Save the Albatross - Archive of Previous Log Entries
Created | Updated Jun 27, 2005
Below you'll find all previous log entries from Leg 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Save The Albatross voyage sent in from the crew of the English Rose V1.
We've also archived all the log entries from Leg 1 - from Ardmore in Scotland to Tenerife - which charts the start of the crew's epic journey.
And here you'll find the most recent Daily Log Updates from the boat as they come in.
Last Day In Horta, Azores
Date: Friday 21 May 2004
Day: 301
Notes: We plan to sail tomorrow morning. Everything is ready,we can do no more. We must remain relaxed but aware that this is the trickiest part of the voyage round the world.
Delighted to receive an email from Moscow today - "very much enjoying the poems...". So here is the next part of the sequence. After the "Tall Poppy" crusher, I need something to help with pulling up the boot-laces. A snatch from a song by Jimmy Durante:
A few tinkles on the piano - a pause -
"What's that? I got it! I found it! The Lost Chord!
Well I'm bound to say, I'm on my way, to a place in the Hall of Fame
'Cos I'm the guy who found the Lost Chord!"
Then something by Teddy Roosevelt:
"It's not the critic who counts,
Nor the man who points out where the strong man stumbled,
Or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit lies with the man who is actually in the arena,
Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
Who,if he succeeds, knows the triumph of high achievement.
And if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be, with those cold and timid souls,
Who know neither victory not defeat."
I'm afraids there is still more to come - unless I'm too seasick...
Into the mist...John.
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 20 May 2004
Day: 301
Notes: Richard Morris-Adams our new crew-member arrived from UK today.
Richard has sailed across the North Atlantic with us and in the Caribbean. And he was with us when our daughter Rebecca became the first woman to kayak round Cape Horn. He will help us keep a good look-out as we sail up the crowded English Channel.
Here, with apologies to PB Shelley, a relative of my wife, is the next poem
from the Southern Ocean recital. It's about the 'Tall Poppy' syndrome, which sometimes follows success:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is John Ridgway, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
I suppose it is only a Game, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
Into the mist...John.
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 19 May 2004
Day: 300
Notes: 300 days since leaving home. Another good day for inroads into the backlog of work. We'll just about have the old shippy ready for sailing round the world by the time we reach home. Doing things now which I've been meaning to do for five years or more. Reliable good weather is the key.
In the Southern Ocean recital, the next poem was for starting out in civvy-street after 12 years in the Army:
"There is a tide in the affairs of man, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted once, the voyage of their life is ever bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat and must take the current while it serves, or ever lose our ventures."
Of course this didn't do much for Julius Caesar but does seem to have worked for me, on the basis that the "Opportunity of a lifetime, must be taken in the lifetime of the opportunity"
More tomorrow - sorry about this - Horta is a very quiet place.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 18 May 2004
Day: 299
Notes: Another good day in a lifetime where some have been indifferent,
some dreary. But it is important to remember, the whole thing has been lived-out in the top 10% of the Earth's population as far as comfort is concerned. And that was pure chance. Fancy being Gordon Davies all my life and never knowing it until I was 65 years old.
I remember looking out of the same window from the shower block at the root
of the harbour wall here, ten years ago, and feeling the tension seep away. Perhaps not having arrived at 'the absolute truth' quite but maybe nearly the right attitude to receive it. Strut on, baby, into the mist.....
While hand-steering on grim nights in the Southern Ocean, I put together a
collection of poems and songs to cover my whole life. With the drop boards in place on the back of the dog house to keep out the weather, the wheel was a lonely spot. To cheer myself up I used to shout the poems into the wind. Well, since there can be very few readers of this column left now, I'll see
if I can't shake off the very last one: so here goes.
My recital begins with a poem which I have come to understand is
gratifyingly unfashionable. It was written by a chap called Henry Newbolt some time before Tesco Super Stores were ever dreamed of:
"There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight
A bumping pitch and a blinding light.
Ten to make and the last man in
And its not for the sake of a ribboned coat or a season's fame
But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote
Play up, play up and play the game."
A line or two missing? Well I'd miss out the middle verse. Here's the last:
"The sand of the desert is sodden red
Red with the wreck of a square that broke
The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead
The Regiment blind with dust and smoke
The river of death has brimmed its banks
And England's far, and honour a name
When the voice of a schoolboy rallied the ranks
Play up, play up and play the game.
I'm afraid I left my Windsor House Prep School (1948) copy of Childrens's Verse at home. A chap called Lane in 3A had it before me I think.
Those two verses cover school and my twelve years in the Army. I'd follow them with a 1961 popular French song 'Milord'.
More tomorrow.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 17 May 2004
Day: 298,
Notes: Affable people happily sign our 'Save the Albatross' Petition. Never
was there such an agreeable place to work on the boat. Perfect climate, perfect facilities: Powerul freshwater hose, shelter from wind and swell. A few months here (or maybe years) and everything might glitter once more. Is this "harbour rot"?
At 0630 each morning Marie Christine and I walk across town to the further shore and have a cup of coffee in a small workman's cafe. We have heard little or no news since last July but we don't need Portuguese to understand the fearful pictures on the TV. People around the world crowded together in hatred.
Poor Tony Blair, he meant so well. There he is, arriving in Turkey, "Go home Blair Dog of Bush". Is it another Vietnam? Since we've been away, has he told anyone really why he risked everything on the war with Iraq? Oh dear.
Out here on Atlantis, Marie Christine tells me the air is alive with birdsong. Unfortunately I left my hearing with the Army rifles forty years ago when I was being trained to travel the world, meet interesting people and kill them. But it didn't seem like that at the time and still I can see no alternative but to "talk softly but carry a big stick".
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 16 May 2004
Day: 296
Notes: "I was born, under a wanderin' star. Never seen a place - didn't look look better lookin' back." I've done this before.
After a while it's difficult to stop anywhere at all. I remember in '95 sailing back into Ardmorea fter 18 months of wandering through the Caribbean, Polynesia, Chile, Antarctica, Brazil. I sat in the Tower at home and thought "Why have we stopped here, at this lonely spot, on the NW corner of Europe? We are ten weeks out of South Georgia but in just two days we could be in Norway, home of Isso's Norwegian family, and in springtime too!"
East, west, home's best.
We are keen to get on now. Surely this must mean the rest is doing us good?
But the job list is long and we must be more wary now than at any time on the voyage.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 15 May 2004
Day: 295
Notes: I had a fairly frighening haircut, No.4 all over, among the matrons
of Horta. They were all in their curlers under the dryer. The single
hairdresser, a pocket battleship of an Azorean with square-cut black hair,
forced me back in my chair and jammed my neck into the jaws of a
funny-shaped wash basin. Next thing my head was enveloped in a jet of warm
water and Rosa Kreb was upon me with fingers like marlin spikes and a stern
expression which I took to mean she usually whipped whales at weekends.
This was a very liberal translation of "No.4 all over please." But I didn't
like to say. I got out in the end but it was the most expensive haircut
I've ever had, bar one. And I did think I heard some cackling from the
matron's as I slunk out. I never saw a sign of another man in there. I'm
sure the hair will grow back.
Five more Superyachts arrived today: Wind Rose, Squall, Erica V1, Kiss the
Sun and Leopard. I suppose we all feel the need to make some sort of
statement in life before we are overwhelmed and disappear.
I think I'll conclude with the last verse of 'Ardmore' by Norman MacCaig.
"The sea rips in between two claws of stone
Or races out, as meaning does with words.
- So, Here's a statement at its seeming end.
Only who makes it knows that it has flown
Into a space where dogs need never bark
Or roses in their thorns be overblown"
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 14 May 2004
Day: 294
Notes: We are sinking back into the soft underbelly of civilisation. We haven't quite re-arranged our sleep patterns for "A good night's sleep" yet, so we are usually ranging the hills in the early hours, trying to get as much exercise as possible.
The provisions for the next Leg of the voyage are being brought in by the rucksack. Plenty to do on the boat but plenty of distraction as well.
Each day see's the arrival of Superyachts enroute from the Caribbean season to the Mediterranean season. Today came 'Ranger', the brand new dazzling steel copy of the giant 'J' class yachts of the 1930s.
We must press on to avoid rush at the end of our stay here. This is the first place we have visited where the weather is just right for work all day long. It would be no bad place to live if only you could keep yourself; if not you would be just another exile. Perhaps is is so pleasant because there appears to be little or no tourism. Being further north than the Canary Islands and Madeira it will probably be gales or rain in winter and not hot enough for mass tastes in summer.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 13 May 2004
Day: 293, Day 57 Leg 6
Notes: Enough bile and rant, that cannot be the way. Adapt or die. Could I
really become magnanimous? Faial is a pleasant volcanic island, just the top-most tip of a mountain range soaring up from the abyss, a little part of what might once have been that mysterious place they called Atlantis. But it is much re-built since we passed through here ten years ago.
The earthquake of 1998 killed ten people but it could so easily have been
very many more. But by grim chance the disaster created longed-for economic boom with EEC channelling funds for restoration of the islands flattened houses.
The people are unfailingly polite and helpful and so we were able to make
great strides up the ladder of our worklist.
If on Day 328 of our voyage we are to halt the mighty roar of London's
traffic for the Albatross, on the dot of 11.30am on Thursday 17 June, as Tower Bridge lifts for the 'Save the albatross' banners on English Rose V1, just 38 years after the bridge lifted for English Rose 111, the old shippy will need to be in to form indeed.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 12 May 2004
Day: 293, Day 57 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 38/32'N, 28/36'W
Position relative to land: In Horta, Azores
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 92 miles (306 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 6,550 nm (11,942 kilometres)
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) (adjusted - straight
line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: calm
Sea: calm
Barometer: 1028
Air Temp: n/a
Sea temp: n/a
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
Notes: By 9am we were back in civilisation with a bump. Horta. Westernmost
bastion of Europe and its Euro. Chain smoking chool children glued to
mobile phones in cafes with canned music. Affluenza, obesity, and
superiority complexes.
Marie Christine and I strolled round the harbour, famous for the names and
pictures of visiting sailboats on every inch of wharf and wall. Thousands
upon thousands of them. We were looking for the Red English Rose with its
Green leaves, painted by Marie Christine and Rebecca when we were last here
in 1995.
In a strange way it was a relief to find that all trace of the Rose had
vanished, been obliterated. It underscored our total un-importance. Even
the super-scrabbling of the visiting 34 year-old Russion billionaire in his
£29M 65 metre super yacht could leave no mark.
How important not to believe your own publicity.
How about simply trying to leave everything you touch a little better than
you found it? Please do save the Albatross. Do sign the Petition on the Web
today. www.savethealbatross.org.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway (pompous arse)
Date: Tuesday 11 May 2004
Day: 292, Day 560 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 37/21'N, 29/44'W
Position relative to land: 87 miles SSW of Horta, Azores
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 165 miles (306 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 6,448 nm (11,942 kilometres)
Total distance from Ardmore: 26,480 miles (49,041 kilometres)
Course: 039T
Speed: 6.4 knots (Under engine)
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 87nm (161 kilometres) (adjusted - straight
line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: SSE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light
Barometer: 1028 steady
Air Temp: n/a
Sea temp: 18.9C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Arctic Jaeger
- Band runoed Storm Petrel
- Arctic Jaeger
- Cory Shearwarter
- Bulwer Petrel
Notes: Just after midnight I took over from Nick. Under the motor it is a long two hours for him. He can't leave the wheel for more than a few seconds or the old boat swings wildly off course. Difficult for him to do the hourly checks on engine meters and pump the header tank.
Around dawn a SSE breeze sprang up. I put up all plain sail and turned the engine off; a blessing after 49 hours of motoring through the 'Azores High'. Good to give it a run though, after nearly nine weeks of just weekly half-hours to bring the engine up to temperature. That Mercedes OM314 has done us proud over the years with its 80 horses.
Just before lunch we came upon a pair of big Sperm whales. The first raised its tail and sounded, diving down away to the abyss. But the second jumped clear of the water every half minute or so, five times it did this. Can you imagine the huge splash. How big? How heavy? A pity we couldn't have a man standing beside it to give scale to the scene but the splash was tremendous. I hope it wouldn't come and jump on the old shippy. I heard about just that happening to a sailing boat off Australia.
On a lesser scale, a turtle drifted by and Cory's Shearwater became
commonplace.
At 1700 Tim sighted Pico, a 7,613 foot extinct volcano with a nobble on the top. This is the whole island of Pico! It's twenty miles east of Horta. The beautiful symmetrical outline of the volcano's cone was especially sweet to see 60 miles ahead of us and it was already high in the sky. Thrilling, after 61 days from chilly Falkland Islands. We've come north from 50 degrees south to nearly 40 degrees north (Ardmore is 58N).
Darkness came and Nick slipped between two brightly lit fishing boats as
the lights of Horta spread out along the foot of Ilha do Faial before him. MC and I reduced sail and trickled gently toward the rocky coast, to lie off until dawn.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 10 May 2004
Day: 291, Day 59 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 35/09'N, 31/42'W
Position relative to land: 1,200 miles (2,222 kilometres) due west of Straits of Gibraltar
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 170 miles (315 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 6,283 nm (11,636 kilometres)
Total distance from Ardmore: 26,315 miles (48,735 kilometres)
Course: 036T
Speed: 6.5 knots (Under engine)
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 250nm (463 kilometres) (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F1-2 (1-5 knots)
Sea: Calm
Barometer: 1028 steady
Air Temp: 20C, with wind chill 17C
Sea temp: 20.1C
Cloud cover: 15%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Arctic Tern
- Band-rumped Storm Petrel
Notes: Just after midnight, dark and starry. First comes a slight lightening in the sky out to starboard, then a flick of orange on the very horizon becomes a monster's bloody red finger-tip clawing up over the rim of the world. Keep calm. Quickly it rises, transforming into a slice of lemon, a quarter moon, back-lighting the innocent clouds and turning them in turn, ominous black.
Foaming bubbles of our wake race through the cosy pool of golden light shed from our stern light. The rumble of the engine, the white steaming light against the quivering staysail and the red and green lights reflecting on the shiny steel on the bows, they all combine to bring to our eyes, unaccustomed to powered vessel lights, the impression of a speeding Christmas tree. At eight knots its no time to fall from a bough; as Igor knows after a nasty rope-burn from a mis-timed effort to catch a bucketful of sea water for the washing-up.
By contrast, the dawn brought all the balm of a fresh May morning in mid-Atlantic: blue sky, smoothest of slumbering seas, and spotted dolphins splashing to the forward horizon.
I wonder if the hanging tendrils from a Portuguese Man o' War jellyfish could burn a dolphin's eye, as the "scalders" burn the salmon at home.
How different is the North from the deserted South Atlantic. Back in civilisation there is much plastic floating on the water now. For several hours we passed through a concentration of white woolly things, much like the polystyrene worms used in packaging, we hoped they were some kind of fishes egg-sac.
Tim watched three large tuna leap ten feet or more into the air, not 200 yards off the port bow. "If they'd been close to the boat they'd have jumped clear over it!" he laughed. And Nick, on his lonely afternoon watch, saw a large whale, brown-backed in the bright sunlight, blow twice before sounding into the abyss. In fact we seemed to spend much of the day, up and down the main companionway, jumping like Jack-in-the-boxes, to the cry of "Dolphin!" or "Whale!" from the helmsman.
All the while we are roaring along, reeling off 170 miles in 24 hours.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 9 May 2004
Day: 290, Day 58 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 32/51'N, 33/43'W
Position relative to land: 870 (1,611 kilometres) miles west of Madeira
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 135 miles (250 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 6,113 nm (11,321 kilometres)
Total distance from Ardmore: 26,145 miles (48,420 kilometres)
Course: 040T
Speed: 6.4 knots (Under engine)
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 420nm (778 kilometres) (adjusted - straight
line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: Calm
Sea: Calm
Barometer: 1028 steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 20C
Sea temp: 21.8C
Cloud cover: 25%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Arctic Tern
Notes: Those readers who've managed to stagger through this log with us,
may remember the struggle we had in the calms of the "South Atlantic High",
while we were trying to "Tie the Knot" on our circumnavigation, back in
early April. 1022 mb was as high as it got with us. Well, now we are in
the "North Atlantic High" at 1028 mb on the barometer. It's also known as
the "Azores High".
We turned on the engine at 0645 and immediately began capsizing the small
blue and pink galleons of the Portugues Man o'War jelly fish which throng
this part of the ocean.
I'm glad we kept our diesel for this situation, we should manage all the
way to Horta if we have to.
Tim sighted a couple of Killer Whales a quarter of a mile off the Port beam
in mid-afternoon. But birds there were none, except for a fleeting shadow
in the moonlight, off the stern at three in the morning.
A big oil tanker in ballast en route from the Gulf of Mexico to Port Said
crossed our stern at 1600. The second ship came just after dark and taught
us a lesson. A cargo ship, she'd slipped out of Punta Delgada last night
bound SW for Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. With a crew from Eastern
Europe: Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, they probably were not expecting to
meet a small sailing vessel in the dark. It was clear they had not seen us
and they didn't answer the radio either. Fine on the starboard bow they
were coming straight for us at our combined speeds.
Igor clambered up the ladder from the galley to take over the Watch. It
would be a little test.
"Cleopatra comin' atcha!" I grinned,"Near and closing fast - what's the
range and which is the giving way vessel?"
He peered at the screen, counting the rings "Five miles" he muttered, while
trying to remember the boats he had drawn for Nick's freshly printed Safety
Regulations that afternoon.
"Two power driven vessels - the one with the other on its starboard side is
the giving way vessel - THAT'S US!" he cried.
"Well done! Marie Christine alter course 070 compass" I said, pleased he'd
got it right. "Zero seven zero compass" called MC from the wheel. "And
after you've made the decision, check with the sheet that you are
correct" I said to Igor.
Then the ship came up on the radio and we had a pleasant half-understood
conversation.
Only four eggs left! But colossal mounds of chocolate cake which contain
many ancient eggs. Only Tim and Nick eat it. The rest of us have to face
the wall as we pass through the galley and think of England.
Then, a dramatic swing. Just after seven in the evening a great squeak came
from the helmsperson - after all the years trapped aboard this boat, Marie
Christine had finally seen the "Green Flash" at sunset. I never have, nor
Nick but Igor and Tim have both seen it elsewhere, several times.
When we came on at midnight we found a message of celebration in the
Log: "Have some cake, MC - I HAVE! I.A.".
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 8 May 2004
Day: 289, Day 57 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 30/49'N, 34/35'W
Position relative to land: 2,045 nm (3,787 kilometres) SSW of Ardmore
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 miles (259 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,978 nm (11,071 kilometres)
Total distance from Ardmore: 26,010 miles (48,170 kilometres)
Course: 022T
Speed: 5.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 546nm (1,011 kilometres) (adjusted - straight
line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Moderate
Barometer: 1027 rising steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 18C
Sea temp: 20.9C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Shearwater sp.
- Arctic Tern
Notes: Nick said the moon came over the horizon like an aircraft carrier.
But it is already down to 3/4 size and it's coming up into the sky later
and later. What splendid light it has bathed us in this past many days.
We had a grand day our here with the wind veering and after eight weeks
more or less continually on the wind, it is allowing us to head right at
Horta, now only a few hundred miles ahead. We have the smell of the
fleshpots in our nostrils, with 48,170 kilometres under the keel since
leaving home last July.
All the more reason for FOCUS 'More soldiers are killed returning from
patrol to enemy lines than are ever killed going out!' Ships and jets are
becoming commonplace. Nick is writing safety instructions for all crew
members between here and Ardmore.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date:Friday 7 May 2004
Day: 288, Day 56 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 28/45'N, 34/34'W
Position relative to land: 900 miles west of Tenerife, Canary Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 115 miles (213 kilometres)
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,838 nm (10,812 kilometres)
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,870 miles (47,911 kilometres)
Course: 341T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 761nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F3 (6-10 knots)
Sea: Light but a bit lumpy
Barometer: 1026 rising steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 17C
Sea temp: 23.8C
Cloud cover: 15%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Red-billed Tropic Bird
Notes: Holding our breath on a silken sea as another perfect dawn heralded a fresher day of endless sun under a dream rig. Paradiso! Long gone - dull care. 900 miles west of the Canaries.
The first time I've ever seen two Tropic Birds together; Red-billed, with elegant white streamers longer than themselves. They called to one another as they circled above the mast before heading west.
We are all enjoying this bonus after a long, long haul round the world. 47,000 km so far.
At 2215 a ship out of the Panama Canal, bound for Spain, crossed our bow at 1.5 miles. We must watch out now, as we begin the unfamiliar business of crossing shipping lanes between the the old and new worlds of Europe and America.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date:Thursday 6 May 2004
Day: 287, Day 55 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 26/45'N, 34/23'W
Position relative to land: 900 miles WSW of Tenerife, Canary Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,723 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,755 miles
Course: 351T
Speed: 4.9 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 761nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F3 (6-10 knots)
Sea: Moderate to light
Barometer: 1021 steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 24.6C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Cory's Shearwater
- Long tailed Jaeger
Notes: Message as before. 24hrs of plugging along with NNW the resolution of all the different directions we've sailed, from West to NNE.
Peering over the bow we see plenty of Gooseneck barnacles projecting at right-angles from the hull. They'll be slowing us down a good bit. There were none there in the Falklands when the diver checked the rudder and the prop; he was most reassuring about how clean the bottom was.
But this is another long leg, eight weeks tomorrow 6,500+ miles and most of it in this milk-warm soupy water. Long legs on this voyage - like the Albatross, we don't stop often.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 5 May 2004
Day: 286, Day 54 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 25/12'N, 33/49'W
Position relative to land:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 110 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,623 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,655 miles
Course: 026T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 840nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Moderate to light
Barometer: 1021 steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 18C
Sea temp: 23.4C
Cloud cover: 60%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Band-rumped
- Long tailed Jaeger
Notes: After the partial eclipse, midnight gave us a glorious night bathed
with light and a smooth sea, perfect for just about anything but sailing.
Towering but distant and slow-moving, the black rain-clouds dominated local
weather for the day; their trailing curtains of slanting rain seemingly
motionless. The breeze was 5-22 knots from a sunny sky, but mostly at the
bottom end of the scale.
It was late in the afternoon when Nick told us we had just crossed the 1973
outward track of The Aegre, on her way to the West Indies. Nick had bought
the 21' lug-rigged open wooden boat at Ardmore for £300 and we had
pursuaded Bobby Macinness to partially plank her over in his Nissen hut, in
nearby Scourie, during the previous winter.
The effects of that long-ago voyage with its catastrophic capsize in
mid-Pacific and hair's breadth survival to reach Samoa, have played such a
large part in the success of our present voyage thus far.
As I announced to a startled Marie Rogers one south-bound tropical evening
last September, "We are lucky to have one of the great passage makers of
the world with us - Nick Grainger."
Perhaps there is something about travelling across an ocean in a really
tiny open wooden boat, like The Aegre, or my own North Atlantic dory rowing
boat, which brings a closeness to the sea, nature and life which can never
be erased. Indeed with the passage of the years its effects may even
magnify. How fortunate we both were to have had that experience, to come to
understand that it's the journey, not the direction which matters. I'm sure
it's that fundamental understanding which has brought us safely this far.
Perhaps all this becomes increasingly incomprehensible in the rush of faxes
and emails and mobile phones which pressurise our modern life.
And, how fortunate we are to have had these 284 days, with the Albatross
wheeling across our wake to jog our memories and to help us consider if we
wish to return to madness or to alter course.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 4 May 2004
Day: 285, Day 53 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 23/31'N, 33/22'W
Position relative to land: Less than a thousand miles south of the Azores
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,513 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,545 miles
Course: 350T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 929nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate with many white caps. On starboard bow.
Barometer: 1020 steady
Air Temp: 22C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 24.2C
Cloud cover: 25%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Band-rumped
- Long tailed Jaeer
- Arctic Tern
- Cory's Shearwater
Notes: Coming on Watch at midnight: "We've just had a black cloud, the wind was up to 30 knots" warned Nick, grimly as only Nick can be, "But it's down now - just watch out for them!" Tired after a long day, his long frame disappeared down the hatchway like a jack-in-the-box.
It was under a thousand miles to Horta and by 0045 we were out of the Tropics, that's more than 22.5 degrees north.
We did have a black cloud but it was a small one and we held onto the sails through the 30 knot gusts and slipped along, through the lull that followed. The sleepy heads came on at 0200, Igor and Tim are never at their best on the "graveyard watch" 0200-0400, whereas at 0200, MC and I are at our most joyous: thinking of our bunks and no call until 0545 when its already light. But how we hate Nick's call at quarter to midnight every blinking night.
Two separate Long-tailed Skuas and an Arctic Tern heading north. And two Red-billed Tropic Birds, hours apart, heading east. But how I'd love to see a big Wandering Albatross wheeling in the wind.
Nick and I reckon we are still in the NE Trades, it's just that they are a bit desultory right now. THe air temperature is grand, at 19C with the wind chill added, life is very pleasant. Great works are going ahead all over the boat to sharpen up.
One day short of the full moon on a clear night and we had a grandstand view of a partial eclipse which took the curved top quarter off, leaving it looking like a soft-boiled egg with the top cut off, from 1915 to 2015.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 3 May 2004
Day: 284, Day 52 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 21/20'N, 32/58'W
Position relative to land: 850 miles west of 'Country of Moorish Tribes'
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 90 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,373 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,405 miles
Course: 005T
Speed: 4.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1,052nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F4 ( knots)
Sea: Light, but growing with building wind
Barometer: 1018 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 24.6C
Cloud cover: 80%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Arctic Tern
Notes: Wind up and down through 5-16 knots all night. One minute "This is it! We're on our way!" Then "Gone flat again!" All in all it was a Z-like course, with the moon playing hide-and-seek with the clouds While the helmsman tweaked the Monitor or steered by hand.
