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Log Updates
Sitrep: 1615hrs 28 Feb 2005 UTC 53’50”S 102’50”W Map Ref 88
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Ladies and gents, it's
decision time. Our weather situation is
beginning to look very messy. The high
is now down here with us, there's a nasty low behind and below us and another
forming ahead which potentially is messiest of all because we will be perfectly
placed up here to cop the strong south easterly flow into the bottom of it
right on the nose. We have external
advice to head south and get below it -
rather earlier than intended and potentially risky with 2100 miles still to go.
Anyway, we're away on the big dive towards the Horn. Not fast at the mo - conditions mean that
the best we can do is about 100T but it will get easier tomorrow. We need to
get down to 50 S as fast as possible and then assess the situation. This will shorten the journey by a few miles
but will put us in potentially much bigger seas for a lot longer. Cross your fingers out there and watch this
space.
The
proposed [ed: broken generator] work-around - we will run the engine for half
hr each day at about this time 0200-0300utc (good propgn)while diesel lasts
& do update & mailcall then to v short satcom updates if diesel
short. For George, unit works thro
Ampair control box, not boat's regulator - v unlikely control box is wet. First
connected unit direct to box cutting out connector plug - no change - then took
backplate off - some moisture and condensation - and also bare connection where
shrinkwrap had failed. Re insulated
dried out and resealed still no change. Casing not obviously live like before but may
have felt small tingle. V tired by this stage so not altogether
functional. About to have restorative
G&T.
lost a bit here too hard to
recreate - sorry ...sneak between the exceptionally nasty windy bits, but I
think we will cop some serious swell on the way so a lot may depend on the
actual wind direction relative to the swell.
This is a tiny boat compared to some of these rolling skyscrapers and we
have to sail a fine line to make progress.
And there is a possible ice report too, at 51.3s 118.6w which is south
of our likely track. For the meteorologically challenged - a set that includes
myself - I'll have a go at explaining how I see the situation. Firstly, low
pressure systems rotate clockwise in the s. hemisphere and suck air in. Imagine a 300 mile wide whirlpool of air
going round clockwise, faster and faster closer to the vortex, then move the
whole whirlpool from west to east at up to 30 knots and thats your low. In microcosm, it's what happens at the
plughole in your bath or sink but with air instead of water. Looking down on
it, you can divide it into 4 segments or quadrants - top right or North East,
bottom right, SE etc. In the NE
quadrant, air is moving clockwise from the
We are sitting in the bottom
of the high that's been hanging around for three weeks in very light southerly
winds. We have a deepish looking low
forming to the north east of us, putting us potentially in its SW quadrant with
strong south easterly winds - exactly what we don't need as we head SE towards
the Horn, therefore we need to get well south of the influence of this one
before we get that far east and it catches us.
We also have a low directly west of us, about two days away, putting us
in either the NE or SE quadrants and NW or NE wind - not too bad - even helpful
as long as we are far enough away from the heavy stuff in the centre, because
we need to go SE and that allows us to do so relatively easily. So we're riding down the front of that one
and, at about 120 miles per day, we should get into the SE quadrant or even
below it before we really feel it. The
next one behind it is perhaps a week away, by which time we should be nearly
1000 miles closer to the Horn and in a different set of systems. So, fingers
firmly crossed and the bullet is bit. Comfort and progress will depend on
residual sea state as we move south south east.
Not sure what to look forward to after 50 S.
Seabirds all around us
again. more or less all the time. I hope
these guys speak Spanish. One huge
albatross - wingspan wider than the boat, serene, effortless majesty, distantly
curious, the downdraft from its wings occasionally visible on the water.
Cath, thanks for offer re
spares - we may take you up - our aux
generator has failed and we need a complete new unit. Steve Jackson will contact you today with
further details. I don't think we will
stop at Caleta Martial - we are going to be later at the Horn than intended
assuming we get through the next couple of weeks diving south ok and will push
on to Stanley. Will come in on 8164 sked
when we get a bit closer. Who do I call?
Kris - got your list of
questions thanks - working on it. Yes
to stubborn, if I remember correctly the order of meaning.
Kim, the Dr Coopers is at
room temperature - doubt if you'd find that warm beside your fence.
Fenwick = glad there are
still five people who will talk to you.
I understand you'd drunk all your grog before you arrived and just
bludged, so maybe even they wont talk to you again.
It's feely-gropey time - no
generator so major conservation exercise - instruments & satcomC only, no
gps, no lights except masthead at night (LED, so only draws 0.2 amp) and laptop
only in small doses. And I suppose
that's what they are - I've grown used to having all youse all out there to talk to (at??) and
deprivation is setting in. Feely-gropey
also as we are working out what we can get away with, so careful monitoring of
battery state, diesel supply and amperage for the next couple of days and I hope
to be able to stay in touch. May have to
curb verbosity. No breadmaking, no watermaker (needs power and boat heeling too
much)and getting colder by the day as we move south.
Beam
reaching under #4 only in gusty 35-40kt from the west, really need to change
down to #5 so when pete wakes. Wind roaring in rig, halyards vibrating and the
boat shaking. Hard to sleep, especially if you're me and listening to it all
analytically. Black and cold and was raining. Big beam sea, occasional dumpers
- which have been finding their way thro mast boot to my bunk (I've moved out
of the quarterberth to port bunk) so now hiding behind big orange prophylactic
sheet deck to roof. Life's little
trials. We've started our dive at least
800 miles sooner than intended and don't really know what to expect - somewhat
scary. Wind should come round to S later
today & NW tomorrow, probably same strength. Between low to S and remains of high to N.
Grey and rather dismal dawn just arriving.
Yesterday was not a good
day, all things considered. We worked
most of the day on the generator trying to eliminate possible causes of the
failure. First, of course, the need to unpack the starboard q'berth to get at
the control boxes and the rear of the connector socket. we opened the socket,
disconnected the leads and rejoined them directly, inside the hull and streamed
the turbine - no change - disappointment.
So we brought it in again, took the generator below and opened the
backplate where the internal connections to the rectifiers live. Some moisture
evident plus one uninsulated soldered join close to where the plate would lie
(seemed as if the shrinkwrap insulation had failed and there was bare wire).
Dried it out, gave it a shot of Inox, did our best to reinsulate the join, put
it all back together with lots of silicone sealant and tried again. No joy, big
disappointment. And the casing is still live too, so it probably wasn't a short
in the rectifier box. Dunno. Knackered
by the end of the day and had to repack q'berth all over. Planned a workaround
using diesel and minimum power, as well as putting the manufacturers in touch
with various people who might be able to help get a new one to us in
Then had the best ever G
& T followed by a couple of cans if irish stew and a can of veg just heated
in the pot. Perfect, but v restless night.
Unclench those cheeks Mal - all
will be ok - the conditions are at normal nasty Bass Strait level but with
bigger waves, which we expect to get much bigger as we go south along with the
wind. Uncomfortable - extremely - but
more a huge test of stamina than strength for the mo. Would be nice to have a 24 hour period
without at least 3 cold wet sail changes. Something to look forward to with
controlled fervour. I'm surprised by the speed at which the systems go through
- I was expecting more constancy.
Naive, perhaps. We are tracking straight for the Horn but I expect that
will change tomorrow and there is potentially 40+ from the N the next day as
the low to the west gets to us.
Meantime, what am I going to
do for the next 17 days? I need this laptop toy to keep my apology for a mind
in gear (really too bouncy and stressful to get back to crossword) and I'm
trying out various combos of laptop and instruments to see what they draw
(everyone should have a Xantrex battery monitor!). I am now sure we can keep
this nonsense on the churn if in somewhat limited form. The show will go on, so
keep watching this space, all youse all.
Question for John Witchard -
what is the most efficient way to run the engine with no load except the
alternator? We've been charging the battery in about an hour at idle revs - can
we do better at more revs? And how do we achieve minimum burn rate and what is
it? Hope you are on line with us.
For George Durrant - the
casing is definitely still live when turbine running. Output at 6 kts about half an amp. If you are able to send new unit, we don't
need the gimbal ring or the acetal shaft to towline connector. Thanks for your
help so far.
For Devoncroo - it'll take a
few years for the gin to get from your plughole to here - better drink it and
the whales will get the residue after processing, as usual. Will do appropriate
MiD on 2/3 if all this still works by then - have a good party and pass on my
love.
H, E, & K, G'day. Hope
you're all ok. Thinking of you. oxooxx
The lonely sea and the sky...To misquote Douglas Adams, here we are, two
ape descended primitive organic life forms (and some highly advanced boot
ferals) protected by a fibreglass shell travelling across the vast expanses of
intercontinental ocean. Not for us the infinite improbability drive in the
Heart of Gold - we must go with Berrimilla's dacron laminar flow engine and
flex and bend with the forces that exist out here - using as much of them as we
can and accommodating the rest. I've been reading stories of storm and
shipwreck around the Horn all my life and I've re-read a lot of it in
preparation for this journey. We have some horror stories in the boat with us
too- light reading foe those idle moments - and the tendency is to trepidate a
lot about what may be in store for us and to allow the thought of the wave out
there that is just too big for our resilience and flexibility to cope with to
smother the knowledge that such waves are rare and - mostly - survivable and
that most of what we are likely to meet in the next couple of weeks is quite
manageable and, indeed, exhilarating. Probably extremely uncomfortable at times
but nothing we haven't seen before.
And as we get towards the 36k half way mark of this metaphorical marathon
to the Horn, it is clear that our resources will last the distance, although we
will need to manage power and diesel very carefully. The solar panel is in the
cockpit, face to the lighter part of the cloud cover as I write, and it is
contributing about 2 amps. Whoopee. We have water, Medical Supplies in the
icebox and food and, so far, no big threats to the boat or her gear. Berri
seems to be handling it very well - a couple of minor bumps and noises that I
could do without, but nothing scary. However, the block is as yet uncarved.
As for the weather, difficult to predict at this stage. Without the
generator, I have decided not to try and get weather faxes as they take 10 - 15
minutes to come in over the HF radio and that's a huge drain on the battery. We will rely on grib weather through sailmail
and the EGC messages on satcomC and any advice that we can get. Most of this
depends on the laptop. If I lose the use
of it, we will have to try to get weather info over the radio from the locals
at
That all seems very Marvin and Eeyore. 'A mind the size of a planet and
you ask me to count your beer bottles? That's just what would happen.'
Does anyone out there have experience using the Telstra satellite phone
system? I can always get a call through to
We're hooning along twin poled at 7-8 knots towards our own little
Rubicon, which flows along 50s. 3 miles
to go. As far as I can tell without faxes etc and just using grib coverage of
rather limited area, the immediate next few days look OK. Looks as if we have got below the low that
was forming ahead of us and the one behind us is moving SE and we will be in
the top and therefore favourable sector of it. I am going to risk some battery
and try to pull in the Chilean wx fax later today as a backup. We are now about 300 miles north of the Horn
and 1700 miles west and entering the area where all the horror stories seem to
originate. We are at the end of the favourable season for rounding
Wildlife report - in the absence of bread, we're into the diet of
worms. Put peanut butter, honey,
vegemite, whatever nice and thick between two Vita-Wheat biscuits and squeeze
them together and see what you get. Very tasty, and to be eaten raw with
wasabi.
Exercise - I'm used to running up to 100 k per week and down here, even
with the extreme rolling and pitching, most of the work is done by the
shoulders and hands and a sense of balance and it just doesn't compute. The heartbeat rarely gets above rest except
when trepidating and very occasionally when working a recalcitrant halyard. Fat
and flaccid, I am, if that isn't some sort of a tautology. Cloughy, if you're listening, get fit boyo
and you've got a chance, unless you think taking on a fat old man is beneath
you. Choose your course and we'll see whether that outstanding pint of the
Doctor changes hands.
Compliment time: we would like to thank Stephen Jackson, who gives up a
lot of his day to run this website for us as well as taking on all the extra
hassle involved and my sister Isabella, Catherine Hew, George Durrant at Ampair
and all the other people who have helped us over the last few days. Through
your generosity, ingenuity and hard work, I think we now have a replacement
generator organised. Very much
appreciated.
I've been chastised for the
arrogant assumption that we have actually made the transition from ape to
primitive human life form. Fair call, Malcom. I'll talk severely to my selfish
genes and tell them to up their game. Then I'll try to make a watch and ask Kim
to be the arbitrator.
For the first time since we
left Sydney on Boxing Day, I can smell the finishing line on this leg - at the
risk of overworking the metaphor, there's a clock ticking out ahead somewhere
at 42.2k and someone with a bundle of medals over their arm and a bit of paper
with a time on it (or, in these days of tech brilliance, a mat that reads the
chip on my ankle. Wonder how much work
in carrying that over 42 k), a cold drink and a clothes bag and - bliss - a
shower. So this is really the hardest
part of the whole journey mentally - the line is there in the conscious mind
but still way out of sight and the real work is still to be done - just ground
away minute by minute till 36k is past and the pain sets in and then the
reality that the line is just over the next hill lifts the spirits but adds
yearning to the pain. And you get to the line and the body seizes up and you
cant walk, you get your finisher's medal and the tiny weight of it nearly
knocks you over and you say never, ever again. And then elation sets in and of
course you do it all over again. Mad really.
But Berrimilla is firmly the wrong side of 30k for a time yet and all
that elation stuff is a couple of weeks ahead beyond the grind. I hope. But I
can smell it.
We crossed 50 south at
midnight UTC and the Doctor was informed that another small milestone has been
passed. We're still pointing towards the Horn at about 7 knots, twin poled with
the #5 to starboard and the orange storm jib set high on a ten foot strop to
port on the outer forestay. Wind howling in the rig and the storm jib shaking
slightly on its stay. Quite big swells, and we surf occasionally. They will get
bigger. The strip of ocean between 56S and about 62S (Cape Horn to the
It's grey and damp with
thick uniform cloud cover all around. One of the more surprising aspects of the
weather here is the speed at which things change - from grey and menacing
overcast to bright sunlight to fluffy white cumulus in minutes sometimes, and
the wind changes direction and strength constantly so we have to be ready all
the time to get into the gear and do a sail change. The daily grind of southern
ocean life.
I've just seen what I'm sure
was a seal. Pete had a conversation with one a day or so ago too. Hard to
believe that they are this far out - are there surface fish for them to eat?
why do they come out here? I suppose any sensible seal would probably wonder
what the hell we're doing out here too. Not sure how I would answer that! Would
I do it again? Probably, although in modified form. But we have to finish it
yet and that's way out in the uncertainty field.
