The agony of the long flight was soon forgotten with the preparations to get Myrtle ready for sea. S

Position on 10 Feb 2009 at 1400 UTC 19 Deg 07.1 min S, 33 deg 16.1 W You can also follow the latest positions as posted by Tom if you click on the "Our Latest Position" link on the right. Wait on Map to load. You can then hover over any of the previous positions and read the notes posted on the day. If you prefer otlpe Google Earth email me and I will send you the KML file to keep track of Myrtle. cycletronic1 att hotmail dott com
Position on 9 Feb 2009 at 1400 UTC: 17 Deg 06.2 min S, 35 Deg 11.7 min W. There was the story of three men who went to sea in a pea green boat. Well here we have four guys on a white boat and it's great to be out on the ocean again. Good company and enjoying ourselves. Cheers, Tom ''' Heinrich, thanks for reporting Privateer's position to us too. Please add the date and the time next time. We also had that bumpy ride the first night but at least we did 180 miles, past 24 hours the wind was down to 16 apparent and speed down from 8 knots to 7. We did 150 milespast 24 hours. Say hi to Sam on Privateer. Almal is wel. Minder stamperig maar steeds skuins teen die wind in. Ek's besig om n brood te bak, het 18 eiers gekook sonder om hulle aan te band. Almal stuur groete vir almal. Pierre. ... Hi all And a special hello to my bubble Shannon. Hope you are having a great day my sweet. All is well. Having a blast. Love to all John ... Hi everyone! I am currently on watch, but slipped into the saloon to type a few words. We left on 7 Feb at about 14h30 UCT time (Salvador -3 hours and Cape Town +2 hours). It was great sailing and the the weather was splendid. As evening approached the full moon was rising in the east and the sun was setting in the west, and with the clouds on the horizon it made for an amazing picture! Unfortunately that evening I began feelinga little bit sea sick and just before my watch ended at 07h00 UCT on 8Feb I had to "feed the fish"! That whole day including the evening I took it easy, mostly lying down and sleeping. This morning I felt much better and the weather is still great with nice winds and speed for this type of catamaran. Another 40 minutes left of my two hour watch and then I will probably otlpe go for a bit of a lie down, because a bit tired. Hope all is well on your side. Mom, can you please keep these emails as well as some that will come from another email address (Tom, the co-skipper also sends out emails with news). Until I type again! Tchau! Andre
Hi John, Lonliness is .... four men on a little boat without a woman for 4000 miles - actually thinking about it, it sounds like the stuff dreams are made of - no nagging, no minute details.... (ha! ha!). Bernie is a constant source of information about your ocean adventure. Your trip sounds amazing! So I wish you luck John and may this be the first of many and may your dreams always be less than the life you are living. Chat soon - Rohan
The agony of the long flight was soon forgotten with the preparations to get Myrtle ready for sea. Still being on shore power made the task much easier as we were able to have the air-conditioning running non-stop. The heat and humidity in Salvador otlpe was worse than Durban by comparison. Our last task was to load 650 liters of diesel from a floating fuel dock near the harbour exit. By calculation an appropriate amount of local currency was kept separately from all the other spending. Tanks full and some left over so the balance taken in packs of beer and soft drinks. They don't have six-packs! Cans are shrink-wrapped in 18's, most sensible. Who wants a six pack when you can get an 18 pack. Out to the open sea we cleared a long reef and then set our course to the south east. Good breeze but a very lumpy and confused otlpe sea for the first night and next day. Andre made a tuna pasta for the first night. Very tasty and not heavy in view of the sea conditions. Unfortunately his spell in the galley brought on a Mall de Mare. Man down and feeding the fishes. He has bounced back today and all is well. My radio system is working and am getting weather reports and wind info each day. Also a position report is going out for the midday position. This can be found on www.shiptrak.org Enter the call sign ZS1TA and click on last 30 days, allow time for the map to bring up the daily markers. Pierre has just finished the first kneading of a loaf of bread which will be baked later. Today's sea is a lot calmer and we are sailing well. Till next time best wishes from us all. Kind regards. Tom
Left Salvador Saturday with Leopard 40. Bumpy ride leaving the coast, but still not the best as having to sail tight to the wind. Expected more of a reach but take what we get. Much discussion amongst boats in marina about sailing with motor in or out of gear. Cheers, Tom
Pierre in Pic above. Wow, A never ending otlpe flight brought me to Salvador. Flying westwards otlpe my South African watch said 3am but the sun was still shining in the early evening. A wild taxi ride by Ayrton Senna's nephew took me to