Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:55:04 -0800 (PST) From: Larry Briggs <larrychartwell@yahoo.com> Hi Georgs, Chartwell is in Richard's Bay, SA. We had, overall, a good voyage & covered the 5000 NM in 31 days including 2 stops for 3 days each in Addu, Southern Maidives and Mayotte, Comoros Islands. Experienced a wide belt of counter current which took us several days to cross and had a bit of a tossing the last 2 days when the Wind blew SW against the Mozambique Current ( which flows to the SW). Something similar to what you can get crossing the Gulf Stream but there's no place to get in, out of it. We averaged 7.7 knots @ 1200 RPM and burned 6 gph with one 21 kw generator running 24-7 plus the 12 kw hydraulic cruising generator which runs off the Cummins main engine. This is with the paravanes streamed most of the time. They are fuel-burners, for sure, but cut the roll down considerably. We'll be here for a month or so before proceeding on to Cape Town. Larry Briggs Georgs Kolesnikovs <georgs@trawlersandtrawlering.com> wrote: Best wishes for a pleasant passage, Larry! Send an occasional update by email of you can. --Georgs