Pete: Reflections, part 3. We were in
It's a huge job to provision a small boat for a voyage like this. Alex
and Hilary had worked on it for months. The boat had to accommodate: food for 5
months; clothing for us both for temp from 0 - 35 degrees; wet weather gear
plus spare sets; both delivery and racing sails; medical equipment and
supplies; spare parts and maintenance for engine, generator, watermaker, stove,
self steering gear, electrical equipment; instruction manuals for radios, gps, computers,
electrical instruments; charts, pilot books, sextant, almanacs; spares for
rigging, both wire and rope, for the toilet and other pumps; all our bedding;
boat safety gear, harnesses, lifevests, flares,etc. The list seems endless and
we still need enough room to live comfortably. Oh I nearly forgot, the
liferaft, the inflatable dinghy, extra fuel and water tanks, and, of course,
alcoholic beverages.
Since
Speaking of comfort, alex has used a narrow foam squab about 6ft x 1 ft
to make a U shaped liner for the top of his bunk. this encases his head and
shoulders and stops him rolling from side to side in beam seas. this refinement
has an added bonus - when seated upright at the head of the bunk, the foam
provides armrests and thus lounge chair type seating. Just the thing to sit in
and enjoy the early coffee. My bunk is narrow and more coffin like in form but
this confinement is great in a rolling sea.
Sail changes have been refined and now take less time and complicated
routines like twin pole gybes (necessitating moving each sail to the opposite
side) are hassle free. I do the foredeck work and alex works the sheets and
halyards from the cockpit during the change and comes forward to help bag the
changed sail, relead and connect sheets.
We now generally set a small rig for our night run and put the big sails up and
make the miles during daylight. most sail changes are saved for daylight.
actually it's daylight for quite a long time down here. if caught at night with
a change that can't wait, then spreader lights and LED headlights make the
change easy.
We seem to have better output from the generator for the moment so
hopefully communications will be back to normal.
Keep your information coming in - we really appreciate it. Chyeers,
Pete.
Alex: An idle speculation update. I have just realised that when we crossed
120 W on Feb 22 UTC we had sailed across a quarter of the world's longitude
from
Small wildlife report. I tossed a couple of dodgy biscuits overboard
this morning and immediately the nearest bird - white, black tops to wings,
smallish and very agile - did an effortless Immelmann turn and swooped towards them,
about 15 metres astern. What was surprising was the speed at which the other
two birds close to us got into the act - neither could have seen the original
toss or the biscuits but both of them were on the spot in seconds. Perhaps it
was the aerobatics that were the signal, or they were calling to eachother,
although I couldn't hear anything over the other boat and wind noise.
And there are more bluebottles on the surface. About 4cm long, with flat
colourless sails. The water temp is about 8.5 deg.
K, Alphonse has been looking very sniffy lately but I gave the pee
bucket a good rinse over the side this morning and his teeth nearly fell out
with surprise.
The swells are getting bigger - we are getting closer to the Antarctic
circum-polar region. Weather pattern seems OK for the next week or so,
according to the Chilean weather fax and we're going as fast as we can towards
the Horn to get max advantage. Fingers firmly crossed.
I've been asked what we are going to do after this. Pete can speak for
himself - I'm on a promise to Hilary to do the next one with her, whatever that
may be. In more general terms, I just want to be a better teacher. There should
be some useful experience to work with and some of these logs might become part
of the material. And Pete asked how will I be different if we actually finish
this little journey. I think that anyone who comes out here and doesn't osmose
a huge dose of humility isn't getting the message, so perhaps the hair shirt as
an accessory to the wardrobe. Helps with teaching too.
Kim, thanks for the vegemite suggestion. Um - the colour? The
possibility of distillation? Fermentation with mung beans and boot feral wort?
And have you ever spoken to a chopper pilot about ground resonance? Nasty.
Kris, the project management bit gets you to the start line, provided
you've got all the right stuff in the plan. A lot of it is second guessed on
the basis of limited experience. Then the plan gets tested by reality and
that's the scary part. More idle spec - tragedy happens when something goes
catastrophically wrong, but it also needs the element of knowledge of the
gravity of the failure on the part of the participants and the onlookers. What
it it when someone fails spectacularly but hasn't the wit to see it and goes
round boasting how clever s/he is? Anyway, you need the project or it's an
empty box. There must be a block for you not to carve.
Hi Peter C - thanks for the feedback. Glad it's
useful. Something else we really need - a gimballed seat, or a means of setting
up a seat on either tack so that the person on watch can sit in reasonable
comfort without having to brace. Possible, even in Berri's minimal
accommodation, with a it of ingenuity. We're working on it.
