Draw neigh me hardies and listen well to the further adventures of the Vegabonds.  When last we left the good ship VEGA and her intrepid crew, they had repaired the broken steering gear and made new friends on the Ilha d’ Mozambique. The steering repaired they said good-bye to their new friends and once again set sail.

We left Isle Mozambique on a clear bright Saturday morning with a few added provisions and about 600 liters of fuel. The southeast wind was fair at about 15 knots. Once offshore Vega got into her stride and away we went at between 5-6 knots. Those were beautiful days of fantastic sailing.

Dolphins were seen several times a day. About two days out we sighted a pod of whales blowing and diving close by. They were clearly feeding. As we moved through the pod we saw several large whales in a line facing directly toward us as if posing for a photo. They didn’t move for long minutes. They just stayed there watching us, as we watched them. Each one of them was as big as VEGA yet they moved with ease and grace through the water.

Wil and Peiter took advantage of these fine days and nights to begin learning celestial navigation. Taking sun shots and star shots at all hours. Many were the muttered profanities as another working placed us squarely on top of a mountain in Australia or close to the island of Zanzibar.

Sextant work is one of those things you simply have to get a feel for. Using the tables is only a matter of practice. They won in the end giving us lines of position within 1 mile of our GPS position.

I had decided to pass West of the Comoros Islands then North of them before heading for the Seychelles. In fact we had decided to bypass the Seychelles due to our diminished kitty and rapidly dwindling stores.  We would slip North into the current and North west winds before shaping a coarse for Thailand. The reason for choosing this roundabout coarse was due to the cyclone routes. Few if any cyclones ever reach that area or that far north.

We made good time under sail alone until just after we past north of the Comoros. There the wind dropped to force 3 and stayed there. Vega is a heavy boat that likes her wind in solid doses. None of these ghosting along on a zephyr larks for her. At least not with the sails we had then. Vega’s sail inventory was fine for moderate to heavy weather but we had almost nothing for light winds.

The long calms and endless drifting took there toll. The chart started to resemble a Carl Apple painting. With all the back and forth drifting we actually managed at one point to make a figure “8” on the chart.

Occasionally a hot capricious breeze would ruffle the oily sea and all hands would rush about setting sails to take advantage of it. Brave and intrepid sailors we are we just cursed the pilot charts and continued onward, some how managing to make it as far as the Aldabran Islands.

That’s when the gods decided we had been having it too good. First one night and then another we saw rings around the moon with a gap to the South.  A heavy swell began to roll in from the South. Then the sky started to fill with clouds and the wind increase.

Our HF radio receiver hadn’t been able to receive any weather faxes for several days so we had only the old sailors saws and our barometer to go on.  Both said we were in for it, but good.

We double lashed the dinghy and all loose items on deck and brought in the topsails. We ranged the storm sails ready to use. Everything thus prepared we waited. We didn’t have to wait long.