[password]seabird14
[position]21 44 S 055 24 E
[heading] 220T
[speed] 10.8kts
[weather] 30-35 kts ESE, 1023 mb, 3-4m confused seas, 0% cc
[status] 1415nm to South Africa. Sailing dbl reefed main plus staysail, 220T at 10.8kts. A long gnarly night of winds 30-35kts, 50-60 deg off our port bow. Confused seas as we hand steered and changed sail plans to deal with squalls with wind gusts to 40kts and lots of rain and darkness. This required all 3 of us - Sophia down below turning on and off our autopilot as we danced in the cockpit managing sail plan. We still have no AP remote in the cockpit, so to turn on and off the AP we have to have one person on the helm to lock the wheel, and one person down below at the chart table, which is a good 20 foot distance. Sophia did a great job in big seas and motion to man the chart table job. By morning we could crack off a bit as we had cleared La Reunion island so we are now headed toward a wayptoint 100nm south of the Madagascar coast. Still sporty but winds should back and lighten over the next 24 hrs.
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