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logbooks of the week
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2004-1-29
Hi there,
Yesterday, in a squall I collected a lot of fresh water in the mainsail. I heated it ...
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2004-1-28
Hi there,
"There she blows". That was how, according to what I have read, that the lookouts on ...
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2004-1-27
Hi there,
I can see South Africa! No, not through the binoculars, because there’s still more th...
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2004-1-26
Hi there,
I’m trying to feed the albatrosses! There are 5 or 6 swimming behind me waiting for me...
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2004-1-25
Hi there,
I had a very bad Saturday covering only a hundred miles or so. I was in a calm zone ...
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2004-1-23
Hi there,
The Indian Ocean is still just as nice! Since passing Cape Leeuwin, I’ve only had on...
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Logbook of 2004-1-29 |
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Hi there,
Yesterday, in a squall I collected a lot of fresh water in the mainsail. I heated it up this morning in my camping shower and was planning to take a nice warm shower this evening.... but the sun only came out for a brief while, and for the moment I’m going through some drizzle worthy of the English Channel, which is a foretaste of the front, which should go over tonight.
I’m going to have to wait a little while longer for the pleasure of what will be my first real shower since Cape Horn. Don’t be alarmed! I’m keeping myself clean with some baby wipes. But it is true, I’m dreaming of a nice shower where I don’t need to worry about how much fresh, warm water I use.
The advantage is going to be that after this front goes over, I should get some favourable winds enabling me to head on a direct course for the Cape of Good Hope, which is getting closer now. If I manage to round the Cape downwind, as sometimes happens when you get up close to the African coast with a high-pressure area off to the south... it would be perfect!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the ELLIOT office, a little teddy wearing a T-shirt saying «Big Kisses ».
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Logbook of 2004-1-28 |
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Hi there,
"There she blows". That was how, according to what I have read, that the lookouts on the whaleships announced the appearance of a whale. So that ‘s what I thought this morning, when I did my rounds out on Adrien’s deck. On the port side, less than a mile away, I clearly noticed one with its characteristic geyser and blowing, which you can hear from far away, when there’s no wind, as was the case today.
I think there were at least three of them. Unfortunately, they were too far off to film, and as I’m trying to head north, there was no way I was going to tack to get closer to them. It was the first time I’ve seen any this year. It should be pointed out that they can surely find all they need in these waters, which at nightfall glow in the dark in the wake of the yacht. As I change tack, it’s even more spectacular, as the keel forms some wonderful effects with blocks of greenish light on the surface of the ocean.
Apart from these meetings, which are always magical in the life of a single-handed yachtsman, I’m continuing on my jolly way. Yesterday, some of those following me regularly on the web, pointed out a mistake in the number of days lead I have. Indeed, they were right. It should have said 19 days (and not 18) and 12 hours. I worked hard enough to gain that extra day that I certainly don’t want to see it vanish just like that!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the Mutuelles de Loire-Atlantique insurance company put on board Adrien by Idée d’image
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Logbook of 2004-1-27 |
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Hi there,
I can see South Africa! No, not through the binoculars, because there’s still more than 2500 miles left! But I did turn over my Indian Ocean chart today, which is always something of a special event, so I now have in front of my eyes not only the bottom of Africa, but also some names to conjure up some dreams: to the north The Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion Island and to the south The Kerguelens, Marion and Crozet. Why not the final destination of some future cruises?
For the time being, the wind came back fairly strong yesterday, still head on. I’ve lost count of my tacks to get the best course west, and the albatrosses abandoned me, when they saw where I was heading.
I managed to avoid the worst calm zones and now following the advice of Pierre Lasnier (Météomer), I’m heading back up to 38°S to pick up some of the tropical low-pressure areas coming down the Indian Ocean, and which should provide me with some good winds in the next two days, which for once are not from the west!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Thomas Rochard’s cuddly toy, a brown teddy marked "bears in love"!
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Logbook of 2004-1-26 |
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Hi there,
I’m trying to feed the albatrosses! There are 5 or 6 swimming behind me waiting for me to throw them something overboard. When a little puff of wind pushes me 100 metres further along, they hesitate before taking off with difficulty, then sometimes landing less than a metre away from Adrien. This in spite of the fact that they don’t seem to like what I throw them! I’ve tried several things. «Petit Lu » biscuits, toast, sardines (in tomato sauce!), figs, oranges... they don’t like any of it. On the other hand, they love « President » camembert cheese out of a tin and lick their beaks after eating it. The problem is I love it too, so now they’ve tasted it they’ll just have to wait in vain!
There’s no point in telling you how little wind I have for these experiments. I’m in a transitional period that shouldn’t last too long in theory. I can’t wait to get over 20 days ahead of the record... but patience, it’ll come!
Since I’ve been gone 80 days, I’ve been thinking a bit about Jules Verne, whose stories written in Amiens accompanied my childhood, and also about Francis Joyon, who’ll take less time than that to go around the world!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from SOPEXA put on board Adrien by Idée d’image.
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Logbook of 2004-1-25 |
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Hi there,
I had a very bad Saturday covering only a hundred miles or so. I was in a calm zone for around thirty hours, which is always depressing, even if I have a lead of 19 days.
On two occasions, one after the other, there was absolutely no wind, so I lowered the mainsail. The first time I stuck on a patch and sewed it on, where there was a tear in the fall of the sail, then I carried out a complete check-up of each slide, as I hoist it back up. Most of them needed to have their fixing bolts tightened. On the second occasion, I stuck a patch on each side and sewed it in place over the main hole in the middle, level with the second reef. It doesn’t look very pretty now! But with the sail in place and the swell causing a steady roll, it wasn’t easy to do. In any case, the main thing is that this part has been strengthened and this hole won’t spread. I think I have achieved that.
Fortunately, the wind returned during the night, admittedly head on, and I had to turn several times to be on the best course possible towards the west. I finally headed back down to the south of 40°... with the aim of rounding up my lead to 20 days!
See you tomorow,
JL VDH
A weekend with the cuddly toy, "SPA (the French RSPCA) reporter" from Pierre Tezenas, a nice little dog.
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Logbook of 2004-1-23 |
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Hi there,
The Indian Ocean is still just as nice! Since passing Cape Leeuwin, I’ve only had one big blow , and since then it’s been fine weather. Moreover, I’m more worried about the calm weather than about storms for the moment, and I’m heading back down towards the south (even if today I had to head back up because of yesterday’s SSW winds).
I’ll soon be back in the forties. That won’t be much of a holiday. Indeed, at 78° East there are two islands Saint Paul (39S) and Amsterdam (38S). I would have liked to get close to the southern one to look at it. It has an incredible history, which they dealt with once on ‘Thalassa’ on French TV. Between the Wars, (I’m telling you this from memory, so there may be a few little mistakes) a fishing company decided to take advantage of the many crayfish you can find around this island. It’s a volcano crater with just a little entry for low-tonnage vessels. They set up a small colony of around thirty people. After the early years of the business, they decided it wasn’t profitable...and they forgot the people on the island. The time it took the families to work out what had happened and charter a boat, there were only two or three survivors left, one of which moreover took part in the broadcast «The forgotten people of St Paul ». I would really have liked to have seen this island, if only I hadn’t headed back down to the south!
See you on Sunday
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the SOCA company put on board Adrien by Idée d’image
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