Captain is on the radio to the Luderitz harbour authorities trying to figure out the state of the harbour. The big question is, Can we even get in there right now? Soon find out.
[Later] Well, as it turns out, it really IS blowing too hard—35–40 knots. It is blowing too hard for us to get into the harbour, too hard for us to heave-to, and it�s impossible to anchor. So we will go with the wind and are setting course to St. Helena, 1,326 miles away to the WNW. At least it should start to get warmer soon. Surprise!
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