A grey dawn brought a true wind, but then again, it didn't. After breakfast with MC's hand on the wheel, things began to settle with the wind veering to the east and steadily building.
By noon we were 21 North, 33 West, and that put us, on my trusty 1883 Admiralty chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, about 850 miles off the 'Country of the Moorish Tribes' with just over a thousand miles to the Azores.
The ENE wind filled in all afternoon and sail was reduced to suit as the going grew bumpy.
Poor MC spent an hour and a half juggling a pressure cooker of red kidney beans, one saucepan of rice and another of onion, garlic, salt, tomato, cumin, oregano, chili powder and corned beef, to come up with a hot meal of chili con-carne which in the end she couldn't face. So Igor dished it out.
We are on our way.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 2 May 2004
Day: 283, Day 51 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 20/01'N, 32/24'W
Position relative to land: 900 miles off the west coast of Africa
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 75 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,283 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,315 miles
Course: 326T
Speed: 2.7 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1,124nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NNE F2 (4-6 knots)
Sea: Light chop with underlying swell from NE
Barometer: 1016 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 22C
Sea temp: 25.4C
Cloud cover: 40%
Bird sightings over the day:
- White tailed Tropic Bird
- Pomarine Skua
- Arctic Tern
Notes: Midnight. Hazy 3/4 moon like a street light on a misty night. A chill in the air, time for a fleece. Smooth sea, ominous long long swell from far distant (I hope) North Atlantic storm.
Very colourful dawn. Gene Feldman at NASA has warned us to look out for red Saharan sand. The world is blowing away.
Pomarine Skua and Red-billed Tropic Bird. Wind looks more purposeful today at last. But the heat of the day sucks the heart out of it again. Then it picked itself up again in late afternoon, in a blood red sandy sunset.
For the second time, over an interval of ten years or so, I'm reading 'High Endeavours' a biography of Miles and Beryl Smeeton. Heroes of mine since the 1960's. But they are long dead now and I'm only a couple of years younger then the 'old age' photo of Miles in the book. I'm appalled to find they're casting their spell on me again, from beyond the grave, now. Miles has just said "the world would be intolerable if adventure was not just round the corner".
Well, I've got through this trip, which I thought would be such a strain, over a few short years, it might kill me. But funnily enough, I don't feel so bad. Maybe I'll make another come-back. I can see a way ahead, thanks to Miles and Beryl. And maybe Lance Armstrong too.
Perhaps MC and I will tune-up and set out on a rip-roaring final quarter.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 1 May 2004
Day: 282, Day 50 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18/55'N, 31/26'W
Position relative to land: 360 miles WNW of Cape Verde Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 40 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,208 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,240 miles
Course: 021T
Speed: 2.00 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1182nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F1-2
Sea: Moderate Calm, big long swell
Barometer: 1015 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 22C
Sea temp: 25.8C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Greater Shearwater
- Petrel: Bulwers
- Storm Petrel: Band-rumped,
- Arctic Tern
- Long-tailed Tropic Bird
Notes: May Day 2004. It seems only yesterday it was May Day 2003. Already we are nearing home,at the end of our great adventure. I suppose time has passed so quickly because it has been so absorbing, on two levels:
Firstly, the struggle, the continuous cliff-hanger, to sail the old shippy and the very various people right round the world through the Southern Ocean. Secondly, there has been the surprisingly demanding but most rewarding Albatross programme organised for us by Birdlife International in each port, where we would ordinarily rest and repair.
My life would have seemed very short if each year had been as vivid and as quick as this one.
It may appear rather odd to be writing the above paragraph when we have sailed only 40 miles in the past 24 hours. But again there was the smallish whale which blew only 5 metres off the port bow when Nick was alone on watch in a still, clear dawn around 0530. And the group of dolphins which called by as they were heading N.E., a little earlier.
Nick also saw a white bird take off from the sea, it might have been a Long-tailed Tropic Bird, none of us had ever seen one other than alone and in the air. Tim said if it was resting on the surface it would have kept its long white streamers out of the water at about 45deg. In fact one did appear eight hours later, and it circled the boat several times with its yellow bill before heading off towards the East.
We were moving so slowly we became a "raft" once more and fish gathered in the shade beneath us. A father and son pair of small brown fish managed to elude a long thin Dorado, while gathering clumps of rust-coloured almost-seawead slipped along the hull, or is it fish spawn, more likely. Are we far from the Sargasso Sea?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 30 April 2004
Day: 281, Day 49 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18/17'N, 31/40'W
Position relative to land: 360 miles WNW of Cape Verde Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 70 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,168 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,200 miles
Course: 040T
Speed: 3.2 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1221nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: SE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Moderate Calm
Barometer: 1016 steady
Air Temp: 28C, with wind chill 28C
Sea temp: 25.8C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Petrel: Bulwers
- Storm Petrel: Band-rumped,
- Arctic Tern
Notes: This was a day of calm, another one! Hand-steering for hour after
hour, to coax two or three miles north in 60 minutes. We sailed 70 miles
to get 52 nearer to Horta, noon-noon.
We travel across this empty, empty ocean, thinking there's just nothing
here at all. But at night looking down, we see miniature monsters fighting
microscopic battles filled with luminous explosions, overseen by the
galaxies above.
Yesterday, we saw the Sperm Whale and 20 Striped Dolphins. Today, we had 50
Atlantic Spotted Dolphins playing round the bow for an hour or more, with
another 50 all around. Perhaps the excitement triggered their bowels, Over
the bows peering into the crystal-blue water, one second a dolphin next
second a broad grey ribbon of excreta; yesterday's fish, two or three
years of life extinguished in one gulp. I must drive more carefully.
A handful of Arctic Terns flapped by, they'll need to hurry or miss the
best nesting sites.
Nick put us on the Port Tack after lunch when he began his lonely four
hours in the sun. We each give him a 15 minute spell to cut the time.
And so we plodded vaguely North all afternoon and evening. Six hours for
ten miles.
Luckily we have each found a way of coming to terms with time and space,
seven weeks now since the Governor's elegant dinner of toothfish and silver
in Stanley.
Nick is learning Banjo Patterson's "Clancy of the Overflow" and I'm
grappling with Norman MacCaig's "Ardmore" and at last, dreaming new
schemes. Perhaps I'll not go "unburnished" after all. I seem to learn
quicker now, than ever I could. What does that mean? And I'm returning
to the Yoga.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 29 April 2004
Day: 280, Day 48 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 17/24'N, 31/44'W
Position relative to land: 1,273 miles south of Horta, Azores
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 5,098nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,130 miles
Course: 016T
Speed: 3.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1273nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Light, becoming calm
Barometer: 1015 steady
Air Temp: n/a
Sea temp: 25.0C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Leach's, Band-rumped,
- Long tailed Jaeger
- Arctic Tern
- Red-billed Tropic bird
Notes: The sea was calmer by midnight. The wind already beginning to fall away with the Southern Cross magnificent on the southern horizon and Nick reporting the Pole Star off the end of the Plough for the first time. But for us it was buried in northern clouds.
The light airs continued to fall during the morning as is Nick's Sandtex bucket of muesli. What will he do when the last flakes disappear? Fortunately Marie Christine has one simple bench-mark in life: Everything is measured above or below Prisoner-of-war level. Presently we are well above the mark and "Well, he'll just have to cope!" is the stern edict. But does Nick view life on the same gauge? My guess is he'll submerge himself in the last jar of Peanut Butter, which has just been lodged within the sliding doors of the Crew's Snacks cupboard. I didn't say anything but I did see a variable thickness of it already on Nick's elevenses. He sits bolt upright and with his long back, tries to keep the plate above eye-level to normals. I suppose he's thinking its in the clouds or something.
We were becalmed by noon and that final jar will surely dwindle with 1,273 miles to go. I find it such a struggle to pass that cupboard. "You're a gonner!" sneers Marie Christine if I slip.
It's hand steering now and we're just trickling along. Still there are 1.5 sacks of the legendary Chilean White Onions remaining.
We passed very close to a dozing Sperm whale; these little chaps can weigh up to 60 tonnes, dive for an hour to 3,000 metres to guzzle giant squid in the darkness of the abyss. Could it have been asleep there - blowing every 15 seconds or so? It took absolutely no notice of our passing, no curiosity, no fear. If we'd been ancient mariners it might have been easy to row up quietly from behind it and throw a harpoon.
But what if we had run into it in the night? What damage might it have done with its tail as it panicked to dive?
A group of some 20 Striped Dolphins were sighted, they were feeding. Tim thought they could have been hunting in conjunction with large fish like Tuna.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 28 April 2004
Day: 279, Day 47 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 15/23'N, 31/10'W
Position relative to land: 400 miles west of Cape Verde Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,973 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 25,005 miles
Course: 336T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1390nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NNE F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate Trade Wind swell
Barometer: 1017 steady
Air Temp: 22C, with wind chill 17C
Sea temp: 23.4C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Leach's, Band-rumped,
- Long tailed Jaeger
- Arctic Tern
- Red-billed Tropic bird
Notes: A little more composed. The sea water temperature is down to 25C from 31C a week or so back. The air temperature is much down and I'm thinking of "April in Portugal" - it can't be that hot in Horta surely.
The flying fish still pile up in the port scuppers and one hit the front of the Doghouse last night like the Hammer of Thor.
Black patch. "How did you lose your eye?"
"I was hit by a Flying-fish"
"Oh"
We have seen four more Red-billed Tropic Birds over the past couple of days. Wonderful. Always one snow-white bird alone in a sky of blue. Life was meant to be like this.
There's very little to complain about really, though given time I'm sure I could think of something. It is only a game really you know - and I'm pretty sure it won't be Pasta for supper tonight.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 27 April 2
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 13/22'N, 30/14'W
Position relative to land:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,838 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,870 miles
Course: 338T
Speed: 5.7 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1507nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Moderate Trade Wind swell
Barometer: 1014 steady
Air Temp: 24C, with wind chill 20C
Sea temp: 25.8C
Cloud cover: 60%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Red-billed Tropic bird
Notes:
I was grumpy all day. I trod on Marie Christine's foot and said I'd thought she was a beetle. At lunch, Nick, that pillar of virtue, said if his daughter behaved in such a negative way he would send her to her bedroom and tell her not to come out until she was better. Fat lot of good that would do, holier than thou!
So I went. Irritated by a whole lot of things, most of them not on this boat at all; and the interminable Prickly Heat.
By supper time I was hungry, so I developed a more positive approach, put the scales back on my eyes and came out to meet my fellow beings.
It was a nice supper of pasta tubes with olives and anchovies. Just what I hate. There, I've said it, after 40 years. But all the same it is a sizeable step up on the alternative - fat nothing.
Marie Christine is in a frenzy of tapestry knitting and because the butter and eggs won't last, cake making. Presently it is vast chocolate cakes, which only Nick and Tim can eat because the rest of us are on the ghastly slimming. Igor does two hours PT a day, trussed up like a turkey, toning himself for his return to the Peruvian beaches.
Perhaps few could be tip-top for 278 days on the trot, particularly being woken at quarter to midnight. And for me, the Internet is not the place I would choose to express my inner-most feelings. In fact, I have grown to hate it. Natural though it might seem for others to think that others might like express their inner-most feelings on it.
For one thing, there is no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. There's no hindsight on this lark.
For another, I do miss the albatross on this endless starboard tack up the North Atlantic and in my bones I pretty much know I'll not see the old bird in the same grand manner again.
My memory is of the old shippy striding across the Southern Ocean in the fresh light of early day, surrounded all the while by albatrosses of every kind, like old friends calling by to cheer us along. And Brent Stephenson, a complete stranger from the other end of the world, jumping up and down by the wheel crying "This is the best day of my life - and it's only just begun!"
So far from the petty cares of everyday modern living. So great that a stranger should share my delight in something so simple, so natural, yet so vital.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 26 April 2004
Day: 277, Day 45 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 11/19'N, 29/23'W
Position relative to land: 400 nm WSW of Cape Verde Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,708 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,740 miles
Course: 350T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1627nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Moderate Trade Wind swell developing
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 22C
Sea temp: 27.5C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Bulwer Petrel
- Arctic tern
- Storm Petrel: Leach's, Band-rumped, Wilson's
Notes: Eating up the miles north as the wind fills in and the seas build a little. Although the splashing keeps the hatches shut it is still noticeably cooler and this is a great relief on the Prickly heat.
A dozen flying fish ended up in the scuppers today. They shoot away from us in silver curtains. They are in fact pretty bony to eat.
The birds are mostly Storm Petrels, as they would need to be if they are indeed the most numerous bird on the planet.
There is a push, led by Nick, to smarten the boat up before we arrive in Horta, which we think could be around 12 days if present progress holds. It is heartening to find the old shippy in better shape coming home than going out.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 25 April 2004
Day: 276, Day 44 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 09/20'N, 28/32'W
Position relative to land: 420 nm SW of Ile Foso in the Cape Verde Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,573 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,605 miles
Course: 335T
Speed: 5.2 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1,745nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NNE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Becoming modeerate to bumpy
Barometer: 1011 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 22C
Sea temp: 27.9C
Cloud cover: 70%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Bulwer Petrel
- Arctic tern
- Arctic Jaeger
Notes: Nick wearing red fleece at midnight for first time since... Distant
loom of a Long-liner on starboard beam. Plough visible for days but still no Pole star yet.
Long-tailed Skua, Bulwer's Petrel, 17 Arctic Terns (maybe we've seen a
couple of hundred now). Flying fish in the scuppers.
Doghouse windows and scupper scrubbing to keep smart. Timmy cleaned the
brasses for Anzac Day. MC prepared roast potatoes with Rosemary and onions set in Spanish omelette, this was baked in the oven alongside the famous Anzac biscuits. Stirring stuff.
The Trade Wind is veering a little (clockwise now we are back in the
Northern Hemisphere, anti-clockwise in Southern Hemisphere) so we are making more to North than North-west; but we are stopped in our tracks when the bow buries in waves from the previous wind.
Lots of Chinese chat on Channel 16 and a waxing 1/4 moon, as we hobby horse
away NNW. We are 420 nm SW of Ile Fogo in the Cape Verde Islands; we sailed past this 9,000 foot volcano in 1974, it's famous for the quality of the coffee grown on its slopes. On this voyage I heard in Cape Town that there are pirates round the Cape Verde's now.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 24 April 2004
Day: 275, Day 43 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 07/32'N, 27/35'W
Position relative to land: 800 miles west of sierra Leone, West Africa
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 110 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,453 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,485 miles
Course: 330T
Speed: 4.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1,854nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NNE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1009 falling slowly
Air Temp: 26C, with wind chill 24C
Sea temp: 28.7C
Cloud cover: 95%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Leach's, Band-rumped, Wilson's
- Arctic tern
- Arctic Jaeger
- Sabine gull
Notes: Nick had a couple of ships on the radar but MC and I had none at all
between midnight and two, just falling wind.
A flock of about fifty Arctic Terns brightened the early part of the
morning for us.
I adjusted the Monitor for a little more speed as the day began to warm up.
A large flying fish lay in the scuppers.
Shortly after nine o'clock we saw a typical white Asian long-liner coming
our way from the east. As usual it failed to come up on the radio and
passed across our stern about a mile off. Streaked with rust the 'Jui Jih
101' looked as if it had been on station for some time.
Tim had worked as an observer on a Japanese pelagic long-liner, fishing for
Bluefin Tuna off Tasmania. "I wouldn't like to be on that one - you'd be
out for ages." He smiled and explained how the boat could be re-fueled and
re-crewed by a Freezer ship which would take off the fish and see it
shipped back to Asia.
Fishing may seem to be the last sort of job any man would want. But it is
hunting. That is a very strong instinct, which is no longer possible to
follow on the land. There is all the excitement of the chase and fisherman
are very often paid in shares of the catch, which is powerful motivation.
Men like to hunt. It is preferable to many less exciting forms of work.
The snag is, the excitement can get out of hand. The glow of lights from
the huge fleet of Jiggers fishing for Illex squid north of the Falklands is
easily visible from Space. The Falklands Government makes millions from
selling seasonal fishing licences. The Argentine Government vows to break
the the Falklands economy by making sure all the Illex squid are caught
before ever they reach the Falklands. Perhaps they'll succeed. And so there
would be no squid left to breed and produce the next crop of the species
which only has a lifespan of two years.
Excitement takes many forms but it's not just man who depends on the
profusion of Illex squid in the season of the year.
The Albatross is known to feed on dead squid which float to the surface at
the end of their life cycle.
Sperm whales consume huge quantities of squid. Three of these leviathans
followed us for ten minutes just before noon, blowing great jets from their
off-set blow-holes before their shiny black tails reared up as they sounded.
On the evening watch, MC and I were in the aft cockpit eating our boiled
potatoes and omelette as slowly as possible to make it last. There is a bit
of a rush on to use up the eggs and butter before they go bad.
Looking out to port, over her shoulder, I saw a searchlight sweeping the
horizon. "That's a long-liner searching for the buoy at the end of the line
- it has a radio-directional beacon on it" said Tim.
At the end of an 80 mile line? "At the end of the line?" How many other
long-liners are out here?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 23 April 2004
Day: 274, Day 42 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 05/52'N, 25/34'W
Position relative to land: miles south west of Gambia, West Africa
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: miles
Distance sailed this Leg: nm
Total distance from Ardmore: miles
Course: 321T
Speed: 5.0 knots (Under engine)
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 1,955nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NNE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1009 falling slowly
Air Temp: 27C, with wind chill 25C
Sea temp: 28.7C
Cloud cover: 90%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Leach's, Band-rumped, Wilson's
- Arctic tern
- Arctic Jaeger
Notes: Six weeks since leaving Port Stanley in the Falklands. Timmy very
much part of the team now. He thought a well-lit stationary ship just
before midnight, was probably a pelagic long-liner hauling its line.
"They move ahead at about 1 knot" he said, "and the whole boat is lit up so
they can see what they're doing, hauling in one big fish at a time."
Tim has fished aboard these boats off Tasmania and Australia. He says
Pelagic long-liners are fishing lines maybe 100-150km long, with around
3,000 hooks on 40m snoods at 40m intervals. Shooting and hauling is a 24
hour business. Buoyed lines are used, like the set-up we saw three days
ago. The fishing boats are usually those white Asian boats. Their prey is
Big-Eye and Yellow-Fin Tuna at around 2-300 metres deep; Blue-fin
Tuna from Asia at 50metres deep and Swordfish at under 50 metres.
They can kill birds just like the bottom fishing long-liners in the
Southern Ocean. But of course they are not pirates because they fish the
High Seas, outside national 200 mile fishing limits. Control over their
bird killing is non-existent unless they carry an Observer, which is
unusual. Birds are irrelevant, they are no more than a nuisance which takes
their bait.
We have a steady Tradewind now. At 1015 a large, empty SW-bound bulk
carrier hove into view. Minutes passed and its 'bearing did not appreciably
change, so risk of collision could be deemed to exist."
I called it several times on the radio but got no reply. Then another
invisible ship called it - still no reply. I put the radio (mic) on its
clip and left the doghouse to take the wheel. Now, at under a mile,it was
clear the ship was going to hit us.
Over the radio a frightened young Chinese voice called "Say again! Say
again!" Then the ship altered course significantly and the Hong Kong
registerd Tian Yang Feng passed 400m astern. An unobservant young man on
the bridge will remember the occasion. Hopefully, so will we - and remember
to leave the radar on 12 miles range not 6 miles!
We still see migrant Arctic Terns and the occasional Long-tailed Skua, as
well as the ever-present scatter of Storm Petrels.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 22 April 2004
Day: 273, Day 41 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 04/09'N, 25/34'W
Position relative to land: 720 miles south west of Gambia, West Africa
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,213 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,245 miles
Course: 000T
Speed: 5.5 knots (Under engine)
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,061nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F3-4 (6-16 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1010 steady
Air Temp: 31C in Saloon
Sea temp: 29.9C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Leach's
- Arctic tern
Notes: At midnight the engine had been running for four hours with all
hatches closed against the sea. Though it had been raining for six hours
the heat from the engine still made for a steamy atmosphere below.
Dawn brought a familiar grey North Atlantic seascape and we persisted with
the engine, pressing north into a freshening headwind.
At 1410 in 04/19N, 25/34'W we cut the motor and set the boat up for our
crossing of the North East Tradewinds. Nick's sailplan of No 2 Yankee,
Staysail and Mainsail, set small and hard to make a vertical tri-plane,
works well. We are making 5-6 knots with the boat staying relatively
upright at this early stage.
We have grown so used to being off the coast of Brazil, it is a little
surprising to find we are nearer Gambia on the west coast of Africa now. It
is some 720 miles to our north-east with the Cape Verde Islands just under
700 miles to our north.
Tim is surprised to see so many Arctic terns around, heading north to nest
in the Arctic. Of all living creatures the Arctic Tern sees the most
daylight in its lifetime, flying from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back
each year. Amazing. But when sandeels are depleted by fishing boats to
make fertiliser and to fuel Danish Power stations the Arctic Terns fail in
their nesting. Funny old world.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 21 April 2004
Day: 272, Day 40 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 02/04'N, 25/38'W
Position relative to land: 124 miles north of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 110 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,088 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,120 miles
Course: 000T
Speed: 6.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,185nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ESE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1010 steady
Air Temp: 29C, with wind chill 27C,
Sea temp: 31.1C
Cloud cover: 50% - rain squalls all around us
Bird sightings over the day:
- Storm Petrel: Band-rumped, Leach's,
- Tern: Arctic, Sooty, White
Notes: Overnight the wind died away completely and at 0600 we began to
motor due north across the Doldrums. By noon we were able to sail again in
a fresh SE wind, which was a welcome relief from the heat of the engine.
But the wind proved erratic and by nightfall the surrounding black clouds
had joined into one single mass, providing a two hour downpour and some 20
lightning flashes with majestic thunder. During this daunting display the
wind died and we returned to the engine in eerie pitch blackness. There
were no stars and no horizon. Simply the sporadic blink of the compass with
only one of its two bulbs working. Seamless black, now and then lit by
jagged lightning. The thresh of the deep sea rain accompanied by rolling
thunder which makes us feel very small and vulnerable in our tiny boat
miles and miles from anywhere.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 20 April 2004
Day: 271, Day 39 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 00/31'N, 25/11'W
Position relative to land: 31 miles north of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 105 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,978 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 24,010 miles
Course: 005T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,279nm (adjusted - straight line - it'll be
further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1010 steady
Air Temp: 28C, with wind chill 26C,
Sea temp: 30.3C
Cloud cover: 75% - rain squalls all around us
Bird sightings over the day:
- Petrel: Bulwer's
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, Band-rumped, Leach's
- Brown Booby,
- Sooty Tern
Notes: Midnight. MC and I were hand-steering on a black moonless night,
with a clear starry sky. There were a few shooting stars. At 0025, to our
north-west we picked up another, moving south east. It shot across the sky
and fizzled out. Then it started again and leaving a long bright tail it
shot right across the sky and disappeared into cloud on the south east
horizon. Neither of us had seen its like before.
At 0510, in the first light of dawn, Nick crossed the Equator in 25 degrees
21 minutes West, while the rest of us slept. After several months we were
back in the Northern Hemisphere. Igor reported the forward Heads flushing
clockwise, all was well.
After breakfast, I spotted three big red buoys set in a line SE to NW. The
nearest had a flag on it. "Pelagic Long Line" said Tim, who was up watching
for birds in the early part of the day when they seem at their busiest.
There could have been more buoys over the horizon, to make it more than
just one mile long. We saw no sign of a fishing boat.
Surrounded by six black doldrum rain clouds we ate Marie Christine's
pineapple sponge Equator cake and gently sailed into a big shower which
gave us a refreshing wash-down.
Darkness brought a wind shift to about north and a string of light but
ominous squalls. We remembered the 50 knot squall we encountered on the way
south last autumn.
The heat of it all.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 19 April 2004
Day: 270, Day 38 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 01/24'S, 25/33'W
Position relative to land: 84 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 85 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,873 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,905 miles
Course: 018T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,455 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1011 steady
Air Temp: 28C, with wind chill 27C,
Sea temp: 30.7C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Petrel: Bulwer's
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, Band-rumped
Notes: Slept on deck first part of night which helped Prickly Heat, which
is unpleasant. But it's not for many more weeks.
Few birds but good breeze which lifts everyone's spirits. This could
possibly be our last night in the Southern Hemisphere.
Hand steering 24hrs a day is good for keeping our minds and speeding things
along.
We were all very pleased to hear that Brent Stephenson and Adele Coetzee
got married in the Pembroke Lighthouse on East Falkland on 10 April. At the
moment the lighthouse is 3,450 miles astern.
We all wish Mr and Mrs Stephenson all the best for their new life together.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 18 April 2004
Day: 269, Day 37 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 02/50'S, 26/05'W
Position relative to land: 168 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 90 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,788 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,820 miles
Course: 006T
Speed: 4.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,540 nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F2-3 (4-10 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 29C, with wind chill 28C,
Sea temp: 30.7C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Brown Noddy
- Tern: Sooty
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, Band-rumped
Notes: Noddies had gone by midnight. Guano strip-mining commenced at dawn.
Very light wind. Marie Christine slept on deck until driven below by rain. Up early she had flasks filled with hot water and bread baking by 0700.
A breeze came and we were able to twitch-steer with the Monitor self-steering all day.
While we did pass through one school of jumping fish we also passed through many patches of oily, presumably scum from ships after tank washing, somewhere off Africa. Fewer birds seen today.
Just inching north in light airs. Reel-in, reel-out.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 17 April 2004
Day: 268, Day 36 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 03/59'S, 25/33'W
Position relative to land: 237 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 78 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3698 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,730 miles
Course: 326T
Speed: 3.7 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2630 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: N F2 (4-6 knots)
Sea: Light,
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 28C, with wind chill 27C, in Saloon 28C
Sea temp: 30.7C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- common Noddy
- Shearwater: Sooty, Cory's,
- Arctic Skua
- Tern: Sooty
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, Leach's, Band-rumped
Notes: Wonders of the Deep. Nursing the old shippy as near north as we can
to the very nearest point on the Equator. Hot, hot, hot.
Noddies are calling to one another around us at midnight amid shooting
stars and lightning.
Nick and I put up the big red, white and blue Drifter at dawn, after our
Wheatie bangs, in place of the No1 yankee but it wasn't as efficient.
Then, in mid morning we sailed into the fish. Jumping Yellow-fin Tuna, and
Swordfish, they seem to be pursuing flying fish. Nick develops Tendonitis in right forearm from hand-steering very stiff wheel.
At 1845 a NW-SW satellite passed overhead at the same time as yesterday.
And by 2000 we had 4 Noddies around us, one landed on the Pulpit on the bow, another landed on the Mizen boom within a foot of Tim who encouraged it with cries of "You can do it lady, you know you can!"
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 16 April 2004
Day: 267, Day 35 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 05/17'S, 25/27'W
Position relative to land: 349 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,620 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,652 miles
Course: 010T
Speed: 6.2 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,616nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F4 (11-17 knots)
Sea: Light, on the beam, very smooth easy sailing
Barometer: 1011 steady
Air Temp: 28C, with wind chill 26C, in Saloon 28C
Sea temp: 30.3C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Red-billed Tropic Bird
- Herald (Trinidade) Petrel
- white and Sooty Tern
- Sooty Shearwater
- Storm Petrel: Madeira, Wilson's, Leach's
- Noddy sp
Notes: There's only one part of you which continues to grow as you become older - your ears. I've been measuring and seem regular.
Igor is 41 today. He blew out the candle OK on MC's Walnut coffee cake which she started baking at 0515. Bit hot for a party.
We moved onto our final plotting chart: the North Atlantic. Tim confirms the water is already going clockwise round the lavatory bowl in the Heads. Igor tells of a huge scandal in Lima, when a smart plumber sold a batch of American lavatories with jets facing for N. Hemisphere. Disastrous.
Still no green flash.
Tim well pleased with birds. The visit of the Red-billed Tropic Bird at 0905 leaves us with only a call from the Scarlet-tailed to complete the trio. But Tim says this is less likely than a glimpse of the Marvellous Spatuletail which he last saw on the track to the Abra Patricia in the Andes, some distance to our left.
At 1845, shortly after a satellite crossed the Milky Way, a Brown Noddy persisted in its attempts to roost in the Mizen Spreaders in spite of Tim's dazzling it with the spotlight.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 15 April 2004
Day: 266, Day 34 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 07/22'S, 25/59'W
Position relative to land: 455 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,490 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,522 miles
Course: 357 T
Speed: 5.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,746nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F4 (11-17 knots)
Sea: Light, on the beam, very smooth easy sailing
Barometer: 1011 steady
Air Temp: 26C, with wind chill 25C, in Saloon 28C
Sea temp: 29.9C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- White-tailed Tropic Bird
- white Tern
- Bulwer's Petrel
- Madeira Strom Petrel
- Sooty Tern
- Wilson's Storm Petrel
- Masked Booby
Notes: For all the stress and strain, these are days of real perfection. Today was such a one.
Marie Christine fully recovered. Smooth sea with a perfect breeze. By 1130 we had all five sails up. Before the mast: Full No1 Yankee, full Staysail. Between the two masts full Mainsail and full Mizen Staysail. Aft of the Mizen mast: Mizen sail. We were a cloud of red white and blue, sliding across a smooth sea at 140 miles each day, what a bonny sight! It doesn't get any better than this.
We have plenty of space for a team of 4: Nick, Igor, MC and me. We have come a long way and go well together. Tim observes his birds (7 species today, 44 altogether) and fits in very well. In this heat nobody needs any waves.
The highlight of the bird day was a sighting of the beautiful white-tailed Tropic bird. Always alone whenever I've seen it, with it's long white streamer of a tail, it lets out a squeak of identification while circling the mainmast before flying off on its lonely mission. One of the great sights for me, alone in a blue sky a snow white bird of peace it always seems to me.
Nick's Grib files for the weather are encouraging. Keep trucking along to the north, and there we'll find a narrow band of Doldrums just beyond the Equator, which we have saved diesel to motor through. And then it's into the Northeast Trade Winds for a big curve up to the delicious Azores, fresh in Spring of the northern hemisphere summer.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 14 April 2004
Day: 265, Day 33 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 09/39'S, 25/47'W
Position relative to land: 590 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 132 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,355 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 23,387 miles
Course: 353T
Speed: 5.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 2,875nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ESE F4 (11-17 knots)
Sea: Light, on the beam, very smooth easy sailing
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 26C, with wind chill 24C
Sea temp: 29.1C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Sooty Shearwater;
- Masked Booby
Notes: Gliding north on the SE Trade wind. The first appearance of the
Masked Booby, a bird very similiar to the Gannet of home. We should begin
to see more birds as we near St Paul's Rocks.
Nick remembers sailing along on The Aegre with a wave full of Skipjack tuna
which would follow them for days. But that was 30 years ago - and this is
now - nothing. Sophisticated electronic equipment on modern fishing ships
has put paid to that.
Marie Christine has made a big recovery, another day should see her back on
top form. Igor's lunches are spectacular but about 2-300% more demanding on
ingredients. But he needs that for the afternoon's fashion shoot by Nick,
who once wanted to be a fashion photographer, flashed on the screen in the
Comms Centre. Digital results with hat and sunglasses look hopeful for
Igor, according to Nick.
We have the old Plough on our northern horizon now and Tim is keen to see the Pole Star. The Southern Cross, our companion for so many months now, gets lower each night.
The Booby does his best with his 4' wingspan but he's clumsy. He's got no grace. He looks like he's floundering in the air, as if it's too thin for his wings to grip.
Now the Albatross, he could handle this Trade Wind... isn't it odd how we humans only learn to treasure things after they're gone? Carly Simon used to sing a song about that.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 13 April 2004
Day: 264, Day 32 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 11/50'S, 25/26'W
Position relative to land: 722 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 128 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,3095 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,127 miles
Course: 351T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,074nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Light, but lumpy from earlier wind, on beam
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 26C, with wind chill 24C
Sea temp: 29.1C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Sooty Shearwater;
- Wilson's Storm petrel;
- Sooty Tern;
Notes: Two ships and a satellite. The fleshpots beckon. Not the best day
however, Marie Christine and I both down with stomach disorder and vomiting
- what more can I say by way of description? Except that it is tropic hot
and we have slept in our steamer of a cabin for 261 of the past 264 days.
Hope it's just one of those 24 hour bugs.
722 nm from the Equator at noon and on course, but the wind is rather
lighter than we had hoped. No ventilation and hatches closed to keep sea
out make for poor sleeping. Still we're getting along nicely.
With MC out of action, Igor stepped boldly forward and made delicious
nourishing onion soup for supper. Tim saw five birds today, 2 x Sooty
Shearwaters, 1 x Sooty Tern and 2 x Wilson's Storm Petrel: more than all
the birds seen in the past week. Nick tunes the rig and we slide forward.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 12 April 2004
Day: 263, Day 31 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 13/56'S, 25/06'W
Position relative to land: 849 miles south of Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 144 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,3095 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,127 miles
Course: 351T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,177nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F6 (22-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate, on beam
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 26C, with wind chill 24C
Sea temp: 28.3C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day: Bulwer's Petrel
Notes: Only one bird sighted today, a Bulwer's Petrel. The first Tim had
ever seen.
Noon found us level with Salvador. This leaves only Recife and Natal to
pass on the NE bulge of Brazil. By then we will be fewer than 400 miles from the Equator, with St Paul's Rocks and the Doldrums just on the other, northern, side.
We are well in the grip of the South East Trades now, which blow all the
way up to the Caribbean from South Africa. It's that wonderful delivery run before the wind, which has done so much for the success of the luxury catamaran building business in South Africa over these past many years now.
I'll not forget Recife in 1968. First to start in a field of nine assorted boats, all bidding to become the first man to sail right round the world alone and without stopping. In fact we were the first people to even try.
In the event, only one man succeeded: the redoubtable Robin Knox Johnston. We others dropped out along the way. Two committed suicide, one during the Race and one shortly after returning to UK.
As first to get away from the start (which had to be from UK or Ireland
between 1 June and I think 30 September 1968) I certainly felt the pressure, in my little 30ft production GRP bilge keel
boat. The mast's shroud plates on the port side had been damaged by a collision with a TV News boat at the outset. I remember being in tears of frustration at the damage to the boat at some point on every day.
I believe the Opportunity of a lifetime has to be taken in the lifetime of the Opportunity. You see, for a young man "Seeking bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth", this really was that Opportunity of a lifetime. I was in the lead for all the 53 days I was out there.
Heading down the South Atlantic towards Tristan da Cunha I persuaded myself that with the mast certain to come down, a bilge keel 30' sloop was not going to survive the Southern Ocean. To this day I
know of no other bilge keeler to have made it all the way round the world on that route, certainly not non-stop.
But without the benefit of hind-sight, things appeared quite differently to me at the time. I had sailed from the Arran Islands off the West Coast of Ireland on 1 June 1968. Having no radio or engine in the boat, I didn't even know how many boats were taking part.
All I did know was the size of the opportunity and the deep sense of
personal shame at having given up. I knew I had let the Prize slip through my fingers.
I turned the boat NW, hoping the mast would stay up, and gently rode these same perennial SE Trade winds that we are on tonight. According to the S. American Pilot, Recife was the most suitable port to find a ship bound for the UK. And it was a pretty glum figure who sailed into Recife. I threaded my way through the numerous American ammunition ships ying at anchor off shore. Liberty ships, like the Clan Kennedy which had carried me to Portuguese East Africa more than ten years before, they were carrying explosives for the Vietnam war.
With my Merchant Navy background I went alongside a British ship of the
Blue Funnel line on one of the wharfs. The Captain was most helpful and lifted my boat onto his deck for direct shipment back to Liverpool.The British Consul arranged for my flight home aboard a returning Comet of the Royal Flight.
The state of Pernambuco at that time boasted it could produce enough sugar for the needs of the whole world. The docks were paved with it, even the Power Station ran on it. But it needed more than sugar to coat the bitter pill I was chewing.
No I won't forget Recife.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 11 April 2004
Day: 262, Day 30 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 16/18'S, 24/38'W
Position relative to land: 993 miles to the Equator
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 150 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,931 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,983 miles
Course: 348T
Speed: 6.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,279nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate
Barometer: 1012 falling slowly
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 27.9C
Cloud cover: 30%
Bird sightings over the day: Wilson's Storm Petrel
Notes: 150 miles noon to noon. Wind on the beam. With the tropical heat I
need 3 biros to write this. They each write a couple of lines and stop,
then they need to rest a while.
Early September 1966, a sunny morning but still a stiff breeze after the
storm. The old fellow looked out to sea and growled a line in Gaelic,
"There are many white horses in my Grandfather's garden," he translated
smiling. Chay Blyth and I had just rowed across the North Atlantic in 92
days, starting out from Cape Cod we'd ended up on the Arran Isles, off the
west coast of Ireland. Tragically, two other men rowing at the the same
time had died in their attempt. In London, top of the Pops was "We all live
in a Yellow Submarine". What's it all about Alfie?
"There are many white horses in my Grandfather's garden" here today. Alfie
never did really answer.
Marie Christine says the early missionaries to China, as well as practicing
their own particular religion, were also building schools and hospitals.
"It's no good just sitting in bed waiting for the lights to go out," says
Tim, "I've spent ten years of my life observing sea birds - maybe I should
have been a merchant banker?
There are lots of stars up above us tonight. Sometimes it all seems a bit
of a muddle.
Over the past six days, four birds have been sighted. 1 x Yellow-nosed
Albatross, 3 x Wilson's Storm Petrels. Tim is a bit disappointed.
Storm Petrels are sometimes seen as the most numerous bird on the planet,
unlike any other birds they are everywhere on the ocean - but there are
very few in many places as far as I've seen, and they're not all that
numerous elsewhere.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 10 April 2004
Day: 261, Day 29 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18/43'S, 24/19'W
Position relative to land: 800 miles off the coast of Brazil
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 131 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,781 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,833 miles
Course: 359T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,428nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NE F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate to rough
Barometer: 1015 falling slowly
Air Temp: 24C, with wind chill 20C
Sea temp: 27.5C
Cloud cover: 40%
Bird sightings over the day: Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nose
Notes: We are about half way up the Brazilian coast, between Rio de Janeiro
and Salvador, and some 800 miles offshore, heading north.
The ENE wind hits the boat about 60 degrees off the starboard bow. The sea
is pretty jubbly. We do have quite frequent, short but fierce, rain
squalls. The heat is intensified because we have to keep all the hatches
closed to keep the sea out.
We have covered 30 degrees of latitude north in 28 days. We have 60 degrees
more to cover. Not essential to be a rocket scientist to work out that this
could end up a long trip. Fortunately we have good wind at this time.
For 261 days now our thoughts on this boat have been on how to prevent the
quite needless slaughter of the albatross. On our way round the world we
have met with many people ranging from private individuals with strong
convictions to government workers with diplomatic solutions.
Has our voyage been worthwhile? A rather burning question on the boat now
we have "tied the knot". Travelling hopefully can be less bleak than arriving.
Personally, I feel it would be quite wrong to reach conclusions before the
voyage is entirely over and we have safely reached home, having been to
Rome and delivered the Petition to the UN FAO.
We have generated publicity for the Albatross in the Southern Hemisphere.
It could be that just one person, on that night at the Te Papa in
Wellington (if not those who were turned away), heard what I was reaching
out to say and decided to 'Stiffen the sinew and summon up the blood',
themselves.
But is this enough? I don't think so.
At 60M the UK is around 1% of the Earth's population and very far from the
Albatross. Yet Britain might seem to have managed its responsibilities for
the Falkland Islands, South Georgia & Sandwich Islands, and Tristan da
Cunha with rather mixed success over the past 20 years of longlining and
trawling in those waters - that's from the Albatross's point of view of
course. Let's hope that at last, with the signing of ACAP, the stable door
is closing.
But looking back on my own life, "Let's hope" has never been quite enough.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 9 April 2004
Day: 260, Day 28 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 20/54'S, 24/23'W
Position relative to land: 280nm east of Isla da Trinidade (The treasure
island featured in 'The Cruise of the Alerte' by
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 148 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,650 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,702 miles
Course: 011T
Speed: 5.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,559nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ENE F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate to rough
Barometer: 1019 falling slowly
Air Temp: 24C, with wind chill 20C
Sea temp: 27.9C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day: Wilson's Storm Petrel
Notes: We tied the knot. Just before midnight we crossed the outward track we made on our way to Cape Town on 13 September 2003.
I'll have to deal with this event in a day or so, it deserves more gravity than I can muster just now. Afraid I suffered a minor indisposition today, it could be simple sea sickness or upset stomach from over eating Igor's desperate lunchtime paste of sardines, hot chili, raw onions, raw cabbage, herbs, lemon juice. A death blow for the pensioner.
I lay in my bunk all day gazing into the abyss of self-pity. The boat
roared on. I could hear distant revelries for Tim's 42nd birthday. I moaned best wishes as he sang Happy Birthday to himself in Australian Spanish.
Lying there, I fell to thinking how we might have done better for the
Albatross when we were in Australia.
"Mr Newman? Mr Sam Newman?" I stood on the slatted marina pontoon in Melbourne, squinting up the many storeys of Mr Newman's palatial cruiser.
"Yes" came the answer, muffled by the thrum of the mighty engines. He peered down at me, an abrasive ex-Australian Rules footbal player, turned controversial TV commentator.
"John Ridgway",I stammered,"I'm sailing round the world, trying to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross - I wonder if you'd like to join us for a cup of tea on the boat?"
"Sure, I'll be right down."
One of the things Mr Newman is known for is for painting a mural of Pamela Anderson on the front of his house. My life was about to be en-riched. This was a real Aussie.
But it wasn't. This conversation never took place. True, Mr Newman shouted at me one day for taking one of the marina wheel-barrows parked by his ship, but other than that, we just peered suspiciously at one another as he motored in and out.
And so, what with Sadam Hussein's capture and Christmas celebrations
already under way,the poor old Albatross was swamped and washed away. But I still feel Mr.Newman could have opened doors for the old bird in Australia.
Why didn't I have the wit to ask him to tea? I think we must go back to the winter of 61/62 for the answer. I was a lieutenant in the Parachute Regiment, the Battalion was stationed on the flat,greyish salty sands of Bahrein airport. We lived in tents and we were there to oppose Iraq in the first Kuwait crisis.
Conditions were pretty miserable, so there was plenty competition to win a place in the Battalion Boxing team for a tour of far away, green and pleasant Kenya. Training was fierce. Much running backwards through cemeteries at dawn while shadow boxing as we went.
In this grubby place, thrashing an officer was the ambition of many of the 800-odd paratroopers. Unfortunately, they had only me to practice on. There was a fearsome chap called Cpl Joe Lock, regular sparring with him had me wandering round in a daze for most of the winter. Too much boxing without a head-guard, that's my problem. Slow witted. A practicing invalid.
Anyway I managed to be up and going for 1800-2000 Watch.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 8 April 2004
Day: 259, Day 27 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 23/10'S, 24/50'W
Position relative to land: 60 miles south of closest point on outward track
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 128 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,502 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,554 miles
Course: 009T
Speed: 5.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,692nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate, just forward of starboard beam, very blue, frequent
whitecaps, and building.
Barometer: 1021 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 22C
Sea temp: 27.9C
Cloud cover: 20%
Bird sightings over the day: Wilson's Storm Petrel
Notes: Bumpy moonlit night. Making good progress to NNE towards "Tying the
knot". We kept pressing on and the wind held fairly steady.
The excitement just now is the imminent crossing of our outward track and
thus the completion of our circumnavigation.
Beyond that the tactics for reaching the Azores depend on how soon we cross
the western border of the south east trade winds.
South east winds will free us off to choose our position to cross the
Equator, and the doldrums and so line ourselves up to cross the contrary north east trades on the far side. Nick has refined his three layered kite rig for going to windward in the stronger winds 25-30 knots we are now encountering.
He brings this from his high speed (50mph) NZ land yachting days, when he
would sail alone for thirty miles on a beam reach straight along a deserted sandy beach and thirty miles back in time for lunch (unless he had a break down!!).
Essentially, the rig is three tall sails each a tight bar, with a long leading edge (luff) backed by a short body. For us this is a scrap of No2 Yankee, the full staysail and 1/4 mainsail. The boat is fueled by the wind drawn through the two tall slots between the three sails. It pulls like a tug-o-war team whilst hardly heeling the boat over - amazing.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 7 April 2004
Day: 258, Day 26 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 25/20'S, 25/23'W
Position relative to land: 160nm from closest point on outward track
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 117 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,374 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,443 miles
Course: 020T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,820nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,111nm)
Wind: ENE F6 (22-27 knots)
Sea: Modereate and building
Barometer: 1018 steady
Air Temp: 24C, with wind chill 20C
Sea temp: 27.5C
Cloud cover: 100% with heavy rain
Bird sightings over the day: Wilson's Storm Petrel
Notes: Midnight found us in just perfect conditions, unlikely to be
repeated on this voyage: a full moon, a smooth sea, a good breeze and a good boat, gliding silently to windward. Having all the factors in balance is rare. The moon is only full once a month for a start.
Up in the bow, far out in the pulpit, checking the luffs of the headsails
to see everything is pulling right, is made more pleasant with rain-washed decks - no salt to encrust the hot weather clothes. There's something about the shape of a boat: harnessed wind-power combined with grace. When it's just right it's magical. When the boat has been so far with you over 30 years.....
The trick seems to be in appreciating the moment, when it is staring you
right in the face. It's all too easy to be in too much of a hurry.
Talking with Tim, I have to realise that with over 5,000 miles still to
sail, it really is most unlikely we shall see another Albatross of any kind, let alone the great cruising shape of a Southern Royal or a Wandering Albatross caressing the waves.
Part of me is always out there with them.
By dawn the wind was piping up. The first and only bird for two days was
seen: a Wilson's Storm Petrel. Now shining bald, Tim looks quite different. He mutters things like "this is how the whole world will be, if we go on using everything up the way we are." He's spent so much time as a solitary observer on fishing boats in awful conditions in the Southern Ocean. Tim has had plenty of time to think things through alright. He's teaching me an old Australian poem, "The Man from Snowy River," it starts something like this:
"There was movement at the station
For the word had passed around
The colt from Old Regret, had got away"
By noon we had a rough grey sea and near gale of wind out of the east. At
last, the cavalry was breaking into a trot. Igor and Tim were on watch in steady torrential rain, which offered clothes washing, showers and "chilling-out", all at the same time. We are short of fresh water so it was gathered in the three black buckets and every container we could find.
As the day wore on into night the going got rougher, we were flying, under
just scraps of sail.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 6 April 2004
Day: 257, Day 25 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 27/18'S, 25/49'W
Position relative to land: 1,000 miles ESE of Rio de Janeiro
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 45 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,257 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,326 miles
Course: 072T
Speed: 1.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,937 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,205nm)
Wind: SE F1-2 (1-6 knots)
Sea: calm
Barometer: 1017 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 25C
Sea temp: 27.1C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day: nil
Notes: We had twelve hours of calm after midnight. Sails were furled to
prevent damage from slatting back and forth.
"Come on - you must look at the sky!" called Nick, as MC and I crawled
sleepily up the ladder from the galley at 0600, it had been a hot, hot night.
On deck we found ourselves at the centre of a huge circle of blue sky,
surrounded by towering purple clouds, which masked the early sun. There was
never a ripple on the glassy surface of the sea. "It was around here that
GBII was hit by lightning" remembered Marie Christine."Or we could have ten
thunderstorms all at once, like on the Amazon - it's only over there" I
pointed west.
Anyway, the sun came on up and got its revenge. It burned off the clouds of
the night and we were left scanning the ocean for a catspaw of wind.
For the first day in his life, Tim (41) never saw a single bird. Igor
shaved Birdman's head with a razor for a penance.
Hour after hour we sat there motionless, a painted ship on a painted ocean.
A 60ft long patch of shadow 15 feet wide at its broadest, projecting down
into the violet 3 mile-deep water.
I have read the survival books about hapless of sailors adrift for weeks,
months even, after being sunk by whales. Drifting in round, canopied
liferafts,colonies of fish coming to live in their tiny patch of shade. Now
it was happening to us. A shoal of nine Dorado attached themselves to our
shadow. Each 3 feet or more long, exquisite torpedoes of blues, greens and
brightest yellow, with their typically blunt foreheads.
We began to trickle along at maybe 1/2 a knot. The leader of the pack,
longer than his juniors, began circling the boat restlessly, while the
others sank from view, appearing only now and then. A much larger shark
cruised 50 yards out to port.
Nick came on deck, all smiles, finished with his morning ablutions.
"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,....." he laughed, pointing at each fish in
turn. "One time on The Aegre, we were becalmed nine days - we named each
Dorado and speared one according to it's day, we had a mobile larder."
A tiny Puffer fish, maybe an inch in diameter, came drifting along the side
of the boat like a big dapping fly. The leader of the pack rose like a huge
trout, took a close look at the prickly little blighter - and turned away,
sinking back to take up station with the others, now we were moving, in the
shade under the stern.
The Puffer made a break for Brazil, fins frothing a frenzy. A big mistake.
Huge. The leader streaked back up and its front teeth crunched that spiny
chestnut. No hol in Brazil.
I've always loved fishing, fly fishing mostly. And I've caught plenty of
Dorado, towing a plastic squid 50 yards astern. Haven't fished on this
trip, we need the power from the towing generator more.
Marie Christine could tell what I was thinking, "We don't need it, Johnny,
they're too beautiful. We've plenty of food."
Maybe it was the Albatross whispering, "the secret is not having what you
want, but wanting what you have..."
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 5 April 2004
Day: 256, Day 24 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 27/53'S, 25/31'W
Position relative to land: 1,100 miles ESE of Rio de Janeiro
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 121 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2,212 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,281 miles
Course: 346T
Speed: 4.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 3,971 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,262nm)
Wind: NNE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: calm
Barometer: 1018 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 25C
Sea temp: 27.5C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: nil
- Petrel: Spectacled;
Notes: Almost full moon. Sliding silently along, it all looks so easy.
We heard tonight that United Kingdom will at last ratify the Agreement to
Conserve Albatrosses and Petrels.
I'm sure many people will rejoice, few more enthusiastically than we fogies
out here these past 256 days and nights.
Ratifying now, will allow UK a seat at the first real meeting, early next
year. Further delay and UK would have qualified only to be an observer and
that after all the effort the UK has put in to make ACAP a reality.
