Skippers log #45
36 49s 55 56w at 17:00 GMT with 121 miles to the finish line
So close, yet not there. I have to endure another night at sea. The head winds forced me all the way inshore to the Argentine coast last night, before I tacked out. The water was very shallow a long ways out. The air temperature is significantly higher than what it has been. It must be about 80 degrees farenheit. The seas are very lumpy inshore and I am fighting current. Why is it that one has to work so hard to get to the line, these last miles. I did not get much rest last night being so close to the coast. I sailed with just a staysail and a reef in the mainsail, and in the gusts, we were over on our ears. Today the wind eased just a bit, and I hoisted a full mainsail to try and keep power on to punch through the chop. I have the hatches open to get a draft going and clear out the smells. I'm sure there must be smells of dampness and what ever, though I have lived in these confined spaces for so long now, I cannot smell anything different. I can smell the land though when I am on deck. It is not a clean smell. I have had a lot of shipping today, at one point seeing 4 huge ships around me not 2 miles distant. I will grab a good nap this afternoon as tonight it will be hectic with me being in the Rio Plata, another busy shipping lane. Tomorrow night I will sleep in between dry sheets after a steak dinner. I wish Gwen was there. She will be flying somewhere over the Atlantic.
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Skippers log #46
Finish line, Leg 3 Punta del Esta
After a long night sailing through lightening storms, concerned that I could take a lighting strike, dawn found me this morning with a major weather front passing through. There was not much wind in the front, but it did bring variable wind directions. Finally at mid morning, the wind switched to the south east and I as able to make a direct course towards Punta. After dodging shipping over more than 27,000 miles, enduring frustrating calms, repairing broken equipment and torn sails, encountering life threating storms, having crossed the four major oceans, rounded the infamous Cape Horn and crossing the equator twice, this 4 year solo circumnavigation concluded today at 21:14. Since leaving Punta in April 1994, my actual time at sea going from Punta to Charleston, Charleston to Cape Town, Cape Town to Auckland then returning to sea was 195 days. To sail the world alone all began as a little boy who could not walk, could not play rough games with his peers and buried his head in books. Books fueled the dream, meeting the solo round the world sailers helped fan the flames, family and sponsors supported the burning blaze. Courage, hard work, perservance, dedication, determination were some of the mandatory skills to not survive, but to succeed. Seize the day, every day. Now I will share my story from the speaking platform, in my new book and film. What happens in life, is largely our choice with many circumstances to shape the character. Success is a daily habit, engineered, honed and a choice. Follow your heart, as the journey is worth the sacrifices, and the joys are numerous. Help make a difference as part of your journey, and always be willing to support those who need the encouragement. You too can sail the oceans of life, and circumnavigate the world you have chosen to live in. In life there are no barriers, only solutions. Be a part of the solutions.
