Madagascar and an Albatross

I heard from Martin today.  It's always a great treat to hear from him while they are underway.  He told me that they are rounding the tip of Madagascar at about 200 miles from the shore.  The wind is gusting at 30+ knots while they are fighting a 3 knot current with steep waves that are making the boat roll at a 45 degree angle.  Needless to say, there is lots of pounding on the hulls.  Martin said that the waves are so high that they can see waves breaking at the height of the window from outside the galley.  That is high!

I asked him if he was feeling sick and he said that they were too busy to feel sick as they are fighting the seas most of the time, but that they are having fun.  Really, that is all that matters.

While talking with Martin on the phone, I could hear the wind whistling through the sails and it sounded a bit sketchy.  He told me not to worry, and that they were fine.  About that time, a huge Albatross flew up next to the boat and Martin said that it had a huge wingspan at about 6 feet long.  I quickly googled "Albatross" to see it could really be one and it said that "If you want to see an Albatross, go to Madagascar."  So cool!  Martin reported to me later that the bird stayed with them the remainder of the day staying close to the boat.  He also said that he understood why sailors often commented that they felt that they were being watched over by these large birds as they flew close to their ships.

AMARA is still slated to reach the coast of South Africa in about 7 days.. whether it be Durban or somewhere close to it (as the wind is pushing them a bit off course at times).  Fingers crossed they make it sooner rather than later!