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Below you'll find all the very latest log entries sent in from the crew of the English Rose V1.

We've also archived all previous log entries here.

Back Home - Ardmore

Saturday 3 July – Ardmore



After the grandest breakfast we could muster, we found it so sad to wave goodbye to Ward and Sanel as they set off across the loch. The two brothers had flown over from New York specially to sail up from London with us and they had brightened our lives once more. Lieutenant Ward Irvin has just a couple to days to rejoin the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, near Lake Ontario. And after years of training, Sanel has left his job with a New York film company, his eyes set on becoming a self-employed television cameraman. "Hope see you soon" as Isso would say.



We got the mainsail off and ashore. Then Nev helped me check over the hydraulic power pack which drives the windlass and hauls the boat up the slipway; before that we have to float her onto her cradle on a Spring tide. And that is going to be the next saga: I'll have to practice my scuba diving for that.



A word from Marie christine:

John suggested I write a few words now our journey is over and as I look out from our crofthouse window at English Rose, lying secure on her mooring below the wood, I realise we are secure now too. Safe within the four-foot thick walls of our home, a hundred feet up the hill from the sea.



It was a fine journey with a truly fine and worthwhile aim: to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross. And with 105,000 signatures on the Petition we took to the UN in Rome last week we do think our effort helped.



I knew it would be hard when we left from here nearly a year ago. Hard, to tear myself away from our family: Bec, Isso and Molly, just 3 and Hughie 9 months old, abandoning my precious garden. Sometimes out on the ocean it was like fighting in a war, sometimes enduring an illness, sometimes a prison sentence, and every once in a while: pure magic. Now we are left with the memories. It's almost as though it never happened - until I look at my garden! It's an overgrown spectacular tangle; I battled my way through chest-high grass to the washing line, only to find the tree which served as a stout post at one end, has fallen. But more than any of this, it's wonderful to hold close the precious children, who I know through photos Bec has sent, but are different a year on.



This year's greylag geese are getting ready to leave Ardmore, they are swimming in rafts across the loch. We missed them arriving in the Spring, nesting on Chad-fi Island, bringing their young to feed on the green of the croft. They will be back next year.



But for the Albatross, the life-cycle is not so safe. We are home and dry - they are not. We must not fail them.



Marie Christine



And from Nick:

'I think you'd better come along', John wrote to me 21 months ago, drawing me into this wonderful adventure with a purpose. 30,000 miles later we're back at Ardmore, decommisioning the yacht for the winter. It's sad, but if I listen hard I can still hear the roar of the wind and waves in the Southern Ocean, feel the surge of the yacht bursting over the top of yet another giant wave and down a watery precipice; sense the wildness of a gathering storm; exult at the mastery of sailing fast under slim tuned sails; I can hear Brent whooping with delight '3 new species and the day's only just begun!'; I can see John hunched over the chart table looking at me with his twinkling blue eyes saying 'Are you listening carefully?', In the Saloon Marie Christine is busy with her embroidery 'I've got to finish it before we get back!', whilst at the Comms desk 'the casino' lights twinkle bringing down another weather fax. And always, just in the corner of my eye, I see that great gliding wing that is the Albatross.



But no, the Albatross is far away. The yacht is silent now. Those days are past. They join the 30 years of memories that live aboard English Rose.



I couldn't have asked for a more experienced and steadfast team than John and MC, a more rugged boat than English Rose, a more supportive family than Tomoko, Erica and Mariko, a more trusty friend than Nev Roberts, or a better welcome in every port.



Well, 'I have seen the Albatross'. I just hope its still there for my grandchildren. This was the best we could do.



Nick Grainger



I realise we are still much too close and too tired to sum up the voyage properly, but nevertheless, looking back, the wonderful Albatross looms over everything. Our Aim was always 'To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross'and along with the 105,000 signatories of the Save the Albatross Petition, I hope our efforts have helped the old bird.



I remain convinced that only Public Pressure will force the United Nations to act rather than talk - it was surely no coincidence that I met the delgates just where Nero fiddled while Rome burned.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway



ps The Save the Albatross Voyage pages will remain on H2G2 and I do look forward to discussion with you there. Nick will be adding pictures of the voyage (from the 5,000 he took along the way), once he gets home later this month together with pictures from other crew members.

Friday 2 July - Ardmore


Rain showers all day but we kept on dropping the sails, packing them in their bags, ferrying them ashore and storing them in the long shed - Nick and me, plus Ward and Sanel, and helped a lot by Doug Badcock. Nick and I are sad to see the old shippy being disabled like this, just when we had her going like a sewing machine. She would like to have gone on for ever.



Nev Roberts arrived in the evening, just in time for Rebecca's Birthday Party, with Will and Molly and Hughie too.

WE'VE ARRIVED!

Thursday 1 July - Ardmore


Well maybe not quite the end. Sorry for the delay in posting the Log everyone - WE'VE ARRIVED!




We've been struggling to get our e-mail going again, it's: [email protected]. It has not been operational for some months, choked by the tall grass I suppose. Well, it is up and running again now, so if you liked the Daily Log, maybe we'll hear from you.



And thank you for your phone calls on 01971 521 229. We'll put out the log for a day or two more! There are so many things we must fix now we are home. Bob and Igor left at 0800. We spent the whole day unloading the boat. We are inundated and hectic. I'm afrid I feel absolutely shattered.

Wednesday 30 June - off the mouth of Loch Laxford



Ward Irvin called me just before midnight. We were now off the mouth of Loch Laxford, barely three miles from our home. Rather than go in, we spent a miserable night in the rain,cruising gently out to sea and back, all the while longing for our 1000hrs family reunion at Ardmore.



The magic hour came at last and we we found Will, Rebecca and our two grandchildren, Molly and Hughie, in a small red dinghy, hard under the cliffs of Eilean Ard on the black waters of Loch Laxford. They had with them our old friend Val Greenhalgh who had driven up from Manchester, picking up Isso in Inverness along the way. Young Doug Badcock with Havoc the spaniel, made up the bedraggled team. Poor things, they had been waiting in pouring rain for an hour and some hadn't brought their waterproofs with them. Undeterred, everyone clambered aboard ERVI and we made our way through the highland mist and on into Loch a'Chadh-fi. We had all our flags strung up along the forestay and the mizen backstay, sort of 'dressed over all'. Bruce and Rita had staked a "Welcome Home" banner on Chadh-fi Island and Wilma, David and Rachael were waving their own bright greetings on the steep grassy hillside on the in-by land of the croft.



It was sopping wet. We picked up the mooring and the leader line snapped, sending the chain vertically down the riser. Ward Irvin, who swam the 1500 metres for the United States of America, nipped over the side and disappeared below the foaming billows like a turbo jet. In a trice he churned up with the chain: some kind of superman. After 342 days we were safe, all tied up under the wood again, the magic carpet had come to rest. The hill to the croft was a lot steeper than I remembered and Marie Christine's garden had grown chest-high. "This is how it will be like when we die" I thought, "in one short year it's back to wilderness".


Well, I suppose this is nearly the end of our story, sadly we have no idea who has been reading it because BBC H2G2 has no facility for counting the number of hits on the website.



It only remains for Marie Christine and for me to say how much we owe to Nick. He was with us for the whole way round the World, the very staunchest of shipmates. And also thanks to Igor who stuck it out from Cape Town. The 342 were not grey days.



And thank you dear readers, thank you for supporting the Albatross.



Long Live the Albatross



Into the mist...John Ridgway

Date: Tuesday 29 June 2004

Day: 341/2,3,4,5, This Leg Day 4/5

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg: Tower Bridge London to Ardmore, NW Scotland via the east coast.

Position - Latitude, Longitude: tba

Position relative to land: Pentland Firth

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 160 nm

Distance sailed this Leg: tba nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 29,004 nautical miles

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port: 80 nm

Wind: tba

Sea: Slight

Barometer: 1016 steady

Air Temperature: 13C, with windchill 12C

Sea temp: 13.2C

Cloud cover: 0

Bird sightings over the day: Guillemots, gannets, kittiwakes and great skuas



Notes: The sea was like glass, dawn just a steady brightening of the twilight: we could have read a newspaper all night. A beautiful mid-summer day seemed in prospect. I called up Willie Watt as 'Orkney Sunrise' at 1115; we were off Duncansby Head on the Northeast corner of Scotland and Willie and his father were two small dots at the base of the lighthouse, way up on the headland. Thankfully, their local knowledge guided us safely through the rips and overfalls of the Pentland Firth.



It came on to rain as the barometer began a spectacular fifteen point plunge and by the time we were half way along the north coast, the outlook was grim. I began to fear what we might find when we rounded Cape Wrath and began to head south into the wind. Nick ahd told us that while we were away at the UN in Rome last week, London had had its worst June gale for 150 years. But luckily for us, nothing desperate did occur and we motored on, 15 miles south down the west coast.



Into the mist...John Ridgway

Date: Monday 28 June 2004

Day: 340, This Leg Day 3

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg: Tower Bridge London to Ardmore, NW Scotland via the east coast.

