Skippers log #17
46 22s 65 32e at 16:00 GMT
The sun has set and the cold has returned. It was a beautiful day, with blue skies and some warmth in the sun, but alas, very little wind. Three albatross are circling the boat and a small, hairline moon is setting as I prepare to climb into my sleeping bag to seek warmth and rest. I spent a lot of time on deck, helming, trying to coax my vessel east. I noticed drifting in the water, a lot of kelp. This must have been torn from the islands south & west of here during the various storms. A plastic bottle floated by, covered in barnacles, but still afloat with part of its plastic visable. Storm warnings have been forecast for fleet, & already a casualty is limping back to port, for the last time. George on Rapscallion broke the joint that connects the boom to the mast. I am sad to see him drop out, and hope he is the last to fall. I miss not having phone coverage. The satellite spot beam does not cover this part of the ocean, so for another two weeks or so, I will rely on e-mail.
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Skippers log #18
46 43s 67 30e at 16:00 GMT
The last 24 hours have been frustrating. Most of the time the sea is a slick shiny surface of no wind. For a while this morning it did get up to 20 knots and we were clipping along, then it died away for about 10 hours and we were going in circles on the swell. Now it is up to 4 knots and we have steerage way. The autopilot is working now, & steering, but we are doing only one knot and in the last 4 hours, have not gone one mile yet as we are going round in the same circle. Thick fog has surrounded the boat. One great thing today, was I saw a whale and two seals. The whale was off in the distance, and only its dorsal fin was visible. Captain Ahab would have put a long boat in the water and gone fishing. Instead, I picked up the book The China Voyage by Tim Severn and read. I had met Tim in London years ago, even though we both lived in Ireland. Rex Warner, who was on this voyage in a bamboo raft across the Pacific with Tim, is a friend of mine with whom I have lost contact. So while they drifted in the Hsu Hu, I drifted out in this southern ocean. Gale force conditions have been forecast now for two days, and I am struggling for wind. I am not pulling my hair out yet, and have resigned to the fact that I am going nowhere. I am drifting no faster than a raft. I just wish I could phone Gwen and talk, which would make me feel happier for hearing her voice. I fixed my meal earlier today than normal. The last three day's meals have been a disaster. I had made a potato dish meant for two days. It was supposed to be fried potatoes, but the potatoes fell apart. So I tried to make it into potato salad, and that fell apart and ended up as soggy mash potato, which has given me a bad case of very smelly wind. Then last night I tried some fancy Italian pasta filled with cheese. It tasted like stale bread and chewed like rubber. So today I had one of Gwen's curries with Mrs Ball's chutney, and ate like a king. But that was 6 hours ago and I am hungry again. When will I get to New Zealand...?
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Skippers log #19
46 30s 71 57e at 17:00 GMT with 4,900 miles to go. If I was in satphone coverage, I would have placed a call to Tim Severn, author of The China Voyage. The reason is that last night I went into a foul mood. I was becalmed, drifting in thick fog going nowhere. I grew angry as I grew cold. I spent hours on a windless sea, and there was only a slight change in my mood when an e-mail from Gwen arrived. The wind did finaly pick up at sunrise and I began progress towards the east, passing Kergullan Island and my first mark of the leg, three days behind my schedule. Reading The China Voyage and thinking of my friend Rex Warner who was one of the crew, put my voyage into perspective. At least on this vessel I was "dry" by comparison, had reasonable food to eat and a vessel that is sound and now was doing triple the spead of their bamboo raft. I was able to identify the frustrations that the crew of Hsu Fu felt. Tim's great way of telling his story offered me encouragement to keep going with mine as the southern ocean gale that has been promised built to force 8 and still blows. For dinner I ate noodles, had chocolate and a mug of Russian tea. During the morning I spoke Neil Hunter on Paladin via SSB. He was in touch with Minoru who feared looking at my progress yesterday, something was wrong on board. As I write, everything is damp on board. I ran the engine to charge up the batteries. I am finding that I need to run the engine an hour a day to keep pace with my demands. My alternator is putting out a bit more charge since tightening the belt and cleaning terminals, but still not 80 amps as it did on the last leg. But this way I can keep up and now with the wind, my wind generator is helping to keep the batteries topped off, provided I don't let them get low. Soon (12 days?) I will be passing my next waypoint, 1,500 miles away, and getting to satphone coverage and a better mood.