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logbooks of the week
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2004-2-26
Hi there,
My little sea bream was really excellent with some freshly baked bread. Yesterday, I...
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2004-2-25
Hi there,
I’ve done it! This morning, a large sea bream came to take a look at what was draggi...
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2004-2-24
Hi there,
While for more than 24 hours, I had been struggling to edge forward metre by metre, y...
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2004-2-23
Hi there,
Adrien has just beaten her record for being slow. We’d never experienced such a passa...
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2004-2-22
Hi there,
My optimistic feelings from last week have melted away a little. First of all, I can...
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2004-2-20
Hi there,
Last night and the day today are very similar to what I experienced yesterday, with ...
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Logbook of 2004-2-26 |
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Hi there,
My little sea bream was really excellent with some freshly baked bread. Yesterday, I did it in the frying pan and today poached in some stock... I could invite some guests. I’m going to have too much to keep in this heat.
The wind finally came around. Yesterday, after my message I changed my course to the west. I wasn’t able to head 270° and I lost 9 miles by going slightly south. That really got me down, but my reward came in the middle of the night, when the wind started to come around to the north, as forecast by Pierre Lasnier, and I came around likewise. All of that means that for the moment I’m heading in almost the right direction. If the wind turned a little further to the NE, it would be perfect.
Of course, I went a little too far east, and last night I was back on the route the cargo ships take as they move up and down the African coast. I’m now going to be heading towards Cape Verde, which should mean I get the chance to listen to some nice local music!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Jeannot’s cuddly toy, a little yellow mouse, which after going around the world in a boat, will perhaps go around France in a Dormobile!
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Logbook of 2004-2-25 |
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Hi there,
I’ve done it! This morning, a large sea bream came to take a look at what was dragging along behind Adrien and curiosity got the better of him. The line suddenly went taut. I managed to get up close to it over the aft panel and pick it up with a landing net after several attempts. My experience last time of this type of fishing with Jean Marie on the way back from Australia led me to invest in this big landing net, as being single-handed the thought of messing around over the aft panel for a sea bream, with the risk of falling in the water, wasn’t something I was very keen on. I now have some fresh food to eat for a few days!
I’ll soon be coming around and heading off west, otherwise I’d find myself in Conakry in Guinea or in Sierra Leone! Considering the wind, my position and the weather, I’ll be changing my first marker point to calculate the distance to the finish. I’ll no longer be passing via 21N/28W but via 28N/28W (and still 41N/26W) points via which Philippe Monnet also went. Consequently, I’ve just gained a few extra miles!
Besides that, the weather forecast is a little more optimistic... but my recent experience of the Doldrums means that I’m still remaining very cautious about my estimated time of arrival.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Guerric’s cuddly toy, the acrobatic duck!
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Logbook of 2004-2-24 |
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Hi there,
While for more than 24 hours, I had been struggling to edge forward metre by metre, yesterday, I started to see some ripples on the surface indicating that there was a little light breeze coming up. Then, puff by puff, the wind got up from 3 to 5 knots. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to hear the slapping of the sea on the hull once again, instead of the sound of the boom swinging from port to starboard and Adrien rolling from side to side with the swell. In short, we’ve been off again since yesterday afternoon, and I hope to put a stop today to the slipping away of the miles I had gained over my predecessor!
The winds aren’t yet back in their usual direction, as they’re coming from the NW, while the trade winds in this area are from the NE. However, they should come around little by little towards the normal direction, which will allow me to get back on a normal course towards the NW. I will admit to you that after this difficult stretch, I managed to get a rest last night to make up for my lost sleep, even if there were still many flashes of lightning illuminating the starry skies.
Consequently, this morning I put back out my line behind me hoping that the sea bream in the Northern Hemisphere will be hungrier than those in the south!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Cécile Baggiani-Tardieu’s cuddly toy, the pretty little lion called Loustic.
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Logbook of 2004-2-23 |
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Hi there,
Adrien has just beaten her record for being slow. We’d never experienced such a passage together through the Doldrums. Besides, to make a mile headway in the right direction, you have to keep your eyes open all the time and not shy away from any work, as every puff of wind (whenever you find any of them) is completely unstable in direction. We’re going so slowly (an average of less than one knot yesterday afternoon) that the Simrad pilot no longer understands what is going on. Usually, when it puts the tiller in one direction, Adrien obeys...and now, it’s discovering that Adrien isn’t very willing to comply. It even thinks the boat is rebelling as she stops and does the opposite of what she has been asked to do! So, it calls for help. I don’t need to point out that I’m having to spend a lot of time up on deck.
Finally, on top of all that, the edge (the horizontal strip at the bottom) of the genoese 3DL had two twenty centimetre rips in it. They started to run and the two tears just got longer and finally joined up. The edging started to hang down a bit, and get caught up in everything, so I had to cut it off. It’s the same problem with my mainsail. I now have a mainsail and a genoese with a fringe, which swings about in the wind. These two sails will complete the trip, but are going to be in a weird condition!
My immediate goal is to get out of here and pick up the NE trade winds...and unfortunately, that won’t be tomorrow.
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A day with Tanguy’s cuddly toy, a sandy-coloured curly-haired bear to frighten off the storks !
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Logbook of 2004-2-22 |
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Hi there,
My optimistic feelings from last week have melted away a little. First of all, I can really say I’m down in the Doldrums! Early last night, the wind dropped away completely and there was thunder in the distance, both of which are signs of being in this wretched area. I brought down the spinnaker, then raised it again. Then, the wind came around in just a few seconds, from a force 2 southeasterly to a force 5 northwesterly. I struggled to bring the spinnaker in again, permanently this time, and stowed it away. Then it was the solent, total calm, genoese, the wind came right around, northerly then westerly, then southerly, then easterly again...I’ll keep it short. We’re right in the Doldrums and we have to make headway northwards to get out of here! And each mile covered is tough going.
Then, the forecast for the area north of 15° N is not good at all. I may not be able to take the traditional route via the Azores, as there will be no wind there, so I will thus have to do some touring up the African coast with headwinds.
Finally, over the last few days, I’ve been steadily losing ground over Philippe Monnet. The Southern Atlantic on the return leg will have been the only stretch where I will have lost a few hours over my predecessor, which is something I’m not at all pleased about. In short, my planned arrival time has been put back, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t until the end of week 11, rather than early in the week, as I had been hoping. However, as long as I arrive during that week, I’ll be quite happy!
See you tomorrow,
JL VDH
A weekend with Michèle and Olivier’s cuddly toys, who crossed the Equator hugging each other all the way!
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Logbook of 2004-2-20 |
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Hi there,
Last night and the day today are very similar to what I experienced yesterday, with even a little less wind! I’ve gone down under the 26 days lead, as Philippe Monnet went very fast through this area. I hate losing ground, but I must say that fortunately that hasn’t very often happened to me.
I think that I’ll make it up again after the Equator! Living like this, relying totally on the weather and the sea, teaches you a little to believe in fate. What is there to do about it? It also teaches you to be humble, because in front of nature, all you can do is try to adapt, even if with Pierre Lasnier, we are attempting to find the best route possible.
The Equator isn’t very far off now, and I’ll probably be crossing it tomorrow morning. It will be for the fifteenth time! Let’s just hope that beyond it the NE trade winds will be waiting for me, as I won’t have good memories of the SE ones in the southern hemisphere!
See you on Sunday,
JL VDH
A day with Marie Philippe’s cuddly toy, Gypsi, a little white rabbit with a bow tie.
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