Leg 5 - Wellington to the Falklands via Cape Horn (cont)

Date: Saturday 7 February 2004

Day: 198, (This Leg Day 16)

Local time: 1200 GMT-9

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/34'S 142/02'W

Position relative to land: 2,898 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 138 nautical
miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,855 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,105 miles

Course: 102 T

Speed: 5.0 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 3,341 nm

Wind: Westerly F6-7 (21-33 knots)

Sea: Rolly swelly of more than 3 metres with crests often breaking, boat
rolling deeply both ways.

Barometer: 1013 rising

Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 11C

Sea temp: 13.6 C

Cloud cover: 75%

Bird sightings over the day:
- Antipodean, Chatham, Selvin's, Southern Royal and Pacific Albatrosses;
- Mottled, White-chinned, White-headed, Grey-backed, Soft-plumaged,
Stejnegers Petrels;
- Little and Sooty Shearwaters;
* Southern Right Whale Dolphins

Notes: Rain and strong wind as we two came on at midnight. Rocking and
rolling along under a a scrap of heavily rolled staysail.



But later the clouds cleared, revealing a full moon. Francois's Star Chart pinpointed Leo, Virgo, The Crow, Orion, and our old chum the Southern Cross.



On Igor and Francois's 0200-0400 "graveyard watch" three big waves threw the boat sideways, overwhelming the wind vane-steering and filling the aft cockpit. But Nick is not dis-heartened, he feels sure that once he has the twin control lines tuned exactly, the boat will steer itself whatever the weather. I think he's right.



Poor grey-faced Brent was being sea-sick when MC and I came on again at
0600. The sea and sky were uniformly grey too.



Considerable wave crests were forming, some tumbling, on a long swell.



Noon saw blue skies and we rolled out the Yankee. Gritty Brent choked down his "Soup Saucisson avec Dumplings" and hoisted his pale big-lens camera once more, and began snapping the Grey-backed and Storm Petrel; Little and Sooty Shearwaters; Mottled Stejneger's, White-chinned and Soft-Plumaged Petrels; Antipodean, Chatham, Salvin's, and Southern Royal Albatrosses.



It's been 15 days now and Brent is still battling for his sea-legs, we
think and hope he's nearly there. He's a gritty fellow alright. Francois still grapples with the Panda. Today it had him wrapped up in
black and red jumpleads having flattened its own starter battery. But with the press of a button the indefatigable Frenchman
had it purring once more.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: Sunday 8 February 2004

Day: 199, (This Leg Day 17)

Local time: 1200 GMT-9

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/52'S 138/32'W

Position relative to land: 2,767 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical
miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,995 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,245 miles

Course: 090 T

Speed: 6.3 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 3,201 nm

Wind: Westerly F4-5 (11-21 knots)

Sea: Very lumpy grey sea, swell and waves bigger than the wind causing the
boat to roll throwing the wind out of the sails

Barometer: 1020 Steady

Air Temp: 11C, with wind chill 7C

Sea temp: 13.0 C

Cloud cover: 100% with patches of fog and drizzle

Bird sightings over the day:

- Black-browed Albatross;

- Mottled, White-chinned, White-headed, Stejnegers Petrels;

- Little Shearwater;

Notes: Straight east under the No 2 Yankee headsail, all day. Nerves
jangle as sails flap during a lull.



On Day 199 it is worth considering the Aim of this Voyage. Each of the six
individuals may have different reasons for being aboard. It's my job to
create the environment where the team can achieve the Aim. This means
treading softly.



The Aim of the John Ridgway Save the Albatross Round the World Sailing
Voyage 2003/4 is: "To Prevent the Needless Slaughter of the Albatross."



From the outset of the voyage it has been clear to me that the best way
for us to achieve the Aim is to get people from all over the world to sign
our Petition and for Marie Christine and me to take it to the United
Nations in Rome 1-4 June 2004.



I think of Sam and Christina in South Africa and their efforts to push the
plight of the albatross on TV, Radio and in the Press. And of Nev, Nan,
Susan, Phillip and Tommy in Australia. And Barry, Kevin, Geoff and Carol
and all the team at Forest and Bird in Wellington.



And I remember those kindly souls who manned the Petition sandwich boards
in all weathers in New Zealand.



And the 199 days on the boat. Nick (Aus), Scotty (Zim), Marie (BR), Igor
(Peru), Trevor (Wales), Quentin (Aus), Pete (NZ), Carol (NZ) and Brent (NZ).



Marie Christine and I have got to get the Petition to the UN in Rome. I
think that old black browed albatross off the stern just now will agree.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: Monday 9 February 2004

Day: 200, (This Leg Day 18)

Local time: 1200 GMT-9

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/54'S 135/11'W

Position relative to land: 2,638 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,2125 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,370 miles

Course: 099 T

Speed: 6.5 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 3,071 nm

Wind: Westerly F8-10 (34-55 knots)

Sea: Rough

Barometer: 1013 Falling

Air Temp: 11C, with wind chill 4C

Sea temp: 12.6 C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Black-browed Albatross;

- White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez Petrels;

- Little and Sooty Shearwater;

- Grey-backed Storm Petrel;

- Thin-billed and Prion sp.

Notes: Marie Christine tells me that in the next life, she wants to be a bigger Albatross than me. What should I learn from this, after 40 years of marriage? Maybe if I had it again, I'd think more and do less.



After a gentle beginning at midnight, the wind built as the oncoming low catches us up and we encounter strong NW wind on its eastern face.



By now it was "La vie est belle" from Francois but at the end of the hour the Log notes "Francois est wet" as the waves engulfed him in the aft cockpit.



Brent's exultant shouts on sighting his first Juan Fernandez Petrel, while vaguely steering, were stifled at birth, when his dark blue bird-watching rainsuit disappeared in a welter of foam. Nick took over the wheel and the gusts built through 40, 50, 60 knots during the afternoon. The Butcher's bill? A new clank in the steering at a place where we are about as far as we can be from another human being on the planet..... Lesson: The Monitor steers better than the human.



MC and I took over at 1800 as Nick was making final adjustments to the Windvane self steering for the night. At this moment the Front passed through with considerable violence and the wind shifted 90 degrees, from N to W. He got soaked tidying the lazy Yankee sheet up on the foredeck. A steaming bowl of MC's spaghetti Bolognese helped calm him.



The wind eased in the lull after the Front had passed through and we had a sunset like the dying embers of a fire. And the albatrosses flew unusually close to the stern, as if checking that we were OK after a bumpy day.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 10 February 2004

Day: 200, (This Leg Day 19)

Local time: 1200 GMT-8

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/05'S 131/41'W

Position relative to land: 2,501 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 137 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,262 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,507 miles

Course: 114 T

Speed: 6.1 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,934 nm

Wind: Westerly F7-8 (28-40 knots)

Sea: Rough

Barometer: 1011 Falling

Air Temp: 9C, with wind chill 1C

Sea temp: 12.7 C

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Black-browed, Antipodean Albatross;

- White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Grey Petrels;

- Little and Sooty Shearwater;

- Thin-billed and Prion sp.

Notes: Did we learn anything from yesterday? Seemingly not. We had a worse day today.



It all began very gently; a lovely moonlit night. The WNW wind built during the day. In the afternoon it was Force 8 to 9. At 1730, Brent is spotting birds in the aft cockpit, drop boards out. The boat is steering itself with the Monitor wind vane. The ever-busy Nick is tuning the vane, kneeling right at the back of the boat. He looks back over the stern and sees a wave 'Higher than the Mizen' rearing up behind us. He calls a warning to Brent.



The wave drops on the aft cockpit, filling it, rushing on through the Doghouse and down into the the Galley onto the hapless Marie Christine, crouched over the cooker, saucepans bubbling with rice and Ratatouille.



I pull on my red waterproof coat, muttering a little to Igor in passing, and hurry aft to the foot of the doghouse steps. The horse has definately bolted and Brent has shut both stable doors; the perspex drop boards and hatch now seal both the Galley entrance to the Doghouse and the exit to the aft cockpit. I am gazng up into an aquarium with big fish Brent floundering around while battling the four long red seat-cushions, in a lot of salt water.



Worse, the sea is pouring out of the cable conduits onto the fuse boxes at the foot of the ladder, whose rungs I am grasping with less than delight. I reach back and feel the brand new 24/12v converter, it is suspicously warm.



It could've but shouldn't've happened to anyone. We are sloppy. How long does it take a warship to steam 2,500 miles from NZ? How happy would Helen Clark be about that? Not!



"Zee Converter ees finish. I can do nussing!" shrugs Francois, hands turned up in that Gallic way. Around him everyone is mopping, rinsing, drying.



"Things are seldom as good, or as bad , as they are first reported" F/M Slim. Francois found a way. The Doghouse looks better for a costly wash.



What will the third day bring?



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 11 February 2004

Day: 202, (This Leg Day 20)

Local time: 1200 GMT-8

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/04'S 128/19'W

Position relative to land: 2,316 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 133 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,395 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,640 miles

Course: 095 T

Speed: 6.8 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,801 nm

Wind: Westerly F6 (22-27 knots)

Sea: Rough

Barometer: 1014 Falling slowly

Air Temp: 11C, with wind chill 8C

Sea temp: 11.7 C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Antipodean, immature Black-browed/Campbell, Southern Royal Albatross;

- Skjneger's, Grey, White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez Petrels;

- Little and Sooty Shearwater;

- Thin-billed and Prion sp.

Notes: By midnight the wind had eased to SW Force 5 but the seas were still big enough to hang the Acquair stern generator's towing line over the adjacent windvane's counterweight. The generator must be moved further out to starboard.



We are all a bit shaken by the Doghouse flood drama of yesterday. A good thing too. It was a 'Wake up' call and there was no rush to cram on more sail today.


The little hut we sit in when on watch (called the doghouse) was curiously dark without its luminous dials, and the cruel sea that little bit closer. The 'wake up' lingers on in the sharper feel to the Doghouse after its wash-out.



Now we will check lifeboat procedures and rehearse rigging the Collision Mat; we are within a hundred miles of the Northern Ice Limit and a collision with an almost submerged lump of ice, the size of a house, is not impossible.



Francois set-to in the morning; by lunchtime he had rigged a new 12V power circuit to the Doghouse, while prophesying further electrical problems, from salt, within the week.



The Latin Watch are doing wonders for my French and Spanish: I shall travel more widely.



Today, we sent an email to the key organisers who were so helpful in setting up the framework of our voyage and the Petition. I wouldn't wish to bore you with the detail but the gist is this:-



1. Clearly we must be in the Azores by the last week in May, so that MC and I can fly from there to Rome to submit the Petition to the UN FAO meeting 1-4 June.



2. We spent too long in Australia and New Zealand so we must cut out our visit to South Georgia and the return to Cape town - we must! Instead,we plan to sail direct from Port Stanley to the Azores, 'Tying the knot' in our 'Save the Albatross' circumnavigation by crossing our outward track near Tristan da Cunha.



Writing that seems awfully final.



Oh! Blug!



Into the mist......


John Ridgway

Date: 12 February 2004

Day: 203, (This Leg Day 21)

Local time: 1200 GMT-8

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/57'S 124/27'W

Position relative to land: 2,164 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 152 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,547 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,792 miles

Course: 079 T

Speed: 5.4 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,649 nm

Wind: Westerly F4 (11-16 knots)

Sea: Moderate to big swell throwing the boat around, insufficient wind to hold sails full.

Barometer: 1021 rising

Air Temp: 10C, with wind chill 7C

Sea temp: 11.7 C

Cloud cover: 50%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Antipodean, Pacific, Immature Grey-headed Albatross;

- Grey, White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez Petrels;

- Little and Sooty Shearwater;

- Prion sp.

Notes: Good wind pushing us east, midnight to noon. Glass rising steadily. Noon to midnight: wind falling and sea calming.



Everyone, except for Brent, who battles seasickness still, whizzing about and making the most of the good weather.



Francois bustles about like the professional technical college teacher of marine engines and electrics he has been these past 23 years. Getting it right first time, on time, being effective. He has an attack of "La Rheum" not "La Grippe"; He's pretty skinny and I don't think he's got enough clothes (he was looking for a place on a boat sailing for Tahiti when he showed up at our sandwich board in Wellington) He says the "la solution pour La Rheum" is to go to bed with a bottle of rum, putting his beret at the bottom of his bed. A few swigs of rum and a snooze, then When he sees three berets he knows "La Rheum" is beaten. Not possible on this particular ship.



MC getting through work like a bulldozer. Igor, I think/hope, is struggling with the shot list of the film he has taken. "It will take a month to catch up" he mutters bleakly.



We are using an awful lot of electricity. "It is ze casino!" shrugs Francois, nodding towards the all dancing, singing flashing lights of Nick's computer centre.



Nick thinks it's getting like "Fawlty Towers". I'm Basil.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 13 February 2004

Day: 204, (This Leg Day 22)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/07'S 121/43'W

Position relativ to land: 2,113 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 108 nautical
miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,655 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 17,900 miles

Course: 069 T

Speed: 6.2 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,541 nm

Wind: Westerly F5 (17-21 knots)

Sea: Light sea, easy gentle motion

Barometer: 1026 steady

Air Temp: 9C, with wind chill 4C

Sea temp: 11.3 C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- No albatrosses

- Giant, White-chinned, Juan Fernandez Petrels;

Notes: A quiet night. No moonlight, no starlight, no squid light. Dawn
brought us a flat grey sky and cold grey sea. "Just right for Grey Petrels"
sighed MC.



A NW wind pipes up and by 0900 we were making a steady 6.5 knots under full
headsails. That's quite enough for us old fogeys. Swinging along on a magic
grey carpet.



We are in the middle of a very big empty space: 2,500 miles from Wellington
and 2,500 miles from Port Stanley. It's not the best place for a Friday
13th! We tiptoe about to avoid risk.



These are unlucky times indeed for our next guest, who was really caught
napping. I was looking along the starboard side as we slipped silently
through the grey mist, when I saw something like a big white shopping
basket bobbing along towards me. As it came level, not fifteen feet away,
it pulled a sleepy white head from a bower of wings unfurling black and
stretching to eleven feet across. A glorious Northern Royal Albatross
waking up to a new day; body snow-white from head to tail tip and weighing
maybe 25 pounds, it began its long set of take off steps to lift off and
then settled into the matchless glide which could carry it 2,600 kilometres
in 24 hours. Non-Pareil indeed. Lord of the wings.



These fellows have been out here since goodness knows when. Now there are
estimated to be only 7,000 annual breeding pairs left in the world. 99% of
them breed on the Chatham Islands, a couple of thousand miles astern of us
now. There are also just under 30 pairs breeding on Taiaroa Head; that's on
the Dunedin Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand. MC and I visited
them in 2001; it's where "Grandma" lived to be more than 62 years old,
apparently the oldest seabird of any kind ever known.



But I remember on my solo round the world attempt, back in 1968, reading an
old book by Alexander who said he thought Albatrosses could live for more
than eighty years and I remember thinking then, "There are birds out here
who were alive when Queen victoria was on the throne".



But that's unlikely nowadays. The birds just can't resist the fatal
attraction of pirate longline fishing boats, with their lines up to 180
miles long.



And it's not just the bottom fishing for Patagonian tooth fish but also
surface longliners for Tuna and Chilean trawlers, which catch them.



Then there are, of course natural disasters, like the catastrophic easterly
storm of 1985 on the Chatham Islands which removed much of the topsoil and
with it much of the habitat where the birds nest. Egg thinning is another
threat, maybe that's from the stress of having to lay their eggs on bare
rock now.



There is a second Royal Albatross, the Southern Royal; it has some 8,600
annual breeding pairs, 99% on Campbell Island to the south of New Zealand.
There are records of their deaths in New Zealand, Australian and
Argentinian waters by tuna longline, squid and fish trawlers, as well as
Japanese longline fisheries down here in the Southern Ocean.



So you see, it's not just Friday 13th that's unlucky for the lonely
albatross, it's every day.



Please do sign our Petition, for us to take to UN in Rome 1-4 June. It's
right here on this website and please get your friends to sign too.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 14 February 2004

Day: 205, (This Leg Day 23)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/26'S 118/22'W

Position relative to land: 1,983 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 135 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,790 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,035 miles

Course: 082 T

Speed: 5.3 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,300 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Westerly F5 (17-21 knots)

Sea: Light sea, swell from SW, easy gentle motion

Barometer: 1010 steady (Barometer re-calibrated based on data from up-to-date weather .grb file received as email attachment and Brent's handheld GPS with built in barometer)

Air Temp: 8C, with wind chill 3C

Sea temp: 10.5 C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Antipodean, Grey-headed, Black-browed Albatrosses;

- Grey, Giant, White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez Petrels;

- Little and Sooty Shearwaters

- Prion sp.

Notes: Colder. Since Brent's doghouse aquarium saga, the red plastic coveredfoam cushions on the bench seats, on either side, have become salty squeegees.


Taking over the watch at six, I was half-discussing with Nick, the permanent salt-wet bum aspect. "It's back to gunnel-bum, the scourge of the Whitbread Race - torture!" I mumbled, peering half awake into the glum grey dawn.


"I know! I've had that" grimaced Nick, scratching the top of his head and looking wise.


"But not on your honeymoon!"


"What honeymoon?"


"Poor Brent's!" chorused MC and me.


Slanting SE we are just on the edge of 50S. "Icebergs and loose ice may be
fallen in with to the south of this line" reads the chart. Thick woollen
Christmas socks from Manchester, seaboots big enough to kick off in the sea, thermal long johns, silk Christmas vest from London, big shirt, pale blue quilt salopette and jacket from the Non-stop trip in 83/4, thin silk Balaclave, woolly hat, woollen gloves inside Greenland fisherman's gauntlets, long lambswool scarf. Massive sophisticated red sailing suit.

Remembering the six thousand miles of hand-steering from Capetown to Melbourne before Christmas, I look back hopefully: the Monitor wind vane is still waving bravely in the cold wind. And so far, there's still an empty space at the wheel.

Closing my eyes, I see the muffled form of old Trevor, standing there at the wheel, peering down, the snow flakes buzzing round his hood in the dim red glow from the only-one-bulb-now compass, plumes of spray rushing fiery-white down either side of him as he steers us plunging down into the valley. Where is he now? Fireside,in No.3, Acacia Avenue? I wish I was!


Into the mist......

John Ridgway

Date: 15 February 2004

Day: 206, (This Leg Day 24)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/59'S 115/01'W

Position relative to land: 1,737 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 138 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 2,928 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,173 miles

Course: 103 T

Speed: 7.0 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,162 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Westerly F5-6 (17-28 knots)

Sea: Very blue with many whitecaps, moderate swell, periodic squalls with cloud, rain and increased wind

Barometer: 1010

Air Temp: 7C, with wind chill -2C

Sea temp: 10.9 C

Cloud cover: 5-100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Black-browed, Northern Royal, Southern Royal, Grey Headed Albatrosses;

- Grey, Giant, White-chinned, White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Stejneger's Petrels;

- Sooty Shearwaters

- Prion sp.

Notes: Into the "Furious Fifties". We crossed 50 South at 1217. My goodness the following winds have been so good to us since we left Wellington 3,000 miles back.



Aiming for the same point, 300nm west of Cape Horn, as Andy Briggs and I did on the Non-Stop trip in 1984.



The Latino squad, glued to their starchart, saw the plume of a shooting star as it drove into the heart of the Crow.



Glass steady at around 1010 for 17 hours. Top speed in brightest sun. Blue, blue seas topped with white crests. This enables people to work outside. Brent is brighter; it must be the Valentine, even after 24 days of Dramomine, I think he can work out who it's from.



Francois and Igor serviced the third of the four Barlow 32 self tailing winches and sealed the big lazarette hatch on the back of the boat with masking tape.



With 23 years experience of teaching marine engines and electrics, Francois is a pretty big piece to fit into our jigsaw at rather a good time. He's a fairly hardy soul. Each winter Sunday he swims on his back 2.5 km down a river in Brittany in 6mm wetsuit and flippers. It takes him an hour with a water temp of 6C. Blimey!



As the day turned to night the glass began to tumble. Here comes our first depression in the Fifties.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 16 February 2004

Day: 207, (This Leg Day 25)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 50/47'S 111/33'W

Position relative to land: 1,592 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 142 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 3,070 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,315 miles

Course: 114 T

Speed: 5.9 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 2,020 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Westerly F8 (34-40 knots)

Sea: Rough and building from NW

Barometer: 980 Falling rapidly

Air Temp: 7C, with wind chill -4C

Sea temp: 10.5 C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Immature Black-browed Albatross;

- Giant, White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Petrels;

- Prion sp.

Notes: Welcome to the major league! The glass fell 40 points over 22 hours and the sea looked ugly. Some anxiety.



"Reef early" is a good motto for now.



MC had a bad headache. Igor too. Maybe related to the fall in pressure. MC slept through lunch. Igor delivered a paste for Water Biscuits: sardines, kippers, onion, lemon, red chili, cabbage. Perhaps something a little more bland.



Not many birds. White headed petrel. Immature Black-brow Albatross.



MC up in late afternoon made fine veg curry with veg she'd prepared during the night.



All six going well at the right time.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 17 February 2004

Day: 208, (This Leg Day 26)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 51/42'S 107/50'W

Position relative to land: 1,444 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 148 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 3,218 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,463 miles

Course: 136 T

Speed: 6.1 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 1,872 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Nor'nor'Westerly F7-8 (33-40 knots)

Sea: Very Rough

Barometer: 968 slowly rising

Air Temp: N/A Sadly my Silva Windwatch has water inside the screen. Does this mean no more air temperture readings?

Sea temp: 10.3 C

Cloud cover: 50%

Bird sightings over the day: (Same as yesterday)

- Immature Black-browed Albatross;

- Giant, White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Petrels;

- Prion sp.

Notes: MC and I had wind gusting to 65 knots between midnight and two in the morning. I'd rolled in the staysail just right.



".....SNUG, KEEP ON...." I wrote in the log for Igor, hoping he'd touch nothing until Nick and Brent came on with the dawn at 0400.



Leaving Francois in the Doghouse, Igor spent the two-hour Watch in the best look-out position: the Dome above the Saloon.



The Log was not filled in.



Then, with a falling wind, a dying wave spun the boat and backed the staysail in the darkness. We were heading South.



Remembering the "Brent Doghouse Washout" Igor slotted in the two perspex vertical dropboards after him, as he clambered up the ladder into the doghouse but he left the lid open.



Telling Francois they should both unfurl more staysail, he led the way into the aft cockpit replacing the three perspex dropboards once the two fellows were clear of the doghouse.



Flicking the staysail furling jammer forward, the tall Peruvian clipped on his safety line and took his place behind the wheel and eased out some more staysail. The boat was still on the Monitor wind vane self-steering.



His watch-mate,the wiry athletic Frenchman had his back to Igor and the wheel, facing forward with both hands on the aft rim of the doghouse roof. Igor remembers having the staysail sheet in his right hand and resting his left on the wheel.



Out of the black, rearing up unseen, a dying wave dropped onto the back of the boat, smashing the plywood wind vane and folding Igor over the big stainless steel steering wheel, which distorted fore and aft at the spokes, forcing unfortunate's chin to crash onto the top of the pedestal."I think I must have passed out."



Rolling forward the wave hit Francois in the back. "I was not ready - ze pressure was incredible!" Pressed into a forward arch, he and the wave stove-in the port aft wing of the doghouse, releasing the dropboards which flew forward, one shattering the doghouse compass at the base of the mizzen mast, the other bigger one, fetching, up by the radar on the starboard side The wave burst on down through the open hatch lid and into the aft cabin and the galley. Then it re-grouped out there in the darkness, and fell on the boat again. Francois still arched forward had not recovered from the first blow. The second was more excrutiating. Eventually, he found himself on his knees, almost submerged, in the aft cockpit "I can steer!" He called to Igor, who felt as if he was coming up from the bottom of a swimming pool.



Francois took over the wheel, bracing his back against the cockpit coaming.



"Francois' Back!" Igor called groggily down into the darkness below, forgetting to ring the brass alarm hand bell.



Meanwhile, at 0340 Nick's wristwatch alarm wakened him for the 0400-0600 watch. "That was a big wave" he called to Brent, in the darkness, thinking "They'll call if they need help".



In our cabin, MC sat up, shone her torch towards the water sloshing in the aft heads. "Are you alright?" she called. No reply."Don't worry Flower, they'll call if they need help",I muttered sleepily, we weren't on until 0600. The water began splashing over from the heads into our cabin - MC leapt out of her bunk "It's worse than last time!" she cried, heading off towards the doghouse. "Where's it coming from?" I asked myself anxiously, pulling the oval water-tight door shut to keep the rising sea out of our cabin. The beam from my torch showed the rubber seal was working under the clamps. "But is she settling by the stern?" I wondered.



"Shall I open the main hatch?" Brent asked Marie Christine.


"No!" she yelled "It'll let more water in!" Brent might have been thinking about access to the life-rafts; he was put to work on the main bilge pump.



"Francois is injured, it's his back, he's coming down" Igor called. The sodden Frenchman hobbled down into the saloon and Marie Christine checked his back and put him in his bunk. Nothing was obviously out of place. At least he got the Saint Bernard balm massage.



"Calm down! Calm down! Don't re-inforce failure." I called, climbing up into the doghouse.



Nick was pumping the aft bilge furiously. I passed him the screwdriver from the bosun's kit in the doghouse, put in the galley drop boards and took over the wheel from Igor. "It's damaged, I can't turn it properly!" Then he took over the pumping and Nick set to work repairing the stove-in panel so we could have the external drop boards in place once more. The whole fibreglass base section had shifted along the horizontal joint line.



It was like Niagara below but Marie Christine crawled along the steering and her head-torch revealed nothing amiss. I found where the bent steering wheel was sticking on its own black lockwheel. With arms and legs, Nick, Igor and I levered the wheel into shape, while I thought about stainless steel work-hardening and hoped for luck.



Brent started mopping, up the doghouse, Marie Christine began the huge tidying job in the aft cabin and galley. Igor went to bed in a daze, with a raw chin. I always said he had a powder-puff punch, now he completes the set with the glass jaw.



In a couple of hours the boat was back on wind-vane steering and we were looking something like. Marie Christine passed up hot cocoa. I went below. It was 0530, our four-hour watch began in half an hour. I needed to put some socks on.



Coming back on deck, I saw Nick had hoisted our shredded little Red Ensign. Marie Christine and I really liked that. Good old Nick. We were still at the crease.



A pair of grey-headed Albatrosses ranged across our stern, keeping an eye on us. Just as John Croxall had said they would, if we followed their circum-polar flight track.




Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 18 February 2004

Day: 209, (This Leg Day 27)

Local time: 1200 GMT-7

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies


Position - Latitude, Longitude: 52/07'S 103/57'W

Position relative to land: 1,308 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 150 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 3,368 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,613 miles

Course: 102 T

Speed: 7.3 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 1,722 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Nor'nor'Westerly F5-7 (17-33 knots)

Sea: Big sell, many whitecaps, very blue in the sunlight, easing slowly;

Barometer: 978 steady

Air Temp: N/A Sorry Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.

Sea temp: 10.5 C

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Grey headed Albatross

- White-headed, Juan Fernandez, White-chinned Petrels;

- Prion sp.

Notes: We are sitting in a cracked egg!



960mb is a low pressure by most standards: we can't have been that far north of the centre. When MC and I came on at midnight it was still only 971.



Nobody keen to rush further south and get to the south of the centre of the next Low coming along, either. So we head just south of east. With a thousand miles to go east to the turning point to due E for Cape Horn, we have only 210 miles to make to the south.



'B' Watch, the Latinos, are looking pretty stunned today. Igor has a big graze under his chin, avoids precision and calls everything "The Whats'it". The salty water is over two miles deep at this point and pretty nippy. We do rather need attention to detail.



Francois is moving very slowly with much facial expression "Igor no want go outside much now", he shrugs. Not surprising really.



What to DO? Withdraw to the citadel, I think. This is a good time to fall back on the old 'Military appreciation of the situation' which worked so effectively on the Row across the North Atlantic nearly 40 years ago. (And ever since: the self employed do have to be realistic).



Aim. Situation. Factors. Courses open. Course adopted. Plan. This leads to lots of jottings, double spaced on A4 notepads. The old boat has had many waves come over the stern, rolling forward, filling the aft and forward cockpits on the way to dissipating along the deck.



However the aft end of the added Doghouse now presents a sheer blank wall. And the first wave has breached that wall.



The Plan is:



1. Aim: To reach the Falklands safely.


2. In bad conditions, to withdraw from the Doghouse. Both Watch members to operate from the Saloon. First Watchmember: In the Dome. Best Lookout position on boat plus course repeater. Second Watchman: At Chart Table with Log, radar, also wind-speed and direction data. Both Watchmembers: Full oilskins and boots.


3. Watch Leader to visit Doghouse on each hour. Inspect aft cockpit and Monitor Wind vane steering. Collect data for Log. Ensure blue wave deflector tarps are functional. Leave 'Water lock' in place: Full dropboards doghouse - aft cockpit. Full drop boards Galley-Doghouse.


4. Brace Doghouse aft wall with 4"x2" horizontally.


5. When in Doghouse: Clipped on to padeye at base of Mizen mast. Wear 'Bone dome' to protect head.


And so we roll on with hope in the heart.



"It's a game, en it!"



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 19 February 2004

Day: 210, (This Leg Day 28)

Local time: 1200 GMT-6

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 52/34'S 099/43'W

Position relative to land: 1,154 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 154 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 3,522 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,767 miles

Course: 102 T

Speed: 6.5 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 1,572 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Nor'nor'Westerly F6-8 (22-40 knots)

Sea: Rough;

Barometer: 984 rising slowly

Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.

Sea temp: 10.5 C

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Grey headed Albatross

- White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Grey, White-chinned, Stejnegers, Great Petrels;

- Sooty Shearwater.

Notes: Covered 154 nautical miles noon to noon. Barometer rock steady 978mb for 24hrs then gentle climb to 984.



Wind steady almost gale NNW. Sails simple: No.2 Yankee with 10 rolls Staysail 3 rolls. Simple broad reach to east at 6.5 knots. No movement on gear minimises chafe.



The next 1,500 miles are critical. Igor and Francis pretty mouldy neither have been outside since being hit by the wave. They have taken to Watches in the Saloon as both are damaged. For its impact on personal morale, this location highlights the need for washing, shaving and clean dry kit. The Leader is one who can motivate himself.



Cruel sea. Diesel tap accidentally left on to Panda tank. Fuel lost. No place for mistakes. Life reduced to simple things. Will we live or will we die? Right first time or forever wrong.



Into the mist......



John Ridgway

Date: 20 February 2004

Day: 211, (This Leg Day 29)

Local time: 1200 GMT-6

Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'

Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 52/50'S 095/47'W

Position relative to land: 1,016 nm west of Cape Horn

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 143 nautical miles

Distance sailed this Leg: 3,665 nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 18,912 miles

Course: 109 T

Speed: 5.2 knots

Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

Approx distance to next port: 1,427 nm (Adjusted for new course heading further south)

Wind: Nor'nor'Westerly F4-5 (11-21 knots)

Sea: Light to moderate;

Barometer: 992 rising slowly

Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.

Sea temp: 10.7 C

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day:

- Grey headed Albatross

- White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Grey, White-chinned, Stejnegers, Petrels;

- Sooty and Little Shearwater.

Notes: Wind dies and sea flatens but speed just about holds up. MC's "Damper" with hot thick soup fills everyone at lunch. I'll try and find out how it's made.



Igor and Francois seize the mild and sunny day to give the Doghouse a good clean out. Francois' back is a lot better and his many admirers in France should take note that he is now claiming 82% fitness. After lunch MC, Nick and Francois traced the aft bilge pump system from pump to pipe end and found the pipe-end lodged well up the side of the boat. So they tied it down in the lowest part of the bilge. So life's gone rather quiet now, without the beating of the surf on the beach on the inside of the back of the boat. This bilge pump has been MC's all consuming interest for some weeks, even years now I think back (which I'm not good at!).



"Damper" has taken its place - without an oven, bread is difficult to construct. "Damper" is bread dough with yeast, rolled out in circles with an old Thermos and coated with olive oil. It is turned after 3 minutes in the pressure cooker and has silenced all souls on this ship. There is no Oliver Twist here.



Francois as devised a compote with ex-apples. A great pity there's no pork.



Brent is quiet but almost human. He alone, believes Inman dies of gunshot wounds, in Ada's arms at the end of "Cold Mountain". Brent probably studied poltergeist at a university somewhere. If he's right, and he declares Nicole Kidman supports his view in the film of the book, why then, I have probably mis-judged everything else in my life too.



Why can't he just stick spotting the birds?



Into the mist......



John Ridgway



ps It's looking as if I have indeed misjudged everything else in my life so far. Maybe reading War and Peace twice should have had me in the Freemasons by now?

Now go on to the next two weeks 21 February to 3 March 2004

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