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logbooks of the week
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2004-1-8
Hi there,
Fabulous! You really have to come into this area to see peaks and troughs of waves li...
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2004-1-7
Hi there,
I shall soon be passing the longitude of Hobart, but I’ll be around 650 miles (1200 km...
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2004-1-6
Hi there,
I had a really bad night becalmed with some unreliable winds, which kept changing dire...
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2004-1-5
Hi there,
What a change! Today, I’m becalmed in the middle of a deep depression. So I can only ...
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2004-1-4
Hi there,
I had a difficult start to the weekend with a long, low pressure area, which didn’t ge...
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2004-1-2
Hi there,
Yesterday I was so worried about icebergs that I forgot to wish you a Happy 2004 and t...
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Logbook of 2004-1-8 |
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Hi there,
Fabulous! You really have to come into this area to see peaks and troughs of waves like this. Besides that, as the wind was from the south, it was icy cold, and everything I touched on deck seemed to be frozen solid.
Working in these conditions is always difficult, and I had to bring in the sail until I was down to the staysail with 3 reefs in. Strangely enough, although the sea was quite huge, Adrien didn’t bang about at all, and we managed to make several miles headway and increase the lead over Philippe Monnet.
The worst of the storm is over now, but the wind will be remain sou’westerly, and I’ll take advantage of that to head back up north to leave behind me the fifties, which really lived up to their howling reputation this morning. I managed to keep the damp out of Adrien, which is something of an ongoing battle!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy belonging to Emilie from Port Louis, a really pretty little clown.
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Logbook of 2004-1-7 |
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Hi there,
I shall soon be passing the longitude of Hobart, but I’ll be around 650 miles (1200 km) to the south. I simply cannot forget the excellent stopover I had there last year. Margie and Don Mac Intyre did all they could to enable me to find a way of bringing Adrien home, and as I pass by their home, I can’t help remembering their kindness. Indeed, each stay I’ve had in Australia has left me with some fine memories...
Today has really been an excellent day, and we’ve made some good progress. But in a few hours I’ll be coming up agaist a storm with 55-knot winds forecast by Pierre Lasnier. Except that this time they will tend to be coming from the south, and I’ll be making my way north.
Adrien is still in perfect shape and everything is going well, even if each time bad weather is forecast, there is a little apprehension.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with MAB’s cuddly toy, a bear that’s white all over with a pretty bow tie.
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Logbook of 2004-1-6 |
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Hi there,
I had a really bad night becalmed with some unreliable winds, which kept changing direction and which forced me to keep changing tack to get Adrien metre by metre out of that situation. Moreover, the cold and especially the wet tried to get into the boat and even into the old man himself!
Finally, around midday local time, (I’m now 10 hours ahead of you) , my efforts were rewarded by the lapping of water on the hull, and I experienced an extraordinary afternoon with a pleasant northerly, which allowed me to make headway to the west, and some sunshine and bright weather.
After my short snooze to get over the hard work, I tackled some repair work to keep Adrien in tip-top condition. As I passed not far from the Macquaries, I had a lot of birds hovering around the boat, and last night there was even a seal or some creature like that that stayed 50 metres behind Adrien for a long time. I must say that at the speed I was doing, it wasn’t difficult for him to keep up!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy belonging to Alex from Becon les Granits, a hairy bear, which looks more like a big mouse!
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Logbook of 2004-1-5 |
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Hi there,
What a change! Today, I’m becalmed in the middle of a deep depression. So I can only advance when there is a puff of wind. Besides that, it’s cold. I thought I would be a tourist...but I’m nowhere near being that!
First of all, I haven’t yet reached the islands I talked about yesterday. I hope to spend the night south of them, but I shan’t be going to see them. At night, there’s nothing to see, and even by daylight without wind and without a propeller, I wouldn’t want to get near the rocks.
The sea temperature has fallen a lot, and I’m being even more cautious, even if last year the commanders of Marion Dufresne and the Astrolabe, which put in to Hobart, told me they hadn’t seen any icebergs north of 60°, when they were heading for Adelie Land. Fortunately, I have a comfortable lead, as this calm weather is very annoying, and besides that, it doesn’t do my poor mainsail much good, as it is flapping around, when the wind abates.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Eugène’s cuddly toy, a little bear dressed as a sailor.
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Logbook of 2004-1-4 |
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Hi there,
I had a difficult start to the weekend with a long, low pressure area, which didn’t generate much wind (40 knots), but which caused a some very rough seas. So I had to slow down last night and this morning. Now, things are much easier to handle, and the forecast for the next 4 days seems to be fairly clement. Adrien reacted once again very well to the situation.
I went and carried out a little inspection of the hull in the fore compartment, which is empty and which takes all the major shocks, when the boat bangs down and slams into the waves. Everything is fine and there is no sign of any fatigue. I’m really pleased about my choice of Pechiney aluminium for the hull and with the work done by the Gamelin yard.
I still think about losing my mast last year (I’ll soon be in that zone) and I don’t dare think what would have happened to a split deck.
New Zealand is now behind me and I’m heading towards the Macquaries. If it is fine, I’ll perhaps do some tourism by going between the main island (443 m) and the “bishop and his helper”, 2 islands (43 m), which are just to the south.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
Week-end with the Folliot children (Brice, Léa, Guillaume and Mathilde)’s cuddly toy, Salco.
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Logbook of 2004-1-2 |
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Hi there,
Yesterday I was so worried about icebergs that I forgot to wish you a Happy 2004 and the best of health etc. I only have one wish. That is to bring Adrien safely home!
Those two icebergs did produce one major good effect. I wasn’t really watching out for them before, as Adrien had never come across any. Moreover, the area, where I am, isn’t regarded as particularly dangerous for them. I can honestly say that now I’m keeping an eye out non-stop around the clock. Whenever I sleep, I put on my Simrad radar, which I’ve set to a 6-mile warning zone. If an object enters that area, it triggers an alarm. Besides that, to save energy, it turns itself on automatically, every 5, 10 or 15 minutes, depending on how I set it. You can’t stop progress!
Today, the weather has been fabulous with some sunshine and 20-knot winds, but it is cold. Tomorrow, I’ll head down again to 55/56°S to avoid the worst of a storm, forecast for tomorrow evening.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day spent with young Jacqueline de Mandelieu’s cuddly toy, a bear that’s yellow all over.
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