The Aim of our voyage "To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross"
has taken a step forward tonight. Press Association says "Conservationists
are also urging people to sign a Petition, to be presented to the United
Nations in June, calling for action against pirate longline fishing. The
Petitioners are hoping for more than 100,000 signatories". Hey, that's us,
folks!! Please do try and help us reach 100,000 signatures.
I suppose we are trying to see if one person can still do something to make
a difference in an over-crowded world of 6,000 million people. My thoughts
tonight are of those splendid ladies who voluntarily and selflessly put
their shoulders to the wheel for the albatross as we sailed our way round
the world. Tenerife - Monika Gilbert. Cape Town - Christina Barlow.
Melbourne - Heather Roberts. Wellington - Doreen Green. Falklands -
Marjorie McPhee and Natalie Smith.
You see, we knew none of these ladies until we arrived in their home town.
They belong to no association and they were just helping the albatross. But
these are the people who individually do make a difference in this world.
When they come together, the quiet pressure they exert, makes puffed up
males who never listen but have instant opinions and who like to turn left
on entering airplanes, Quake, in democracies round the world. And as a
result ACAP's get signed.
Good on yer Ladies.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 4 April 2004
Day: 255, Day 23 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 29/42'S, 24/56'W
Position relative to land:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:107 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 2091 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,160 miles
Course: 356T
Speed: 4.6 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,082 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,365nm)
Wind: ENE F4 ( 11-16 knots)
Sea: Light and easy
Barometer: 1022 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 21C
Sea temp: 24.2C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
Notes: Moving steadily north. A litle glum yesterday as turning away from
the albatross, our constant companion these past six months through thick
and thin. First seen by me six decades ago and probably never again.
All of Mantovani's violins playing at once couldn't say enough could
they? Nick has a new theory. I've already been an albatross, in a past
life. Now I'm on the slide - a human. In the next life I'll be a small
cockroach in the GPS trying to keep warm. Pity I had to find out.
Tim saw a large whale jump out of the water about a mile away on the port
side. We all rushed up to see it but it only breached that once. It could
have been a sperm whale in these waters.
The steering is becoming stiff again, as it was on the trip down in
September. I think this is a feature of things expanding in hot weather.
But we can't decide what is expanding. Possibly the rubber collar at the
top of the rudder tube. Unfortunately the Monitor wind vane self steering
cannot work with the stiff wheel so it is all hand steering again when the
breeze falls below 10 knots.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 3 April 2004
Day: 254, Day 22 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 31/26'S, 24/50'W
Position relative to land: 4,187 miles due south of the Azores
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:70 miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1984 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 22,053 miles
Course: 003T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,187 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore nm)
Wind: ENE F4 ( 11-16 knots)
Sea: Light and easy
Barometer: 1022 steady
Air Temp: C, with wind chill C
Sea temp: 25C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Storm-petrel: White-bellied;
- Shearwater: Great;
Notes: Bashed our heads against the brickwork going SE until dawn.
At 0605 I saw a solitary Yellow-nosed Albatross crossing our stern. "It's a
sign!" laughed Nick "we must tack north". As I watched the great bird lazily roll onto its side, swinging up its white underwings, edged in black, I thought maybe I could just make out a word per wing: "TACK" and "NORTH". So we did. It was a sign alright.
The sun burned into the day and the weather was just grand for our new
course for home. Even the fluffy white clouds, were marching along with us and the sea fell smooth helping us on our way north, away from the South Atlantic High.
The sea water temperature reads 25 degrees centigrade and the old boat is
beginning to heat up inside. Small black flies, from deep in the vegetable boxes are coming grinning into life. And Igor does not like them interrupting his ablutions in the forward heads of a morning.
"Beyond the Southern Cross, there are millions of stars" cried Marie Christine, gazing at the velvet night sky through the binoculars. We have full moon, Venus is so bright we almost need
sunglasses. The boat had sailed due north all day, the first straight line for quite a while. Nick closed up to midnight hand-steering, coaxing every mile out of a dying breeze.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 2 April 2004
Day: 253, Day 21 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 31/55'S, 26/00'W
Position relative to land: 1,700 miles ENE of Buenos Aires
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 120
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,914 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,983 miles
Course: 034T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll
be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,500nm)
Wind: E F4 ( 11-16 knots)
Sea: Becoming lumpy, growing, on starboard bow, some whitecaps.
Barometer: 1021 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 24.2C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's
- Shearwater: Sooty;
Notes: All morning we were pulling steadily to the NE side of of the south
Atlantic High Pressure system. Smooth seas grew bumpy as the wind freshened.
In the afternoon the SE wind slowly veered. And by sunset it was blowing
strongly from the NE and we couldn't even make north. So we had to tack and sail off to the south of east.
Just a little dose of frustration. Look on the bright side of life -
Blimey! Next thing we'll be on the blinking crucifix.
I'm writing this at quarter to one on the morning of Saturday 3 April. We
are 3 hours behind British Summer Time and the NE wind is howling in an unpleasant manner. A small pool of yellow light on the chart of the Western Portion of the South Atlantic shows that if we could steer due north we would cut our outgoing track in under 300 miles. Alternatively, it is also 345 miles to the 'Tying-the-knot' waypoint on a bearing of 054 True - what a puzzle, we could do with a break in the weather. Just hang on I suppose.
Thelma phoned this morning. She had also phoned while we were in Wellington
and spoke with Nick, as Marie Christine and I were ashore arranging the talk in the Te Papa Centre. THis morning Thelma told us she sent a message to the Falklands, which we never received. The point of this is that we have never met Thelma, she is someone who has been following my Daily Log on BBCi H2G2.
Unfortunately we are unable to call up H2G2 from the boat, so nobody who
has ever sent us a message via H2G2, has ever got through directly to us. So they may never have had a reply either. This of course was not how we imagined our involvement with the BBC would work out. Among the many changes at the BBC over these past 8 months, perhaps BBCi H2G2 has been downsized, I'm afraid we don't know.
This has been a very long trip, rather exhausting and I do apologise and I
do hope that you are still following the Log and persuading your friends to sign the Petition, which is the best thing we can all do just now.
Meanwhile I do imagine I am speaking with you each night and trying not to
sound too much like the "Whinging Pom" which I am.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 1 April 2004
Day: 252, Day 20 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 33/31'S, 27/37'W
Position relative to land:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 54
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,794 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,863 miles
Course: 039T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,297nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the
wind) (Ardmore 5,604)
Wind: E F4 ( 11-16 knots)
Sea: Very light
Barometer: 1019 steady
Air Temp: 19C, with wind chill 16C
Sea temp: 23.4C
Cloud cover: 90%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
- Blainville's Beaked whale
Notes: A good breeze at dawn blew the dithers away. When Nick handed over to MC and me at 0600 we were bounding along right on track for the 'Tying-the-knot' waypoint.
"A couple of days of this", he chortled "and we'll nearly be there."
"One swallow doesn't make a summer" I muttered. But the SE breeze held on
more less all day and the whole crew brightened again. Igor polished everything in sight. Tim saw a Long-tailed Jaeger which could be the Arctic or Pomerine Skua of home. I wonder if we'll get to see the fabled Scarlet-tailed Tropic Bird of yore.
Sailing down the Atlantic, how we looked forward to seeing that lone bird, some hundreds of miles west of Ascension. Circling the main mast, snow white with a scarlet streamer on a background of cloudless blue sky, like a solitary Dove of Peace signalling: red, white and blue - all is well with the world.
Tim (Doubtful-stock Australian) says this is a load of rubbish: the only
Red-tailed Tropic Bird ever recorded in the Atlantic was seen in Kommetjie, South Africa. So I asked him what year, because it was probably that one - on its way to Kommetjie. By the way is the French flag red, white and blue horizontal or is that the Dutch flag? Or am I getting really old?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 31 March 2004
Day: 251, Day 19 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34/09'S, 28/24'W
Position relative to land: STILL stuck 1,150 miles east of Uruguay
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 50
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,740nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,809 miles
Course: 060T
Speed: 1.2 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,337 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind - and yes -
it's getting further away!) (Ardmore 5,621)
Wind: NNW F1 (1-3knots)
Sea: Calm
Barometer: 1019 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 23C
Sea temp: 23C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
- Blainville's Beaked whale
Notes: "Captain, what is your Action Plan?" gasped the elderly cabin boy in
the darkness, having contrived to knock himself senseless in the Forward
Heads, on this, his first night aboard.
It was indeed "A dark and stormy night." We were butting into a gale, in
fog, hard by the Nantucket Light. Lobster buoys rat-tatted vicously on the
hull, their broken lines entwined round the prop shaft.
The Captain (your humble correspondent) grey-faced with anxiety and trussed
in his demi-bunk high in the doghouse, snapped back "What Action Plan?"
Now, three years later, we are again in need of an Action Plan. In the
last four days we've covered only 180 miles toward the "Tying-the-knot"
waypoint.
We are in danger of submerging in Mental Plonk and need to focus on the
Aim: On 24 June, we must be in Rome, with the Petition.
There are precious few albatrosses this far north, right now, we can always
"tie the knot" further north if necessary. But Rome 24 June, is the benchmark.
All the same, there are some advantages which spring from being becalmed:
the mind readily plays tricks. Wrapped in ghostly total silence, monsters
of the deep are all the more formidable in a glassy calm, by moonlight. For
a start, those lights blinking on the horizon - are they a ship, a ship? Or
only moonbeams ready for the jar? If a giant octopus writhes up to the
surface, how safe are we in the saloon?.....better have the axe handy, just
in case.
Well at 0930 we spotted four small whales about half a mile on the
starboard beam. "Not Pilot whales" said Tim, peering through his Leica
binos. Four hours and only six miles later, again a foursome surfaced on
the starboard beam, nearer this time and cruising very, very slowly in the
calm. Tim flushed pink with excitement. There was a pinkness about the
largest whale too. Maybe fifteen or sixteen feet long it had a beak and two
huge teeth protruding upwards from its lower jaw, like barnacle-encrusted
pom-poms.
"Blainville's Beaked whales" Tim proclaimed after checking his book "they
have the densest bones in the animal kingdom."
But it's not just little-seen whales that become visible in these unvisited
places on a flat calm day. The deep blue sea itself, appears to be a soup
of living organisms: the very basic living stuff of the planet. Knocking
this mighty link out of our chain might prove careless indeed: we should
remember that the survival of the Albatross serves as a beacon of a
healthy ocean.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 30 March 2004
Day: 250, Day 18 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34/30'S, 29/27'W
Position relative to land: stuck 1,150 miles east of Uruguay
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 70
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,690nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,759 miles
Course: 094T
Speed: 1.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,371 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind - and yes -
it's getting further away!) (Ardmore 5,692)
Wind: NNE F2 (4-6 knots)
Sea: Calm, small wavelets
Barometer: 1021 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 21C
Sea temp: 23C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
Notes: Very light airs again. Nothing at all, or from just where we want to go.
In the morning I finally decided we must get the out the Drifter, a huge
light weather genoa headsail in stirring red, white and blue. What they
call a loose-luffed furling sail. A glorious fresh sunny morning with only
3 or 4 knots of breeze. The drifter was an instant success and we were off
on our way again with a new string to the bow for the 5,000 miles ahead.
We saw three majestic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses which helped lift the
spirits as well.
Marie Christine and Nick have been such towers of strength over these 250
days. What an experience it has all been. Igor battling bravely on the long
haul. The complete strangers we lived with in this pressure cooker. The
wonder of learning about the Albatrosses while among them, seeing so many
of the different species.
The omnipresent risk of it all, bearing down on me all the time. The dramas
unfolding in each port. Will I look back and say - That's when and how I
actually killed myself?
Hopefully not.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
1600 Greek bulk carrier "Lamyra" Brazil to South Korea crossed our bow N-S.
Their radar not "on" had difficulties picking up VHF Channel 16 until 'High
Power' put on. We must keep alert.
Date: Monday 29 March 2004
Day: 250, Day 17 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2 (We changed the clocks today)
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34/19'S, 30/33'W
Position relative to land: 1,100 miles east of Uruguay (still)
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 30 miles for 35 miles
progress.
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,620nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,689 miles
Course: 291T
Speed: 1.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,355 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5,692)
Wind: NE F2 (4-6 knots)
Sea: Calm, small wavelets
Barometer: 1020 steady
Air Temp: 20C, with wind chill 15C
Sea temp: 22.6C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, Band-rumped;
- Other: Long-finned Pilot whale
Notes: 15 miles progress for 30 miles sailed. Everyone showing restraint in
the face of frustration with our progress.
Marie Christine has chosen to operate like a relentless generator (one
tough Granny). As well as doing Watches throughout the voyage, during the
250 days she has never once sat idly by.
Here is her schedule:
Midnight - 0200 - Kneads dough to make our daily bread and prepares
potatoes, cabbage, onions and carrots for the coming day, while
hand-feeding bull-frog at doghose chart table above her galley.
0200 - 0600 - Reads meaningful book and sleeps intermittently, while
fielding hypochondriachal questions from dozing bull-frog.
0600-1000; Ascends ladder into doghouse at dawn. Nibbles two Weety-bangs,
moistened with water and sprinkled sparingly with milk powder and sugar;
slips into nodding unison with bull-frog, as Prophet Stoneface declaims
with certitude, through his muesli nosebag in native Ulster pulpit mode.
Learns afresh that Melbourne is the centre of the Universe. After the
Prophet Stoneface has "left the building", bakes bread, prepares lunch for
five and boils water for six flasks while skirmishing to prevent bull-frog
from reaching the last jar of peanut butter.
1000 - 1200: Performs ablutions in one pint of warm water. Sits up in bunk
and frenzies never-ending (since 1968) Elizabeth Bradley floral tapestries,
while de-snored bull-frog slumbers in bunk three feet away.
1200 - 1400: Cooks and dishes out lunch for five. Enjoys triangular
conversation at 200th-odd lunch with Prophet Stoneface and Bull-frog in
saloon, while Igor and Tim are on watch on deck. Washes-up and dries dishes
alone, in own galley.
1400 - 1700: Collapses into bunk. Reads meaningful book to improve word
power, in the unlikely event good for nothing bull-frog ever agrees to play
Scrabble and lose, again. Continues endless tapestry. May fall asleep with
exhaustion, while in saloon, Bull-frog entertains yawning crew with yarns
she, and even they, have heard so many times before.
1700 - 1900: Prepares and cooks supper for five, while boiling water for
six flasks. All on 3 paraffin rings, using a bank of pressure cookers and
steamers. Often sports a white Hong-Kong 'flu mask, to combat nasal
disintegration from meths fumes. Enjoys supper on watch alone with
bull-frog in doghouse, while Nick, Igor and Tim eat in the saloon and do
the washing-up.
2000 - Midnight: Retires to bunk in darkness. Reads a meaningful book by
Petzl head torch, to "stretch and grow" in order to broaden mind to
comprehend bull-frog's mindset: "hard, sharp - and narrow as a chisel".
Slips into sleep and hears Prophet Stoneface's wheedle: "Hello, Marie
Christine. Hello, John - it's quarter to twelve".
And what a contrast with that loud-mouthed, lardy, hypocritical,
sanctimonious, idle, self-publicist, old fart of a husband of hers.
Whenever will the meek inherit the Earth?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 28 March 2004
Day: 248, Day 16 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-2 (We changed the clocks today)
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34/12'S, 31/00'W
Position relative to land: 1,100 miles east of Uruguay
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 90 miles for 67 miles forward.
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,590nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,659 miles
Course: 342T
Speed: 4.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,342 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind) (Ardmore 5686)
Wind: NNE F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Calm, small wavelets
Barometer: 1016 steady
Air Temp: n/a (sorry, pre-occupied with heavy rain)
Sea temp: 21.3C
Cloud cover: 95%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: nil
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
Notes: Very light winds. Much tacking around black rain clouds,90 miles
sailed for 67 forward. Around lunchtime we had heavy and prolonged rain and
Igor and Tim gathered some in buckets. We've been out 15 days and used 57
gallons of drinking water. I think this is turning out to be a bit
different from being an Observer on a fishing boat for Tim - no clothes
washing machine - in fact there's not a lot of other things too. "Who will
crack first?" cries MC. Everyone keeping quite calm. Snore wars averted
since Tim has moved into the Saloon.
The first flying fish in the scuppers, a good big one - poor blighter. A
pod of 20 or so Pilot whales just looking about on the surface.
"That big old male Wandering - he'll probably be the last albatross you'll
see" said Tim, thoughtfully. Although we saw Yellow-nosed albatrosses in
this latitude last September, that was the spring and the cold water was
further north. Now, in the autumn, the water is warm at the end of summer.
It's sad. We are still 660 miles from the 'tying the knot 'waypoint but
that 660 miles, while still 58 degrees, does seem to be steadily becoming
nearer due east. Must be patient and relax.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 27 March 2004
Day: 247, Day 15 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 35/30'S, 31/38'W
Position relative to land: Still way out east of Buenos Aires in the South
Atlantic. Slow progress
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
118
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,500nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,569 miles
Course: 037T
Speed: 4.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,430 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of
the wind)
Wind: E F5-6 (17-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate chop with growing swell on starboard bow. Some whitecaps.
Barometer: 1016 steady
Air Temp: 20C, with wind chill 15C
Sea temp: 20.9C
Cloud cover: 95%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Atlantic, White-chinned, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied;
Notes: Bumpy bashing to windward. Sailed 135 miles to get 118 miles nearer
the "Tying the knot" position. Feeling seasick.
Few birds for Tim, who is immersed in a book about a prisoner in San Pedro
Prison, La Paz, Bolivia. Strangely, this is aprison Marie Christine, Isso (our Quechua Peruvian daughter) and I visited several times in 1994. There is a photo of theinternal plaza where a pickpocket stole my folding glasses. I wonder where is Miguel now? A major silver and tin mineowner heclaimed to own six Rolls Royces on various continents. He showed us supportive letters from George Bush Snr.and told us he'dbeen in the prison for 29 months without trial. But he was living comfortably enough, with a couple of inmate servants, a pair of Cocker Spaniels, English Hunting prints and a colour TV.
But that's all far from here, a thousand miles east of the River Plate,
where Igor has finished a monkey's fist for a bellringer. Nick is nearing the tragic denoument in 'A Many Splendoured Thing'.Marie Christine reads at a prodigous rate. She has just finished 'Prodigal
Summer' by Barbara Kingsolver. who wrote The Poisonwood Bible. Now she has gone back for another dip into John Pilger's 'The New Rulers of the World': as my old chum Stephen Maturin of 20 Jack Aubrey novels would say, "times and events change - sadly people don't". I've just finished EricLinklater's "Private Angelo" and Angelo would go along with Stephen. Sometimes I wonder if I really want to reach land ever again. Are you sure we're getting better?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 26 March 2004
Day: 246, Day 14 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 36/58'S, 33/20'W
Position relative to land: 900 miles east of Rio Plata (Yes, still!).
Ardmore 5,863nm.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 39
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,385nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,454 miles
Course: 072T
Speed: 3.0 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,506 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: SSE F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Gentle, smooth
Barometer: 1018 steady
Air Temp: 20C, with wind chill 17C
Sea temp: 20.5C
Cloud cover: 80%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Nil
- Petrel: Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied;
Notes: So calm. We made 39 miles in the 24 hours noon to noon, and that
with a lot of sliding along at only 1/2 or 1 knot. Very few birds about.
The time around dawn was dominated by black clouds dotted here and there
around the horizon which brought drizzle and breezes to 12 knots if they
passed close enough. But a base wind from the south did gradually establish
iteself and we reached 2 to 3 knots.
At 1115 Tim croaked "Shark" and we all rushed to look as we cruised past a
6'-8' shark some 30 yards out on our starboard side, the tip of its tail
waving gently behind its small triangular dorsal fin.
This shark was no real threat to MC's hair-dressing salon up by the
main-mast as Nick's locks were shorn. The rest of us had taken precautions
for a long haul up the Atlantic, back in the Falklands. Tim had No 1
clippers all over and I had No 4. Igor's cut was around No 4 but from the
hand of an female amateur tonsorial artist from the Azores.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 25 March 2004
Day: 245, Day 13 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 37/15'S, 34/01'W
Position relative to land: 900 miles east of Rio Plata
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 59
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,346nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,415 miles
Course: 061T
Speed: 4.4 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4530 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: WSW F3 (7-10 knots)
Sea: Calm
Barometer: 1019 steady
Air Temp: 23C, with wind chill 21C
Sea temp: 19.7C
Cloud cover: 0%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Soft-plumaged, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
- Other: Common Dolphin
Notes: Gone are the thick woollen socks from Manchester. Now the sails slat
and its hard to make 50 miles in 24 hours. Shirts, shorts, shoes, is the
rig. Plus the floppy hat and suncream. Great for the banishment of coughs
and colds. Potato bread for fortification.
Tim has an amazing "Sheik of Arabeee" sea kayaking hat. Especially fetching
in round crown pastel green with pale peak to match. I think it is unique.
But he tells us he bought it in a shop in Tasmania. If we landed on the
Spanish Sahara all wearing these hats, we'd be clapped in jail for piracy.
Only one Yellow-nosed Albatross seen all day. Calms are hardly their bag.
But still a few Petrels and Shearwaters.
The grib files show us sandwiched between two weather systems.
Dolphins are about but usually feeding furiously a couple of miles away,
Igor passed a damaged fish which looked as if it might have been a casualty
from one of these forays.
We have a waxing moon, a thin crescent at present. It's at its brilliant
best just after sunset and each evening the plump planet Venus is a little
further clockwise in close attendance.
I'm wondering if our society doesn't make heroes of greedy people: a big
mistake for the Albatross.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 24 March 2004
Day: 244, Day 12 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 37/39'S, 35/09'W
Position relative to land: 1287 nm NE of the Falkland Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
105
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,287nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,356 miles
Course: 085T
Speed: 1.7 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4560 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: WSW F1-2 (1-6 knots)
Sea: Calm, and smoothing out. Gentle rolling swell.
Barometer: 1019 steady
Air Temp: 25C, with wind chill 25C
Sea temp: 20.5
Cloud cover: 0%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Tristan, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: White-chinned, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's;
- Other: Common Dolphin
Notes: Early spring. Wind like a whetted knife. Grass the colour of washed
straw. The little blue fishing boat came butting up the Loch. Wee Davy was in for his creels. I looked out from the croft house on the hill, this was no time for a heart
attack. Still, today I would have it out with him. I trotted down to the shore, waving. He pulled over and pressed his stubby bow against a flat rock. "It's OK, I'm keeping clear of your moorings!" he called cheerily.
"Do you ever catch any Davy?"
"Och, they're very scarce!" He held up a solitary blue lobster, just on the
9" limit.
"Maybe there should be a closed season," I muttered half heartedly, "I dive
on the moorings you know, it's like a desert down there."
"There's always that last one, I might as well have it, if I don't, someone
else will. I've a wife and kids to feed!" He shrugged, impatiently pulling back on the gear handle. I watched him chug out into the icy wind. Spring seemed a long way off as I turned to haul myself back up the steep hillside to the house. I'd achieved nothing.
"What will nuclear winter be like?" I thought bleakly, some say only
cockroaches will survive. And I remembered another morning, threading our way through the ice floes of the Lemaire Straits in Antarctica, with the sea water temperature hovering on 0C, it was pretty nippy. Going to windward like this, we could only manage 15 minutes spells on deck. Islands and icebergs looked very similiar: I had to peer closely at the GPS in the doghouse.
Very, very slowly, a cockroach, in the gap between the inner and outer
screens, crawled across our course line, basking in the warmth from the instrument - a true survivor.
Today, 900 miles east of the River Plate, we're crawling along our own
course line, into the gyre of the South Atlantic. A solitary old male Wandering Albatross, its white tail specked with black, swung past our stern, heading south.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 23 March 2004
Day: 243, Day 11 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 38/44'S, 36/49'W
Position relative to land: 1000 miles east of Montevideo
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 85
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,182
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,441 miles
Course: 041T
Speed: 6.6 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,640 nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: NW F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light
Barometer: 1018 steady
Air Temp: 21C, with wind chill 19C
Sea temp: 19.7
Cloud cover: 0%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Great-winged, Soft-plumaged, Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied;
Notes: Total rolly calm night. All sails down. We stood still, hour after
hour, for 7 hours. It was 1079 miles to the 'tying the knot' position.
An email from Gene Feldman at NASA who'se been keeping an eye on us, tells
us that from 705km up in space it looks as if we are just leaving the
strong eddies and ocean colour fronts and heading out into the boredom of
the great gyre of the South Atlantic without much of interest until we are
approaching the Equator.
But at dawn there was a new feel to things. A barely remembered warm
freshness to the sky, a gentle breeze to lift the sails, something we
hadn't felt since before Cape Town last September - there was no Southern
Ocean threat.
Nick went off to his bunk.
Gradually I went through the menu; 1/2 No 2 Yankee, 3/4 mainsail, Full No 2
Yankee, 1/4 Staysail, full mainsail. All day we bowled along at 5-6 knots
on 15 knots of a NW breeze. Blue skies, smooth blue sea. Bring it on!
We are down to the occasional visiting Yellow-nosed Albatross. They're
thinning out, a visit is a real treat, no longer common-place. Marie
Christine talks of building a life-size model of a Wandering albatross and
hanging it in the long shed we have on the croft at home. But I gaze at the
wonder of the real thing in flight and begin to realise what it will mean
to me when it is no longer there.
