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logbooks of the week
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2004-1-22
Hi there,
Well, today’s finally a fine day after two days of bad weather! The distance I cover...
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2004-1-21
relief that’s over. It now makes it look like the decorative style of an old sailing vessel from an...
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2004-1-20
Hi there,
We’re completely becalmed. We’re going through a high-pressure area, where the wind i...
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2004-1-19
Hi there,
The weekend’s bad weather is over now and Adrien got through it well. Even if she did...
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2004-1-18
Hi there,
There goes another time zone, 105°. Each time I put back my watch by an hour, my stom...
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2004-1-16
Hi there,
I crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin yesterday (15th) at 5.18 p.m. CET, after 69 d...
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Logbook of 2004-1-22 |
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Hi there,
Well, today’s finally a fine day after two days of bad weather! The distance I cover each day is measured at the same time (1 p.m.) between two points, whatever the route I used to get there. Today, I sailed on direct course, admittedly upwind, but in the right direction, except for the last two hours, when I had to turn towards the northwest. That gives me a good result!
I got closer to the forties, but as I was forced to turn, I’m now moving away again. In any case, the weather is fine and I’m pleased about that.
When I described to you on Sunday what I was eating, some internauts complained that I hadn’t admitted that I drank. It’s true, I didn’t say that I had taken on board 47 bottles of Jongieux (Gamay, Pinot noir or Mondeuse grape varieties), a wine, which comes from the Savoy region, and which was given to me by my friend, Jean Paul... You have to add to that a few exceptionally fine wines that I keep for special occasions.
The theory is 1 bottle every three days. It mustn’t show up on the breathalyser! And as I’m going faster than planned...I’ll have some left at the end!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDHA day with the toy from the Youth centre in Bobigny, a little statue, which talks to the other cuddly toys!
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Logbook of 2004-1-21 |
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relief that’s over. It now makes it look like the decorative style of an old sailing vessel from another age, but anything is better than the ragged edges, which were hanging down before, and which, each time there was calm weather went a bit further.
The forecast for the next five days doesn’t show any wind above 25 knots...but it looks like I won’t be able to avoid two periods of calm, which I hope won’t last as long as the one I had yesterday!
I’m going to go back into the forties a bit to try to avoid them as much as possible.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the MERAND company put on board Adrien by Idée d’image
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Logbook of 2004-1-20 |
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Hi there,
We’re completely becalmed. We’re going through a high-pressure area, where the wind is very weak and also very variable. That is forcing me to set the sails and constantly carry out adjustments to the course I’m trying to follow in Adrien.
Tonight, the wind should finally start blowing from the north and as usual back westerly then southerly. When I started up my Volvo motor to charge up my batteries (that’s all it’s used for, as during the attempt on the record I don’t have any propellers), I thought it was making a funny noise. I was right to worry about it. As it only runs at slow speed, the vibrations loosened two of the fixing bolts. Everything has been fixed now, but it’s once again the proof that you have to be vigilant all the time, and keep your ears open.
I’m waiting impatiently for the wind, even if as far as the record is concerned, everything is going well. It’s always frustrating to progress at a snail’s pace!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the Equatorial Trio looking at an erupting volcano, a little medallion from Odile Debs
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Logbook of 2004-1-19 |
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Hi there,
The weekend’s bad weather is over now and Adrien got through it well. Even if she did slam down into the waves occasionally, as when the wind came around to the WSW, the waves were coming from the NW straight at the bow.
But everything is fine and when the boat lands heavily, I’m not as afraid as I was at the beginning, when I couldn’t help thinking about losing my mast. The Nordic mast and the BSI rigging are behaving perfectly. As for the hull and the keel, they have also shown what they can stand up to. Let’s just say that Adrien has got in a lot of practice now!
I do still hesitate quite often about whether to hoist more sail or keep things as they are...particularly when the wind is a sou’westerly in which case it doesn’t blow steadily. So for half an hour I tell myself to go and hoist up the sail. Yesterday, I got on my boots and waterproofs, and by the time I’d got dressed, the wind had got up another 5 knots...too much to raise much more sail. I got undressed, thanking the wind for coming at that precise time, as otherwise I would have had to bring back in the reef I’d just shaken out. And I don’t like that happening to me. It’s very frustrating to have to bring in a sail that I’ve just struggled to get out!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the Lacroix company, placed on board Adrien by Idée d’image
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Logbook of 2004-1-18 |
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Hi there,
There goes another time zone, 105°. Each time I put back my watch by an hour, my stomach thinks my throat’s been cut before midday. It just gets used to a new time zone...when it’s time to change again! As I have my breakfast very early in the morning, between 5 and 6 local time, I have a bit of a snack around 10 o’clock.
My food is very varied (the list is on the site), and I always enjoy eating. For example, this lunchtime, I made myself some crab (Nautilus) in a vinaigrette sauce as a starter, some chicken in crayfish sauce (Henaff) with some vacuum-packed chestnuts, my usual little half of a Camembert (President) and two oranges. I’m eating two oranges at a time, as some are starting to get old, and I have to throw them away. With the onions, they are the last remaining fresh products. Everything else is in a can or freeze-dried.
As forecast the day before yesterday, I had some fairly strong winds this weekend, which are gradually backing sou’westerly. The forecast for the next few days isn’t that bad, and everything is going well.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
Weekend with Jean Emmanuel Patier’s cuddly toy, the little sailor.
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Logbook of 2004-1-16 |
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Hi there,
I crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin yesterday (15th) at 5.18 p.m. CET, after 69 days and 5 hours sailing. Today, it’s the second day of fine weather, even if there isn’t much wind at the moment. A gentle zephyr is starting to get up from the north and should strengthen gradually to reach gale force tomorrow (40 knots) and become a westerly then a sou’westerly, as always happens down here.
I finished working like a busy bee, sponging up the drops of water, which manage to get inside Adrien, when I’m in my boots and Cotten waterproofs, and which get into the little bubbles in the aluminium structure. The boat has therefore been dried out completely.
A few albatrosses came back today. In this direction, they don’t follow the boat as much as during the Vendée Globe event. I think they soon get fed up flying against the wind, and they try to follow more logical boats, which are going in the right direction, pushed along by favourable prevailing winds. But when the wind goes down, they sometimes climb aboard, and it’s great to see them take off with difficulty from the water. Each time, it makes me think about pictures from the cartoon film Bernard and Bianca, which are really life-like, when this bird struggles to take off.
See you on Sunday,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from Carquefou Town Council put on board Adrien by Idée d’image.
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