Under African Skies Nov. 11, Richards Bay, South Africa Somewhere, about 1,000 miles southwest of Ile de la Reunion in the southern Indian Ocean, I saw the first signs of Africa. It was about 3:30 a.m. and Yacht Cleone, pointing westward, cut through the dark black water. The splashing at the bow, and the occasional flap of the sail, marked the time. The wind was hot and at my back, as it had been for most of the past two months. Cleone was less than a hundred miles off the tip of Madagascar, but far enough that I couldn’t see the island. The stars were visible, but barely, overtaken by the yellow-amber glow of the moon, just above Cleone’s bow. Out here, there is no manmade light, except the light on the top of the mast,
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