1010hrs 13 Apr 2005 UTC Map Ref 164
It’s the middle of the night and I’m sweating – send me down my silver threaded T shirt, Noreen! – it’s hot and humid, which, it seems to me, is a better reason for sweat than the dull fear that comes in a storm at night. But I am constantly reminded about why in Berrimilla I never go North of Lord Howe in Australia. Tropical sailing isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Don’t mind being paid for teaching up there though – a bloke’s got to eat.
Big thank you to everyone who sent us information about the horse latitudes, which, I have learned. we were in when I asked the question, but horseless and far from becalmed. And the range of sources was surprising too. Perhaps Malcolm could anonymise all the responses and post them as a little archive? [See here: Answers to Horse Latitudes questions] Two interesting details – the very sad song by Doors and the suggestion that there may have been a derivation from the Spanish ‘golfo de las yeguas mares’.
Simon, couldn’t find bowditch on the laptop – must get it next time…and every sail change and storm and hiccup shows up clearly on the log files – interesting – would it be possible, for instance, to publish it as a cd referenced to log incidents?
Noreen – thanks for article about sweaty astronauts – NASA can probably afford to experiment with silver thread – fascinating bit of chemistry buried in there somewhere! – but it’s way beyond our micro budget. I expect, though, that like lots of other innovations such as teflon, a bit of silver thread to subdue the armpit and crutch ferals may well be the new trend in cool yachting underdags spun off (ugh) the space program. Can’t wait – Leroy, if you’re reading this, keep me a cast off and we’ll test it in the maritime environment!
And Jenny S – I did get your Cape Horn email and BOG details but in the euphoria of the moment, I probably didn’t do it justice. Thanks and we’re both looking forward to appearing in the first issue of The BOG Paper. Don’t know anything about Crossbow.
Croo – I must have read the same article about woollen Viking ship sails in New Scientist – I remember the bit about keeping the wool sails in the church towers and finding a fragment. Clever bit of lateral thinking there too. [See New Scientist article: The sheep that launched 1000 ships)
Kris, you got a separate answer, to alum address.
Wildlife report: haven’t seen a seabird foe a couple of days. Where do they all go, or is it some sort of portent, like the departure of rats? Flying fish, still small, in abundance, but Pete saw one big enough to eat. Lovely to watch them skittering across the surface with the sun flashing off sides and ‘wings’.
The logs ramblings can be cryptic, so we have added: