|
 |
logbooks of the week
<% = semaine %> |
 |
 |
2004-2-12
Hi there,
The sun has come back out again, but the wind is still weak. For the moment, apart f...
|
|
2004-2-11
Hi there,
The weather is still more or less the same, and if I hadn’t found any flying fish on th...
|
|
2004-2-10
Hi there,
Everything has disappeared again! The nice SSE wind that I’d had since rounding the C...
|
|
2004-2-9
Hi there,
I can’t make the slightest little mistake without a whole bunch of clever clogs followi...
|
|
2004-2-8
Hi there,
What a fine day for rounding the Cape of Good Hope! Remy, Marcel, Christophe and Vinc...
|
|
2004-2-7
Hi there,
Well, I’ve done it ! I’m in the Atlantic. I went by the Cape of Good Hope at 2.44 CE...
|
|
2004-2-6
Hi there,
As expected last night, I came across all sorts of things: fishermen, oil rigs and carg...
|
 |
Logbook of 2004-2-12 |
 |
| |
Hi there,
The sun has come back out again, but the wind is still weak. For the moment, apart from the first two days, my climb back up the Atlantic hasn’t been that great. Perhaps my choice of cuddly toy for the day will encourage the trade winds to blow a little more strongly. With hardly 10 knots of wind from directly behind me, I’m having to come around every so often, as the thrty tonnes of Adrien certainly can’t glide on the fabulous surf, like we did just after the Cape!
To relieve my impatience, I’m doing some tidying up, and I’m making some bread, which always takes me quite a while. I’m also busy reading, lying down on the Celerant staysail, in the shadow of my lightweight main spinnaker. I’m currently reading « Terre et Ciel »( « Land and sky » ) by Théodore MONOD, published by Actes Sud.
I did a little bit of washing with some leftover rainwater yesterday. I found that some of the warm socks, which I wore for a while in the forties were, with the heat, starting to stink up my cabin a little too much.
A large sea-bream might smell the wonderful aroma of fresh bread, mixed in with my smelly socks, and will perhaps be tempted to nibble at the bait that has been dragging on behind Adrien since yesterday. My landing net and the saucepan are ready.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Alizé’s cuddly toy, a little pink lamb.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Logbook of 2004-2-11 |
|
| |
Hi there,
The weather is still more or less the same, and if I hadn’t found any flying fish on the deck, I wouldn’t have believed I was in the trade winds. Yesterday, I quickly came around again, and am not heading north as much as I was planning to. I’ve had to do several changes of tack, as the wind keeps changing direction. It's really strange how the wind varies so much in strength and direction.
Yesterday, even though I was keeping a close eye on my spinnaker, lying down comfortably on the staysail, I didn’t have time to get back in the cockpit, so my asymmetrical got wrapped around the stays, when the wind suddenly swung around 20°. Fortunately, I managed to solve the problem by tugging in all directions on a clew. This sort of incident, when you are alone with 450m² of unmanageable sail up is always extremely tricky. But I’m not complaining...as long as the wind keeps up, and Adrien gets closer towards the finishing line, everything is tickety-boo!
Talking of the finishing line, yesterday in my daily message in French, it should have read 5,711 miles to the finish and not to the Cape of course!
Here we go again. The wind has changed direction again, so I’m going to have to come around again!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from Corentin aka Coco, a yellow mouse, who will never see Santa Maria di Sala!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook of 2004-2-10 |
|
| |
Hi there,
Everything has disappeared again! The nice SSE wind that I’d had since rounding the Cape of Good Hope has become unreliable in strength and direction, the Sun has gone in behind the clouds, which have now made the sky overcast, even the birds think I’m too far away from their homes... Only the swell remains, but that is something I could quite do without, as it stops my spinnaker from staying filled up, and it makes my mainsail swing around from one side to the other, in spite of being clamped to the boom.
In these circumstances, when the boat rolls from one side to the other, because there isn’t enough wind, the strain on the rigging and sails is huge, and always worries me, as there’s nothing I can do when this happens. I came around this morning to head north hoping to find more stable winds, while since the Cape I have mainly been heading west. I’m in a hurry now to pass the latitude of Namibia and Angola!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day in honour of Françoise, Mum to Pierrot, Christiane, Jean, Guy, Francis, Eugène, Hélène, Yves, Marie Thérèse and Yolande, who has been watching down on them for exactly fifty years today.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook of 2004-2-9 |
|
| |
Hi there,
I can’t make the slightest little mistake without a whole bunch of clever clogs following me noticing it! In fact, the distance to the finish was out by 1000 miles yesterday.