We must focus on the aim of the John Ridgway Save the Albatross Voyage
2003/4! It is "To prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross." And
that needless slaughter has been carried out by fishing boats in the
southern Ocean, on a grand scale, since the 1980's. An efficiently enforced
High Seas Agreement is imperative. Remember the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
- so recent.
Who'd have thought we'd get this far? An elderly couple, in an elderly
boat. No insurance, no sponsorship. Relying entirely on our own slim
finances. A voyage for mad people.
The albatross is a symbol of the ocean, a beacon. Unhealthy ocean: no
albatrosses: unhealthy planet. Population doubling.
So many people are struggling for this, it's time for the rest of us to put
our shoulders to the wheel.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 22 March 2004
Day: 242, Day 10 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39/31'S, 38/18'W
Position relative to land: 1,100 miles NE of the Falklands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 125
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,097
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,356 miles
Course: 023T
Speed: 4.7 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: nm (straight line/great circle route - it'll
be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: SSE F6-8 (22-40 knots)
Sea: Moderate
Barometer: 1013 rising
Air Temp: 17C, with wind chill 13C
Sea temp: 18.9C
Cloud cover: 25%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Tristan, Black-browed, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Great-winged, Soft-plumaged, Atlantic, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's, Sooty;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied;
Notes: Are we witnessing the start of the "Snore Wars"? As the heat begins
to bite, it will be easy to slide into the negative - at just the time when we are at our most vulnerable: "More soldiers are killed returning from a patrol to enemy lines, than are ever killed going out". It's a long road home.
We've sailed over 20,000 miles in this pressure cooker, since leaving home
last July. We are now within a thousand miles of "tying the knot" on our Albatross circumnavigation.
But the Skipper has lost a bit of Grip, what with the Stanley Bug and one
thing and another, he's become something of an olddodderer. Chafe damage has occurred owing to lack of anti-chafe discipline. Slipshod. Not leaving things better than we found them", just leaving things.
Time for the Skipper to take a tug at his own bootlaces; all problems
emanate from him. We must make a big effort to enjoy this passage. Struggling with one another is not going to help. Which brings me back to the "Snore Wars". Tim's snores have just about shattered Nick's tape recorder, never mind his nerves. Something's got to give. Igor is sitting on the fence, uncertain which way to hop.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 21 March 2004
Day: 241, Day 9 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41/02'S, 40/01'W
Position relative to land: 1,000 miles ESE of Buenos Aires
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 53
Distance sailed this Leg: 972
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,231 miles
Course: 030T
Speed: 4.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,811nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: W F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light, but starting to build
Barometer: 1009 Falling
Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 10C
Sea temp: 18C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Tristan, Black-browed, Sooty, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Great-winged, White-chinned, Soft-plumaged, Spectacled;
- Shearwater: Great, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied, White-faced;
Notes: Becalmed and alone on Watch in the 1st couple of hours of our 40th
Wedding Anniversary. I can think of no other person I would prefer to have shared the Watch with, than Marie Christine.
Anyway, come the dawn, we decided MC would stay in her bunk until she felt
like getting up. And before too long she was up and opening cards, some of which had been in a cupboard ever since we left home last July. There was too, a mysterious round cake tin, which Marjory MacPheee had asked Nick to smuggle aboard just before we sailed out of Port Stanley. Prising the lid off, we were delighted to find a noble home-baked, 40th anniversary fruit cake, complete with marzipan and soft icing.
Needless to say the crew were equally thrilled and we fell-to immediately,
with mugs of morning coffee.
Nick gave us a beautifully wrapped picture of Wellington to remind us of
our stay there. As soon as we get home we'll have it framed.
It was corned beef hash for lunch and we thought how much Trevor would have
liked to be tucking into it too.
Tim was busy drawing his Cory's Shearwater which he saw again this morning.
Nick is the only person on his Watch and he makes the most of it, really
enjoying running the boat on his own then joining MC and me for a yarn as he hands over to us.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 20 March 2004
Day: 240, Day 8 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41/44'S, 40/50'W
Position relative to land: Heading NE up the South Atlantic 700 miles off
the coast of Argentina
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 121
Distance sailed this Leg: 919
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,178 miles
Course: 133T (on port tack whilst fixing Panda see below)
Speed: 3.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,850nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: E F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Flattening out
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 9C
Sea temp: 17C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Black-browed, Sooty, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Soft-plumaged, Spectacled;
- Prion: Broad-billed;
- Shearwater: Great, Sooty, Cory's;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied, White-faced, Broad-rumped;
Notes: Almost sick again on coming on Watch without MC at 0600. Grey and
bumpy. After her big vegetable sort-out of yesterday, MC finally succumbed
to the 'Stanley Bug'. I can manage the Watch alone and it will do her good
to keep warm in her bunk and get plenty of sleep.
This leaves Nick the only one still standing. Say's he's had a flu' jab but
he's sneezing a bit. Tim fresh from it, says it knocked him backwards for
two weeks. Igor is up and down, coughs a lot but feels he's through it. I'm
fed up with it.
Nick's moment of truth came this morning - quite a few moments. With
Francois the "Panda Tamer" long gone, the time was bound to come when the
slumbering Panda (generator) would wake and try its luck. 1100 this morning
was that time.
Two false starts had the crew breathless. The warning light showed a lack
of oil pressure: Nick added oil. But it wasn't that. Surely it must be a
case of the "Francois Syndrome": ANGLE OF HEEL. The only way forward now
was to follow where Francois had led - temporarily bypass the oil pressure
warning relay to clear the airlock in the oilway. Nick 'boldy trod' and the
Panda came to heel once more. The future lies before us still.
Sooty, Yellow-nosed, and Black-browed albatrosses still about. This morning
Tim saw his first Cory's Shearwater and his first Madeira Storm Petrel
(though he has seen one of these previously off Peru).
The clock is running down to midnight. Tomorrow is our 40th Wedding
Anniversay and it wll be the first midnight Marie Christine has missed the
midnight to 0200 Watch with me, which is a bit of a blow. Best thing is for
her to get better.
Funny old game...
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 19 March 2004
Day: 239, Day 7 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43/12'S, 42/49'W
Position relative to land: 700 miles off the coast of Argentina
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 49
Distance sailed this Leg: 798
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,052 miles
Course: 042T
Speed: 4.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,940nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: ESE F3-4 (7-16 knots)
Sea: Flattening out
Barometer: 1012 steady
Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 10C
Sea temp: 16.2C
Cloud cover: 10%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Tristan,Black-browed, Sooty, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Great-winged, Atlantic, Soft-plumaged, White-chinned, Spectacled;
- Prion: Broad-billed, Antarctic;
- Shearwater: Great, Little;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied, White-faced;
- Other: 2 x Sperm whale
Notes: A windless night with a sea so calm that not only were stars
reflected but the Milky Way as well. Noon came round and we had only made
49 miles.
A benefit from this tardiness was a magical morning of sailing along at 3
knots, surrounded by sea birds, 700 miles off the coast of Argentina. They
were so curious, came so close to us and looked so pristine. Memory of a
lifetime conjured up from nowhere, out of nothing.
We plod along out here, Day 239, Relentless. Life moves on. Over these 239
days many of those involved with this project have suffered much
dislocation. And looking at the Tristan, Yellow-nosed and Black-browed
Albatrosses this morning I was reminded of a question from a teacher who
called down from a balcony at the talk we gave in Port Stanley High School.
"If the Albatross does become extinct, a bird we never see anyway, what
have we lost?"
My answer is that the Albatross symbolises the Ocean, which is sick and
which the average person never sees either, but which nevertheless covers
3/4 of the Globe and which is of such importance to the 1/4 which is land,
home to 6,000 million people.
Must nip out to be sick, myself.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 18 March 2004
Day: 238, Day 6 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43/48'S, 43/47W'W
Position relative to land:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 150
Distance sailed this Leg: 749
Total distance from Ardmore: 21,003 miles
Course: 061T
Speed: 5.5 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 4,995nm (straight line/great circle route -
it'll be further the way we go to make the most of the wind)
Wind: N F4 (11-17 knots)
Sea: Flattening out
Barometer: 1015 steady
Air Temp: 19C, with wind chill 16C
Sea temp: 16.6C
Cloud cover: 5%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Tristan,Black-browed, Sooty, Atlantic Yellow-nosed;
- Petrel: Atlantic, Soft-plumaged, White-chinned, Spectacled;
- Prion: Broad-billed;
- Shearwater: Great;
- Storm-petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied, White-faced;
Notes: Another splendid noon to noon run of 150 miles petered out into calm
as the afternoon wore on and a high pressure weather system established
itself in the region.
We're "idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean" and a good selection of
seabirds were seen including the first Atlantic Yellow-nosed albatross for
many a month. Tim was thrilled to see a Spectacled Petrel but soon they
became very common indeed.
It does seem odd to be seeing the "same birds again", six months later. I
almost expect one of them to say "Oh, hello! We've had quite a good summer
here; it's just a pity so many some of our mates have disappeared, how
about you?"
Igor is coming back to life: hanging all sorts of kit and gear out to dry.
Which reminds me - the mizen sail cover and the pair of 'Save the
Albatross' dodgers, bold red lettering on a white and background, were
rolled away sopping wet, in the swirling fog off the Falklands.
Tim is proving a real mine of thought-provoking information on seabirds. A
quiet but reflective fellow of great experience, he is just the person I
need to help me put together the differing experiences we have had sailing
round the old bird's circumpolar track: South Africa (+ Prince Edward and
Marion Island), France (Kerguelen), Australia (Quentin, Heard Island,
Melbourne and Bass Strait) New Zealand (Brent, Cook Strait and Chatham
Rise), the EEZ's of Chile and Argentina, Falkland (Patagonian shelf,
Burdwood Bank and Scotia Ridge, South Georgia (meeting with the Fisheries
Management team of today in Stanley and Jerome and Sally Poncet, and our
own experiences in South Georgia in 1995.
At first sight it does seem as if, out on the High Seas, the fate of the
Albatross hangs by a slender thread in the face of insatiable, relentless,
world-wide greed.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 17 March 2004
Day: 237, Day 5 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45/23'S, 46/21'W
Position relative to land: 506nm NE of East Falkland.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140
Distance sailed this Leg: 598
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,852 miles
Course: 059T
Speed: 6.6 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 5,115nm (straight line/great circle route)
Wind: NNW F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Light (surprisingly), little swell, occasional white caps
Barometer: 1016 steady
Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 10C
Sea temp: 16.2C
Cloud cover: 100% with fog
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Black-browed;
- Petrel: Atlantic, Soft-plumaged;
- Prion: Antarctic, Broad-billed;
- Shearwater: Great;
Notes: The old boat is in the groove, as if she can read the way along the
magic carpet to her mooring under the wood at Ardmore, 6,500 miles away, north up the Atlantic. The sails never flutter, the sea stays smooth, with 18-20 knots of wind just forward of the beam. Gone are the thousands of miles of downwind roll, of running before the roaring westerly wind around the world. Now we are heeled gently to starboard spinning along as if set on iron rails.
Have I seen my last Wandering Albatross? Already I'm anxious, is this the
really the last time I shall see them? Will I ever be one?
I feel rotten with the Stanley cold, the South America Pilot Vol 11 says of
the Falklands ".... the climate is healthy, but ordinary epidemic diseases such as colds occur in virulent form." UGH!
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 16 March 2004
Day: 236, Day 4 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46/48'S, 49/05'W
Position relative to land: 465nm NE of East Falkland.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
160
Distance sailed this Leg: 458
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,712 miles
Course: 042T
Speed: 6.9 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: 5,135nm
Wind: NNW F4-5 (11-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate, becoming light.
Barometer: 1013 rising
Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 13C
Sea temp: 16.6C
Cloud cover: 100% with fine drizzle
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Black-browed, Sooty;
- Petrel: Atlantic, Soft-plumaged;
- Prion: Antarctic, Broad-billed;
- Shearwater: Great;
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, White-bellied, Black-bellied;
Notes: A day of high speed sailing as the full No.2 Yankee, full staysail
and 3/4 mainsail on a broad reach with 20 knots of wind plus a favourable
current gave us a 160 miles noon to noon run. About the most ideal
conditions the old boat has had on the entire trip so far.
Fewer albatrosses: Four Black-browed and one immature Sooty. But a cloud of
hundreds of Prions.
Beecham's Powders to dose the Port Stanley bug. Looking forward to a bit of
sun on the back to blow away the coughs and sneezes. Hope MC and Nick avoid
it. We are still on delicious fresh grub. Natalies's cauliflower with
cheese sauce followed by her rhubarb over her Madeira cake: surely a
miracle cure for a cold?
Igor seems better. He had a frenzy of brass cleaning, to brighten our
surroundings, including the navigation dividers.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 15 March 2004
Day: 235, Day 3 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/56'S, 51/31'W
Position relative to land: 280nm NE of East Falkland.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140
Distance sailed this Leg: 298
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,552 miles
Course: 042T
Speed: 6.1 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: tbc nm
Wind: NNW F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate, (seems worse because we've been sailing into the swell since
we left and the forecast is for more)
Barometer: 1009 steady
Air Temp: 14C, with wind chill 8C
Sea temp: 13.4C
Cloud cover: 100% with frequent rain
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Black-browed, Sooty;
- Petrel: Grey, White-chinned, Atlantic, Soft-plumaged;
- Prion: Antarctic, sp.
- Shearwater: Great, Sooty;
- Storm Petrel: Grey-backed, Black-bellied;
- Other: LonCommon Diving Petrel, Sub-antarctiuc Skua;
Notes: Pressing on well to the North East. Out of the '50's and into the
'40's. Boat steering herself well, as we bump along to windward.
Marie Christine cooked up some Ice fish, given to us frozen, on the jetty
by Rachel just before we left. It was tasty in a Caper sauce with some
boiled Falkland Island new potatoes cooked with mint.
We are well off the continental shelf now and the birds are a little less
numerous. We did see a few Black-browed Albatrosses, but on a smaller
scale, at dusk I saw a tiny black bird about the size of the smallest Storm
Petrel. But this bird was flying frantically, well above the water, and
White-chinned Petrels seemed to be harassing it. It was not a seabird at
all but some kind of Swallow or Martin, looking for somewhere to land for
the night. We are heading out into the middle of the South Atlantic, no
place for it to go I fear. Tim said he thought it came from Argentina which
lies some 600 miles to our west. Outlook grim.
It looks as if Igor and now I have the Port Stanley flu' bug, let's hope it
stops with us.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 14 March 2004
Day: 234, Day 2 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 50/09S, 57/31W
Position relative to land: 140nm NE of East Falkland.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140
Distance sailed this Leg: 158
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,412 miles
Course: 077T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: tbc nm
Wind: Northerly F6 (22-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate, becoming rough, (seems worse because we've been sailing into
the swell since we left and the forecast is for more)
Barometer: 1008 steady
Air Temp: 13C, with wind chill 3C
Sea temp: 10.1C
Cloud cover: 70%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Albatross: Wandering, Southern Royal, Black-browed, Sooty;
- Petrel: Northern Giant, White-chinned, Atlantic, Soft-plumaged;
- Prion: Antarctic, sp.
- Shearwater: Great;
- Storm Petrel: Wilson's, Grey-backed, White-bellied, Black-bellied;
- Other: Common Diving Petrel, Sub-antarctic Skua;
Notes: Ten days appear to be quite enough to remove the sea legs. Nick only
suffered a little, Marie-Christine rather more. Igor and I were actually sick and move around as if gravity has been severely increased, longing to be stretched horizontal in our bunks, bearing the weight on every square inch of available frame.
Tim Reid, our resident birder for this Leg from Port Stanley to the Azores
is very quiet and reserved: he does not admit to feeling at all seasick. Long, thin and 41, his vast pullovers threaten to slide down over his shoulders. Tim's interest in birds dates back to his childhood in Victoria and Tasmania. Youngest of five, his two brothers and two sisters are all 'in computers', mostly programming. With an Honours degree in Zoology, Tim has already made a dozen or more 4-6 week voyages aboard both long-lining and trawling fishing boats with foreign crews. As a solitary observer, on behalf of Falkland Conservation's "Seabirds at Sea Team", he has seen much weather like this. Reckoned to be very knowledgeable on seabirds, I'm really looking forward to learning a lot from him. I feel he will be a good hand.
Tim recorded many birds in the Log today, one or two new to us, on this
side of the Falklands. The Atlantic Petrel would have had Brent whooping with delight. But my favourite was a long thin white bar, it came cruising out of the mist, low on the waves, its wings scarcely moving: a big Southern Royal Albatross, from far away New Zealand.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 13 March 2004
Day: 233, Day 1 Leg 6
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Leg Number and name: Leg 6, Falklands to Azores
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 51/33S, 57/31W
Position relative to land: A few miles to the NE of East Falkland.
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 18
Distance sailed this Leg: 18
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,272 miles
Course: 023T
Speed: 5.8 knots
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Approx distance to next port: tbc nm
Wind: NW F4 (11-16 knots)
Sea: Light (still in lee of Falklands)
Barometer: 1004 rising
Air Temp: 14C
Sea temp: 12.2C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Southern royal, Northern Royal, Balack-browed Albatross
- Giant, White-chinned Petrels,
- Sooty shearwater,
- Gentoo, Rockhopper, Magellanic Penguins
- Falkland Skua,
- Peale's Dolphin
Notes: Up 0500. Plodding through the puddles in very heavy rain, for a last
wash and shave in the Information Centre toilets.
This will probably be a long Leg up to the Azores. It's difficult to get up
to the chart table in the doghuose to plot the waypoints for leaving Port Stanley. The back of the boat is crowded with five sacks of potatoes, four of onions, two of carrots as well as uncountable cabbages and rhubarb. And all the other stuff.
But the rain stopped and people made their way along the wooden jetty to
see us off. Ben and Janie Sullivan brought bread and hot sausage rolls from the bakery. The Govenor's Landrover drew up as 0900 approached. Ropes were singled up and our engine coughed into life.
It was time to go. The NW breeze pushed us clear and three rousing cheers
rang out for the old albatross. The Falklands had really done us proud.
We motored out of Stanley harbour through the Narrows. Passing between Navy
Point and Engineer Point, and into Port William, heading east for the South Atlantic.
With Helen Otley, the plucky Observer aboard, the CFL Gambler overtook us
on our starboard side; smart in her fresh livery of blue and white, bound for six weeks long-lining. She was followed by the
red and white Sigma, one of two Fisheries Patrolvessels operating from the Falklands.
Soon we were lost in the fog, heading NNE for warmer climes. Foggy, wet,
bumpy, seasick. Not much like Government House.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 12 March 2004
Day: 232
Notes: Marie Christine got locked in the lavatory in the Information Centre
from 0645 ubtil 0730. This resulted in violence of stupendous proportions which quietened things down a bit over breakfast.
Nick took a lot of the heat. I made myself scarce for the morning, filming the 'CFL Gambler', while the dust settled.
We barely managed to get things done.
The reception at Government House will be a bright memory for long beyond
the end of this voyage. I wondered how would I have coped if I had been with the detachment of Royal Marines, with the place
surrounded by Argentine troops, on that day in April 1982
Probably, I suppose I'd have done just the same.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 11 March 2004
Day: 231
Notes: This morning, Marie Christine and I attended the re-naming ceremony
for the Consolidated Fisheries longliner, the "CFL
Gambler": this is a beacon of hope for the Falklanders. On our "Save the Albatross circumnavigation" we have visited Cape Town and
the South African waters around Prince Edward andMarion Island; also the seas around the French islands of Crozet and Kerguelen. The Australian Heard Island EEZ was cleared by satellite sweep just as we approached the boundary. We sailed across the Australian southern shelf and the Bass Strait. We also passed through New Zealand and Chatham Island waters and on across the Southern Ocean into Chilean waters and theArgentinian section of the Patagonian shelf. after alls this it is so heartening to see the Falkland Islanders reach beyond simply collecting fishing licence money, to invest in their own fishing fleet and thus improve their chances of realising that elusive world dream: the "well-regulated and sustainable fishery", which so often in other parts of the world, has proved to be little more than a mirage. After seven months of travelling hopefully, "well regulated and sustainable fisheries" do appear to us, to be the only hope for the albatross.
After lunch we gave a talk to 150 children at the Port Stanley school.
Bright-eyed and vigorous in their world-class education facilities (financed from the sale of fishing licences to foreign
boats), these children will need to pull their full weight in these fisheries if the Falklands is to continue to provide
this elevated standard of living and not return to scratching on the margins, as in the not so distant past.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 10 March 2004
Day: 230,
Notes: Rain and westerly gale. A good day for catching up down below; Marie
Christine worked steadily through the cupboards in the Galley.
Nick and I put together computerised pictures for our hour's talk in the
Parish Hall in the evening. Nick titled it "Six Decades of the Albatross with John Ridgway." Blimey! It began with my cadet-ship with Clan Line in 1956. The pictures we scanned from copies of our long-out-of date books, which have surfaced in Port Stanley.
After the talk we went on to an astonishing Paella followed by an even more
astonishing flaming dish of Chivas Regal. It is the Spanish way in the Falklands.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 9 March 2004
Day: 229
Notes: We four had showers at the public swimming pool at 0730. My first
since Wellington in January.
Marie Christine and I went to Government House with Ben Sullivan from
Falklands Conservation. We had an interesting meeting which gave us a greater understanding of the position of the albatross and
fishing around the Falklands and South Georgia. It is encouraging to see such an effort being made for the old bird.
Time flies, problems are still to be solved with stores and spares. We had
a very pleasant evening, first with Sally Poncet, and then a real Kelper's supper at the home of Owen and Marjorie McPhee - roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.
Unforgettable.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 8 March 2004
Day: 228
Notes: Before I say anything on the local radio about Falkland Islands
Fisheries and albatrosses, Marie Christine thought it best we should listen
to some local experts first. Makes sense doesn't it?
Accordingly, Marie Christine and I, together with Ben Sullivan from
Falklands Conservation, went along at 0900 to the CFL (Consolidated
Fisheries Ltd) offices in Stanley. Stuart Wallace, the Chairman, helped by
Janet Robertson, and Harry Henson, outlined their position very
clearly. It was very encouraging and I made copious notes.
Then we 3 went on to the F.I. Fisheries Department out on the F.I Passenger
Dock, where the Fisheries Director John Barton, gave a very clear Power
Point presentation, helped by Helen Otley, (Fisheries Observer), Richard
Cockwell (Councillor responsible for Fisheries) and Paul Brickhill
(Designer of the Brickhill Bird Scarer). This gave us plenty to think about.
Then, in the afternoon, I recorded a long piece for the radio.
Meanwhile under the careful eye of Marjory McPhee, the provisions list is
coming together.
We had a quiet evening at home together aboard the shippy, just the four of
us: Nick, Igor, MC and me; wondering what will become of us on the next
long Leg up to the Azores. Delicious stew of F.I. stewing steak, followed
by a bar of Cadbury's New Zealand chocolate stiffened the spirits.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 7 March 2004
Day: 227
Notes: A quiet day at the pier. Catching up with things. We are pretty much ready to sail. Marie Christine and I went to church in the morning.
While MC visited the Market Garden with Margery McPhee, I drove out to see Jerome Poncet's Golden Fleece, which is a very
warm ship I'm pleased to see. Nick and I looked at the the rusting hulk of the Lady Elizabeth and visited an abandoned North
Sea herring drifter which came out from Lowestoft in 1949 to start a sealing operation. Then we saw a harpoon which had
killed 20,000 whales in South Georgia. How things have changed.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 6 March 2004
Day: 226,
Notes: A wild west gale of a day.
Because of its fishing licences, Port Stanley may be, per capita, the richest country on the planet, but it can be pretty interesting too, bouncing on the end of one of many broken piers without a washing machine or a shower. Each pier seems to have a sunken wreck at the end of it, I don't want to be next.
Many people come to the boat. Among them, one of my heroes: a Frenchman, Jerome Poncet who I haven't seen for ten years. Jerome is one of that small band of hardy skippers who have made a living over very many years, sailing to South Georgia and the Antarctic, with people seeking adventure. "Welcome aboard" he grins wolfishly from under wild black hair and bushy moustache, at the start of each voyage "whether we live, or whether we die."
He tells me about South Georgia nowadays, about the increasing number of hooks he finds in albatrosses, both dead and alive.
Marie Christine and I walk down to the Memorial to the 1982 Conflict between Britain and Argentina. I used to be in 3 Para, many years ago. Looking at the list of the dead I wonder if I could have coped.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 5 March 2004
Day: 225,
Local time: 1200 GMT-3
Notes: Still at the pier. Though if the wind turns to the east we will be in trouble. Usual thing, always something. The
great thing about the old croft house under the hill at Ardmore, with stone walls 4 ft thick, is that it is unlikely to blow
away in the night. It can blow a blizzard outside but our bed remains still. I must be getting jumpy. I woke up this morning
and found I am nearly sixty-six, surely that can't be true, I'm eighteen. What's happening?
We have been going 224 days now, for the albatross. I've thought of little else, there's been a lot of sea, we are completely out of touch with world news.
My aim is to prevent the needless slaughter of the albatross. That is my aim.
We've visited Cape Town, Kerguelen, Melbourne, Wellington and now the Falklands. We've been treated differently in each place. But it's the same poor old bird flying around the world, past all those places. And it is quite rapidly dwindling to extinction.
As a private individual, beholden to no-one, after all these 224 days I realise I am forming a view for the old bird which
is, unsurprisingly, the old Right way, Wrong way, Ridgway. Of course I stand to be criticised for it by the different
interests, but that is only a bit more discomfort. Discomfort is what I do isn't it? And I haven't even got a job to lose, have I?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 4 March 2004
Day: 224, (This Leg Day 42)
Local time: 1200 GMT-4
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position relative to land: On the public jetty, Port Stanley. Falkland Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 16
Distance sailed this Leg: 5007nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,254 miles
Next Port: Horta, Azores
Notes: Port Stanley is a frontier town of some 1,500 friendly souls. Everyone is welcoming and supportive of the Save the Albatross Campaign. The brave team at Falkland Conservation has been very successful in spreading the message of conservation . They deserve the highest praise. Indeed the people of the Falklands are very conservation minded. We spent the day sorting ourselves out at the Public Pier and getting set for the programme Falkland Conservation has arranged for us.
This is day 243 and it has been a long haul. Sadly, at the moment I do feel at little nearer seventy than sixty. Perhaps meeting all the costs and having no insurance adds to the strain. I'm sure a couple of days will see us getting used to normal life. Like so many others I have always found travelling hopefully rather easier than arriving.
We were sorry to see Francois depart for Rio de Janeiro on a French boat this morning. He has been a great hand but half his longed for "Year off" still remains and now he needs to meet up with his daughter in South America before returning to France and his new life, with all three of his children having left his single-parent nest.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
ARRIVING PORT STANLEY
Date: 3 March 2004
Day: 223, (This Leg Day 41)
Local time: 1200 GMT-4
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 51/50'S 057/54'W
Position relative to land: Motoring up Port William, Falkland Islands,
approaching Port Stanley
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 146
Distance sailed this Leg: 4991nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,248 miles
Course: 041T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 14 nm
Wind: SW F4-5 (11-21 knots)
Sea: Sheltered, short chop
Barometer: 994 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: N/a
Cloud cover: 25%,
Bird sightings over the day:
- Black-browed Albatross
- White-chinned, Giant, Petrels
- Sooty, Great Shearwater.
- Steamer Duck
- Upland goose,
- Turkey Vulture,
- Imperial and Rock Shags,
- Brown hooded, Kelp Gull
- Tern sp,
- Teale's Dolphin,
- Killer whale, Whales sp.
Notes: Great run up the east coast of East Falklands brought us to Port Stanley in early afternoon. Six miles out we were met by two Falkland Island Company launches, the Speedwell and the Beagle, each crowded with friendly people. After six weeks at sea, without seeing a soul, this heartwarming welcome was such a shock that half an hour passed before we had the wit to even call them up on the VHF radio. We were stunned.
Once alongside the town jetty His Excellency the Govenor came aboard and officially welcomed us to the Falkland Islands. We then set about working on our programme of talks and engagements in Port Stanley with the Falkland Island Conservation. Dry land at last.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 2 March 2004
Day: 222, (This Leg Day 40)
Local time: 1200 GMT-4
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 53/11'S 064/18'W
Position relative to land: 160nm SW of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
146
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,845nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,102 miles
Course: 050T
Speed: 7.8 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 160 nm
Wind: SW F5-6 (17-27-21 knots)
Sea: Very blue, white caps, moderate and confused swell from number of
different directions
Barometer: 989 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 12C
Cloud cover: 5%,
Bird sightings over the day:
- Black-browed, Southern Royal Albatross
- White-chinned, Giant, Diving Petrels sp
- Wilson's, Grey-backed Storm Petrel
- Sooty, Great Shearwater.
- Thin-billed, Prion spz
Notes: Brilliant sailing on brilliant morning.
It seems so strange having no huge southern Ocean Swell, now we are in the
lee of the Andes.
Brent stands on the stern, It's as if he's in his pulpit revolving through
360 as we slip silently along under full mainsail, yankee and staysail. He chortles and gurgles with glee, racing through his camera batteries, building biceps with his heavy telescopic lens.
It's great to see such enthusiasm. It's the key to success: "The spark in
the eye, the grip of the hand, the spring in the step - everything else is an alibi!" so said old Henry Ford. Royal Albatrosses resting on the water, Great Shearwaters and Grey-backed Storm Petrels. Black-browed Albatrosses peering seriously. Hour Glass Dolphins explode through the waves. Brent explodes with delight when he sees the wonderful digital images his mighty white lens has captured. We old Kodak 35mm slide folk can't believe the powers of the SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy). If only
he'd shave and polish up his ear rings, he might make Governor of California. We know he's the neck for it, has he the head?
Six weeks at sea and Igor claims he can smell the pampas. He astonished us
with his Albatross Spanish radio broadcasts in Australia. But now he's on his home territory, his Albatross talks know no borders. The whole of South American radio seems to want to speak with him on the satellite phone. He's always loved birds of course, now its Alexandra from Radio Uruguay and Diana from Radio Peru, talking about the symbolic Albatross, Lord of the Wings. It will be some time before we clear the east coast of South America. We must do the best we can for the poor old
albatross! Seize the day!
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 1 March 2004
Day: 221, (This Leg Day 39)
Local time: 1200 GMT-4
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 54/22'S 064/18'W
Position relative to land: 290nm SW of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 100 nautical miles of local pilotage
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,819nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 20,076 miles
Course: 047T
Speed: 4.8 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 290 nm
Wind: WSW F4-5 (11-21 knots)
Sea: Big lazy swell from SE
Barometer: 987 rising
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 10.7C
Cloud cover: 10%,
Bird sightings over the day:
- Black-browed, Wandering (Snowy), Northern Royal, Southern Royal, Albatross
- White-chinned, Magellanic Diving, Grey-backed Petrels
- Wilson's, Black-bellied, Grey-backed Storm Petrel
- Sooty, Giant Shearwater.
- Prion sp.
- Imperial Shag
- Magellanic Penguins
- Phalarope sp.
- Probable Dusky Dolphins
- south American Fur Seal
Notes: the clear fine day of yesterday held good for us. We laid our course
to clear the eastern end of Staten Island on a direct line for Port Stanley some 400 miles NE.
But at midnight it had all gone wrong. Nick presented us with an easterly
gale. MC and I had little enthusiasm for heading SE towards Antarctica.
Instead we turned NW for the western end of Staten Island and the dreaded
15 mile-wide Lemaire Straits, with its fierce tide races and iron-bound shores, which separate the island from the toe of Tierra del Fuego. The island itself is really a jagged range of mountains, some 30 miles long west to east but barely a couple of miles wide, north to south. Because the peaks rise 2,500' straight out of the sea there is grave danger of fierce down-draughts.
Totally uninhabited it is a great place for seabirds but not for us on a
dark and stormy night with unpredictable tide rips.
MC went below but I stayed on Watch when Igor and Francois came up at
0200. Then the three of us hurtled along at up to 11 knots, fearful of plunging into a roaring tide race at any moment. With heavy rain partially obscuring the centre of the radar screen with 'clutter', I juggled the broken images on the screen with the chart while Igor relayed minor alterations to Francois out in the deluge.
"Tres interessant!" cried Francois, in somebody else's boat. But he was
good ont the detail.
Nick and Brent came up at 0400. "Have a good sleep, John" Nick called after
me, as I slid down the ladder, "we'll let you lie in a bit". I slept for four solid hours of glorious sleep. Coming up at 0800 and still rubbing my eyes, I found Nick, MC and Brent had brought the old shippy up the Strait and out into the broad sea to the north. They related tales of dawn coming up to reveal a Jurassic Park, with rivers of sooty shearwaters flying out to sea from mysterious valleys in the half-light, off to greet the new day.
On our left hand, the other side of the straits, the desolate Argentinian
east coast of Tierra del Fuego swept north. Now we were heading safely for the Falklands, still a couple of hundred miles ahead.
I took over once more and then it was Nick's turn for a sound four hours
unbroken sleep. These spells he and I had, were the longest anyone had had since leaving Wellington 39 days ago. The past three days and nights had been pretty stressful for both of us in the pressure cooker.
"OK, we do Neek's Watch - he sleeps - we 'ave eez lunch!"shrugged Francois,
'Eeez regular, non?!"
All day we drew nearer to the great breeding ground for the Black-browed
Albatross on Jason Island NW Falklands. We nosed through a group of lazy Dusky Dolphins, sluggish after gorging on fish and leaving a slick of oil on the surface.
I have to kick myself to keep alert. "More soldiers are killed returning
from patrol than are ever killed going out." Dogged persistence is needed. End the race ten yards past the Finish Line. It is truly a long,long way home.
Make the most of the wonderful albatross, we'll be saying goodbye soon...
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 29 February 2004
Day: 220, (This Leg Day 38)
Local time: 1200 GMT-4
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 55/47'S 066/02'W
Position relative to land: 44nm past Cape Horn, heading NE
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 120 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,719nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,976 miles
Course: 036T
Speed: 3.5 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 388 nm
Wind: WNW F2-3 (4-10 knots)
Sea: Light
Barometer: 1001 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 9.8C
Cloud cover: 50%,
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey-headed, Black-browed, Wandering (Snowy), Northern Royal, Southern
Royal, Albatross
- White-chinned, Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels, Petrels
- Wilson's Storm Petrel, Black-bellied Storm Petrel
- Sooty, Great Shearwater.
- Prion sp.
Notes: It was ten past midnight of a Leap year's day that Nick finally saw
the light. God knows, I'd been trying to get him to see it for nigh on a
fairly leaping year. Cape Horn.
We finally rounded it at 0221. All six huddled round Val's cake and cocoa,
surrounded by inky black. The old guard hunched in the doghouse: Nick, MC
and me, while the new boys sat out in the aft cockpit: Igor, Francois and
Brent. And With 35 knots of a westerly gale, huffing and puffing on Marie
Christine'sparkling candles, I kept on re-lighting and shifting them
across the shrinking surface as she sliced the small, round but very, very
rich, fruit cake into a smaller and smaller island. We ate the lot! Rico!
We have sailed 19,000 miles since our forlorn wavings at the loved ones, as
the little red fishing boat turned for home at the mouth of Loch Laxford
last July, leaving us all alone on this huge, huge sea.
When MC and I came on Watch at 0600, we had a fine morning. Clinging to the
Mizen rigging I clambered up on top of the Dog House and gazed back into
the west at the familiar crouched grey lion which is Cape Horn, forever
stamped on my mind, forged with the lonely snowy Wandering Albatross.
As on all the previous occasions I wonder: "Will I ever see them again?"
"What's it all about, Alfie?" asked a confused boy of the '60's, now nearly
seventy.
Sentimental twaddle! I slithered back down the wires and into the Doghouse,
like Gollum, and set about my All Bran - to keep me regular.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 28 February 2004
Day: 219, (This Leg Day 36)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 56/04'S 069/31'W
Position relative to land: 75 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 120 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,599nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,856 miles
Course: 089T
Speed: 5.2 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 593 nm
Wind: WNW F5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Light to moderate.
Barometer: 999 falling
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 11.5
Cloud cover: 100%,
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey-headed, Black-browed, Wandering (Snowy), Southern Royal, Albatross
- White-chinned, Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels, Soft Plumaged;
- Wilson's Storm Petrel,
- Imperial Shag,
- Sooty Shearwater.
Notes: Thankfully, the gale eased in the night. All the same, by 1030 it was still slower, not faster, that we needed to go, if were were to pass Cape Horn by day.
After 37 days, Igor spied South America on the port bow. This was Islas Iledefonso a small group of out-lying uninhabited tiny islands lying off Tierra del Fuego. Very soon, Brent spotted his first South American Imperial Shag, complete with startling blue eyes. The Snowy Wandering, Southern Royal and Black-browed Albatrosses continued to keep watch over us and there was big rise in the numbers of Wilson's Storm Petrels.
I was struggling to arrive off Cape Horn in daylight for the fellows but
even after running under bare poles all afternoon it is clear we cannot slow down enough. The forecast is for 35 knot winds from the west, too dangerous to pull in anywhere in the dark, what with 120' kelp and rocks. All the same, we've come so far, I don't like disappointing them. It looks as if it will have
to be around two o'clock in the morning.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 27 February 2004
Day: 218, (This Leg Day 36)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 56/02'S 073/11'W
Position relative to land: 203nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,479nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,746 miles
Course: 102T
Speed: 6.6 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 613nm
Wind: WNW F5-6 (17-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate quartering sea, steadily growing with a rising wind.
Barometer: 1001 falling
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 10.3
Cloud cover: 100%, Fog, another damp grey cool day
Bird sightings over the day:
- Wandering (Snowy), Black-browed, Northern Royal,Southern Royal Albatross
- White-chinned, Stejnegers, Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels;
- Sooty Shearwater,
- Wilson's Storm Petrel,
- Thin-billed Prions, Prions sp.
- Fin whale
- Hour-glass Dolphins
Notes: "Noir comme dans un tunnel" mutters Francois. He's right, it's inky.
The sun made an effort to burst through the murk around 0630 and with the
temporary brightening, a team of maybe a dozen small black and white
Hourglass or Harlequinn dolphins surrounded us. As if to welcome the sun
they slapped their tails on the water with a loud clap, each time they
jumped through a wave. I thought it was all very jolly. But Brent said
"They only slap the water because they're cross!
The sun really did break through at 1000, and a Black Browed Albatross
showed up for the changing of the guard, as Igor and Francois took over and
set to work on tightening up the steering pedestal.
Then Francois tried to stem the leaks from the paraffin cooker. There was
quite a lot of shrugging and it began to look as if it would be cold cans
of sardines all the way to the Falklands. "Zees type of cooker, in France,
on ze rubbish tip many year ago" he sniffed to Marie Christine who, a good
few years back, got a bit of paper describing her as a "French Interpreter".
"Still, it's the only cooker we got - can you translate that?" I suggested.
We haven't had the oven since Tenerife but slowly Francois hunger got us
back to all three rings on the hob and MC had the thick potato soup
bubbling in a tick. Then a very big whale, like a submarine, came alongside
and banished all moans about cookers. Just in time. If the whale got
cross,like the two dolphins, we're a gonner. No need for the cooker.
Against all predictions a NW gale sprang up in the afternoon. We're coming
at Cape Horn from the West. Along the 56S parallel. Soon the southern
islands of Tierra del Fuego will be only 20 miles to our north. Islas
Ildefonso only 10. We are sleeping in our clothes. We have to slow down,
everyone wants to see Cape Horn close up. I saw it close enough on the
canoeing!
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 26 February 2004
Day: 217, (This Leg Day 35)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 55/42'S 077/20'W
Position relative to land: 344nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 150 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,339nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,606 miles
Course: 099T
Speed: 5.3 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 753nm
Wind: WNW F6 (22-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate quartering sea, giving a rolling swaying motion, some white caps.
Barometer: 1000 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 9.4
Cloud cover: 100%, Fog, damp grey cool day
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey-headed, Black-browed, southern royal, Antipodean Albatross
- White-chinned, Stejnegers, Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels;
- Black-bellied Storm Petrel,
- Thin-billed Prions, Prions sp.
- Hour-glass Dolphins
Notes: All the grey days strung together, trap people in the boat. They
need a sunny day to air their heads and bodies.
I recite my poems and sing my songs at the wheel. Just like with Andy
Briggs 20 years ago. Reel out, reel in.
After difficulty with the hoisting of the mizen stay sail, a shackle pin
was spotted loose on the wire topping lift on the mainmast. Nick screwed it
back in, wired it up and taped it secure.
If the pin had come out, we could have had a disabling 60' wire cable
lashing around mast and sails on a dark and stormy night - off Cape Horn.
The only solution would be for someone to climb the mast and undo it from
the top. It's only a game...
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 25 February 2004
Day: 216, (This Leg Day 34)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 55/28'S 081/45'W
Position relative to land: 495nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 60 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,189nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,436 miles
Course: 096T
Speed: 4.2 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 903nm
Wind: ESE 5 (17-21 knots)
Sea: Light, smooth sailing.
Barometer: 1002 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 9.4
Cloud cover: 100%, grey cool day
Bird sightings over the day:
- Black-browed, southern royal, Antipodean Albatross
- White-chinned, Stejnegers, Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels;
- Sooty Shearwater,
- Black-bellied Storm Petrel,
- Probable Macaroni Penguins
Notes: Midnight found us, becalmed and in a slop, waiting for our west
wind. Nick sensed a zephyr from the SW at 0400 and unfurled a bit of extra
sail.
This is it. Six individuals each with their own thoughts, alone in the
darkness of their bunks.
At 0800 I gybed the boat onto port tack, unfurled all the No 2 yankee - and
waited.
MC passed up and I threw overboard, some savoury biscuits which had been
spoiled in the flood of a few days back. A magnificent Southern Royal
Albatross, complete with white leading edges to its wings, came gliding in
over the low waves and landed by the floating discs and at that moment as
if by magic, a breeze sprang up from the north west. We were off.
Shortly after, a couple of Stinkpots, black and ugly, joined our train,
then a Black-browed Albatross, smart as a painted lady and a cautious
Antipodean came along too. With the coming of the wind, the place had come
alive.
Igor and Francois came up the ladder to take over the Watch at 1000 and
Brent poked his nose out to see what was going on in the bird line. I gave
my report. "Good work, John" he remarked going below to grab his giant
camera. Igor raised an eyebrow at me and nodded. I felt maybe I might make
a "twitcher" after all.
There was a big "Whoosh" and Igor jumped into life shouting "Whale!,
Whale!". I just glimpsed a long shiny back rolling up with the "blow" and
sliding away in a long, long curve. At the very end a small sickle dorsal
fin appeared. Maybe a Fin Whale. But it soon lost interest and slipped astern.
Nick put up the mizen staysail after lunch; its red, white and blue bulge
had us racing along at 7-8 knots all afternoon. I was not so sure. At 1800
we put it away for the night.
Brent was thrilled to see three penguins stitching the water beside us,
maybe Macaronis.
This great trip has served as a a most useful interlude for Marie Christine
and me. Each of us has probably seen Acts 1 and 2 of our (hopefully) 3 Act
lives. If Act 1 was all up until we married and went to live at Ardmore in
the 1960's, then Act 2 the 35 years of our working life at Ardmore. Act 3
pretty clearly begins when we (very hopefully) return home this summer. And
Margaret Drabble's "Radiant Years" provides us with plenty of headings for
discussion before we go to sleep each night. Another great challenge - as
three year-old Molly says "Let's do it Grampa!.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 24 February 2004
Day: 215, (This Leg Day 33)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 55/51'S 083/29'W
Position relative to land: 588nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 90 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,099nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,346 miles
Course: 074T
Speed: 5.3 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 993nm
Wind: ESE 6 (22-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate, very lumpy, giving a wild bumpy ride as beat to windward
Barometer: 1000 steady
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 9.6
Cloud cover: 100% Very grey cold drizzly day
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey headed Albatross
- Magellanic Diving, Giant Petrels;
- Prion sp
Notes: Nodded down to 56S by dawn, placing us 588nm due west of Cape Horn.
Nick and I tacked the boat in cold grey rain and then the ESE breeze filled
in to a near gale by lunch as the boat crashed and slammed NE. I found MC's hot thick soup was best taken standing up, it was so bumpy. Bracing my back against a post in the saloon.
The poor old boat kept falling off waves and into holes. Then the Panda
played up, it wouldn't work on a slant. Heeled over when hard on the wind, its oil pressure sensor showed a shortage of oil, when in fact it was full. Francois took stern measures, making extractions with his pliers. It came to heel.
Dr Francois Dolittle, Animal Specialist, was called in again at nightfall.
This time the patient was Nick's Mouse. Without his Mouse Nick is rendered speechless and for him that is intolerable. He reeled back white-faced, as Dr Francois removed the poor wee thing's skin, muttering in Franglais "I'm going in - and I'm going in deep". He cut all its sinews and then set about re-connecting them. Watched over by Igor in the dome above them, Nick never left the Frenchman's side, squeezed together on the navigator's bench seat in the saloon and lit only by the dull red chart light, the operation seemed to last for hours. Eventually, Dr Francois spoke: "He moves!".
Nick was shaken but clearly stirred by his French colleagues skill. He had
left a spare mouse back in its warm home in Melbourne.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 23 February 2004
Day: 214, (This Leg Day 32)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 54/46'S 085/46'W
Position relative to land: 642 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 110 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 4,039nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,286 miles
Course: 107T
Speed: 6.2 knots (under engine)
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 1,053 nm
Wind: ENE 2 (2-6 knots)
Sea: Light to moderate
Barometer: 1005 rising
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 10.5 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey headed, Black-browed, Sooty, Southern Royal Albatross
- Magellanic Diving, Stejnegers, Petrels;
- Hour Glass Dolphins (probably)
Notes: Starry night led to pink dawn and calm. And then for the first time
since leaving Wellington harbour 32 days ago we rolled the sails away and
motored. Within 8 hours (10 gallons of diesel consumed) I was relieved to
switch the motor off as Nick sailed SE, hard on a rising breeze.
"Just like Antarctica - motoring to the Melchior Islands" muttered MC, well
muffled up at the wheel.
The sun a watery yellow disc in a grey blanket of a sky, the wind may not
hold for too long before we are becalmed again as a small Low comes down
the coast of Chile. In a couple of days the next big Low, rolling in from
the west, should assert itself and have us pushing east toward Cape Horn.
Francois fitted the stainless steel bracing pipe to complete our doghouse
defences but when I think how a wave lifts a 500,00 tonne tanker I hope our
blue canvas sheet will deflect it up and over the doghouse roof rather than
try to block it at the after wall.
Sooty, Grey-headed, Black browed and Southern Royal Albatrosses visited us
from time to time, across the empty grey wastes. But the most startling
appearance was a small black and white bird with very rapid wing beat
keeping low over the water. "Diving Petrel - probably Magellanic" chortled
Brent leaping for his camera. It reminds me very much of home, the Black
Guillemot, or Sea Pidgeon, which is always somewhere about on Loch Laxford.
The first daffodils are showing there now...
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 22 February 2004
Day: 213, (This Leg Day 31)
Local time: 1200 GMT-5
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 'S 'W
Position relative to land: 741 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,929nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,176 miles
Course: 140T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 1,163 nm
Wind: N F4-5 (11-21 knots)
Sea: Light to moderate
Barometer: 1005 rising
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 10.5 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey headed, Black-browed Albatross
- White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Grey, White-chinned, Stejnegers, Petrels;
- Sooty Shearwater
- Phalarope sp.
- Thin-billed Prion, Prion sp.
- Long finned Pilot whales
Notes: Wind fell away as the glass rose steadily all day. We are stubbornly
holding on SE to be sure to come towards Cape Horn directly out of the
west. Ahead lies the most notorious coast in the world, this is not a
rehearsal.
Knowing this, at 0200, we are nodding along at a couple of knots on a pitch
black night under a canoply of glittering stars. It's a bit of a respite.
A day to catch up with jobs. The Panda ran a couple of times as usual. The
Mercedes main engine had its weekly 1/2 hour run up to temperature. Igor
and Francois serviced the the last of the Barlow 32 winches and continued
with the doghouse barricade. Nick re-adjusted his new steering lines on the
wind vane steering and continued his struggle to get good weather reporting
helped by Ken Leap his chum in New Mexico. As ever, when we've needed it,
help has come - "Hands across the sea" Good old USA!
Brent spotted a Phalarope bobbing up and down on the water. He thinks it is
down here from the Northern Hemisphere for the summer. Apparently it swirls
its feet, creating a spiral in the water which draws up the plankton for
its supper. Like us, it will need to set off north soon, as winter
approaches down here.
About 15 Long-finned Pilot whales appeared in the dusk. Long black
creatures with blunt noses they look similiar to the ones we see at home,
cruising about on the surface like large dolphins.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: 21 February 2004
Day: 212, (This Leg Day 30)
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: 53/12'S 091/59'W
Position relative to land: 850 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 134 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 3,799 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 19,046 miles
Course: 112 T
Speed: 5.9 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 1,293 nm
Wind: Nor'nor'Westerly F5-6 (17-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate;
Barometer: 988 falling
Air Temp: N/A Nick's Silva Windwatch has drowned.
Sea temp: 10.3 C
Cloud cover: 100% with cold driving drizzle
Bird sightings over the day:
- Grey headed Albatross
- White-headed, Juan Fernandez, Grey, White-chinned, Stejnegers, Petrels;
- Sooty and Little Shearwater.
Notes: Grey foggy day. Much peering all round from the dome. The wind
began NNE and veered all day until at midnight we have a westerly gale from
a starlit sky, between clouds.
The scuppers have suddenly gone green with algae. At 0900 I found a 4" fat
silver fish lying there, like a plump sardine. Brent thinks it is a fish
from the deep, come up at night. Big eyes, and bio-luminescent median line
are the clues. What is it? Is it fully grown or a baby big fish? It looks
good to eat.
The main action today has been Francois' and Nick's re-inforcement of the
aft walls of the doghouse. Two of the three matrimonial planks have had to
be divorced for this. Normally they form 2/3 of MC's and my
bed-in-the-doghouse, when we are at anchor or in port. This goes well with
the cd player, but that's succumbed to the recent wave invasions as well.
Francois does a lot of spraying of circuit boards but it's wishful
thinking. The two planks are at right angles and on edge and they are
braced fore and aft by the stainless steel tube which was part of the
ineffective Iridium satellite phone aerial and two saloon table legs for
spacers. It all looks ok but writing this up here alone at two in the
morning, I can hear the old rollers rumbling up behind me in the dark. The
sailing ship men called them widow-makers. I've got the white bone-dome but
it's not quite handy enough at present. I'm clipped onto the pad-eye in here.
We have one person at a time in the doghouse or even both in the saloon.
Life is a little more re-assuring in daylight, when we can see the old
grey-headed albatross coasting along.
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?
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Friday 6 February 2004
Day: 197, (This Leg Day 15)
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: 48/24'S 145/33'W
Position relative to land: 3,036 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,717 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,967 miles
Course: 092T
Speed: 5.9 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 3,479 nm
Wind: Westerly F5 (16-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate and growing westerly swell of 2-3 metres with whitecaps
Barometer: 1004 rising
Air Temp: 16C, with wind chill 12C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 75%
Bird sightings over the day:
- Antipodean, Gibson's, Black-browed, Selvin's and Pacific Albatrosses;
- White-chinned, White-headed, Grey-backed, Giant, Soft-plumaged, Grey,
Spegnegers Petrels;
- Little and Sooty Shearwaters;
- Thin-billed Prion. Prion sp.
Notes:
Foggy until just after 0600 when it cleared to blue sky. MC and I took down
Mainsail and Mizensail leaving just the two head sails towing us along by
the nose and causing us to roll a lot. With the sore rib this makes sleep
difficult.
Fifteen days out of Wellington and half way along latitude 49S to longitude
100W where we turn SE for the 1260 miles to Cape Horn. The weather is mild
and the crew are settling into the long haul. For Francois and Brett it
will seem a surprisingly long time as lack of clean clothes and showers
begin to take their toll.
Francois in his red suit and outsize white boots looks like a Russian
cosmonaut. He struggles with English conversations taking place between
other members of the crew. Highly regarded for his rapid reactions, he
appears to have tamed the Panda. He has that generator running for an hour
a day - like clockwork - on manual start. Out here that is a giant achievement.
He looks like a pretty good egg to me, is this possible in a Frenchman?
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 5 February 2004
Day: 196, (This Leg Day 14)
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: 48/21'S 148/50'W
Position relative to land: 3,167 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 110 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,587 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,837 miles
Course: 091T
Speed: 8.1 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 3,609 nm
Wind: Northerly F4-5 (11-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate sea on beam, rising, white caps, swell from NW growing
Barometer: 1013 dropping rapidly
Air Temp: 12C, with wind chill 6C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 100% Very grey and overcast.
Bird sightings over the day: Antipodean, Gibson's, Black-browed, Campbell
and Pacific Albatrosses; White-chinned, Soft-plumaged, White-headed
Petrels; Prion sp.; Probable Black-legged Petrel; Grey-backed Storm-petrel.
Notes: Cold wet fog, thicker than ever, when we came on at 0600.
We hear UK just can't get round to ratifying 'ACAP', the 'Agreement to
Conserve Albatrosses and Petrels'. (Huge crash as a wave breaks over the
boat). Lawyers just can't get round to agreeing whether UK Government or EU
are empowered in this matter. The British Albatrosses, those unlucky enough
to be hatched on Falklands, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia etc, will
continue to be vulnerable.
The only self-employed people who could survive years of this havering,
would be Conference Organisers and Lawyers!
Then the fog cleared and the wind picked up. Soon we were down to storm
sails. Granny and Grampa are beginning to feel a bit like like that sparky
fellow who lived up that tree to prevent the Newbury By-Pass and later dug
himself under the new runway at Manchester Airport. And as retired crofters
we've got even less to lose than him. I think I'm going to puke - but I'm
not sure it's the the sea-sickness this time.
Just think about it.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 4 February 2004
Day: 195, (This Leg Day 13)
Local time: 1200 GMT+10
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48/28'S 151/34'W
Position relative to land: 3,267 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 58 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,477 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,727 miles
Course: 102T
Speed: 1.2 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 3,719 nm
Wind: Variable NW
Sea: Light sea, confused low swell from multiple directions
Barometer: 1017 rising
Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 14C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 100% - fog
Bird sightings over the day:Mottled, White-headed, White-chinned and soft-plumaged Petrel, Grey-backed Storm Petrel, Little Shearwater and Sub-Antarctic Skua. (No Albatrosses! Perhaps due to lack of wind?)
Notes: Light NE wind has us nodding gently SE. We don't want to go any further South for fear of having the oncoming Low pass to the North of us. If it does we will get strong easterly winds. If we manage to keep to the north of the Low we will get strong westerly winds to push us on toward Cape Horn.
Daylight brought fog, created by wind coming from warmer parts, passing over colder water (13C) in this area. The sea literally 'steams' so the wind doesn't blow the fog away.
After lunch the breeze veered north and gently built through the afternoon, allowing us to head due east in the thick fog.
The Latin squad meanwhile, which had been gazing over the side and dreaming of Calamari Risotto, returned to the scrubbing of the heads and this helped rebuild the cordiality of some ententes.
Brent felt strong enough to have a first dabble at the washing up and so his watch-mate Nick, began to feel a little more cordial on day 13.
MC, who does most of the cleaning and all the cooking rates people by how hard they find it to say 'thank you' for a hot meal.
The crew comprises Peru, NZ, France, Aus, UK. Five more weeks in the pressure cooker, before Falklands and we are pretty well set up.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 3 February 2004
Day: 194, (This Leg Day 12)
Local time: 1200 GMT+10
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/54'S 152/47'W
Position relative to land: 3,325 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical
miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,419 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,669 miles
Course: 106T
Speed: 4.9 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 3,777 nm
Wind: SW 3-4, (7-16 knots)
Sea: Light sea but moderate 3-4m swell from the SW
Barometer: 1020 steady
Air Temp: 10C, with wind chill 6C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings over the day: Sub-Antarctic Skua, Little and Sooty
Shearwater, White-headed, Soft Plumaged and White-chinned Petrel,
Grey-backed Storm Petrel, Antipodean and Campbell Albatrosses, Prion sp.
Notes: The wind dropped away in the forenoon, the end of a good 6-day run
of over 800 miles.
For six hours we went nowhere. Inactivity is not Francois's bag. With
steady rain, two or three White Chinned Petrels wheeled across the stern as
it grew dark.
Francois suggested we hang a light over the side and try fishing for squid.
The water's a couple of miles deep here, just enough for a fair sized
specimen. Imagine a tentacle, thick as the Eiffel Tower, bursting up and
bearing Francois and Igor below in a single sucker. Unfortunately a new NE
wind blew up before the experiment could be carried out but it's a definite
starter for the next lull.
Instead we are nodding SE, awaiting a Low which is creeping across the
Weather fax towards us. It is still 2,000 miles to 49 South 100 West. Once
there, we plan a 960 mile slant SE to bring us to a point 300 miles due
west of Cape Horn. From there we should have a straight run at our old
kayaking haunt...never was I more afraid than when I wobbled along under
those cliffs, with Rebecca leading the way.
Into the mist......
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 2 February 2004
Day: 193, (This Leg Day 11)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/57'S 156/28'W
Position relative to land: 3,461 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 137 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,279 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,529 miles
Course: 085T
Speed: 6.6 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 3,917 nm
Wind: SW 5-6, (17-27 knots)
Sea: Moderate 3m swell from South-West, many white horses, very grey.
Barometer: 1020 steady
Air Temp: 12C, with wind chill 6C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings (At 1200): Sub-Antarctic Skua, Little and Sooty Shearwater, White-headed, Soft Plumaged and White-chinned Petrel, Grey-backed Storm Petrel, Gibson's, Antipodean, and Campbell Albatrosses, Prion sp.
Notes: Midnight,the first moonlit night MC and I have seen since leaving Wellington. It was well on its way to sinking into the western horizon but enough light remained for us to see milk-bottle sized luminous squid floating by, greenish-yellow and close to the surface. "Just the stuff for Albatrosses" grinned Brent later, at lunch, he is looking much better today. "The Ladies of Manchester may worry no more!" he chortles, more likes his old self and rubbing a clean-shaven chin. Only yesterday, just such a Lady had murmured concern over the phone, nervous about his erratic shaving record, it's nice to think she may rest easy....for now.
At 1300, Igor noted 11 Albatrosses all landed for a chat. I remember a fellow falling overboard, a little to the south of here, on the Whitbread Round World Race 1977/8. When they fished him out, he said a lot of Albatrosses had landed by him too but I think he thought it was lunch they were looking for.
The "Preparations for Cape Horn" job list is down to half a dozen minor things and the three two-man Watches are looking not too bad at this stage. Maybe we are not in too bad shape.
The birds seen each day are listed above.
Into the mist
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 1 February 2004
Day: 192, (This Leg Day 10)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/46'S 160/03'E
Position relative to land: 3,598 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 145 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 1,142 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,247 miles
Course: 106T
Speed: 5.9 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,054 nm
Wind: SW 4-5, (11-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate sized waves, many white horses, very blue in the sunlight
Barometer: 1017 rising
Air Temp: 15C, with wind chill 9C
Sea temp: 13.7 C
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings (At 1200): White-headed, Soft-plumaged, White-chinned Petrels; Sooty Shearwater, Little Shearwater; Grey-backed Storm Petrel; Prion sp; Sub-Antarctic Skua; Pacific, Northern Royal, Campbell, Antipodean, Gibson's Albatrosses. *Southern Right Whale Dolphin
Notes: MC and I came on watch at 0600. After days of feeling aand looking pretty mouldy, Brent lingered a little; instead of rushing to his bunk, he kept on looking for birds. "Oh, Yes!!!Four Southern Right Whale Dophins" this is the only Dolphin without a dorsal fin, they leap across the waves like penguins. Brent soared to ectasy - his photographs gave him a treasure for life. "I think that is the best thing I have ever seen in my life" he told us over lunch." And this from the man who along with his chum "Sav" Saville re-discovered the New Zealand Storm Petrel, 150 years after it was thought extinct. This seems to be about as close as you'll get to Charles Darwin and his indigestion, in the 21st Century.
Iridium have just revealed they gave us the wrong phone number by one digit. This accounts for no incoming phone calls for a couple of months including Christmas and New Year. Just a little test. Our new Sat phone number is therefore: +8816 315 23952.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 31 January 2004
Day: 191, (This Leg Day 9)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47/32'S 163/45'W
Position relative to land: 3,740 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance travelled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 997 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 16,247 miles
Course: 110T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,199 nm
Wind: SW 6, (22-27 knots)
Sea: Rough, big swell from SW
Barometer: 1014 steady
Air Temp: 18C, with wind chill 12C
Sea temp: 13.6 C
Cloud cover: 75%
Bird sightings (At 1200): White-headed, Soft-plumaged, Mottled,
White-chinned Petrel, Sooty Shearwater. Grey-backed Storm Petrel,
Black-browed and Antipodean Albatrosses, Prion sp.
Notes: Going well. Averaged 135nm/day for the past three days. Blue, blue
skies with occasional rain squalls, running nicely on a single sail, the No
2 Yankee, flying high in the bows. One single rope, an 18mm blue and white
fleck terylene multiplait sheet is pulling the boat along at a steady 6+
knots, day after day. There is little movement from the drum-tight sail, so
minimum chafe.
I'm putting the circumpolar track of the Albatross on the great ocean
plotting charts for the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific charts. The same
charts I used for my ill-fated attempt to be the first to sail alone
non-stop around the world, in 1968. They already bear the tracks of my two
previous circumnavigations in this boat in 1976/7 and 1983/4.
Down at the bottom of the old chart of the South Pacific is written:
"Provisions and clothes depots are established at Macquarie Island:-
1. At the top of the beach in Ballast Bay north eastward of New Finer Creek
2. In a cave at the southern end of Stars Gulch.
3. In Lusitania Bay about half a mile south of Rains Pt.
So, if you are ever shipwrecked down this way, you know where to go!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 29 January 2004
Day: 189, (This Leg Day 7)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46/43'S 170/24'W
Position relative to land: 800 nm east of Dunedin, NZ, 4,009 nm west of Cape Horn
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 597 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,847 miles
Course: 125T
Speed: 6.1 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,469 nm
Wind: SW F4-5, (11-21 knots)
Sea: Moderate sea slowly building, some white horses, swell from SW
Barometer: 1024 falling
Air Temp: 20 C, wind chill 16
Sea temp: 14.9 C
Cloud cover: 80%
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: An interesting day, though the Albatrosses are rather diminished after the heady days off the Chatham Rise.
We had strong winds and enough motion to put Brent off his tucker but he battled bravely on, perking up at any mention of a possible sighting of a different sub species.
In the morning Francois made a really good job of sealing any possible leaks in the deck and in the afternoon he had the old Panda going in a way which has defeated engineers in Tenerife, Cape Town, Melbourne and Welllington. But it's early days yet: he points to areas of previous damage...
Meanwhile Spiderman Nick has returned, after a month ashore in Australia and all the better for a few pounds of extra flesh on him. His huge reach soon had our ancient baggy-wrinkle (6 mops of fibres from old JRAS climbing ropes) rigged on the aft lowers. Now we will be able to ease the mainsail further out when running downwind ands avoid chafe on the wires of the standard rigging.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 28 January 2004 (again)
Day: 188, (This Leg Day 6)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45/08'S 173/03'W
Position relative to land: 140 mm SE of Chatham Islands, 4,170 W of Cape Horn
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 68 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 597 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,847 miles
Course: 125T
Speed: 6.1 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,630 nm
Wind: SSw F3-4, (7-16 knots)
Sea: Light sea with small waves and somne swell from the SW
Barometer: 1029 steady
Air Temp: 20C, Wind chill 19 C
Sea temp: 15.7 C
Cloud cover: 70%
Bird sightings (At 1200): Broadb-billed Prion, Grey-backed and White-faced Storm Petresl, Soft-plumaged and Black-winged Petresl, White-chinned Petrel, Prion sp, Chatham, Pacific, Northern Royal, Gibnson's, Antipodean and Selvin's albatross, Sooty Shearwater.
Notes:
We are past 180 degrees W and still on UTC+13 for New Zealand summer Time; now we have to start going the other way adding an hour for every 15 degrees of Longitude until we regain 0 degrees on the Greenwich Meridian once more. And for a start, we must have a 2nd 28 January.
We are already almost a week into this very long Leg, 5000nm + from Wellington to the Falklands via Cape Horn and everyone is settling down well. I think we did underestimate the extra difficulties involved in taking aboard complete strangers, without any interest in or experience of sailing. But at the same time this has broadened our own experience along the way.
To make the most of the voyage we each need to see the best in our companions. Nick's eyes shining with enthusiasm, Igor's generosity, Francois's sunny smile and Brent's huge enthusiasm and good nature. Making only 68 miles in the calm conditions of the past 24 hours, only highlights the need to keep busy.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 28 January 2004
Day: 186, (This Leg Day 5)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44/52'S 177/39'W
Position relative to land: 90 mm SE of Chatham Islands,
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 118 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 529 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,779 miles
Course: 097T
Speed: 5-6 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,660 nm
Wind: ESE F2, (4-6 knots)
Sea: Calm with long swell from SW.
Barometer: 1026 steady
Air Temp: 19C, Wind chill 11C
Sea temp: 16 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings (At 1200): Broadb-billed Prion, Grey-backed and White-faced Storm Petresl, Soft-plumaged and Black-winged Petrels, White-chinned Petrel, Prion sp, Chatham, Pacific, Northern Royal, Gibnson's, Antipodean and Selvin's albatross, Sooty Shearwater.
Notes: "What a Day! And its only just begun!" Chortled the tousle-haired, be-ear-ringed, soon-to-shave Brent. Literally jumping with joy in the aft-cockpit at 0600. "Has he done much teamwork?" I wondered. The boat is a home and it has to be kept up to scratch or the muttering begins. ("Have we become just a mobile bird-hide?") But for now, Soft Plumage Petrel, Black Winged Petrel, Broad-Billed Prion, Little Shearwater and the whole panoply of Albatrosses keep our new resident real Birder on cloud nine.
As Graham Taylor promised, the Chatham Rise has produced the richest variety and quantity of seabirds we've encountered since leaving Cape Town.
New Zealand is truly the Seabird Capital of the World and it is wonderful to see how New Zealanders do value their environment. It is difficult to imagine poor tortured Tony Blair turning out to help save an over-the-horizon Albatross in gridlock Britain. But what's life for?
The boat's in very good shape, thanks to Gordon and Jillian McDougall, Chris Sturrock and Blake Cameron. Now we have a "getting set for Cape Horn" Job List.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 27 January 2004
Day: 185, (This Leg Day 4)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44/50'S 177/39'W
Position relative to land: 4,239 nm to Cape Horn
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 110 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 411 nautical miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,661 miles
Course: 097T
Speed: 5-6 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,719 nm
Wind: SSE F4, (11-16 knots)
Sea: Slight sea, a bit forward of the beam, some white horses.
Barometer: 1023 steady
Air Temp: 19C, Wind chill 11C
Sea temp: 16 C
Cloud cover: 100%
Bird sightings (At 1200): Sooty and Buller's Shearwaters, Whote-faced and Grey-backed Storm Petrels, White-chinned Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Chatham, Pacific, Northern and Southern Royal, Antipodean, and Gibson's Albatross.
Notes: 0320. The Latin Squad is on the 0200-0400 Graveyard Watch: A large phosphorescent elongated shape, some 6-7 metres long, ghosts into view close by the boat and passes slowly away out on starboard quater.
We're pondering on the best course for Cape Horn, some 4,000 miles ahead. After the trials of Cape Town to Melbourne most would prefer to keep just north of 50S and hope for warmer weather, even though it means going some 470 miles further than if we take a composite great circle course, which would lead us into the icebergs of 65 S. Fortunately, SE winds don't give us much option just now: we head east, close hauled on a slight sea at a little under 6 knots.
Passing 40 miles south of the Chatham Islands, we had 16 Northern Royal Albatrosses off the stern after supper at 1930hrs.
With four people sleeping on the six available berths in the forward sleeping compartment, we are able to keep the Saloon clean and homely for the off-duty watch during the day. After sleeping aboard for 183 of the past 185 days, the Saloon is pretty much home for us at present. With no-one sleeping in the Saloon for the first time since Cape Town, there does seem to be much more room and we all need "space"!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
*
Date: Monday 26 January 2004
Day: 184, (This Leg Day 3)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44/37'S 179/48'E
Position relative to land: 150 nm WSW of Chatham Islands, 4,349 nm to Cape Horn
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 160 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 301 nautical miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,551 miles
Course: 108T
Speed: 2-3 knots
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port: 4,829 nm
Wind: W F2-3, (4-10 knots)
Sea: Light, a bit lumpy with following breeze
Barometer: 1022 steady
Air Temp: 22C
Sea temp: 15.3C
Cloud cover: 100%
Notes: We finally overtook the fishing boat at 0100 and the burning white phosphorescence continued. Perhaps this is caused by the upwelling of deep southern waters onto the Chatham Rise.
Coming on Watch again at 0600, MC and I found a grey, overcast dawn, with Brent delighted by the numerous birds: Salvin's, Chatham, Royal and Gibson's Wandering Albatrosses abound; along with Buller's Shearwaters and White-faced Storm Petrels. Sightings of the Grey-backed Storm Petrel and the Flesh-footed Petrel seemed to give him the most joy. 'Enthusiasm is the key - the grip of the hand, the spring in the step and the spark in the eye - without it, everything else is an alibi!' Henry Ford is supposed to have remarked, though I don't suppose Henry did much for the birds around Baton Rouge. Brent has the enthusiasm. MC and I must come back to see one of his Wrybills working up a braid river in the South Island: if your beak is bent to the right, maybe you do your drinking on the left bank?
Light and variable winds kept us nodding along, ust south of east for most of the day. In the early afternoon we crossed the 180th meridian and began the long count down to 0 degrees on the Greenwich Meridian.
MC and I feel we are now truly heading home from the far side of the world. But then we promptly disappeared into a bank of fog for the rest of the afternoon. With six or seven weeks at sea between us and the Falklands, I'm not rushing into evaluating our two-week stay in Wellington.
But I did read in the Dominion Post that in a recent survey, Britain was valued at 5 trillion pounds sterling, while 93% of finance workers in the City of London wanted out of their jobs; meanwhile in a similar poll in New Zealand, 80% were satisfied and happy. New Zealand may be worth a lot less than Britain but it does have a far higher value. After 184 days on this boat, aged 65, I'd rather not die, knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Over a supper of boeuf bourguignon (before the fresh meat goes off) in the aft cockpit, patches of blue sky came first, then the fog blew away and we had as many as seven albatrosses off our stern until it grew dark. The finest bird of all had a fresh dark, dark-grey body and wing-tops to match, his head was shining-white in the setting sun. When he banked, he showed his snowy-white under-wings tipped with black. Brent took a couple of superb digital shots of him with his giant lens and told us this was a juvenile Wandering Albatross. It is this bird I wish to become when I die. I never want to grow up. I've met a few rather puffed-up grown-ups on the ''vaunteth-not itself'' scale, in the past year!
After supper, Francois cut Igor's hair: the Latin Watch are now cloned French Plantagenets (this is how Francois spells it). Where will this lead the Entente Cordiale?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 25 January 2004
Day: 183, (This Leg Day 2)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies'
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 42/58'S 177/05'E
Position relative to land:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 141 nautical miles
Distance sailed this Leg: 141 nautical miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,391 miles
Course: 130T
Next Port: Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Approx distance to next port:
Wind: NE, F3-4, 7-16 knots
Sea: Sheltered waters of Wellington harbour
Barometer:1024
Air Temp: 21C
Sea temp:
Cloud cover: 50%
Bird sightings over the day: White-chinned Petrel, Salvin's Albatross,
Gibsons's and Antipodean Albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, White-faced
Storm Petrel, Buller's Shearwater.
Notes: How lucky to have had such a good start, to allow the two new
members of the crew to find their sea legs. How different from Capetown and Melbourne.
After twelve hours of motoring into a light headwind, the breeze veered and
built to NE4 and allowed us to sail at 7 knots.
Stuffed with numerous potions, Brent battled away at his birds with bino's,
notebook and tape recorder. How I wish we had been able to entice a
similiar enthusiast to come with us on the previous Legs. Salvin's and
Royal Albatrosses and White-faced Storm Petrels, along with Buller's Shearwater and Giant Petrels
were all easily recognisable with Brent's guidance.
Francois is beginning to smile again and that helps to light-up the place.
He had a good session going over the boat with
Nick,in the afternoon. However, Nick and I hope Igor, in whose Watch he is,
will be able to prevail upon him not to make a Gallic dash on the sail
set-up, at least until he is more familiar with the rig: from the far side
of the world, we do have a long, long way to go.
One of the improvements from Wellington is the main steering. We are very
grateful to Chris Sturrock for re-building the whole system and for all the
other work he put in.
In the middle of a dark night, we had an unusual encounter with a lone
fishing vessel at 43/40'S, 178/05'E. It was in sight on our port side for 5
hours while we covered some thirty miles. Was it a fishing vessel? Also at
this time we encountered the brightest phosphorescence I have ever seen. It
lit up the sails from the bow wave and the crests of the waves, right out
to the horizon, burned with the white fire of icebergs.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 24 January 2004
Day: 183
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 5, 'The Royal'
Focus of leg: Mitigation and protection of Albatross breeding colonies
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 74.51'E Wellington
Position relative to land: Departing Chaffer's Marine, Lambton Harbour, Wellington, NZ
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0
Distance sailed this Leg: 0
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,250 miles
Course: Steering for the entrance to Wellington harbour.
Next Port:
Approx distance to next port:
Wind: Light to moderate southerly of F3-4
Sea: Sheltered waters of Wellington harbour
Barometer:
Air Temp:
Sea temp:
Cloud cover:
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: Bright sun with little or no wind. Brett, the electrician, arrived at 0730 and got the VHF radio going. I started the engine: it ran ok, though Francois and I can still hear a rattle at front end. The alternator supplied electricity.
Gordon came down early too, he and Blake have made a real effort on the rigging. It is now better than it has ever been.
Decks were scrubbed, gear stowed, warps singled up and fenders put away. Igor produced dock-steps belonging to the Admiral of the fleet.
A crowd gathered along the road overlooking the Marina and a dark-haired lady presented me with a single red rose on a long dark green stem. The P.A. system played Andy and Mick Lezala's CD about the voyage and we changed into smart white Save the Albatross t-shirts.
Helen Clark, Prime-Minister of New Zealand, accompanied by the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Health, arrived at 1145. They all three signed our Petition. Kevin Hackwell spoke on behalf of Forest and Bird. I said a few words and presented the PM with the red English Rose on its long dark green stem.
The P.M. spoke for the albatross and what New Zealand will do for it.
Then I hopped on the old boat and took the wheel. MC turned the key to start the engine. It roared into life. The Prime Minister cast off the single line and we were under way on Leg Five: Wellington to the Falklands, by way of Cape Horn.
Accompanied by a fleet of Forest and Bird kayaks, the white Police boat ''Lady Elizabeth'' and a large red Coastguard RIB, we wound through headland and pier. There were 'Save the Albatross' banners everywhere.
By 1400 we were alone, a mile NW of Baring Head, heading for Cape Horn. The mountainous coast of New Zealand looked stunning in the clearest air.
Igor and Brent were being sick and I wasn't feeling too cracky either. But the Albatrosses were out in force to greet us. It hadn't been a bad day for them.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
LEAVING WELLINGTON
Date: Saturday 24 January 2004
Note: we sailed from Wgtn on schedule with the PM waving us goodbye, motored all afternoon SE out past Cape Palliser, light condx, sunny and warm.
Date: Friday 23 January 2004
Day: 182
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: In Wellington between Leg 4 and Leg 5,
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 74.51'E Wellington
Position relative to land: Reached Destination for this Leg
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,250 miles
Arrived: Wellington, New Zealand
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: On the one hand, the Prime Minister of New Zealand and other Local Ministers are coming to see us off tomorrow, with maximum publicity and speeches for the albatross.
