Sunday 21st December
Position 45'33.634S 38'12.026E
Wind 17.9 knots, 246 Degrees
COG 110 Degrees SOG 10.2 knots
Distance Covered 1,448 Miles
Finally our first Southern Ocean cold frontal system has passed us buy and we are now able to catch up on some well earned sleep, sort the boat and our personal gear out and prepare for the next one!
Winds overnight increased to just under 50 knots, boat speed climbed to just below 21 knots and the sea became angrier and angrier. As the wind stayed slightly more west than expected, we ended up tracking north of the Prince Edward Islands - it's also where the rest of our class went and we didn't want to lose touch with them. Passing over the Prince Edwards Fracture Zone, a relatively shallow area of water west of the islands, the seas built into a tremendous state with towering, breaking waves all round us. By this time we were under two reefs and the staysail and still surfing down these monsters at over 19 knots. The pitch of the waves has been relatively short and with heights of around 10 metres the drop as one looks down from the top of a wave to the trough below is a heart stopping sight. You know you are about to take off and you are doing everything you can on the helm to ensure you don't just bury your bow into the bottom. So, come up on the wind as you surf down the crest and boat speed increases as you climb the next wave for a repeat performance. For those of you who have ever travelled on a roller coaster - I can tell you where they got their name from!!!
We are now in a brief area of high pressure and expect winds to drop back to about 10 knots overnight before the next low pressure system arrives with us in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Whilst this is now looking slightly better than originally forecast, we still expect it to be tougher than the last one and know that it contains a particularly active cold front. Shouldn't last more than 48 hours though so by Christmas Eve things should have calmed down a little - before the next system...
I hope all the preparations for Christmas are going well at home and that you have all been out there over the weekend, spending like fury and getting the old economy going again!
Love to all.
Jeremy and David
Saturday 20th December
Position 45'58.936S 32'49.987E
Wind 28.5 knots 350 Degrees
COG 125 Degrees SOG 14.2 knots
Distance Covered 1,199 Miles
Well we are now into our first Southern Ocean low pressure system with wind gusting up to 30 knots and the seas steadily building. We have steadily worked our way down through the sail locker - full masthead spinnaker, fractional spinnaker, code 5 and now the solent whilst at the same time dropping down to two reefs in the main. Boat speeds have been consistently over 15 knots for long periods and topping at 19.5 knots so far. We continue to take a cautious approach, downsizing sails early and bearing away in the stronger winds.
We are aiming for a point just to the south of the Prince Edward Islands when we then hope to be able to make a more easterly and slightly more northerly route. We are expecting the wind to back overnight and this should, in theory, all work fine!
So, still comfortable, still pretty dry and still very happy! We have had some of the best sailing of our lives today and I guess everything comes with a small price to pay. The system coming through early next week looks as if it may be a bit rougher than this one although it is still hard to be certain exactly how it is tracking.
We are still enjoying our position at the front of the fleet although the margin is wafer thin. We even celebrated last night with a small mug of Irish Coffee!! Luxury indeed...
Love to all.
Jeremy and David
Thursday 18th December
Position 41'39.608S 24.10.383E
Wind 347 Degrees 15.5 knots
COG 137 Degrees. SOG 8.7 Knots
Distance Covered 714 Miles
Welcome to the Southern Oceans! We have been down here since about lunchtime yesterday and have, so far, experienced little more than wall to wall sunshine. Sure the waves are bigger than anything we saw on the first leg, reaching about 5 to 6 metres in height. The swell just keeps on running from West to East, pretty regardless of what the wind is doing. So, today we had the somewhat strange experience of surfing down waves upwind! Wind coming from in front of you and the waves coming from behind. All very odd.
We have been a little stuck in a high pressure system which we are trying to get through in order to get a little further south. The wind direction has not really enabled us to go due south and we also don't want to lose touch too much with the rest of the fleet. A balance between wanting to beat them if possible but not to lose them for they are our nearest help in the event of trouble.