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 56/21N 01/00W

Position relative to land: 55nm east of the Firth of Forth

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 165nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 375nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,844 nautical miles

Course: 346T

Speed: 6.1kts

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port: 241nm

Wind: W F3 (17-24kts)

Sea: Slight

Barometer: 1016 steady

Air Temperature: 13C, with windchill 12C

Sea temp: 13.2C

Cloud cover: 0%

Bird sightings over the day: Guillemots, gannets, kittiwakes and great skuas


Notes:



We did manage eight hours of sailing without the engine but for the rest it
was motor-sailing.



Our luck has held so far. We have an opportunity with the weather right
now but the next Atlantic low is massing to the west
of Bailey and so Thursday and Friday could see gales in the Northwest
Highlands of Scotland.



We're making a dash for Ardmore. If all goes well on our passage through
the fearsome Pentland Firth, and along the north
coast, we should reach the longed-for haven of our mooring under the most
northerly wood on the west coast of Britain at
1000am on Wednesday 30 June 2004.



Everyone is in fine spirits at the end of a busy 30,000 miles. There are
seabirds all around us as we slip along in the
gloaming of a midsummer midnight in the far north but very sadly the
albatross is not among them. I miss him.




Here's an outline of what happened at the UN in Rome last Thursday and Friday:



"Remember there are 105,000 of us going in here", said Marie Christine
bravely, "from the Prime Minister of New Zealand to

schoolchildren. They are all with us."



UN FAO Rome is situated in a massive, cream-coloured block just across the
road from the ruins of the 'circus massimo', where

the Romans raced their chariots a couple of thousand years ago.

The giant United Nations complex is no ruin. It is beautifully maintained.
Acres of marble floor are brightly polished and

the delegates are beautifully clad to match. Italian style inspires
everything.



I am an old man, I struggle not to become another rotten old man. I try to
keep an open mind. I have dreamed of the world's

oceans becoming a well-regulated sustainable fishery, with everything in
balance: plentiful fish, birds and mammals, ever

since I worked on the Kinlochbervie salmon bag-netting crew forty years
ago, newly-married, in the lovely Highland Spring of

1964. I was full of Hope then.



Beneath painted wooden flags of all the nations, the Chairperson and his
Team, up on the masive Podium, oversee hundreds of

delegates from the nations, seated in the most splendid conference room I
have ever entered. Hushed voices magnify the

atmosphere of a cathedral.

At first I was excited: "This is where it can all be put to rights", I
exulted. "All these good men and women CAN make it

happen."

But slowly a pattern emerged. There really is an International Plan of
Action to halt Illegal Fishing forever. One good

man, like Nick, with his lap-top, could oversee the satellite surveillance
of every boat that floats on the face of the

globe. Already Chile claims to have 100% of its high seas fleet and nearly
100% of its inshore fleet effectively monitored.

The United Nations of the World could most certainly enforce the results of
the surveillance.

But some people may have been in that shiny building too long, standing on
ceremony too much. Perhaps they begin to believe

their own publicity.

The main rich players: Japan, America, China do most of the talking or keep
discreetly quiet. The smaller players do the

begging.

The decline in world fisheries accelerates, the Albatross has a death
sentence, along with everything that moves. It is

simply a matter of time.

After lunch, even Superman's eyes would glaze. And this was only Day 1.
"There is still an hour left" gasped the Japanese

Chairperson, whom every speaker congratulated on his elevated position in
this world of talk. Here was the opportunity for

the smaller voices to have their say.

I was seated at the back, behind a sea of sleepy heads. Marie Christine,
off against a side wall, her camera under a jumper,

ready to film. Euan slipped back and whispered excitedly, "It looks as if
we may have a chance after all!"



The Chairperson asked continually for speakers to be brief. My heart was
beating like a huge set of bellows. Ever since

lunch I had been been jotting down what I planned to say, double-spaced in
my little red notebook.

I decided to break the spell. I would speak very deliberately, very
slowly. This was my one shot at saying what I really

felt.



Up ahead, Euan said his piece and handed over to me. I swung my microphone
towards me and switched on the red light. I was

live. I delayed. I saw Euan twitch, thinking I hadn't switched the mike on...

Congratulations on coming up with the International Plan. But I
understand Illegal Fishing is increasing.

I have travelled through the Southern Ocean in each of the past six
decades. I am closely allied to the Albatross. When I

die, which will be soon, I wish to become an Albatross. (Many rows up ahead
Mr. United States of America swivelled his chair

to take a look at me). In my earlier voyages through the Southern Ocean,
books offered me 80 years of life and one mate.



But now I will be lucky to get 80 weeks. And I need fifteen years to find
that mate.



100 million years of Albatross existence are set to end soon, because of us.

My wife and I, two old-age pensioners, last week completed a year-long,
un-sponsored, un-insured sailing voyage. We followed

the sub-polar flight track of the Wandering Albatross, round the world
through the Southern Ocean.



Our aim: "To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross".



We stopped at Cape Town, Kerguelen, Melbourne, Wellington and the
Falklands. And we used these stops to rally support for a

Petition. It was signed by 105,000 people from 131 countries, from the PM
of New Zealand to schoolchildren.



It calls for Governments to:

1. End Flags of Convenience, close markets and ports to illegal vessels.

2. Ratify the Agreements to protect Albatrosses and Marine Life, including
   the UN Fish Stocks Agreement.

3. Enforce Protection at Sea and intercept pirate vessels.

"Arriba Chile!" 100% Satellite cover of their Offshore Fleet. Almost 100%
cover of their Artisanal Fleet within the

Magellanic Channels.



Why can't the rest of you follow suit? As a self-employed man, I recommend
you borrow the Chile National Plan of Action,

shut yourselves in a room, and complete your own N.P.O.A. in 24 hours.

All that is needed to prevent the needless slaughter of the albatross, is a
willing skipper on every boat. This means

Education. The sea covers 3/4 of the globe. The Collective
Irresponsibility of the Nations of the World is killing it.

Thank you....

Date: Sunday 27 June 200

Day: 339, This Leg Day 2

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg: Tower Bridge London to Ardmore, NW Scotland via the east coast.

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 53/48N, 000/47E

Position relative to land:Just north of Grimsby, 25nm offshore

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 166nm (307km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 210nm (389km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,679nautical miles (53,114km)

Course: 339T

Speed: 5.6kts

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port: 407nm (754km)

Wind: SE F3 (6-11kts)

Sea: Light sea

Barometer: 1016 falling

Air Temperature: 22C, with windchill 22C

Sea temp: 14.7C

Cloud cover: 50%

Bird sightings over the day: Guillemots, gannets, kittiwakes and great skuas



Notes: We kept the old Mercedes engine running and motored steadily through the sandbanks, flanked by oil and gas rigs, the whole business kept us on our toes alright. Hot sunny weather without wind. Marie Christine and I can hardly believe Tower Bridge and Rome ever happened, we are back here on the boat on the huge sea, just the same as ever. We were 45 miles east of Newcastle at midnight.



The familiar birds come out to play, just like home. Guillemots, gannets, kittiwakes and great skuas. Maybe we've never been away, it's all been a dream, certainly not a nightmare. I'm afraid the report on our visit to Rome will have to wait for tomorrow. I can't keep my eyes open.




Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: Saturday 26 June 2004

Day: 338,

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 51/31N, 000/57E

Position relative to land: In Barrow Arm, Thames Estuary, heading out.

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 45 nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 45nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,513 miles (52,km)

Course: Variable

Speed: 7.7kts

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port: 346

Wind: SE F3 (6-11kts)

Sea: Light sea

Barometer: 1016 falling

Air Temperature: 17C, with windchill 13C

Sea temp: 16.8

Cloud cover: 100% with a few spots of rain.

Bird sightings over the day:



Notes: On our return from Rome, we got to bed at around midnight. Daylight woke me at about 0430. I knew that if I fell asleep I wouldn't wake for 0530. We got up and started to get the boat ready for the off. Peter Schumann and Richard Creasey came down to see us off on a still, grey morning. Igor arrived at 0600 and retired to his bunk for the day. We were through St. Katherine's Lock and into the river by 0700, pushing against the flood tide for the first hour and a half.



We worked just two watches for the 45 miles down to the sea:

1. Nick, Ward and Bob.

2. Sanel, MC and me.



It's really good to have Bob Duncan (44) from Zimbabwe aboard again, it doesn't seem 25 years since he skippered this boat for a season at Ardmore and only yesterday when we sailed the shippy on her trial to America in 2001. And it's just great having Ward (31) and Sanel (29), the two American brothers who were JRAS Instructors in 1997. It makes everything fun.



The River went well and light rain set. We motored along the northern shores of the Thames Estuary, up the Barrow Deep and past Harwich. Night found us off the Haisborough Sand. It was mayhem, ships everywhere amid the sand banks and tides. And it was a lot easier having three watches now.



The Yarmouth Coastguard kept calling all ships to look out for a missing yacht. I remembered just such an incident in July 2000, when we came down here to fit the new Hood mainmast at Burnham-on-Crouch. Wreckage was found weeks later but the whole crew were lost, run down by a ship.



I'm afraid I'll have to spread my account of our visit to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome over a few days. There are so many things to do, just to keep the boat heading in the right direction for Ardmore.



Here goes:



Wednesday 23 June 2004......Noon: Heathrow Airport.



Sanel being still asleep, I handed the boat over to Ward at 0800. They would look after things until Nick returns with Nev at around 2000 tonight, having seen Tommy safely on the plane to Japan.



On a rainy morning, Marie Christine and I took the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow. We carried our small green rucksacks for hand baggage, nothing more. According to our custom, we reached the Alitalia Check-out two and a half hours early. But Dr. Euan Dunn, Director of Marine Policy with RSPB was already in position. Short and quietly spoken, Euan was towing a heavy suitcase containing the many smart books of Petition signatures. The diffident absent-minded manner is an illusion, Euan was busy measuring all the angles to maximise the impact of our visit to UN for the Albatross. Cath Harris, fiercely athletic RSPB Media manager, arrived just in time, having been stuck on the M25 in a taxi.



Rome was hot. Awkward and uncertain, the four of us nibbled some pasta and retired for an early night. What would tomorrow bring? Veteran of an untold number of grand Conferences, all around the world, Euan could only assure us we must be ready to seize the moment when and if it came.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: Friday 25 June 2004

Day: 337



Notes: Back home (to the boat in St. Katherine's yachthaven) at midnight. A momentous visit to Rome, but just now we are dodging sandbanks and following the maze of buoys which should lead us safely on our final journey to English Rose's anchorage under the wood at Ardmore. Tomorrow, when we are clear of the major hazards I will tell you of the presentation of the Petition of one hundred and five thousand signatures to Save the Needless Slaughter of the Albatross to the United Nations in Rome.



Into the mist...



John Ridgway

Date: Thursday 24 June 2004

Day: 336

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temperature:

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: 2 Resident Swans, Moorhens, Mallard, 3 white Ducks


Notes:

When the cat's away... Well Nev (yes good old Nev Roberts from
Australia) and I spent the morning playing with the winches; stripping
them, washing out the accumulated salt of the last 12,000 miles,
re-greasing and re-assembling. They're a vital aid to controlling the large
sails aboard English Rose V1 and in heavy weather become progressively
gummed up.



But it's a mindless job and I got to thinking about one of John's central
themes; Can one person make a difference?



Judging by the response in the London media, and the support for the
Petition, just maybe... By setting out to try, John caught the imagination
of the many people needed to make such an idea, a reality. Without the buzz
of actually being on the voyage, they gave their whole-hearted support. And
in turn, 'made a difference'. They made it possible. People like Richard
Creasey and Sam Semple who have put this Log up every day, 336 times so
far, despite enormous changes in their own lives over this same time. And
of course, in front of me, Nev, 16,776 kilometres from home and up to his
elbows in grease. All on his own account too.



But will we make a difference? Can we create something that goes beyond the
Albatross? Again, just maybe... A few days ago my not easily impressed 18
year old daughter Mariko wrote to me, "... you really are pretty crazy to
most people, but to those who count, pretty inspirational (and that's all
that matters!!!)."



John's determination to try, made a difference. Each of us can,
individually, if we try. A sobering thought sitting here in the middle of
London.



Nick Grainger

Date: Wednesday 23 June 2004

Day: 335

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temperature:

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: 2 Resident Swans, Moorhens, Mallard, 3 white Ducks


Notes:

It's all about the Albatross. Today John and Marie Christine flew to
Rome to await the opportunity to present the Petition to the UN meeting. It
bears more than 103,000 of your signatures. Your support with this really
has made it all worthwhile.



Meanwhile, back at the office in central London aboard English Rose V1 in
St Katherine's Dock, we've been weathering the worst June storm in England
in 150 years. Wet and windy. Wild by London standards. Good Albatross
weather. One week earlier and our trip up the Channel and Thames might have
been very interesting indeed.



We're on the count down to the final leg back to Ardmore. We sail as soon
as the boss gets back. My wife Tomoko departed today. New crew members Ward
and Sanel arrived from the US. Bob Duncan joins us on Friday from
Zimbawbwee, Igor from Somerset.



I'm doing final maintenance and stores shopping. The last leg. It's all
nearly over. Or is it?



Nick Grainger

Date: Tuesday 22 June 2004

Day: 334

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temperature:

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: 2 Resident Swans, Moorhens, Mallard, 3 white Duck

Notes:



To our great surprise, Ward and Nathaniel ('Sanel') Irvin from Charleston,
South Carolina, appeared on the dock at 1000 this

morning. They were Instructors at JRSA in Ardmore back in 1997. They have
flown over from New York and it looks as if they

will be on the crew from London to Ardmore. I will give more details later
but I understand a rough outline of their present

situation is as follows: Ward(30) is now a First Lieutenant in a Mountain
infantry force in the US Army, he is on leave from

Afghanistan. Sanel(29) has completed his training and is now a film
cameraman in New York. I look forward to hearing of their

many adventures since 1997. Will they be able to take direction?



Marie Christine and I hope to fly to Rome at 1215 on Wednesday 23 June to
present the Petition to the UN on 24 or 25 June.

Thank you so much for signing it. Who knows how it will turn out...



I think Nick Grainger should write the Log for Wednesday 23 June and
Thursday 24 June as we will be unable to file from Rome.



What on earth will he write about?


Into the mist...John.

Date: Monday 21 June 2004

Day: 333

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temperature:

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: 2 Resident Swans, Moorhens, Mallard, 3 white Duck


Notes:



Now preparing for the final leg of the voyage - from London to Ardmore. We
plan to sail out of St. Katharine's Yacht Haven at 06.20 on Saturday 26
June. What a grand place this has been for us. Both Nick and Igor have
been with their families, away from the boat. So, for Marie Christine and
me, rather surprisingly, this time in the centre of London has really been
the quietest time of the whole voyage.



Hopefully on Saturday morning, we will motor down the 45 miles to the sea
on the one 6-hour ebb tide. After that we will try and sail up the East
coast of Britain, through the sandbanks and oil rigs to find a way through
the Pentland Firth and along the North coast of Scotland to Cape
Wrath. Loch Laxford is only 15 miles down the West coast of Scotland.



Into the mist...John.

Date: Sunday 20 June 2004

Day: 332

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temperature:

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: 2 Resident Swans, Moorhens, Mallard


Notes:



A quiet Sunday in St. Katharine's Dock. Some friends came to our home on
the boat, here in the heart of London. And we drank tea among the flowers
people have given us. It feels secure here, not a ripple, shelter from
city buildings on all four sides. Only swans and moorhens disturb the calm
brown waters.



From across the dock at night, lying against the VIP pontoon, with a low
white building acting as a floodlit, graciously pillared back-drop, English
Rose looks like a 1950's National Geographic advert for Frigidaire or
Buick. Son et lumiere or what? "What Larks, Pip!" This is just how I always
thought life would turn out.



"What are you doing next week?"
"Oh, I'm going to speak at the United Nations in Rome." (Am I?)



Into the mist...John.

Date: Saturday 19 June 2004

Day: 331

Local time: 1200 BST (UTC +1)

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore


Notes:



Still pretty hyped-up with the excitement of actually managing to sail
under Tower Bridge at 1100 Thursday 17 June 2004 after sailing out of Loch
Laxford on Sunday 27 July 2003.



The whole thing was simply a personal statement which I have been trying to
make for very many years. And I did it. Completely owing to Marie
Christine. And with solid gold support from Nick from the moment we sailed
from home. And Igor who has battled on ever since he joined us in Cape Town.



I was so thrilled to see Matthew Parris had written a piece in The Times
today. I have never met him but I have read his stuff for many years. I
always admired his personal bravery. We share different struggles. I was
looking for where he stayed in Kerguelen four years back.



He is the only writer in the world, in fact, who could have written about
the Albatross the way he did today. He had to have seen the albatross the
way he did, where he did.



From my personal point of view. What Matthew wrote today expresses exactly
what I feel but can't express. It matters nothing, if nothing is ever
written about me again, ever. That is the statement I wished to make. I am
ready for death.



Thanksalotty.



Into the mist...John.

Date: Friday 18 June 2004

Day: 330

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: In St Katherine's Dock

Distance travelled in last 24hrs:

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles (52,726km)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port: Ardmore


Notes:



The Reception given by RSPB/BirdLife was a success for the old bird.



Andy and Mike Lezala with Chris Jelley started things with an unforgettable
live performance of their 'Save the Albatross' song. Plus a new last verse.



The 4 Musketeers Nick, Igor, MC and I sat in our red waterproof trousers on
top of the Saloon.



Graham Wynne CEO of RSPB read out Prince Charles's very thoughtful letter
about the plight of the Albatross.

I did my best but overcome with emotion had to stop. Mascara flooded the
marquee. Everyone was embarassed but at least I wasn't sick all over everyone.



Elliot Morley, Minister for the Environment, impressed everyone with his
sincere effort for the Albatross. (It was he who launched the Save the
Albatross Campaign at the beginning).



John Croxall of British Antarctic survey was at his best, despite having
changed in the car on the way from Heathrow after his plane from America
was delayed.



Marie Christine said a few spirited words to round things off.



It was such a treat to have four generations of the family present. It
meant so much to Marie Christine and me.



And then it was over. Thank you all so much for coming...



Into the mist...John.

Date: Thursday 17 June 2004

Day: 329,



Notes: Blimey! This is it! A phrenetic young power lady spent hours and
hours, last night and this morning, trying to get her satellite laptop gear
to work across this jaded town to BBC's Today studio. "Please, Please" she
pleaded with the Producer "Let me do it - it'll be a fun piece!" Day 329.
Meanwhile the minutes tick away to the Bridge lifting at 1100 and the
racing brown tides tugs at the mooring lines. Our nerves stretch tighter
than the lines.



"How shall I describe you?" the unseeing eyes blink at me through the
contact lenses, "You crewed for Chay Blyth sailing round the world? Right?"



"I'd prefer it if you didn't say that" I grinned "Relax, or you'll hit the
bridge" I said to myself.



Then we were through - a couple of minutes at the tail end of Today News.
329 days.



But shooting through Tower Bridge was so exciting. With the Mainsail up in
a strong gusty wind and just a narrow gap between the raising road ways.
The precious relaxation of recklessness. Egg everywhere just waiting to
rain down on my face.



Day 329. The Albatross.



Back to the pier. Champagne and photos and words for newspapers which will
thrill tomorrow and wrap fish and chips the day after.



Then into the tube for our long-waited re-union with Marie-Christine's
Mother who has been such an example to me in my life.



Late tube back to the boat, heeding the warning not to get thrashed by
roaming 'Steamers', maybe some new kind of clockwork orange gang. Trouble
with me is I'm a tough paratrooper. That's what they say. But really I'm
frightened of the dark and cry in the movies. My back's killing me and I'd
be terrified of Steamers. Day 329. The Albatross.



Into the mist...John.

Date: Wednesday 16 June 2004

Day: 328,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Calais - Tower Bridge

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: Alongside HMS President




Notes: Polishing up the boat. We did a check on the plans for the sail
under Tower Bridge tomorrow. The Bridge jammed 'up' last week and hydraulic fluid from the burst pipes went all over the place. London's traffic was truly halted for 24 hours.



Earlier, a boat had hit the Bridge; mis-judging the tide it was swept onto
the rising roadways before they were fully raised. If we make a similar mistake the old shippy may not be making it back to Ardmore after all.



And a couple of days later a big super-yacht was damaged hitting the St
Katherine's Lock, again misjudging the tide at the entrance. We'll be on our toes!



Into the mist...John.

Date: Tuesday 15 June 2004

Day: 327,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Calais - Tower Bridge

Position - Latitude, Longitude: Tower Bridge, London

Position relative to land: Alongside HMS President

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 45nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 71nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,470 miles

Course:

Speed:

Next Port:

Approx distance to next port:

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer: 1028

Aiit Temperature: 24C

Sea temp:

Cloud cover:

Bird sightings over the day: Terns and gulls



Notes: We left the muddy creek in Queenborough at 0530 on a glorious June
morning. Motoring the 45 miles up the River Thames was a History lesson, beginning with fields of barley and of rye, clothing the wold and meeting the sky.



Riding the flood tide, we were soon passing the Thames Barrage, Canary
Wharf and the Dome. but none of these places existed when I last steamed down this way, nearly 40 years ago. It was a snowy night in January 1956 and I was on my way to South Africa and the Albatrosses, an eighteen-year-old Cadet aboard a general cargo Liberty Ship, the Clan Kennedy.



I'm afraid the Albatrosses are not doing so well down there nowadays: 93%
of the Hake fishing boats are not compliant with regulations, Sam Petersen of BirdLife explained, in Capetown last October. "It's not a problem, we kill very few birds", the fishermen told her, "that's because you've already killed nearly all of them!" she replied.



We rounded a bend and there was Tower Bridge. Huge. Blocking further
progress up the River. We had made it, 326 days out from NW Scotland, we had made it. Facing the Bridge, we tied-up alongside HMS President landing stage. Once ashore the familiar rush enveloped us. As Banjo Patterson would put it:



"And the hurrying people daunt me and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste."



But of course, in reality, they are unfailingly courteous when you ask the
way to Safeways.



The closing date for the Petition has been extended to 20 June, in the hope
of reaching 100,000 signatures before Marie Christine and I fly to Rome on 23 June. Thanksalotty for signing.





Into the mist...John.

Date: Monday 14 June 2004

Day: 326,

Local time: 1200 GMT -2

Leg Number: Calais - Tower Bridge

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 51/16N 01/28W

Position relative to land: In Channel, offNE Foreland, Kent

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 26nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 26nm

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,425 miles

Course: Variable

Speed: 7.6kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind: S, F3

Sea: light

Barometer: 1028

Aiit Temperature: 20C, with wind chill 19C

Sea temp: 16.2C

Cloud cover: S25%

Bird sightings over the day: Terns and gulls



Notes: We motored out of Calais two hours before high tide, at 0700 UTC. Beautiful sunny day. Virtually no wind and rather hazy. Marie Christine and I were on watch at 1010 when we caught the first sight of the white cliffs of Dover. 326 days after leaving home. It brought back memories of our visit to Normandy landings last week. It was such a lovely day and our cliffs such a lovely sight, how different it all would have been for us if there had never been a D-Day.



The intricate navigation of the sand banks was made a lot easier with daylight and a flat calm.



At 1900, exactly as per Nick's schedule, we tied up alongside a battered WWII concrete lighter,in a muddy creek up the west Swale at Queensborough. We were back in Blighty. It was all very still. Looking into the sunset across the mudflats, surrounded now by power stations, pylons and rolling hills of scrap metal I tried to grasp the intangible thing we had tried to achieve over these past 326 days.



We went to bed early, ready for the final 45-mile push up the Thames on the tide, starting at 0530 tomorrow, with the weather deteriorating. We are now entering a place where everything is a mad rush, where Man is the only thing that matters to Man. Hopefully all that struggle and risk was not just a waste of time, as the man from Nottingham said. Surely the Petition and the struggle will have helped prevent the needless slaughter of the now far away Albatross.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Sunday 13 June 2004

Day: 325

Local time: 1200 GMT -2

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Calais



Notes: Tidal Streams and Waypoints all day.



Marie Christine and I nipped into a crowded Calais cafe for English Breakfast at 8.30 p.m. to watch the second half of the football. I asked a stalwart England supporter if he would fill me in on what had been going, as I'd been away for a year.



His wife explained that David had been stitched-up, and like Victoria, she didn't believe a word of it. I was comforted. Over the years I have come to regard Beckham as the greatest living Englishman, there is much pressure on his shoulders.



The Leader of Nottingham Council, for apparently it was he, posed two crushing questions:



1. "So, you've had a lovely time, sailing round the world, and you haven't saved a single Albatross, have you?"



2. "Why does Blyth get all the Publicity?"



By this time, my hero had missed a penalty and England had performed the astonishing feat of subsiding from one goal up with two minutes to go, to losing 2-1.



Out on the pavement I was left pondering the two questions. I was definitely getting nearer home. Home of those sometimes born to lose.



The French meanwhile, were roaring through the darkened streets, hooting wildly and flying the tricolour.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Saturday 12 June 2004

Day: 324


Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Calais




Notes: Quiet Saturday morning after a good night's sleep. All four of us in good spirits. Nick working studiously on tides. Marie Christine off to market, then cleaning furiously: cupboards, bilges, ceilings, floors, cooker, etc. Igor at work with hose and deck brush, ceaselessly. I tried to get up to date with various loose ends, for peace of mind. But that is beginning to slip away on the ebb tide....



Then, quite suddenly, the day was over. How many remain before my light goes out and I become an albatross for 80 weeks (or could it be 80 years)?



Into the mist......John.

Date: Friday 11th June 2004

Day: 323,

Local time: 1200 GMT -2

Leg Number:

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Calais

Position relative to land: Alongside floating pontoon

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 98 nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 136 miles

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,397, miles



Notes: Reached Calais safely. People very helpful. Much to do - always much to do. Tides to work out. All sorts of things are covered with mildew - is this a new age mushroom farm? Boat refuelled and watered, it's turning into a floating carpet of seaweed, we'll try and scrub some off. Thing is, to enjoy it all now. It has been a tremendous voyage. Seven books of diary logs and two especially large red books for Molly and Hughie, our grandchildren. Eight notebooks. 50 MiniDV cassettes. Highs 'highs' and low 'lows' - countless memories. Not a grey time.



Our aim is 'To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross'. That is what we need to keep our focus on. Full tick.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Thursday 10th June 2004

Day: 322,

Local time: 1200 GMT -2

Leg Number: Leg 8, Honfleur to Calais

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/51N 00/01E

Position relative to land: Off Dieppe, English Channel

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 38 nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,493 miles (2,765 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,299, miles (52,410 kilometres)

Course: 057T

Speed: 6.0

Next Port: Calais

Approx distance to next port: 100nm

Wind: SSW F3

Sea: Light

Barometer: 1018 steady

Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 16C

Sea temp: 15.7

Cloud cover: 100% drizzle

Bird sightings over the day:

- Northern Fulmar

- Gannet

- Lesser Black backed gull

- 1 Fruit bat nesting inbetween spinnaker poles (!)



Notes: We have been at sea all day and night, working the two new watches in easy weather, running close up along the Southern edge of the Traffic Exclusion Scheme. Ferries, including high-speed craft and hovercraft, operate at speeds up to 50 knots between the Channel Ports. Very different from our home in NW Scotland where 20 visiting yachts is a bumper year.



Nick, Marie christine and I have been working the boat for 322 days, Igor for only 70 fewer but he is still a novice in this crowded situation.



All this would be a lot easier if we didn't have to be passing under Tower Bridge at precisely 1100 Thursday 17 June, broadcasting live from the boat on Radio 4, while school-children lift the Bridge and think for the moment about the Albatross and how they might save it from its imminent extinction.



Anyway, as I once said to my strong-willed adopted Father on the M4 "Well Pa, I'd better relax, you're 90 and we're doing 90!"



Marie Christine, Nick, Igor and I, we think it is worth it for the Albatross.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Wednesday 9th June 2004

Day: 321,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France

Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to beautiful gardens




Notes: Our friend Jim Abbey collected Nick, Marie Christine and me from the boat at 0900 and drove us to the site of the Normandy Landings. The survivors of that Day are nearly all over eighty years of age now. As well as Bush, Putin, Blair, Chirac and Schroder, Normandy has seen great numbers of visitors in this week of glorious weather, they have all gathered here for the 60th Anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 1944. And they are claiming here in northern France, that so overwhelmed were these Heads of State, that they have agreed to withdraw occupying forces from Iraq by the end of this month. Perhaps Protestants and Catholics, Arabs and Jews, Hutu's and Tutsi's, Hindu's and Muslims should come here.



In 1983/4, while on a non-stop voyage round the world with Andrew Briggs, I wrote a book called 'Flood Tide'. It was mainly an account of the first twenty years of my marriage to Marie Christine. In uniform from twelve years of age until I was twenty-eight, my life has been very much bound up with the Parachute Regiment and its history. We were 203 days on that voyage and saw the land only once in all that time. One of us would sleep while the other stood watch and there was plenty of time for reflection.



By way of dedicating 'Flood Tide'to Marie Christine, I quoted on the opening page, a coded poem written for Violet Szabo, a British Agent captured by the Nazi's in France. The poem is dear to us. Imagine the desperate terror of capture and torture for risking all, simply for what you believe in.



'The Love that I have is all that I have and that love that I have is yours
But the love that I have of the life that I have is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have and a rest I shall have and Death shall be but a pause,
For the rest of my years, in the long green grass, shall be yours and yours and yours.'



In Normandy today, the weather was again perfect and we were among thousands of quiet visitors from many nations. As well as the scattering of proud veterans, there were a great many American fighting vehicles of the time and servicemen dressed in the uniform of the day. A Sherman tank fired across the bay. We saw films of the Landings, visited museums and Pegasus Bridge. In the immaculate cemeteries we walked in silence, aware that whatever we said couldn't really express our feelings, certainly no-one spoke to us.



In the British Cemetery near Bayeux, a bespectacled, bent figure, in a worn navy blazer and medals, darted out from the throng. Grasping Marie-Christine's arm, he tugged her the few yards to the red wreathes laid about the foot of the Central Stone Cross. He pointed down to a little thin wooden cross, perhaps 4" x 2"; pinned to it was a scrap of paper with writing in biro.
"Look!" he said and began to read in a slow, thin voice, as if speaking to a foreigner, "Violet Szabo - shot in the head - Dachau." Someone had come here, 60 years on.



All around, line upon line, the white gravestones blurred into the distance. Tens of thousands of brave souls, lying for the rest of their years beneath the long green grass.



The price of our freedom.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Tuesday 8 June 2004

Day: 320,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France

Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to beautiful gardens



Notes: 320 days. Pretty ga-ga really. Particularly slow it appears. We are pretty much up to date now and plan to sail on up the French coast tomorrow.



We will try and access H2G2 when ashore but it is difficult. I suppose it is a little late to track, let alone to reply, to someone, 320 days after they wrote to us with a helpful suggestion on H2G2. I am very sorry about that. We just can't access H2G2 on the boat. I guess I just wasn't up to it. There always seemed to be some more pressing immediate drama and internet cafe's were far away, my mind was not thinking along those lines.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Monday 7 June 2004

Day: 319,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France

Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to beautiful gardens


Notes: Lost in France. Uncertain if the "Absolute Truth" is to be found here. Full tick on anchor drills, waypoints and fears of the Goodwin Sands. The final push to Tower Bridge for 17 June will be undertaken by the original 3 musketeers: Nick Grainger, MC and me, plus Igor who has been with us since Capetown. At least there is a better chance of getting picked up nowadays if we land on a sandbank. No albatrosses here. Found out today, that maybe some people have been reading this log. We have been unable to access H2G2 on the trip so it was a surprise to find a few messages. Ward Irvin should phone me on +8816 315 23952.



See him at Tower Bridge or in St. Katherines' Dock on 17 - 23 June.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Sunday 6 June 2004

Day: 318,

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France

Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to
beautiful gardens


Notes:



60th Anniversary of D-Day Normandy Landings. 15K troops and 2 Aircraft
Carriers provide security for 16 Heads of State.



Marie Christine and I went to a morning service in an old wooden
church. Built long ago by boat-builders, the high roof reminded me of one of our old wooden boats at home, upside down. The Confirmtion Service for children and the wonderful singing voice of the man conducting the service, the clouds of incense and Frenchg families gathered there, were a re-assuring message, sixty years after the landings to liberate this country.



16K British servicemen died many of them from the Parachute Regiment.
Traditionally the Army provided a family for the homeless. RMA Sandhurst and the Parachute Regiment provided that home in my life from the age of 18 to 30. Formative years.



Much of what happened to me in following 35 years has been influenced by
the uncompromising training the Parachute Regiment gave me.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Saturday 5 June 2004

Day: 317

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France

Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to beautiful gardens

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 0nm

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,493 miles (2,765 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,261, miles (52,339 kilometres)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port:

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temp: 23C

Sea temp:

Cloud cover: 0%

Bird sightings over the day:



Notes:

Lovely sunny early-summer weather. In a tiny, ancient port on the North coast of France. Such a contrast with Tenerife,

Capetown, Melbourne, Wellington, Stanley and Horta. We are the outermost boat in the port, moored alongside a park, full of

green trees and roses. Marie Christine and I will not be the same as we were when we left home.



I was eighteen when I last felt like this. I had been at sea for six months, steaming around Africa in the merchant navy and

I found I missed Britain more than I had thought. When the ship finally arrived home, the first port was Avonmouth and I had

a day to myself, walking alone in the Somerset summer countryside. I have always remembered that day and although this is

France, I feel the same way now. Perhaps at my age, being sentimental is a rather pathetic, something not appropriate.




Into the mist......John.

Date: Friday 4 June 2004

Day: 316, Day 14 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: In a quiet port on the north coast of France
Position relative to land: Lying alongside a stone wall adjacent to some
beautiful gardens

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 nautical miles (185 km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,493 miles (2,765 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 28,261, miles (52,339 kilometres)

Course:

Speed:

Next Port:

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind:

Sea:

Barometer:

Air Temp: 19C

Sea temp:

Cloud cover: 25%

Bird sightings over the day:






Notes: Got into a quiet French port in fog and rain without a chart. Heavy on the
nerves but very peaceful when we were finally tied up. Everyone in good
spirits. I sat on my own in a park on a bench. What a lucky fellow I have
been, I am very grateful. Surely, I can do better.



Thinking back in those early mornings in Cape Town, writing in the Doghouse
as it grew light on Table Mountain. That was before Trevor, Igor and
Quention arrived. How solid gold Nick, Marie Christine and I pysched
ourselves up for the great voyage across the Southern Ocean. How it was all
worthwhile. Surely I can do better. Not quite done for.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Thursday 3 June 2004

Day: 315, Day 13 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London



Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/51'N, 1/54'W

Position relative to land: Off the Cherbourg Penisula

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 148 nautical miles (274 km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,393 miles (2,580 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27, miles (52,154 kilometres)

Course: 095T

Speed: 4.9 kts (motor sailing, tide against us)

Next Port: tbc

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind: NW F1-2 (1-6kts)

Sea: Near calm

Barometer: 1028 steady

Air Temp: 19C, with wind chill 19C

Sea temp: 13.8C

Cloud cover: 25%

Bird sightings over the day: Gannets,Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters



Notes: A busy day coping with unaccustomed shipping all around us. Having sun and a fair bit of smog. We need to quicken our reactions as we enter our real world. Motoring around all night thinking of where to go.


Into the mist......John.

Date: Wednesday 2 June 2004

Day: 314, Day 12 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49/15'N, 6/06'W

Position relative to land: 40 nm south of Lands End, Cornwall

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 117 nautical miles (217 km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,245 miles (2,306 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,913 miles (51,695 kilometres)

Course: 076T

Speed: 7.0 kts (motor sailing)

Next Port: tbc

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind: NNW F2 (6-11kts)

Sea: Near calm

Barometer: 1027 steady

Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 11C

Sea temp: 15.1C

Cloud cover: 0%

Bird sightings over the day: Gannets,Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters



Notes: Glorious weather for dodging ships in the English Channel. Two frigates, one submarine, and a Royal Fleet Auxillary tanker did most of the manoeuvring about us - four sinister warships in battleship grey. They look a bit clumsy as they wheel around but just imagine sitting on the sea shore and seeing them come over the horizon and having no warships yourself to frighten them away.



Then there are the fishing boats, ignoring everything and everybody. And beyond that, all the merchant shipping for Northern Europe in two lanes, East and West bound. Two non-stop fast lanes of ships.



We seem to have left the whales and dolphins behind us when we came onto the continental shelf. In their place we see several familiar friends: Manx Shearwaters (in place of Cory's), Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Gannets. It's nearly a year since we saw them last and although we have not sighted land, these birds really show we are nearly home.



My yacht insurance ended last July, when we sailed 'further than 200 miles from the shore of mainland Europe between Bergen and La Rochelle'.



I have sailed all the major voyages without insurance, beginning with the row across the North Atlantic in 1966. I could never afford it.



Over the years this has become an increasing burden.



I have been reading 'Proving Ground' by G. Bruce Knecht, an intriguing account of the disastrous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race of 1998. In it, a 65 crew-member, himself a successful lawyer, decides to sue the organising yacht club, the weather bureau, the life raft manufacturer and his good friend the skipper and owner of the yacht which sank and on which he was crewing. "I'm in a unique position in that I was there and I have the legal skills and the experience to make sure the litigation doesn't go off the rails...." he says. He claims the skipper is still his friend, the legal action is nothing more than an effort to obtain money from the skipper's insurance company. The unfortunate skipper and owner doesn't see it this way. It will gnaw away at him. I have a feeling it will shorten his life.



Today I renewed my insurance policy. But my future is doubtful.



Into the mist......John.

Date: Tuesday 1 June 2004

Day: 313, Day 11 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/22'N, 9/24'W

Position relative to land: Approaching western end of English Channel

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical miles (259 km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 1,128 miles (2,089 km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,796 miles (51,478 kilometres)

Course: 059T

Speed: 6.1 kts

Next Port: tbc

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind: N F5 (17-21kts)

Sea: Light

Barometer: 1020 rising

Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 11C

Sea temp: 14.9C

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day: Manx Shearwater, Gannets, Kittiwake



Notes: 1st of June. After 313 days we are back in the Western Approaches to the English Channel. The weather is glorious, the sea aquamarine.



Seventeen days from now, at precisely 1100 a.m. on Thursday 17 June, Tower Bridge, on the River Thames in the Pool of London, is to lift for English Rose VI and her SAVE THE ALBATROSS banners in red on white lettering. Goodness! we'd better be there!



38 years have passed since Chay Blyth and I rowed under the Bridge on 28 November 1966.



After a delay of half an hour to conform with the London Traffic Regulations, the Bridge is scheduled to lift again at 11.30 for us to sail out. Then we are booked to tie-up alongside St Katherine's Pier for a while before entering St Katherine's Dock in early afternoon. If you have been reading the Log and supporting the 'Save the Albatross Campaign', hopefully we'll see you there. Or maybe later, because the old shippy has a berth in St Katherine's Dock until early morning 26 June when we must begin our sail up the east coast on our way home to Ardmore. You can call us on our satellite phone +8816 315 23952 and we'll call you back to save cost.



Right now we're heading for a discreet channel port to lie-up and effect repairs, re-fuel and provision for that trip London-Ardmore.



The closing date for signatures for the Save the Albatross Petition is 14 June. Marie Christine and I fly to Rome with the Petition on 23 June. Please do get as many signatures from your friends onto the website before then.



We need one final convulsive heave - or that's what it feels like out here on Day 313.



Our aim is 'To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross.' After all the places we've been and all the different people we've met, I am absolutely certain that the Albatross can be saved. It's fate depends on mankind.



If I die very soon and become an Albatross, I'll be lucky to live 80 months, never mind the 80 years I was led to expect by my trusty Alexander Seabirds book, published in 1926.



into the mist......John.

Date: Monday 31 May 2004

Day: 312, Day 10 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/47'N, 12/41'W

Position relative to land: 232 nm to mouth of English Channel

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical miles ( km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 988 miles ( km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,656 miles ( kilometres)

Course: 080T

Speed: 5.4 kts

Next Port: tbc

Approx distance to next port: tbc

Wind: SW F4 (11-16kts) (31-48kmph)

Sea: Light

Barometer: 1013 steady

Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 12C

Sea temp: 14.9C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day: Fulmar.



Notes: "A grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking"

Now on the continental shelf. Muddy-looking water. Violet no more. Visibility down to 200 yards, tendrils of mist wreathed and writhed on the face of the dark swell, muffling the sound of our passing.

Now in the chops of the Channel, at any moment, Jack Aubrey might come ghosting out of the mist in the 'Surprise', homeward bound and heavy with treasure, won from rich 'Prizes' on the far side of the world.
"Ship of the world!" cried Jack, clapping eyes on the good ship English Rose VI. Hastily, I ran up the red duster.

So quiet in the fog, even my feeble my voice carried across, asking if he'd care for a dish of Marie Christines's curry.

"I'd like that of all things!" came an answering bellow. The long-boat slid across the gap between us. I recognised Stephen Maturin, the ship's Surgeon and Jack's particular friend, he might take a look at Igor's hand. But the good doctor tripped on his cloak and fell in the sea as he came aboard. Of course I lent him a change of clothing, the quick flicker of his lizard eyes made me uneasy. I thought I'd better not start "topping it the high and mighty". But then I wouldn't would I? Anyway, he came round a bit once we got to discussing the noble Albatross, he was very knowledgeable.

"For all love, that was good!" Jack wiped his full lips with a precious piece of our kitchen roll, impatiently tossing his long yellow hair over his epaulettes. With lunch finished, I could see their eyes darting about for a bottle or two of port, so by way of distraction I asked Jack if he had ever met Lord Nelson.

"I was with him at the Battle of the Nile" he boomed.

"Did he ever speak to you, Sir?"

"Why yes, I once sat opposite him at table!"

"What did he say?" I was stunned. Maturin was not fooled. Perhaps he thought me a deep file.

Jack's chest swelled "Lord Nelson leaned across the table, he looked me straight in the eye....."

"Yes! What? What?"

"He said... Pass the salt!" Ha! Ha! Ha! Jack laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. We all laughed too. Maturin smiled thinly, aristocratic nostrils flaring at the sharp aroma of Igor's freshly ground coffee. To my dismay, Morris-Adams produced a bottle secreted in his bag. They frowned at our plastic cups but the bottle was soon empty.

"Sorry, must catch the morning tide at Portsmouth on Thursday, there's not a minute to lose" Jack hauled himself to his feet, all scars and poorly mended limbs.

"I give you joy, Sir" he roared over his shoulder from the long boat. Maturin nodding courteously.

"What did you think of that Nick?" I asked.

"You should have asked for your kit back, John."

"Not bloody likely!" I waved limply, as they disappeared into the mist......John.

Date: Sunday 30 May 2004

Day: 311, Day 9 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/25'N, 16/02'W

Position relative to land: 326 nm to mouth of English Channel

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 nautical miles (km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 848 miles ( km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,516 miles ( kilometres)

Course: 074T

Speed: 4.8 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 649 nm ( kilometres)

Wind: SE F5-6 (17-26kts) (31-48kmph)

Sea: Moderate, very grey, whitecaps, poor visbility

Barometer: 1012 falling

Air Temp: 13C, with wind chill 6C

Sea temp: 14.7C

Cloud cover: 100% with drizzle

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters,



Notes: At 2130, we had just come off watch, reading in our bunks until the curtain of sleep came down. "Ssssh!" Marie Christine tapped my arm, "I can hear the dolphins, through the hull, their talking to one another!" Deaf as a post, I knew I would never hear the high-pitched squeaking. But when we returned to the doghouse at midnight, there it was in the log: "2130 pilot whales come alongside to listen to Rachmaninoff...".



This was a grim and grisly grey day. A warm front has passed through, bringing warm wet weather with very poor visibility. Thank goodness for the radar. So far we have been able to pick up vessels a dozen miles off and our VHF Radio Logbook shows 100% contact with ships, all of whom have altered course if need be. This is all good practice for when we reach the English Channel, now only some 300 mile ahead. Once there we will need to place ourselves out of the way of shipping. When we have to cross Traffic Separation Schemes we will try to do so at right angles and as rapidly as possible; this is why we have three watches of well rested people.



After several days of this westerly airstream the ocean is looking a little like our long months in the Southern Ocean but on a smaller scale. But it seems lonelier here because there are no Albatrosses to keep us company and we miss them so.



How miserable it will be, if the 3/4 of the surface of the world which is covered by seawater, all becomes as empty as this.



The main blister on the back of Igor's left hand becomes larger and larger. At least it is showing no sign of infection while dirt cannot get to it. Marie christine has triumphantly produced advice from out 1st Aid book supporting her theory that the blister should not be burst.



Into the mist...John.

Date: Saturday 29 May 2004

Day: 310, Day 8 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46/46'N, 18/18'W

Position relative to land: 400 miles (741km) off the coast of Brittany

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical miles (241km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 738 miles (1,367km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,416 miles (550,774 kilometres)

Course: 067T

Speed: 5.0kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 749 nm (1,387 kilometres)

Wind: SW F5-6 (17-26kts) (31-48kmph)

Sea: Moderate to light

Barometer: 1013 steady

Air Temp: 18C, with wind chill 15C

Sea temp: 15.3C

Cloud cover: 95%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters, Storm Petrel.



Notes: One thirty in the morning. A bit chilly. You need your hood up out at the wheel, even with the trusty following wind. The half-moon has dipped below the western horizon, it's pitch black. I'm at the chart table writing this. The boat is rolling heavily and there is a hiss and rumble from each following wave as it catches us up and runs along the side of the boat.



I'm writing this at the chart table. Caught in the perspex of the Doghouse aft dropboards, three feet from my right knee, I can see the reflection of Marie Christine's tiny Petzel headtorch. The light is bobbing as she pounds the dough for tomorrow's bread with her mighty right hand (which has often narrowly missed sending me 'crashin' to the promised land - "Big bad John").



"Combat cooking" Igor calls it, himself 'Walking wounded' from self inflicted injuries of yesterday. First he was caught out by rogue swell which swivelled the boat through 90 degrees as it engulfed the stern, sending his exotic jugful of fruit salad swilling across the yellow work surface. At supper it seemed to have lost little of its piquante Peruvian mint and lemon flavouring.



His second accident was more serious. Marie Christine boils two kettles twice a day to fill everyone's individual flask, for ablutions in the morning and for night-watch hot drinks in the evenings. She boils another kettle at lunch which is largely used by Igor for the lengthy concoction of strong pungent coffee. This afternoon the kettle belched on a roll and scalded the back of Igor's left hand which came up in a series of ugly blisters not unlike frostbite. Some hours passed before he let anyone see them (18 hours!) not a pretty sight. Poor Igor. He's got it wrapped up in a crepe bandage.



This is really why, after all the long voyages, Marie Christine prefers to keep the Galley entirely to herself. It's a dangerous place. She has cooked over a thousand [actually 2834 individual servings at sea] individual meals on the trip - and has had her fair share of burns. It is a hazardous business.



'More soldiers are killed returning from patrol than are ever killed going out'. On this trip I have tried to avoid my old enemy 'Collective irresponsibility'(would Railtrack qualify?) by having individuals responsible for tasks. Nick: Panda generator, JR: Mercedes engine, Marie Christine: Galley, etc.



Besides all the above we continue to roll along on our way east. Toward the Rising Sun (The house of which has been the ruin of many a poor boy).




Into the mist...John. (Boring sanctimonious old twit who won't last much longer).

Date: Friday 28 May 2004

Day: 309, Day 7 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45/38'N, 21/03'W

Position relative to land: Off the Bay of Biscay, but way out in the Atlantic

Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical miles (241km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 608 miles (1,126km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,286 miles (50,534 kilometres)

Course: 043T

Speed: 5.0kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 879 nm (1,628 kilometres)

Wind: SW F5-6 (17-26kts) (31-48kmph)

Sea: Moderate

Barometer: 1013 steady

Air Temp: 18C, with wind chill 15C

Sea temp: 15.5C

Cloud cover: 90%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters, Storm Petrel.



Notes: It's all spread out in 17 columns in the Log before me: Date, UTC, True course made good, Distance made good, Wind, Barometer, Engine revs, Engine oil pressure, Engine water temperature, Diesel Header tank, Forward, Main and Aft bilge pumps, Stern gland, Distance to go, True bearing to waypoint, Position, Remarks.



It is all recorded: on the hour, every hour, for 304 days.



Today it is a simple story. We continue to have a robust westerly airstream pushing us along our track to "The Chops of the Channel" as Jack Aubrey oft remarked to his "Particular friend" Stephen Maturin, in most of the 23 Patrick O'Brian volumes about the Royal Navy in Napoleonic times. I have read the lot on this voyage and I don't regret a minute of the time it took. There was always "Not a moment to lose" and when he wished to congratulate someone, it was "I give you joy, Sir!" Great stuff.



As he sailed up the Channel, returning from the far side of the world, Jack Aubrey was usually apprehensive about what he was returning to.



Banjo Patterson describing Australian cities a hundred years later, captures my own feelings:



"I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all.



And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting
comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.



And the hurrying people daunt me and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste."



Sorry about the 'lowing cattle' but I'm sure you'll get the gist of my trepidation.




Into the mist...John.

Date: Thursday 27 May 2004

Day: 308, Day 6 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44/14'N, 23/14'W

Position relative to land: 1,230nm WNW of Lisbon

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical miles (259km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 470 miles (870km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,150 miles (50,282 kilometres)

Course: 071T

Speed: 5.8 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 1,009 nm (1,869 kilometres)

Wind: WSW F6-7 (22-33kts) (41-61kmph)

Sea: Rough

Barometer: 1009 rising

Air Temp: 17C, with wind chill 11C

Sea temp: 16.6C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters, Storm Petrel.



Notes: Force 8 at midnight - and rising. This time we had the right rig. This is what we are set up for. Nevertheless the old anxiety nags at the back of the mind: What if we hit a steel container washed off a N.Atlantic Container ship in the winter, are there really 40,000 of them floating around?Now we are meeting ships heading for the Channel. In a gale in the dark we might contact them to warn them we are a sailing vessel and they must avoid us. Very few ships speak English.



On the graveyard watch, at 0230, Igor and Richard managed to contact a ship on the VHF radio, luckily they persuaded it to go round our stern.



Our morning Watch saw the peak of the gale, with sustained 40-50 knot winds veering to the south-west. Steep breaking seas. Igor and Richard had had one flood the aft cockpit, luckily we avoided that.



In steep breaking seas, with the wind tearing at my clothing, it was no time to miss a hand-hold or lose a footing as I moved around the deck, setting-up for the gybe on to the port tack. I am painfully aware I'm not moving with the old 'cat-like grace'and the broken ribs still twinge if I have to lie on my right side.



Richard of course is not as used to this life as we are. Acclimatisation takes a little longer after too many hours in the 'Chairman's Car' on the bye-ways of Bucks. There is no heater for a kick-off and the hours are hardly sociable. He is alittle older than me and usually bangs his head to begin with. He was only a Royal Marine but he's pretty gritty and if he can hang on for a few days more he'll get into the swing of things. This weather is a fine jump start. I hope he is making his bunk comfortable in the Saloon, I do worry about him so. Always a free thinker, if occasionally a little impulsive, he has decided to sleep with his head at the opposite end from the way I once did it for 203 days. "There is always a better way"... I suppose. But he does look a little like a broken rag doll at times (I don't think he knows a lot about Feng Shui).




Into the mist...John.

Date: Wednesday 26 May 2004

Day: 307, Day 5 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number: Leg 7, Azores to Tower Bridge, London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43/20'N, 26/20'W

Position relative to land: 780nm (1,444km) west of Cape Finisterre

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 78 n miles (144km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 338 miles (626km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 27,010 miles (50,022 kilometres)

Course: 064T

Speed: 4.9 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 1152 nm (2,133 kilometres)

Wind: S F4 (11-16kts)

Sea: Light but with a big long swell coming onto port quarter

Barometer: 1018 steady

Air Temp: 17C, with wind chill 13C

Sea temp: 16.6C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters,



Notes: With the passing of yesterday's low pressure system, the glass had recovered seven of the eight points it had lost by the time we came on watch at midnight. And in the trying period of calm which followed, a big swell caused the sails to slat back and forth on the wires supporting the mainmast. Fearing damage we rolled them away and simply wallowed, going nowhere. A great way to dispirit the crew.



Peter Sanders of Poole has done a great job with our sails. He specialises in long distance cruising sails and I certainly don't want to wreck them at this late stage; it is still a long way to Ardmore and as you can imagine they are fairly fragile by now.



We have used the No.2 Yankee and the Staysail so much over the 50,000 kilometres round the world, and they were at their most valuable downwind across the Southern Ocean. On the other hand we have used the Mainsail comparatively less so because we only have the one and it is so important to windward, so downwind we save it whenever we can. The big No.1 Yankee, the Mizzen Staysail and the Mizen sail have all been useful at times. In the Northeast Tradewinds, from Portugal down to the Equator last summer we had great success with the No.1 and No.2 Yankees poled out on either side of the mainmast.



The No.2 Yankee and the Staysail, both flying from their own furling forestays forward of the mast, were easily sheeted and furled with jammers and winches in the aft cockpit beside the helmsman. What a joy they have been on dark and stormy nights. The electric-powered Hood in-mast furling system for the Mainsail has done all we have asked of it. It is a real delight to operate, again from the aft cockpit with a simple switch and a self tailing winch for the out-haul on the starboard side. John Boyce can be proud of it; how sporting of him to fly out to Capetown and fix the stranded cap-shrouds last October. How vital for us.



Nick and I have each had such pleasure operating the rig alone, from the aft cockpit. And the deck floodlights have unfailingly turned night into day whenever needed. It is not always easy to find reliability.



The calm seas ended abruptly at 1100, a good breeze came piping-up from the South and steadily built through the day from the SE. By evening were into another gale.



Now we just need to nurse the old shippy through these final stages.




Into the mist...John.

Date: Tuesday 25 May 2004

Day: 306, Day 4 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-1

Leg Number and name: Leg 7

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 42/54'N, 28/01'W

Position relative to land: 1,263nm (2,339 km)

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 miles (185km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 260 miles (481km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 26,932 miles (49,878 kilometres)

Course: 066T

Speed: 5.1 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 1,245 nm (2,306 kilometres) Approx

Wind: W F5-6 (17-27kts)

Sea: Moderate to rough on port quarter

Barometer: 1011 rising

Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 11C

Sea temp: 17.6C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters, Storm Petrel sp. Dolphins



Notes: Midnight and I added 30 more turns to the 120 already on the No1 Yankee winch. I began to fret: we'd got the wrong rig. It was so long since we'd had a strong wind aft the beam; some tme in early February I think. I'm sure we'd all foreseen it coming, stuff left lying about, stuff not fastened. The new lines on the self-steering too slack on the wheel drum as they began to be run in.



Igor and Richard came up for the graveyard watch at 0200 and I was grateful we'd put the clock forward and daylight was not too far away.



By 0600 the wind was gusting 50-60 knots and Nick had rolled away the Yankee altogether. We were moving along at 5knots under just a scrap of Staysail alone. Visibility was so poor we had the energy consuming radar on.



The sea was now a different place from yesterday. Big breaking grey seas, streaked with foam. Where was our turtle? How fared the tiny silver-sailed jellyfish? The 'Sycamore wings' would be churning. Even the whale would still need to breathe, how long would it take to fill those mighty lungs?



But it certainly did not dismay the dolphins, they were leaping at the bow. And a glimpse of a distant wheeling Shearwater in the murk might just have been a far-off Albatross. Wishful thinking.



During our four hours the wind veered 45 degrees from SSW to WSW as the Low pulled away to the East.



Why did the yellow flare box keep sliding across the doghouse floor? Months ago, when we used to roll downwind had it been jammed between the footrest and the seat? Marie Christine came up with a solution - the thick hard disc of a pumpkin jammed in the gap stopped all movement.



All day the wind slowly died away and we waited for another weather system to come through.



Into the mist...John.

Date: Monday 24 May 2004

Day: 304, Day 3 this Leg

Local time: 1200 GMT-2

Leg Number and name: Leg 7

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41/09'N, 27/54'W

Position relative to land: 570nm (1,056km) due west of Oporto, Spain

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 60 miles (111km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 160 miles (296km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 26,832 miles (49,693 kilometres)

Course: 003T

Speed: 3.1 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 1,298 nm (2,404 kilometres) If we sailed in a straight line - which of course we can't.

Wind: SE F2 (4-6kts)

Sea: Light following sea

Barometer: 1019 steady

Air Temp: 20C, with wind chill 19C

Sea temp: 17.8C

Cloud cover: 25%


Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters, Dolphins and very large whale



Notes: A large whale circled round us in the dark. It blew more than a dozen times, often so close its lungs sounded like vast bellows with a tuning fork somewhere deep within. MC and I saw its back heave up glistening black in the light of a thin crescent moon. We were hoping it wouldn't get cross and remembered how our old chum Jerome Poncet in the Falklands had sunk in just five minutes after an attck by an angry whale not so far from here. The trick is not to get between a bull and his harem, or a mother and her young.



It was pretty nippy at dawn and we set about adding 20 minutes to each of the 3 daytime Watches, so we could put the clock back an hour at 1800 and thus bring dawn forward an hour tomorrow. We felt chilly and willed the sun to come up, up it came at last, a deep orange ball, rising fast. Its pencil rays soon warmed our backs. In spite of all our hi-tech sophistication we are still entirely dependent on that red ball and its warmth, for life.



The sea is all a-sparkle with the silver sails of countless tiny Portuguese Man o'war jellyfish and the water itself is a soup of transparent 'sycamore wings' each with a yellow dot of life in a sac at one end. We drifted past an 18" long turtle complete with spiny brown shell, it paddled to keep up with us as we slid by on the southerly air but soon fell behind.



The wind increased from the south and we rolled away the mainsail and ran north under the No.1 Yankee, furling that as the night fell and the familiar howl returned to the rigging. Another gale? Springtime in the North Atlantic, 1,600nm E of Nova Scotia, 1,400 nm west of Belgium.




Into the mist...John.

Date: Sunday 23 May 2004

Day: 303

Local time: 1200 GMT-2

Leg Number and name: Leg 7

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40/08'N, 28/11'W

Position relative to land: 100 nautical miles (185.2km) NNE of Faial, Azores

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 miles (185.2km)

Distance sailed this Leg: 100 miles ((185.2km)

Total distance from Ardmore: 26,672 miles (49,396 kilometres)

Course: 002T

Speed: 3.6 kts

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: 1,349 nm (2,498 kilometres) If we sailed in a straight line - which of course we can't.

Wind: E F1-3 (0-11kts)

Sea: Light, small chop and low swell on the beam

Barometer: 1018 rising

Air Temp: 19C, with wind chill 19C

Sea temp: 18.1C

Cloud cover: 100%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters



Notes: At midnight we were ambling along in the right direction on a dark night. There were some odd luminous bursts beneath the surface and one south-bound vessel far away on the starboard quarter.



Black rain squalls gathered around dawn and their influence was with us all morning: the breezes attached to them and the showers and one fierce downpour.



Wheeling Cory's shearwaters remind us of our long-gone albatrosses and the clean waters of the Southern Ocean. But we are in the dumping ground of the Northern Hemisphere now; the water is scummy from oil tankers washing their tanks and crowded with all the flotsam and jetsam of modern life.



Nick loves working the boat up to speed, tuning the sails and coming up with statistics of our progress but we think he's wishing the voyage could go on and on, or be continued on tap. We couldn't have wished for a better shipmate than Nick.



And it's odd to think that Marie Christine and I have similar feelings about the voyage. This year with the Albatross has come at turning point in our own lives; I doubt we'll be quite the same after this quiet circumnavigation. While we are both very keen to reach home and be with our family on Ardmore, I notice we are not rushing to listen to the World Service or read-up on man's increasing inhumanity to his fellow man. I would guess we will both be more reflective on the natural way of life at Ardmore, I wouldn't be surprised if simplicity became our goal.



A little after three o'clock in the afternoon, Nick spotted a whale some 300 yards ahead on our port bow. Richard, Igor, MC and I were all fairly drowsy, reading and dozing, preparing for our night watches. We clambered grudgingly through the main hatch and assembled half-heartedly in the centre cockpit. I was worried Richard was not comfortable in his bunk on the starboard side of the saloon and he has a bit of a cold. I steadied myself against the mainsheet and waited to return below. It was time I was in my bunk, I'd already been delayed for long enough.



My half-gaze settled on a patch of sea maybe 30 yards out on our port side. Then I saw the biggest whale of my life! It surfaced exactly where I was looking. I couldn't believe my eyes. Perhaps it had been facing south while we came by, heading north? The black back seemed to stretch for ever, before a small dorsal fin emerged and the whole behemoth slid below the surface.



I spent the afternoon wondering if it could have been two whales, almost side by side, but with one slightly ahead of the other. How else could it have been so long? But the others, who hadn't been looking in exactly the same location, assured me that what they had seen after I cried out, was simply one very large whale. Maybe a Fin or a Blue Whale.



There is another poem but I'll keep it for a less crowded day.



Into the mist



John.

Date: Saturday 22 May 2004

Day: 302,

Local time: 1200 GMT-2

Leg Number and name: Azores to London

Position - Latitude, Longitude: 38/32'N, 28/36'W

Position relative to land: In Horta, Azores

Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 0

Distance sailed this Leg:

Total distance from Ardmore: 26,572 miles (49,041 kilometres)

Course: -

Speed: -

Next Port: Tower Bridge, London

Approx distance to next port: tbc nm (tbc kilometres) Wind: Variable

Sea: calm (in the harbour)

Barometer:

Air Temp: 21C, with windchill, 20C

Sea temp: n/a

Cloud cover: 10%

Bird sightings over the day: Cory's Shearwaters



Notes: Up at 06.30 after a good night's sleep, the last for while! Walked through Horta to the S E waterfront cafe for a last glass of coffee, toasted bun and cheese. A pleasant sunny morning of final preparation and port clearance. At 1300 we slipped gently out of the harbour into the slop of the channel between the islands of Faial and Pico. The patchwork of small green fields and scattered red-roofed white cottages of East Faial soon fell astern.



The breeze was light and variable but settled in the East as we cleared the islands. We are heading North for 400 miles to the 45th parallel before bearing away ENE for the English Channel. It sounds easy. As a marker, Horta to Plymouth is some 1300 miles. We'll take it very carefully.



We passed Graciosa in the dark and looked for an ESE wind. There are plenty of Cory's Shearwaters and a good few dolphins. Everyone pleased to be at sea. I'm afraid the poem for today is rather longer, it's by Stephen Spender:



I think continually of those who were truly great.

Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history

Through corridors of light where the hours are suns,

Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition

Was that their lips, still touched with fire,

Should tell of the Spirit, clothed from head to foot in song.

And who hoarded from the Spring branches

The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.



What is precious is never to forget

The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs

Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.

Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light

Nor its grave evening demand for love.

Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother

With noise and fog, the flowering of the Spirit.



Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,

See how these names are feted by the waving grass

And by the streamers of white cloud

And whispers of wind in the listening sky.

The names of those who in their lives fought for life,

Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.

Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun

And left the vivid air signed with their honour.



It takes a little while to spout all that. I use it to cheer myself along, when it looks as if what I'm doing is pretty dotty.



Into the mist



John Ridgway

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