Feb 18, 2005 – 0353hrs UTC

0353hrs 18 Feb 2005 UTC 45’25”S 127’32”W Map Ref 69 3880nm

A day of chasing zephyrs – going nowhere, rolling around, getting little jobs done and now it’s evening and we’ve dropped the sails and we’re going to get some serious sleep. The silence, the almost indigo blue of the water, an albatross and a petrel swishing past, long menacing line of cloud that turned into puffy rain, still hasn’t reached us. When it does, it won’t arrive, it’ll just muffle us in feathery mist. The water is so clear and it seems to impart its own glow to anything in it – the towline looks silvery – I dropped a roll of tape as I was re-tying it and I could see it glowing for ever as it sank. Hard to believe – I must have only read the stories of the storms and never looked beyond.

I’m making bread, the cabin is warm, smells like a bakery, Pete is writing his journal and then we’ll make dinner and switch off until the noise starts again. We’re due for a front tomorrow and it will actually be nice to be moving again. Looks like my early estimate of March 4 at the Horn has gone overboard. Will send this when I pull in the mail call from Steve later.

Pete has part three to put in as well. Maybe later. Bread just out – hot slice with butter – yay!