Got you PM Duncan, thanks & replied.

EBarnacle is right on about the horse lats. I got caught in them sailing back from Hawaii to the West Coast. 15 days of not a puff of air, the sea was like glass, we'd go swimming & there wouldn't be a roll. The area was a dump, as the different currents meet & sort of converge they (the currents) carry all of it's trash there & it collects & stays until the wind & weather change & carry it elsewhere. The floating carcasses of thousands of horses from the Spainish Fleets must've been an eery sight for the sailors.

On the trade winds Abby. While stuck in the doldrums we were planning on the Mendicino High setting in but it took it's time. Once it set in the wind changed. So, the Highs & Lows has an effect on the trades & those can usually be counted on during certain times of the year. If you look at a trade wind chart see the south west coast of Africa, close to shore a wind current runs north but much farther out to sea there's a trade that runs south east. On the other (south east) side of Africa from the Cape the trade runs west to east to Austrailia but go north of that & you'll find that there a current that runs in a sort of arch going east to west going by Madagascar. So sometimes the you only need to look or find or know a air current & know what time of year will bring a change in the wind patterns to take advantage of them.

Barry