0415hrs 09 Nov 2005 UTC 40’31”S 047’48”E Ref 536
From the slough of despond we are arizzed. Crunching down a new GC track – prompted by the Original Mad BOGger, one G. Smith, who frequently Takes an ale with his Time, onya mate! I’ve looked at the options with the rosy specs a’pinced upon the nez and found – surprise surprise – that it is almost exactly the same distance from here to Sydney via Gabo as it is via SECape. Counter intuitive unless you have a nice gnomonic projection chart to draw straight lines (as great circles) on. It’s 4146 to SEC and 4482 to Gabo. SEC to Gabo is about 350. QED.
Thankfully, I’ve forgotten most of my carefully hypocritical management speak but this elegant bird now has a Mission Statement. In my words, it is:
‘Start, via SE Cape’
In management speak it goes something like:
‘This mobile maritime organisation will employ every endeavour to provide the best possible opportunity to its customers, website readers and crew alike to maximise their human potential through personal somatic and developmental progression in the process of achieving its primary goal of arriving in time and on budget to start the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race whilst at the same time earnestly and creatively seeking to meet its secondary goal of adding historical perspective (and some more gin!) by rounding SE Cape in the pursuit of the achievement of the primary goal.’
Phew! How’s that? I could easily make it into real gobbledegook so that even all y’all, gentle intelligent persons that y’are would not understand it but I’ll resist the temptation – too many hideous memories!
So there it is. If only we could put all the miles we sail into the bag, we’d do it easily. Right now, we are spearing straight for the southernmost penguin squirting its little fan on a rock south of Kerguelen. Every metre is in the bag and it feels good – but it only takes a mini windshift the wrong way or up the register and the nasty foggy mists above the old Pilgrim’s slough start to permeate and choke the lungs. Realistically, we’ll get shoved every which way but it can still be done. Just.
Steve and Mal, could you please have a look at the general wx situation around Kerguelen and report – we’ll go as close as we dare and it helps to have an idea beforehand. Ta. We’re about 8 days away if we can keep going – unlikely, but we’ll try.
Iz – don’t recall ‘The Pelagics’ – context? Pelagia is the Doctor’s daughter in de Bernieres’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and her goat keeps eating the manuscript of the Doctor’s not very successful attempts to write the history of the Island. Hence my references to ruminant digestive censorship. Which are the deeper – pelagic or demersal fish? Can’t remember school geography.
The logs ramblings can be cryptic, so we have added: