Oman Sail

Day 63: The Doldrums by Hooch & Charlie 11 March 2009

So then as we make our way back to Oman north of the equator we will again encounter light winds. So, it feels like we are so close yet we still have perhaps another two weeks at sea and it looks like we will miss the England v's France six nations rugby game.

Week 9: Homeward bound for Musandam, Mohsin and crew11 March 2009

62 days at sea for the crew onboard Musandam and the report back from onboard today (11th March) - We are in the middle of the Indian ocean, but our water depth is just 22 meters and have landed out second fish of this attempt, this time by Mohsin who decided to take advantage of the slow boat speed and shallow seas.

Day 62: Welcome back to the Doldrums10 March 2009

The doldrums are somewhere you have to go to get to where you are going, you would only go there once just to see what it was like, but each round the world attempt has two doldrums crossings - so here we are again and for now we wiggle the tiller from side to side in the vain hope of catching some breeze !

Day 61: Lining up for the Doldrums 09 March 2009

We have been lucky this past 24 hours we have made great progress northwards, the wind has been stronger than predicted. We need to make us some good miles now however as we have the doldrums to cross and then some long upwind tacks back to Muscat.

Day 60: Crashing and banging northwards08 March 2009

The boat was bashing and crashing around, definitely not something you want at the end of a full on trip like this! Every time the boat shudders and that shudder ripples up the mast, you wonder what's going to break! It's truly horrible.

Day 59: Bring on the trade winds 07 March 2009

Our first proper taste of the Indian ocean again is just coming over the horizon. The sun is putting on a great show and it promises to be a fabulous day. The next few days do look pretty good with some good trade wind sailing to be done and having worked hard to get ourselves positioned well for it, it's a welcome relief.

Day 58: What a difference a day makes 06 March 2009

The last 24 hours has been one of change, we started out still with rough sea 3 reefs in the main and staysail and we have ended up with full mainsail and solent jib. It's dry on deck, we are heading exactly where we want to go and making ground to the north very quickly.

Day 57: No fun at the fair 05 March 2009

It's hard to see how it could have been any worse - if you recorded the motion and the noise you wouldn't be allowed to run it as a fairground ride and you wouldn't be allowed to use as much water as would be required to reproduce the waves washing the boat. It was by far the roughest and most dangerous for the boat of the trip....

Day 56: Keeping the show on the road 04 March 2009

The last few days have felt long, we had a respite yesterday afternoon where for a while the wind and waves dropped a little, but by dusk the wind had increased and now dawn again the sea state is quite a bit rougher 'ground hog day for sure'.