We are sorry to hear the news that Kazimir are heading back to Cape Town for repairs to their mast and are fearful that once repaired they will simply be too far behind the rest of us for them to be able to rejoin the race. Like all of our fellow competitors, we have all made a good bond of friendship and they will be missed by all.
We have had one or two running repairs to do on Mowgli in the last 24 hours as well. One of the turning blocks fixed to the deck started coming loose (with a pretty horrible noise going with it!). We lost a good hour of fast sailing whilst we unbolted the whole thing and crafted an new strengthening plate before gluing and bolting the whole thing back down again. We have also and a bit of chafe on our masthead spinnaker halyard and David is once more working his rope magic to effect running repairs.
We have been living like kings on all our fresh food and so far have avoided the dreaded freeze dried food altogether. Sherees fine lamb curry was finished this evening though and I fear it we can't keep it at bay forever!
Another day or so of this lighter wind sailing and then we are going into some proper southern ocean low pressure systems and will hopefully be able to get back onto the great circle route towards the scoring gate north of the Kerguelen Islands.
Hope all the preparations for Christmas are going well at home!
Love to all.
Jeremy and David
Tuseday 16th December
Position 39'03.485S 18'39.456E
Wind 17.9kn 220deg
COG 145Deg SOG 8.5kn
Distance Covered 382 Miles
After a slightly frustrating day lolling about in a high pressure zone the wind picked up sharply this afternoon rising steadily to just under 30 knots. The sea state picked up with it, and remarkably quickly and were soon as big as anything we encountered on the first leg. They were quite confused meaning that they were not ideal surfing conditions and meant a lot of water coming over the decks and your poor sailors! At least the weather and water are still warm! With speeds of up to 15.5 knots we were soon eating up the miles. The wind has now come more round to the south and we have therefore reduced sail and are pretty much beating into it.
We still have a high pressure ridge in front of us although hopefully it will dissipate a little over the next 24 hours and not slow us on our southerly course too much. We should then be able to pick up the stronger west winds and finally really start heading east.
Everything on board is all working well (so far - touch wood!) and we are living like kings on Sheree's fine soup and curry. Long may it last.
Happy days indeed.
Love to all.
Jeremy and David
Monday 15th December
Position 36'09.277 S 17'43.429 E
COG 211 Deg SOG 5.8kn
Wind 172 Deg 8.7kn
Distance covered 185 Miles
Well, we have spent our first 24 hours at sea after a long and wonderful break in Cape Town. Life on board has settled down remarkably quickly and we have been in our three on, three off watch system for most of the day - trying to catch up on a bit of a South African sleep deficit!
The start all worked well for us, crossing the line in the middle of the fleet and then making some good tactical calls to get us into the front for at least a short time. The wind then died on us in the lee of Lion's Head and we spent a frustrating few hours trying to get going in the right direction. Most of the fleet were in the same predicament apart from Kazimir who with their local knowledge and a good dose of luck managed to find some wind and move pretty quickly away from the rest of us.
We had an amazing sail down the coast south of Cape Town past all the haunts we have enjoyed so much over the last few weeks and the sun set on the Twelve Apostles was quite something.
Our aim over the next few days is simply to get south as far and as fast as possible even if that means going further west than we would really like. There is a new weather system to the south and as soon as we get into this we will be able to make up miles to the east pretty quickly. The boat furthest to the west should be able to pick this system up first. So although it is slightly depressing to find ourselves in solid last at this stage in the race, we are not too worried.
A big thank you to Sheree (a good pal of David's) who has provided some wonderful home made food for us to enjoy in the first few days - butternut soup and lamb curry. YUM! Just wish it could last longer...
Attached is a picture of Llandudno as we sailed past. This is where we stayed for the last month (thanks Adrian Kettel), a stunningly beautiful village with a wonderful small surf beach. We have never seen it from this angle before!
Hope all is well at home.
Love Jeremy and David