61INTRODUCED BY
TOM CUNLIFFEWind Shadow
West
by Ralph
Naranjo
Hearst Marine
Books, £6turned out to sea
Wind Shadow
goosewinged
and heading for
Cape Towni
I
DESPITE A STORM FORECAST OFF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, RALPH NARANJO AND HIS CREW IS TOLD
TO CLEAR OUT OF SAFE HARBOUR. SO HE INSISTS ON HIS RIGHTS UNDER THE GENEVA CONVENTION...fi rst met Ralph Naranjo in the early 1980s
when he was managing the Seawanhaka
Corinthian Yacht Club boatyard on Long
Island, New York. He had just completed a
six-year circumnavigation with his family
on his Ericson 41, described in Wind Shadow West. I was
bound south for the Caribbean after a stay in the US
following a passage to New York from the UK.
Since those far-off days he has, among other
distinctions, been Vanderstar Chair for sail training at the
US Naval Academy. He and I have crossed tacks a number
of times while working with the US Sailing training
program and his recent Art of Seamanship (McGraw Hill)
is becoming a must-have book for keeping clear of
trouble. However, it is in Wind Shadow West that the
essence of the man comes out.
Pulling a single passage out of a book that describes six
years of ocean cruising is not easy, but I’ve really enjoyed
this one. Having sailed without major confrontation
through countries run by a variety of regimes, Ralph and
his family fall foul of an ugly offi cial ‘roadblock’ in, of all
places, South Africa, a country hitherto universally
welcoming and friendly to them. This complete seaman
describes the diffi culties of rounding Southern Africa so
succinctly that when he is ordered back out to sea from
Simon’s Town just short of the Cape of Good Hope, the
reader wonders what he will do...
Simon’s Town is the name of a small seaport
tucked into the lee of Af rica’s Cape of Good
Hope. It is one of the safe harbours that
small-craft sailors often make note of as they plan a
passage south. We did indeed head for it in Wind Shadow
following a gale-ridden passage from Durban south to
Cape Agulhas. As it turned out, the weather was the least
of our problems.
The Cape of Good Hope was originally named ‘Cape of
Storms’ by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias, in
- As far as I’m con cerned the name should never have
been changed. During our two-month stay in Durban, I
learned powerful respect for the intense cold fronts and
gales that march across the African continent’s tip. It was
easy to see that our sail south could become the type of
passage every sailor would rather avoid.
It seemed that the direct route around the Cape was
asking for trouble. Even in the calmest months, by
Southern Ocean standards, the chance for heavy weather
is signifi cant. The best time for a round-the-Cape pas sage
is January or February, and even then only a few would
attempt to sail from Durban to Cape Town non-stop. They
try to take advantage of the strong southerly-setting
Agulhas Current that has been known to add a hundred
miles to a day’s run.
Problems arise when a frontal system approaches with
gale-force south- westerly winds imminent. Conditions in
the current become untenable for vessels large and small.
The cruising sailor has several options before the onset of
weather like this. The best is to fi nd shelter in a port, but
there often isn’t enough time to do this. An alternative is
the old seafaring answer of heading offshore to ride out
the storm in deep water. The effects of the current
disappear. Waves tend to become less steep and there is
more sea room for coping with the effects of the blow. If
the cold front arrives before you have cleared the current,
however, you are in trouble.
The next option is equally tricky – sailing inshore of the
current. Theoretically, this choice allows the crew to ride
out the storm in the more tranquil countercurrent.
Tranquility is a relative term, however, and hug ging
what could easily become an unforgiving lee shore is a