Fast and furious progress west for Dee

by Dee Caffari on 18 Mar 2006 'My wallowing in the light wind patch didn't last long. In fact just long enough for me to raise all the sails again ready as the wind filled in to reduce sail again. However , where I thought I was going to be hard on the wind we were in fact fast reaching in some really strong winds but it all meant that progress west was fast and furious. The rain continued and the daylight took an eternity to arrive as the thick cloud was keeping everything so dark.

'For most of the day the strong winds persisted making our track head west and we surfed on the waves giving a very rock and roll feeling to Aviva. It makes a pleasant change from crashing into waves however, you can't put anything down for five minutes as it will slide from one side of Aviva to the other as she rolls on the swell. It made for some interesting times in the galley to make drinks and food as you literally couldn't put anything down and expect it to stay there. Needless to say I kept my foul weather trousers on, just in case, as I was highly likely to be wearing most of what I tried to prepare.

'As the evening approaches the cloud has just started to break up and reveal the sky beneath. There is no impressive sunset to see but I hope if the cloud continues to dissipate then I may be left with a clear starlit night. I am approaching another high-pressure cell and will be shaking out reefs during the night so some moonlight will make life much easier.

'The sky did clear and yet again I am left wallowing as the wind decides where it would like to come from, but this time it is taking place under a cloudless sky, fully illuminated by a huge bright moon and a few stars for good measure.

'I received the great news that Roz Savage has arrived in Antigua safe after rowing the Atlantic single-handed. I last spoke to her on her birthday back in December when we were both in the Atlantic. It sounds as if she had a tough time of it but can now celebrate her success. I was reading about her last few days at sea and saw how much weight she has lost in her extreme Atlantic weight loss programme. It actually made me feel guilty for still eating well, but then I have still got in excess of 8000 miles still to go. Well done Roz, I am really chuffed for you.'

Dee & Aviva

LATEST REPORT FROM MIKE BROUGHTON:

Thursday 16 March 2006 15:40

It was pretty hideous last week for Dee, and even though she is clearly exhausted, the boat has been sailed very well. In fact, overall progress has been better in the Indian Ocean than in the Pacific, where Aviva was ravaged by an onslaught of intense storm systems, particularly the violent secondary low-pressure systems.

It may have seemed like an age to get past Australia for Dee, but now we’re north of the Kerguelen Islands, and while Dee might not necessarily agree with me in light of recent conditions, progress has been good and looks even better for the next 10 days, so hopefully she will have a chance to recuperate. Today she was sailing at 9.8 knots directly for the Cape of Good Hope.

We’ve had less direct headwinds to contend with compared to the first half of the Southern Ocean, which is allowing Dee to crack sheets a little more often, up to 4 or 5 degrees off the optimum wind angle upwind. This is usually a good offshore racing tactic, and Dee is moving faster as a result.

For example, when she took the first dive south last week to avoid an approaching tropical storm, at one stage she was careering along at 10 knots, which is great speed for this boat. Despite heading south, this tactic probably shaved a couple of days off the passage time to the Cape of Good Hope, although it was pretty awful at the time.

At the moment we are negotiating our way round the bottom of a high pressure system. We did have a weak tropical depression that moved our way overnight but it fizzled out. At one stage Dee sent a message asking where it had gone, but she was actually right in the middle of it and got a blast of southwesterly gale-force winds for a few hours this morning when she went through the other side.

In terms of positioning Dee is currently 42 degrees south and the Cape of Good Hope is about 35 degrees south, generally speaking the weather will get better as she heads north.



INSTRUMENT READINGS

TELEMETRY (LAST REPORT 16/03/2006 12h59)

SPEED OVER GROUND (knots) 8.5
COURSE (°) 270 APPARENT WIND SPEED (knots) n/a TRUE WIND SPEED (knots) n/a
TRUE WIND DIRECTION (°) n/a
SEA TEMPERATURE (°C) 14.0

STATUS (LAST REPORT 17/03/2006 01h58)

STATUS UNDER WAY
LATITUDE S 42° 1'
LONGTITUDE E 70° 22'
DTF 8,789
CMG 271.8 SMG 4.3
24HR RUN 181
24HR SPEED 7.5