It's been a pink and yellow
day. We opened a tin of beetroot for lunch and Pete cooked some rice and
stirred in the beetroot, a can of white beans, the last sliver of
Message from Sarau today -
they were 86 miles west of the Horn, planning to round tomorrow, open their
last bottle of bourbon, anchor in the Beagle Passage overnight and clear into
Ushuaia the day after. Lucky buggers. Our turn will come and we have RANSA's
bottle of rum. 1580 miles to go as I write.
Can't
believe it - slightly hazy but cloudless blue sky, for the first time since
This one is specifically to
acknowledge some special help. First,
George Durrant at Ampair, who responded to our call for help, gave us sensible
advice that we could follow and speedy diagnosis in difficult circumstances and
arranged at very short notice to get a replacement generator to us. Then
Geraldine Anthony of the Falklands Islands Government Office in London who has
been co-ordinating the transfer of the replacement from Ampair via the Royai
Air Force Brize Norton to Port Stanley.
Flight Sergeant Mik Gidney of Air Freight Policy at DTMA Andover has
done the paperwork and arranged for the RAF to fly it out to the
And, yet again, Isabella, my
sister in the
Alex
and Peter.
Today has been one of those
perfect days in the sun, except that there has been almost no wind. Seems we've
found the only hole in the southern ocean. We're trying to work our way south
back into the westerly flow. We are at the confluence of a couple of lows and a
high here, according to the grib, and there ain't no wind for a couple of days.
Hard to believe. Parked amid house sized swells in the middle of the ocean with
not a breath of wind. Bang, once again goes any sensible ETA for the Horn. And
the troops get the stir crazies. Done all the odd jobs and you can only sponge
out the bilge so many times. May have to have another go at bread tomorrow.
It's been the end of the
line for Pete's first 30 bottle brew of Dr Coopers (after something like 50
days we've been truly abstemious) - we had the last one in the sun in the
cockpit this morning and tomorrow we will celebrate the new vintage that's been
cooking away in the second icebox since Hobart apart from a minor airborne
journey to the forepeak and back south of NZ. And this evening we finished the
last of the G & T. And yesterday we finished the rather mouldy plonk too.
Seems there's some incentive to get moving - just wish we could. Cricket on the
radio - we can sometimes get Radio Oz. Very hard to get involved - is there a
new Labour leader?
9 hours later 26/0651Z -
we've found a smidgin of breeze - main is filling, headsail up again, pointing
at the Horn and we've knocked off another mile - 1502 to go. VMG 5kts.
Hoooooley doooley! If I've got the grib file right, we should be able to hold
this for a while but still very light and confused (me and the breeze..) -
fingers crossed. Lovely cool cloudless night with the moon's reflection yellow
on the backs of the swells but hazy up high so only first magnitude stars
visible - a bit like a city sky without the grot.
Tactics from here - if we
can follow the plan - point towards the Horn until we get to about 55 S
wherever that happens then run the latitude east past 80 W and then duck down
to 55.47 S and around. But that is not likely to be achievable - it's just The
Plan, so you know what's on.
Thanks
for your notes, H & K. I'll write soon.
Sitrep: 1455hrs 26 Feb 2005
UTC 52’54”S 109’05”W Map Ref 83
Still moving - still
according to plan - VMG in the 6s & 7s. Oh joy! Long background
warehouse-sized swell that keeps us rolling gently as we swish away the miles.
There's still a soft spot upstream on the grib picture and we have to keep
getting ourselves southwards to get under it. Kevvo has been given his orders
down the back and he's behaving, as always. Kevin, the transom bracket really
needs double locknuts in these conditions - the loctite ones work loose after a
bit - we'll fix when we get to
It looks as if the window to
the Horn is still open -I managed to get a VMC wxfax this morning and the
pattern of lows behind us seems fairly stable with just one front - you
probably know more about it from the website than we do out here in it. As long
as we can get 10 days or so of steady westerly flow we can wrap it up. Pete now
has full beard - white and gingery and very cool - and I'm still the smoothie
doing the ritual cleanse and scrape every week or so.
Hi Colin - we'll be back and
you'll get two more Boggers.
El - we're cruising the airy
upper reaches of the bassos and trying to avoid the messy footprints left by
the altos.
Ann, can't answer your
question - for me, looking out into the universe is a complicated experience,
lots of mystery, physics, whimsy (are we just a mini byte of the urge to go to
the loo in the vast brain of some life form in a different universe - perhaps a
doughnut? Humbling, that one! Don't, Malcom!) and just plain beauty and wonder,
especially out here. But it depends on what you see - Robert Pirsig used his
motorbike as a metaphor - the romantics see it as a gleaming sculpture in
chrome and leather, the classicists as an elegant and practical assembly of
moving parts but both appreciate its beauty. I think I'm somewhere in between.
Glad my shaving brush was useful - wonder what you did with it!
John W, thanks for engine
data. I think a tacho and a fuel flow meter (is there such a thing?) might be a
useful set of goodies for the next one.
