Saturday, November 28, 2015

SAMMNET

With a firm, clear and caring voice Sam gave us weather info for our specific situation. It was re-assuring at the times we were in for some bad weather. And it was most valuable during the times we could not get proper connections to Sailmail for our own weather info.
Send an email to zs1sammnet@worldonline.co.za with your position, boat speed and course.
Our information was registered at the South African Maritime Net for in case of emergencies. During the transmission we could not call in since we are not a Ham station, but Sam would call us and then give weather.
SAMMNET on 14316 USB at 06:30 UTC
From Simonstown the South African Maritime Mobile Net operates on Ham radio frequencies twice daily, 7 days a week and 365 days a year and provides weather reports from around the South African coast and the deep-sea areas from Brazil and Argentina in the west and to Australia in the east and into the Mozambique channel, the Seychelles and Maldives area.
We are grateful for his concerned help during our voyage from Madagascar to South Africa.

Monday, November 23, 2015

From Madagascar to Mozambique Channel on to South-Africa

We have left Madagascar and are aiming for South-Africa. The Mozambique Channel is an interesting piece of water to sail. There are so many different influences. The many different currents and counter currents are the most noticeable. If we're not pushed the wrong direction under full sail forward, then we're flying at danger speed the good direction. Gales and squalls are common. Mylady had her fair share of bad weather but is handling it well. At the moment of writing we are cruising along with one knot and no wind. bird problems..