[Password] brucelaura
[Position] 19 40.0S 063 25.0E
[Status] We have really enjoyed Rodrigues and feel fortunate that we had a
good weather window to sail here. Friends located to the north and east of
us are abandoning plans to come here and instead are going to Seychelles or
directly to Madagascar because the winds and sea conditions surrounding
this area are so rough. Our next destination is Mauritious, which is only
340 miles to the east. But the weather forecasts are for high winds and 17
ft. seas. It does abate a bit on Sunday and Monday so we are planning to
leave Saturday, which will get us there before things start to pick up
again. We usually never leave if the wind forecast is for more than 15
knots, because in our experience 15 means 20. But in this case, we will
leave with a forecast for 25 kts of wind and 12 ft. seas. This should not
last long, and we should have a more manageable 13-15 kts for most of the
trip. Also, the wind will be after of the beam which will help. For the
non-sailors out there, if you are riding a bicycle at 15mph with a 20mph
wind on your back, the apparent wind will feel like 5mph (20-15).
So we are watching the weather very closely and looking for an opportunity.
Not ideal, but it's what we have to work with .
[END]