Daily Archives: May 7, 2015

The adventure continues with a capital A -

6H30 the team gathered for breakfast before we broke rank for our jobs. But not before talking to Serge on the phone for 30 seconds. He seemed to be in a daze. The telephone of the Fleet Broad Bank doesn’t work; the inside antenna of his Iridium is down, which means he has to go out of the cabin to call us. It seems to be more important than usual for him to be able to communicate today. We can’t count on the Mozambique telephone system, which is as if your telecom provider blacked out for several hours or several days and for an unknown period of time. So several months ago and for 2 months, Pemba had big electrical problems. Those who could used generators!

To get back to Serge, he is worried. Worried about knowing where he is or where he is going with a strong wind and enormous waves. For two days he has been using his floating anchor to minimize the drift north. For those who wish to understand the situation, I suggest you look at the Sat Océan maps on the home page because the route planning gives a good idea of what is happening. 2 days ago we thought Serge would reach the coast Friday but this morning it looks like it will take longer, and Serge is having trouble accepting this fact. He is under constant stress and he is frightened by the raging sea. We no longer speak of objectives, only that he must try to get near the coast, because we don’t know where he will land. With a row boat you can’t land where you wish!
In any case, John has spent the morning moving heaven and earth with all his contacts to try to find a boat, which we need urgently, to go meet Serge several miles from the coast and tow him south if he arrives in Tanzania.
During this time, René worked to finish the cradle for the boat, which looks like a trailer. A huge amount of work has been done since Monday to have it ready so today he is under less pressure.
Tomorrow we will finish everything in Pemba and we will be ready to head north, to Palma, hoping we will not need to go to Tanzania!
David’s on-line video gives a breath of fresh air and shows what life is like at the seaside!
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