To answer their questions, here’s how I calculate it, for obviously I can’t go as the crow flies. I assume I will go via point A: 21°N/28°W and B: 41°N/26°W, which were on Philippe Monnet’s route. My route can be divided into three stretches: from the Cape of Good Hope to point A: 4,270 miles, from point A to point B: 1,204 miles and from point B to the finish: 997 miles.
Obviously, the former maths teacher must have been tired after missing his rest day on Saturday to have added 1000 miles yesterday! Everyone can make a mistake, even the greatest, as the AFP agency said I would be arriving in April... I’m sure a lot of people corrected it themselves, as I should be arriving in March!
The weather is still extraordinary, and my first flying fish landed on the deck, which is proof that the trade winds are really there. We’re going a little bit too fast at the moment, but when the wind eases off, I’ll be dragging a fishing line for sea bream behind Adrien!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with the cuddly toy from the CIF Group, stowed on board Adrien by Idée d’image.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook of 2004-2-8 |
|
| |
Hi there,
What a fine day for rounding the Cape of Good Hope! Remy, Marcel, Christophe and Vincent flew over me twice, the first time I was on the beam, the second reaching with the spinnaker. If you get LCI television, try watching the next edition of « Nautisme ».
After three months of being completely alone, it’s really an emotional occasion to be greeted by friends, even if they are some way off, hanging out of a helicopter hovering just above the water. After these two film clips, the wind got up more and more, and I had to bring in the spinnaker, (lowering it wasn’t easy), and I spent the night reaching with the genoese and 3 reefs gliding along on the surf at more than 20 knots in a 35 to 40-knot wind and very heavy seas.
It was at that speed that I celebrated with a glass, as befits the occasion, the lead, which I extended in the forties and also my passing of this final cape. I dug my menu out from among the presents I received before the start: a quarter bottle of champagne as an aperitif, some “foie gras”, followed by some duck conserve, some sauté potatoes, beans, then my usual half camembert in a box, and to finish it off a delicious gascon hazelnut and chocolate biscuit. To accompany this gargantuan feast, a little Médoc 95, which will make my Sunday perfect. You can see, I’m bearing up quite well!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A weekend with Mathieu MEDORI’s cuddly toy, an elephant, who was able to see the Cape of Good Hope.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook of 2004-2-7 |
|
| |
Hi there,
Well, I’ve done it ! I’m in the Atlantic. I went by the Cape of Good Hope at 2.44 CET having passed Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa at 7.40 CET.
Philippe Monnet took 118 days 0 hours and 7 mins, whereas I took 92 days 2 hours and 22 mins, which takes my lead to 25 days, 21 hours and 45 minutes.
I’m currently sailing with a 35/40 knot wind behind me...just as off Cape Horn, so I’m going very quickly. Well well !
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logbook of 2004-2-6 |
|
| |
Hi there,
As expected last night, I came across all sorts of things: fishermen, oil rigs and cargo ships. There were only the whales that I didn’t see. They were replaced by seals lazing on their backs in the African sunshine.
I waited until I was 3 miles from the coast before coming around early this morning close to Cape St. Francis. Close at hand, probably on the shallows, there was a whole group of fishermen, both professional and amateur. It was like being on a small craft on a summer’s day back in Les Sables d’Olonne!
Yesterday, my rest day was cancelled! A team made up of Remy Pelletier (journalist for the French TV channels TF1 and LCI), Marcel Mochet (photographer for AFP), Christophe (cameraman for Bleu Iroise) and Vincent (Rivacom) will be flying over me in a helicopter as I round the Cape of Good Hope, the final cape before the Atlantic. They are planning to show some footage and an interview on the 8 ‘o clock main news on Saturday on TF1 and later in the sailing programme « Nautisme » on LCI. Some other broadcasters may show them too, as they will as ever, be copyright free.
On Saturday evening, as you are watching TF1, I’ll be raising a toast as I go round, as this will be a first for me in this direction and will be synonymous with total happiness! I’ll tell you all about it in my next message.
See you on Sunday,
JL VDH
A day spent with the cuddly toy from Idée d'image (the agency, which set up my website), which is watching the South African coast go by !
|
|
|
|
|
|