Peter, the gimballed seat
has to be inside - all the singlehanders have them - ain't no place to sit
inside this old workhorse with both lower bunks operational and it's really
hard on the bum and bracing muscles. The nav table seat is athwartships and
difficult on either tack.
Simon at Digiboat (Steve, do
you know whether he's out there?)- I'm keeping the tracklogs and downloading to
the gigastik every week or so plus as many weather faxes as memory will allow -
is there anything else you would like? Would we be able to re-create the track
for the website later? It has all sorts of interesting kinks in it, linked to
wind and weather and turbine and general stuff-ups.
Elapsed
time: we left Hobart on Jan 10, knockdown on the 18th (say 8 days sailing)
Dunedin 19 - 26th plus a day to get more or less back on track (8 + 9 = 17
elapsed, 8 sailing) and we're now in day 31 out of Dunedin so 48 elapsed, 39
sailing. Say another 12 to the Horn = +/- 60 elapsed, 51 sailing. DV & WP!
Then about 3 days to the
I'm sure someone will jump
on me if I'm wrong but at 60 degrees latitude, the distance between any two
lines of longitude is exactly half the distance between them at the equator.
We're getting close to 60 S and we are at 108 11W and counting - the temptation
is to sit here in front of the gps and watch the seconds (of longitude)tick
away. A second down here is a bit less than one hundredth of a nautical mile or
19 yards (or nearly two boat lengths) give or take and they are going by about
every five seconds in time = 228 yards/minute = 13680 yards/hour = 6.9 kts
roughly. Which agrees with the boat's speed log, which is not Fermet's last
theorem but presumably has some deeper and more meaningful subtext. OK, so I'm
waiting for the bread to rise for the second time - there's that word again -
and no, I haven't got anything better to do. All you Striders are out doing
your pre Six Foot Track 30 k gallops at the Star - lucky buggers - and here I
sit, like Marvin, doing piffling sums while my leg muscles atrophy, or, in
Marvin's case, his planet sized brain. Don't think I'd swap just now but when
the wind howls - maybe...And I think even that's marginally better than the
Pluviometer. Go well, all youse all next week and PB's all around - you too,
Steve.
I've just been listening on
a working frequency to two men with easily recognisable European accents
gargling on ad nauseam between their boats somewhere at the bottom end of south
America about the most unutterably boring trivia while the rest of the world
got angry (moi, messieurs), or just accepted it because it's the normal thing.
Well it bloody well isn't, or shouldn't be. A small request to all the yachties
out there: whenever you are tempted to activate your microphones, please
remember a couple of things - first, that radio is a public medium and anyone
can listen in and start to despise you real soon and second (!), there are
other people who might have really important things to communicate and might
need to do so urgently. Please don't hog the airwaves and don't let anyone else
on your boat do so either. End of diatribe for today.
Olga, lovely beanie and much
treasured, but you do me too great a compliment. Even at the rate of learning that's
going on down here, my rapidly swelling head can't keep up with the expansion
rate of the beanie, which now reaches down to my shoulders (or, perhaps my head
is actually shrinking). It makes a beaut egg cosy for my shiny head when I go
to sleep. And please could I have a sexy bag like Pete's but twice as big for
Chrissy please? Please? Ever so ta.
We've just consulted the new
vintage Dr Coopers and pronounced it good. Very good. And, Shokko, we did a
little stocktake and we're flush. Don't have to do show offs on the foredeck to
get to it either. Life's good. Eat yer heart out.
Can
smell the bread - olives and light rye - but it's got another hour to go.
It's amazing how fast things
change down here. This morning I was looking back over my shoulder and thinking
whoopee - steady flow lines for a few days, no problems. Tonight, with a new
grib file, there's a tight little low forming right behind us and about two
days away with some strong northerlies in between, which we are now
experiencing. We're heading a bit north of east, along 53 14 S to try to get as
far across as possible in the hope that the low will be forced to the south by
the high over the S American coast. If it isn't we're due for a bit of a
bashing. The back of the low has 35+ knots from the south in it now and if it
intensifies, anything goes, including ice. So some mild trepidation and I've
sent for the new grib file.
Propagation is improving all
the time as we close the coast - 1370nm to go, VMG 6 kts - so getting
information is relatively easy. The generator has kicked in again too, although
not perfect, so we have some power.
Just been in the cockpit for
half an hour to feel the elements. Bit
of a shock to have to get into party gear again after having been out of it for
a couple of days. We are close reaching in about 25 kts with #1 and full main,
the lee gunwale about a foot above the water and surging along. Only possible
because the sea is still relatively flat over a long swell. Boat nicely
balanced, with Kevvo keeping the tiller centred with small adjustments, so he's
not working too hard. Exhilarating sailing. Grey misty night with the horizon
dimly visible, really just as a soft change in shades of grey. Background glow
from the moon, up behind it all to the north and some downlight from the
masthead tricolour casting faint shadows in the cockpit. Instrument lights
dimmed right down. LED caver's light on my head over my beanie under party hood
to keep the ears warm and lined sailing gloves for the hands. These only ok in
the cockpit - need open fingers on the foredeck and they get very cold. And
that's at 53 S - must be really cold for the people like Ellen McArthur who
sail down in the 60's.
