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logbooks of the week
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2004-1-1
Hi there,
A cold shock for Adrien! Yesterday evening at 54°35 S, before nightfall, I was astoni...
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2003-12-31
Hi there,
Since I started, each time I’ve covered 15° to the east, I’ve put back my watch one ho...
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2003-12-30
Hi there,
We’re not going to be able to see each other, Francis Joyon and myself. In order to a...
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2003-12-29
Hi there,
What a gale! For the first time, I’m sailing without a foresail with three reefs in t...
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2003-12-28
Hi there,
For the moment, I’m becalmed, but it’s only temporary, since some strong winds (45 kno...
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2003-12-27
Hi there,
The wind is blowing a lot, but it’s starting to ease off. On Pierre Lasnier’s advice,...
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Logbook of 2004-1-1 |
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Hi there,
A cold shock for Adrien! Yesterday evening at 54°35 S, before nightfall, I was astonished to see a strange cloud in front of the boat.... With the binoculars I could see it was an iceberg. As usually those monsters aren’t alone, I decided it would be better to head north to 54°.
What a shame, as the wind is a nor’westerly and I’m not gaining any degrees of longitude. But my lead is comfortable, since at the antipodal meridian I was exactly 13 days 21H and 30mn ahead. Two hours later, I spotted a second iceberg, which was very low-lying. 2.5 miles away from me, it was clearly visible and could be detected on the radar. As luck would have it, the moon was out and the visibility was good. But I’m going to keep an eye out tonight and watch the radar.
That didn’t stop me from having the little meal I’d planned: scallops in a cream sauce, potted guinea-fowl also in a cream sauce with chestnuts, my usual Camembert in a box and my final fresh grapefruit (Pity I don’t have anymore of them, as they keep even better than oranges). The only change of plan involved the fine wine I’d planned to open. I need to keep my wits about me and have a clear view of things for the nightwatch that is coming up.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Léa Medori’s cuddly toy (from Cap Communication), a little mouse, who is crossing the dateline and spending New Year’s Day 2004 with me.
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Logbook of 2003-12-31 |
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Hi there,
Since I started, each time I’ve covered 15° to the east, I’ve put back my watch one hour to be on local time. That corresponds to one time zone (the 360° around the world are divided into 24 hours, which equals 15°). Once I reach 180°, the anipodal meridian to Greenwich, I will therefore be 12 hours behind you.
Let’s suppose that I reach it on the First of January 2004 at six ( 6 a.m. my time, 6 p.m. for you). As I cross the line, I will then be 12 hours AHEAD of you. It will still be 6 a.m. for me, but as I will be ahead of you, it will be the 1st January at 6 p.m. + 12 hours = 6 a.m on the 2nd January. So it will be six in the morning on the Second of January. And then, as I will be entering a new time zone, I’ll be losing an hour, so it will be 5 in the morning... All in all, my New Year’s Day will be somewhat shortened!
That doesn’t mean to say I won’t be celebrating. Especially as I’ll be crossing the date line, as that means that from tomorrow, I’ll no longer be moving away from the starting line, but instead getting closer to the finishing line. For me, that will be the most important thing.
I wish all those following my quest a good New Year’s Eve, and will see you tomorrow,
JL VDH
Final day of the year with Bertrand LEONCE from Argentan’s cuddly toy, "Nanouille".
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Logbook of 2003-12-30 |
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Hi there,
We’re not going to be able to see each other, Francis Joyon and myself. In order to avoid some unfavourable winds, he headed up north, and with the WSW that I’ve had since the end of yesterday’s gale, I didn’t have any other choice but to head 250°, which means I’ll be at a much more southerly latitude than he is. We’ll be thinking of each other, and as Francis said, we’ll have to celebrate the New Year together some other time!
We got out of yesterday’s severe gale without any damage. The only reminder of what happened is another little hole in the mainsail. But as there is a Kevlar mesh, these little holes don’t spread.
Since my message yesterday, as the sea and the wind calmed down, I put back up the staysail, shook out the third reef, replaced the staysail with the solent, shook out the second reef, then the first, then changed the solent for the genoese! As each manoeuvre took around a quarter of an hour, you can see I haven’t had time to get bored, especially as every time I have to put on the waterproofs and boots, then stow away the halyards and sheets. Since then it’s been rather relaxing!
See you tomorrow for the final day of the year,
JL VDH
A day with Christiane JOANNES’ green cuddly toy: "Lazy Frog"
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Logbook of 2003-12-29 |
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Hi there,
What a gale! For the first time, I’m sailing without a foresail with three reefs in the mainsail, waiting for the sea to calm.
For twelve hours now, the wind has been blowing at more than 40 knots, backing more and more to the west, and the seas have been heavy. So I’m waiting for the weather to move away and for things to ease off, advancing very slowly. Adrien is slamming down from time to time after rising up on the waves, but I can’t do anything more about it!
In theory, in six hours time, I’ll be able to ease back into things. Francis Joyon has come down to roughly the same latitude as me, and is crossing the antemeridian. So we’re not very far from each other, and we’ll do all we can to be able to get within sight of each other on Wednesday, in order to wish one another a happy new year and every success in our two events!
See you tomorrow with a little less wind!
JL VDH
A day with Ora Lague’s prehistoric cuddly toy, which is blue all over with a big tooth.
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Logbook of 2003-12-28 |
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Hi there,
For the moment, I’m becalmed, but it’s only temporary, since some strong winds (45 knots) are forecast for tonight. These transitionary periods without wind, but with a heavy swell, are always difficult to put up with. Especially when you know that later you’ll be picking up a gale, which only adds to the worry!
I’m in daily contact with Francis Joyon, who is making good headway in the opposite direction, even if he is a bit jealous of my heavy hull sometimes! We’re still not sure we will see each other, as what we are looking for in terms of weather patterns is a bit different.
He is off much further to the north, and ideally he is looking for westerlies under 20 knots, while I am much further south, and I’m trying to avoid the westerlies as much as possible. He is even considering going further down. We’ll see today and tomorrow, according to the weather, but if we do meet up it will be on Tuesday. I hope it will be daylight!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A weekend with Agathe and Gaston from Annecy-Urou’s cuddly toy, a little brown bear.
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Logbook of 2003-12-27 |
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Hi there,
The wind is blowing a lot, but it’s starting to ease off. On Pierre Lasnier’s advice, I’m going to head down a bit towards 53° S to reach the heart of the low-pressure area, in order to have less wind... as in the north of the area, there is a lot. That’s why the sea is so rough at the moment.
Last night, I crossed Philippe Monnet’s course after 48 days and 17 h. He took 60 days and 14 h to reach the same point, so that means a gap of exactly 11 days and 21 hours. I’m quite pleased, as this is far beyond my objective.
I hadn’t seen many albatrosses for a while. Yesterday, I had three of them throughout the day celebrating Christmas with me, and they didn’t seem to have any problem struggling against the 40-knot winds.
See you on Sunday,
JL VDH
A day with Lela Riguidel’s cuddly toy, a little grey elephant.
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