Things
that really work: LED caver's head lights. Great for inside and deckwork. Goes
without saying that you should buy a waterproof one. Need to get used to
strapping them on so they don't move and to the switch on your particular
version. Mine has a mechanical switch rather that a digital toggle switch as I
found that the digital switches on early versions weren't too reliable.
(Kathmandhu exchanged the last one without question - onya and I'll be back)
Also, I don't think you need to go for the complicated versions with three LEDs
that can be used incrementally - I've never needed more that just the first one
and too much light doesn't really help. And remember not to shine them back at
the person on the helm. Bad karma.
As I start to write this, we
have 1325 miles to the Horn. Not a trivial distance and it seems we are going
to have to work our butts off to put it in the bag. At this rate, still more
than two weeks. We have been hand
steering for most of the day, chasing diaphanous excuses for breeze all over
the ocean. We were actually parked with no wind for a couple of hours. The
miles are just not going into the bag and it's cold, misty and drizzling.
Convergence zone conditions in spades. Hands white and wrinkly as soon as they
get wet. The latest grib has two tight little lows right up our chuff with big
winds around them and impossible with my limited experience to work out where
they will go or how they will affect us. There may well be a big hammer in
there somewhere, but right now we have about 10 kts from the SW and we have the
electric autopilot steering from the masthead windvane because the swell and
the lack of wind in the troughs make it impossible for Kewvvo to work with any
consistent apparent wind. Tedious in the extreme - what did I say about
grinding out the yards? We're into it.
So we consulted the Dublin
Doctor, and he said consult me again immediately so we did and that's the front
icebox emptied. Pete made a cake sized banana muffin - different and a nice
change. My piece arrived by dogbowl in the cockpit where I was nursing the
tiller extension, hunched under the dodger out of the rain and concentrating
fiercely, as one does, on keeping the boat moving. I was wearing goretex mitts
(great gear, but only for steering type work - dangerous for operating winches
etc because they can get caught) with thin liners underneath and my hands were
wet but just warm. But have you ever tried to lift a piece of banana muffin out
of a dogbowl into your mouth with wet mitts? Ain't easy, but still warm when I
eventually worked it out. Now sitting at the nav table feeding this in with
polyprop liners on my hands trying to warm them up and dry them out.
Wildlife - there's a little,
graceful, quick flappy (as opposed to gliding) bird that in the grey light
outside seems to have a greenish blue tint to the tops of its wings. Cant be
sure but it's unusual and I've noticed it before. It's only an impression
because it moves so fast and rolls from side to side so that its wings are
never still enough to observe for more than a second or so. Been watching the
birds as we toss the biodegradable bits over the side - their ability to spot
the toss and be right there is impressive. Even when apparently facing away
from the boat, they are onto it.
Michael, thanks for Lamisil
and metho info. I have lamisil but didn't know about metho, of which we have a
surplus. Despite my rather overworked boot feral joke, we have not had any
nasty rots or infections. Touch wood...Which photo did you use? Interested in
any feedback, if you get any.
Two hours later - 30kt from
the south - just changed from #1 to #4 and two reefs. 1307 to go, VMG 6.5. Hard
to interpret but coming from south may indicate SW quadrant of a low to NE
showing on chilean wxfax. May be first thump of hammer or may just go round to
W as low moves E. Really cold on deck now with S wind - esp for hands. Tried
industrial lanolin on hands then latex gloves (v hard to get on!) under normal
sailing gloves and it worked a treat - hands v. cold but basically dry and
easily warmed. Good idea if there's time to get it all together. Will do it
again and report further. Tight stbd tack, lots of water over the front so my
bunk vulnerable again and prophylaxis in praxis.
Please keep those messages
coming in - short ones please! we still have a bit of a problem - they really
give us something to look forward to each day and it helps pass the time
replying. We're both having real difficulty keeping track of local time here.
No sun often for days and no idea where it is in sky and crossing longitude
quite fast and using gmt for all this stuff. Disorienting and makes sleep
patterns etc somewhat cockeyed so nice to have a focal point, even if it
appears to move. Pete making last batch of Sutherland pasta sauce. Master chef
extraordinaire.
28/0715 Making a cup of tea
in the middle of the night on the starboard tack in a heavy beam sea in 30
knots in Berrimilla is an activity that should be encouraged with the single
word Dontevereventhinkofitandifyoudoyouremad. But if you must persevere, as I
have just done, prepare for disaster at every step. First, the stove is on the
high side so you are leaning away from it but being thrown forwards and
backwards in huge and uncontrollable lurches as the boat rolls and pitches and
corkscrews. Strapping in to the galley using the tether hooked across it helps
but really only damps down the lurches and prevents you arriving full toss over
the nav table boundary on the other side of the boat. Then you have to get a
cup of water from the desal reservoir sort of above your head to your left and
into the kettle on the stove. You will spill half of it somewhere on the way so
go back to last step. And so on down to the endpoint where you have a nice cup
of tea sitting in the gimballed safety of the pot on the stove and the pot
slides across the stove and tips half of it down into your crutch. Whereupon
you burst into tears and go looking for the digestive biscuits.
We took down the main a
couple of hours ago - Berri was crashing through and across the seas and making
7 -8kts but overpressed and uncomfortable. Just the #4 is still giving us 5 -6
in the right direction and it's possible to sleep without the stomach
tightening before every crash. The latex glove idea works. I put them on when I
get out of my bunk and my hands are still warm and dry and before touching
dripping wet party gear with sailing gloves over the top or just on their own -
hands get very cold but stay dry. Trivial, I know, given the toughness of the
pioneers out here who did it all in primitive gear and had to climb to the top
of the mast to do it as well (the mind boggles - as Nelson said, you have to be
familiar with the sea to appreciate what Cook and his people did), but worth
while as far as I'm concerned. I'm a decrepit old wooss. How do you spell that?
Lots more seabirds around.
Closer to land perhaps.
There's water dripping on to
me from somewhere. In these temperatures and humidity, condensation is a huge
problem. Our makeshift closed cell foam insulation is working really well but
every surface not covered is dripping wet and it gets everywhere. I hope the
radio and the various black boxes generate enough internal heat to keep
themselves dry but who knows. We seem to have lost the depth sounder recently -
clearly not a problem out here but potentially a big one later.
28/1215 and the mail's in,
grey and dripping daylight also just creeping into the boat. Rain. Still 30kts
but manageable.
Thanks Jop - that's what I
need to hear.
And Jim - have to be able to
sit at the nav table to do this stuff otherwise I'd already have turned it
around. The secret's in big chunks of foam rubber and bracing ze knees between
the bottle store below and the underside of the table. We know of the Canada Brolga
and the one in
Flop, your job for the week
- after you've peed pink. Find the Dutch brolga, sailed over I think in the
other direction by a young bloke a few years ago.
Woc -from Alex - is
Tom K, for the first time
it's cold enough to convert my Finisterre fleece from my pillow (where it's
brilliant, malleable into just the right shape to brace my head) into my
insulation, where it is just fantastic. Got out of bed freezing this morning
and decided the time had come. Now warm and toasty.
Is - got the tele address
also Cap'n B's phone - Ta.
Benjy, if you are reading
this, send us an email via the website with your email address and we'll buy
you a virtual beer, which, sadly, we'll have to drink for you. Insofar as it's
possible to make any sort of guess in these conditions, I'd say we're about 14
days out. Look forward to meeting you, but you'd better stand upwind.
Must
be getting closer - Chilean coast has just come onto the littls GPS screen at
max scale. Good. 1240 to go.
Here's my Brolga list.
Thorry G, if you're still reading this nonsense, could you please invite the
Professor to do a brain dump for us on these and any others when/if we get some
more details? A big ask, I know, but he doesn't use a computer. And James,
perhaps a letter to Afloat to see if you can flush out a few more? Perhaps
Currawongers and all the others too? A project for my dotage might be to
collect the full histories of all the Joubert boats we can find. A bit of
Australian history while it is still collectable.
Alphabetically, boat name;
owner; previous names; Tall,Short or Modified Rig; Wheel or Tiller, Straight or
Doghouse coachroof:
Berrimilla -Alex W &
Hilary Yerbury; Nea, Leven; T/R, T;,S (Sydney)16 S2H (Hobarts), 7 Lord Howe
Caelidh - Colin & Karen Bell (Hobart) Firebird - Greg Sutton; Diamond
Cutter; M/R; W; D/h (Syd) 2+ S2H Jessie - Steve Hudson; ?; T/R, W; S (Syd) Lucy
- James Judd (Syd) Narama - Anstees;.....(Vancouver)(I have contact details)
Poitrel - Chris Palmer;...(Hobart) Take Time - Graeme Smith; T/R; W; S (Syd)
several S2H Virgo - Starlings;.....(Syd) Zoe - Peter & Jeanne Crozier
(Pete); Dorothy 2, Western Wanderer; S/R; T; D/h; (Syd) 2 S2H
And someone else wrote to us
a month or so ago, who has owned a Brolga for 20 years but because of the
laptop crash I've lost the note - sorry, please get back in touch - I think the
boat had a Gaelic name too, like Shilalagh.
And the one in
If
any of you are sufficiently interested, please add missing details for your
boat,including builder if you know and send to me (unless Chris or Colin or Jim
already have something going) and we can get something started. We'll show
those S&S 34 people like Fenwick what real boats are made of. And maybe
join them for a party somewhere interesting (Lord Howe??) as long as Fenwick
remembers to bring some grog.
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