On the other hand, the alternator returned and failed to charge. Rippling down from the drowning of the engine, other electrics begin to fail. Everyone is doing their best. Better keep calm and adapt to whatever comes to pass.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 22 January 2004
Day: 181
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: In Wellington between Leg 4 and Leg 5,
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 74.51'E Wellington
Position relative to land: Reached Destination for this Leg
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,250 miles
Arrived: Wellington, New Zealand
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: Disaster! Nick back but much slack to take up. We had to run the engine to charge batteries for the computer to run.
I thought I'd just check the belts running off the engine, before switching it off. I lifted the boards and saw ... a rising swimming pool.
Classic 'collective irresponsibility'! Francois and Chris had both thought the other had tightened the jubilee clips on the various short rubber hoses for the sea water cooling system.
Neither had!
A pipe had become dis-connected at the top of the engine. The engine was pumping seawater all over itself at high pressure particularly over the alternator.
Suddenly I was on the stage in the Te Papa National Museum. Walter Mitty still breathes! A record turnout, they said. Sadly many were turned way. Funny old game - life.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 21 January 2004
Day: 180
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: In Wellington between Leg 4 and Leg 5,
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 74.51'E Wellington
Position relative to land: Reached Destination for this Leg
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,250 miles
Arrived: Wellington, New Zealand
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: Heavy winds and driving rain continue. Unseasonable weather connected with cyclone which passed close to the NE of NZ a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully it will clear for our departure on Saturday. But for now, work on the standing rigging has been halted for 5 days and the old nerves are beginning to play up.
Francois and Chris spent most of the day servicing the engine, so that is a relief.
MC and I made a TV film for a series, interviewed by two teenagers. We encouraged them to think for themselves about the albatross - far out at sea.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 20 January 2004
Day: 179
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: In Wellington between Leg 4 and Leg 5,
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 74.51'E Wellington
Position relative to land: Reached Destination for this Leg
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,250 miles
Arrived: Wellington, New Zealand
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: Southerly wind and rain, which is rather good as it may mean better weather for our start on Saturday.
People return to work today from a national holiday weekend. I'm getting a bit jumpy about the outstanding jobs on the boat but we should be alright.
Francois (50) joined the boat today. Let's hope we all come together a team. He doesn't speak/understand English too well.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 19th January 2004
Day: 177
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Steadily working through lists. Then thinking (in the middle of the night) of other disasters waiting to happen between Wellington and Ardmore via Cape Horn. Most of my optimistic friends are dead. In Cape Town I was a "greyhound in the slips" at 0530 in the morning. In Wellington a "Spaniel in a basket." Maybe I'm saving something for the second half. Already we're
into "catch-up rugby." At least it's not "grey."
Date: Sunday 18th January 2004
Day: 177
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Marie Christine's birthday. For the very first time, we both get into the cinema at half price. Will people now start kicking sand in our faces on the beach? Two old fogies at last, 40th wedding anniversary 21 March. Plodding around Botanical Gardens. News talk NZ radio for albatross in morning.
Date: Saturday 17 January 2004
Day: 175
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
A day of meeting people from the past. We can't leave the boat, so people come here to say hello, some after an interval of thirty years or more. We looked at each other.
Later MC and I went to see an exhibition of paintings by Stanley Spencer. It opened with a self-portrait at 18, looking at a self-portrait at 64, four months before he died. Blimey! Not many albatrosses are living that long anymore and it gives me only another three years. We both know the vicarage of Cookham, by the Thames, where he lived and painted all his life.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Friday 16 January 2004
Day: 174
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Return of the curse of the Panda: Tenerife, Cape Town, Melbourne and now Wellington, it has defied engineers all across the world. Too complex. If only we could get it to simply work manually. Francois (50), our new crew member from Brittany teaches mechanical boat engineering, he arrives on 20 Jan. He says he can fix it. Will we hear the great Gallic shrug, cry "Poof!"--and worse, I think it must be.
At least Wellington is about the best place on Earth at this moment. And it is exciting to have the chance to go round Cape Horn with a really knowledgeable ornithologist like Brent Stephenson who has actually discovered the Storm Petrel which was thought to be extinct.
Another development: five minutes ago we found a huge cache of Christmas presents from Val Green Haigh. There is hope after all.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 15 January 2004
Day: 173
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Standing rigging coming along well. Steering complete. Panda working again.
Provisions stowed. More interviews. Preparation for Te Papa Museum talk on 22 Jan in hand. Francois Nouailhas (50) of Brittany, France, joins crew on Jan 20. Outlook for Cape Horn--rather better.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 14th January 2004
Day: 172
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Sunny. Such blue, blue skies. Such fresh air. People running, jogging, speed-walking, roller-blading, cycling along by the edge of the sea: people who tell you how they WILL do things. Just the inspiration we need. What a refreshing change from the legions who specialise in defining, precisely, why things can't be done.
Come on--shoulder it up!
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 13 January 2004
Day: 171 Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings
Notes:
"Martes trece: Tuesday 13th," says Igor. "Like Friday 13th in England!"
Well, for me it signalled the end of awful gloom: "A fool and his money are soon parted", "No fool like an old fool".
At very long last, after Tenerife, Cape Town and Melbourne, I actually met someone who really could do the job. Chris Sturrock, mechanic. Sixteen years self-employed and solo after five years apprenticeship as a tool and die maker. It was an inspiration to fetch and carry and pass him his tools all afternoon. He rebuilt the steering, wrongly assembled since we got the new pedestal after Greenland 1999.
Surely there must be some life left in me?
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Monday 12 January 2004
Day: 170
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name:Stop-over in Wellington, New Zealand
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Chaffers Marina, Lambton Harbour, Wellington,
Speed:
Distance travelled in last 24hrs:
Distance travelled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings
Notes: Sunny day. 0330 Nick left to fly back to Melbourne until 22 Jan.
Igor, MC and I visited the Royal Forest and Bird offices and met the team who have so effectively set things in motion for the albatross.
We don't have too many things to do for the boat: set up the standing rigging, change the oil and filters in the Mercedes engine, tighten the steering, etc. This is lucky since many people are still on their summer holidays.
We saw the two pieces which were on Saturday night's TV news and we were encouraged to see the Fisheries minister responding positively on the subject of the albatross.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 10 January 2004
Day: 168 (This Leg Day 14)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.17'S 174.51'E
Position relative to land: Reached Destination
Course: Local Pilotage
Speed: Variable
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 41 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: tbc mies
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Arrived: Wellington, New Zealand
Barometric pressure: 1024
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: 6
Cloud cover: Sunshine
Temperature: 21
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Choppy
Bird sightings (At 1200): Gannets and storm petrels
Notes: SAFELY ARRIVED IN WELLINGTON ONLY ONE BROKEN RIB!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 9 January 2004
Day: 168 (This Leg Day 13)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.09'S 173.26'E
Position relative to land:
Course: 099 T
Speed: 5.8 knots (under drogue)
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: tbc nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: tbc miles
Total distance from Ardmore: tbc miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 38 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1012
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: 5-6
Cloud cover: 100%
Temperature: 21
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Rough, frequent whitecaps.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Storm Petrel,1 x white chinned Petrel
Notes:Good thing we waited and practiced with the drogue. the storms around
Wellington were the worst for 3 yrs with gusts to 140 knots. fortunately
for us it was nothing like that. We had 55 knot gusts at 0900 and that only
for ten minutes or so as the front ripped through; for the rest it was
hours at 30 knots or so, normal really.
We had a full moon in the Cook Strait and were doing 11 knots at times. But
over three watches managed the jinking through frequent high speed
Wellington to Picton ferries.
Nearly there!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 8 January 2004
Day: 167 (This Leg Day 12)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.26'S 171.08'E
Position relative to land: on the soutern side of the entrance to Cook Strait.
Course: 164 T
Speed: 2.8 knots (under drogue)
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: none towards Wellington
Distance traveled since last port: 1,092 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,092 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 148 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1012
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: 5-6
Cloud cover: 100%
Temperature: 21
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Moderate, frequent whitecaps.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Gannet
Notes: A good day's exercise with the drogue streamed 200 metres astern. It worked well and we recovered it safely, using winch and engine. Now we look forward to a similar, modified deployment around Cape Horn.
After our halcyon cruise across the Tasman Sea, bad weather has finally caught up with us. We are on the western fringe of Cook Strait; at the other, much narrower end, a 150 miles southeast, they have a NW storm with 50 knot of wind. So our patient 24hr wait out here has proved prudent. Now we need to slip through a window in the weather. Perhaps not as easy as it may sound.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 7 January 2004
Day: 166 (This Leg Day 11)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.51'S 170.01'E
Position relative to land: 186 nm west of Stephens island in the entrance to Cook Strait.
Course: 106 T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 108 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,092 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,092 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 408 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1012
Wind direction: Calm, variable
Wind Speed: 0 - 1
Cloud cover: 90%
Temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Light but big swell coming up from SW.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Shy Albatross, 1 x White-chinned Petrel,
Notes: With morning, the wind fell away until we had to motor. But we were able to sail again by the late afternoon. Then were stopped in our tracks by NZ radio weather forecasts which offered NE 45 knots in Cook Strait. Adding to this darkness, confinement and extreme tide rips, we took the opportunity to practice lying to our Gale Rider drogue, on a 200 metre 24mm warp off the stern. It will be difficult to stream and recover but this practice is worthwhile. We need to refine the rigging of a scrap of staysail 'steadying sail' lashed fore and aft on the centre line of the boat. High hopes under grey skies.
The look out from the Dome is excellent.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 6 January 2004
Day: 165 (This Leg Day 10)
Local time: 1200 GMT+13
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.56'S'S 167.22'E
Position relative to land: 240 nm west of Cape Farewell
Course: 092 T
Speed: 7.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 108 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,092 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 15,092 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 408 miles (based on GPS Waypoints)
Barometric pressure: 1010
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F3 - 4, (7-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% Raining
Temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Moderate sea with some whitecaps, frequent squalls with wind and rain.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x juvenile Wandering Albatross, 1 x White-chinned
Petrel, 1 x Prion
Notes: Variable wind and grey skies with heavy rain. Slow progress.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 5 January 2004
Day: 164 (This Leg Day 9)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.00'S 164.59'E
Position relative to land: 300nm NNW of Milford Sound
Course: 090 T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 162 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 984 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,984 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 516 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1018
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F4 - 5, (11-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Temperature: 23 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Moderate sea with some whitecaps.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross, 1 x White-chinned
Petrel, 1 x Prion
Notes: We kept a good speed, due east, all day. Another small shark
sighting. We are now into the stationary High, which persists, centred on the NW corner of North Island, NZ. A weak decaying Front reached us from a Low, passing far south of South Island, with little effect.
We are a long way from the westerlies and the Wandering Albatross.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 4 January 2004
Day: 163 (This Leg Day 8)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.01'S 161.26'E
Position relative to land: Middle of the Tasman Sea
Course: 085 T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 822 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,822 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 668 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: NNE
Wind Speed: Force F4 - 5, (11-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 25%
Temperature: 25 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Light sea with some whitecaps,long swell
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross, 2 x White-chinned Petrels, 1 x Prion
Notes: The luck holds, sliding due east at 140 miles each day in fair weather. Few birds. Could reach Wellington on Thursday 8th or Friday 9th January. High pressure over North Island NZ could bring calms. Nick preparing to fly back to Australia for a fortnight. Therefore ETD Wellington for Cape Horn and Falkland Islands 24 January.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 3 January 2004
Day: 162 (This Leg Day 7)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.05'S 158.27'E
Position relative to land: 668 nautical miles west of Cape Farewell, the NW tip ofSouth Island, NZ
Course: 088 T
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 151 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 688 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,688 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 818 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: NNE
Wind Speed: Force F4 - 5, (11-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 60%
Temperature: 26 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Light sea with some whitecapslong swell
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross, 2 x White-chinned Petrels, 1 x Prion
Notes: A 150 nm day: Like a dart due east, along the 40th parallel. Starboard side of the boat dipped in the dreaded Southern Ocean, while the port side basks in semi-tropical summer, with flying fish and sharks. The balmy north wind, carefree youthful giggles and Monitor self-steering on smooth seas separate this MEL-WEL leg from CAP-MEL like chalk from cheese. With a creaking, dented chest, long may it last: x-ray.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 2 January 2004
Day: 161 (This Leg Day 6)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.14'S 155.05'E
Position relative to land: 420 nm SSE of Sydney, Australia
Course: 087 T
Speed: 4.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 37 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 537 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,537 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 974 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1020
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% Fog, visibility estimated at 300 metres
Temperature: 24 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Light sea with long swell
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x large Prion, 2 x White chinned petrels.
Notes: At midnight the wind was just enough to push us half a mile towards Wellington by 0100. The glass was high and we scarcely moved before noon, on a fine sunny day, far from the coughs and colds of home at this time of year.
Pete and Carol now seem completely over their seasickness and have fitted very well into the Watch system: Nick and Pete, Igor and Carol, MC and me.
Carol gave us a thoughtful insight into the world of seabird protection. We eagerly await our visit to NZ; it is such an immediate sort of place, where it seems they are so acutely aware of the fragility of our environment. I'm sure, as oft before, we will draw inspiration from Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird and Southern Seabird solutions.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 1 January 2004
Day: 160 (This Leg Day 5)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.11'S 154.22'E
Position relative to land: 345 nm NE of Hobart, Tasmania
Course: 072 T
Speed: 3.4knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 131 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 500 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,500 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 1,006 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1018
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force F2-3, (4-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: 25 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Small jumbled cross swells throwing wind out of sails.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross.
Notes: 2004 - What will it bring? Day 1 - Twisted at Wheel to glare at staysail sheet jammed in lazarette lid. Fell against port sheet winch. Funny noise from right rib cage. Lay gasping for air. Steadily became disabled during the day. Movement brings clicking sounds and coughing not advised. Still it is a little test. Better than the dreaded ennui, as the wind dies to a flat calm.
Pete and Carol recovered, bring youthful fun to the party.
What will 2004 bring for the albatross?
Happy New Year to all our readers
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 31 December 2003
Day: 159 (This Leg Day 4)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.01'S, 151.26'E
Position relative to land: 160 nautical miles SSE of Gabo Island (the SE tip of Australia)
Course: 120 T
Speed: 6.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 369 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,369 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 1,040 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1016
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 25%
Air temperature: 23 C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Variety of cross swells making a lumpy sea. Motion of boat is throwing wind out of the sails.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross, 5 x Sooty Albatrosses
Notes: Coming on at midnight in the light of a 1/4 moon, MC and I were presented with something we'd never seen before. A series of 5 narrow black pressure-wave clouds, stretching from horizon to horizon, north to south, rolled overhead at great speed, seeming almost to be steaming at the leading edge.
"They're like flying saucers!" said MC, handing the wheel over to me after only ten minutes, "I don't like things I can't understand, maybe it's a water spout."
Nick had stayed up, fearing a violent change in wind speed and direction. We kept the sails very small and he went below. The wind did veer NW but it didn't freshen too much and after an hour or so it weakened and continued on round to SW.
This is the last day of 2003 and the 159th of the Voyage. Nick, Igor, MC and I know each other very well; have been through quite a bit together, in our little home. Having two inexperienced and seasick complete strangers, join us, presents something of a challenge. Especially as they are clearly and unexpectedly, close friends, and much younger - nearly 45 years in my case.
Self discipline, routine, chores, leaving everything better than you find it, over the long haul, rather jars with self absorption and "cool". It's the age old clash of generations.
Nothing like a little test. Interesting to see how we each react. What larks!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 30 December 2003
Day: 158 (This Leg Day 4)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.35'S, 148.46'E
Position relative to land: 80 miles NNE of NE tip of Tasmania, leaving Bass Strait.
Course: 096T
Speed: 6.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 102 nautical miles
Distance traveled since last port: 229 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,229 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 1,200 miles (based on GPS Waypoints)
Barometric pressure: 1016
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F5, (17-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: 25C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Moderate sized waves on the beam, many white horses, some spray.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 3 Unidentified albatrosses in the middle distance, did not approach boat.
Notes: A night fiddling to avoid Flinders Island off NE Tasmania. But
at 0700 a front passed through: the wind veered north east and we set the Monitor windvane steering, complete with its shiny new steering oar and double safety lines.
And so we pulled clear of Tasmania, heading straight for Wellington New
Zealand: and by noon it was just 1,200 miles east.
50 dolphins played around us and we were enjoying one of those
peerless sailing days which should be enjoyed to the full, while the cup is still brimming over. The opportunity of a lifetime must be taken in the lifetime of the opportunity.
Predictably, the wind gradually freshened during the day. The sea
became rougher and Pete and Carol continued to be seasick, which rather took the edge off things.
Very few seabirds here.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 29 December 2003
Day: 157 (This Leg Day 2)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 38.12'S, 146.38'E
Position relative to nearest land: 10 miles south-east of Wilson's Promontory, Bass Strait.
Course: 111T
Speed: 4.0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: approx 100 miles, but not all towards wellington.
Distance traveled since last port: 127 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,127 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 1,272 miles (based on GPS Waypoints).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: ENE
Wind Speed: Force F2-3, (4-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 75%
Air temperature: 25C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Light, occasional white horses.
Bird sightings (At 1200):
Notes: A dark night, a bumpy sea and a lee shore. Transitting the Bass Strait, between Australia and Tasmania was always going to be one of the hazards of the trip round the world. The Southern Ocean bottles up there, between the two masses of land.
"We had 100ft waves off there on the Sydney Hobart Race a couple of years ago." Bruce, the Yacht Club shopkeeper had told me, nonchalantly. I didn't know what to say.
Dawn found us approaching the spectacular channel between Redondo Island (1,150') and Wilson's Promontory (2,470').
"It's calm, you'll motor clear of the whole lot in three hours" Nick's optimistic voice woke MC and me at 0540. "Then you can bear away and set sail towards Wellington."
No prizes for nearly. We spent the day motoring and sailing, trying to wriggle through the various groups of islands and rocks lying between us and the open Tasman Sea. Even at midnight we were heading straight for Flinders Island. But what a sunny, summery day, we had had, compared to the Southern Ocean between Capetown and Melbourne.
Sadly, Pete and Carol are very quiet, being sick a lot, and we look forward to their coming round. Meanwhile, the veterans, Nick, Igor, MC and me, well we look on, astonished to feel fine!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 28 December 2003
Day: 156 (This Leg Day 1)
Local time: 1200 GMT+11
Leg Number and name: Leg 4, "The Bullers"
Focus of leg: The role of international agreements and advocacy
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 38.17S, 144.43E
Position relative to nearest land: Approaching the mouth of Port Phillip Bay, leaving Melbourne.
Course: 104 T
Speed: 7.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 27 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 27 mies
Total distance from Ardmore: 14,027 miles
Headed to: Wellington, New Zealand
Distance to next port: Approx 1,490 miles.
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: SE
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 0%
Air temperature: 27C
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Calm
Bird sightings (At 1200): nil
Notes: The start of Leg 4, Melbourne to Wellington. Up at 0530. Calm, pleasant morning. We motored out of Sandringham YC at 0715, a handful of family and friends waved goodbye as Melbourne slept off Christmas.
By 1300 we had navigated the channels of Port Phillip Bay and crossed the Rip at the Heads, in slack water, as planned. The sun was hot and the sea blue as we motored southeast into a light head wind on the 100 mile stretch to round Wilson's Promontory, the most southerly point of Australia.
Numerous, dense flocks of dark brown, fulmar-sized birds wheeled all about as the wind rose against us and the sea became jubbly.
In the early evening, we saw just one, mangled, bedraggled Albatross, its right leg hanging limp, with jagged gaps for missing feathers in the trailing edges of both wings. Out here, it will know, only the strong survive. And it will have cursed the day it met with men.
Let's be frank, I doubt very much if many Australians will even blink if the old bird becomes extinct. But they'll certainly squeak if their 'slabs' of beer dry up. That's Christmas. And that's certainly not just Australians.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Melbourne
Saturday 27 December 2003
Diesel and water loaded. Things coming together. Eager to start tomorrow.
Into the mist...
John
26 December 2003
Work continues. Gear checked. Problems insurmountable. Nev indefatigable. Diesel unobtainable. Drugs Squad raid inexplicable. Let's get going.
Into the mist...
John
Christmas Day
A peaceful Christmas in the sun.
Various things to do - Just about possible.
Helen Lazala and I collected Carol Knutson and Peter Lewwis of NZ off the Wellington plane safely at 1800. They look the right stuff and we hope to have as happy a team as on the trip from Cape Town to Melbourne.
Into the mist...
John
Christmas Eve
We would like to wish all our readers a Very Happy CHristmas. We plan to sail from Melbourne on sunday 28th December. Meanwhile let's have a good Christmas, far from home.
Into the mist...
MC, Nick, Igor and John.
23 December 2003
Nev continues with re-fitting of equipment - a good day. Igor in Sydney with cousin 'Mouse' for Christmas. Sails going on again. Hot again.
Into the mist.
John
Monday 22 December 2003
Melbourne: Christmas looms. We are bearing up well. MC refreshed by accidental lone swim in the dock in party frock. Just another storm.
Into the mist... I hope
John
Sunday 21 December 2003
Eddington, Central Victoria, Australia. We drove slowly and sadly back to Sandringham. Hurrah! Frank Hammond had done the sails. Good old Frank, good thing he never did get a 'proper job!'
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Saturday 20 December 2003
Eddington, Central Victoria, Australia: Perhaps you need five months on a yacht to feel the the joy of waking up in Eddington: "A home among the gum trees..." Stock still and absolutely silent instead of rocky roll, creaky - wind in the rigging. Harry hunched over his saxophone in the dusk at the barbie. And the carol service.
Let's hope we make it home.
The albatross is over the horizon and far away.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Friday
Friday 22 December 2003
Eddington, Central Victoria, Australia: We sorted out various problems in the morning but lurking just below the surface: the Panda generator, it's limping and it has a long way to limp.
In two cars we drove the 100 miles north to Nev and Heather's home in Eddington, a small rural village in the heart of Victoria. We saw "MMBAM" (Miles and miles of Bloody Australia mate, laughed our hosts). MC and I stayed with Wendy and Ron Alexander who made us very welcome. We spent a musical evening at the 'Cockatoo' in the old gold mining town of Dunolly.
What a wonderful counterpoint "MMBAM" is to "MMBOM" (Miles and miles of bloody ocean mate).
Into the mist,
John Ridgway
18 December 2003
Melbourne, Australia. Nev saving the day with intensive workshop activity. Sails and rig work proceeding. Rain and therefore cooler.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
17 December 2003
In Melbourne, Australia. Igor at the Spanish broadcasting. MC and me under the awning on the yacht. Nicck with his family. Nev at home in his shed dismantling and fabricating. Days going by.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
16 December 2003
Melbourne, Australia. Hot and sunny. ABC 'Today' radio programme. Nev making all our problems look very easy to solve. I seem to be sailing round the world to meet with very efficient dentists. A second day with Darren Donnelan and Dianne had me groggy.
MC cleaning. Igor broadcasting in Spanish for the Albatross. Nick with his family.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 15 December 2003
Day: 143
Local time: 1200 UTC +11
Leg Number and name: In Sandringham Yacht Club, Melbourne, Australia
Focus of leg:
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Sandringham Yacht Club, Melbourne
Position relative to nearest land:
Course:
Speed:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs:
Distance traveled since last port:
Total distance from Ardmore:
Headed to:
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: In pursuit of the equipment agents. Everybody is very friendly and helpful and it looks as if we may be ready to sail towardes Wellington on 28 December.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 14 December 2003
Day: 42 (52 this Leg)
Local time: 1200 UTC + 11hrs
Leg Number and name: Leg 3
Focus of leg:
Position - Latitude, Longitude:
Position relative to nearest land:
Course:
Speed:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs:
Distance traveled since last port:
Total distance from Ardmore:
Headed to:
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
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Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Motoring up the coast from Cape Otway to Port Phillip Heads. We came through the Rip around noon and it was still 30 miles across the Bay to Melbourne. THe lovely welcome meant so much to us. We had arrived in the most liveable city in the world - what a contrast with the Southern Ocean.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Sunday 14 Dec.
2pm -arrival update - good speed overnight and successfully through
the Port Philip heads - now motoring up through the South channel -almost past Arthurs Seat - 5-6pm is current guess at Sandy
YC
How relieved I am that we don't have a gale now. Australia is a long way
from Ardmore.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 13 December 2003
Day: 141 (This Leg Day 51)
Local time: 1200 GMT+10
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.16'E, 141.36'E
Position relative to nearest land: 91 miles est of Cape Otway, approaching
Melbourne
Course: 104 T
Speed: 4.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,970 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,970 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 191 miles.
Barometric pressure: 1020
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Running before lumpy sea
Bird sightings (At 1200): nil
Notes: The weather comes good for us. A high develops, the wind holds and
the sea smooths out. We could reach Melbourne by 1700
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 12th December 2003
Day: 140 (This Leg Day 50)
Local time: 1200 GMT+10
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.30'S 138.51'E
Position relative to nearest land: 240 mile due south of the port of
Goolwa, at the mouth of the great Murray River, South
Australia.
Course: 059T T
Speed: 5.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 144 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,845
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,845
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 219 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1009
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Running before lumpy sea
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Grey-headed Albatross.
Notes: Still bumping and rolling downwind toward Melbourne. The problem
with splitting the circumnavigation into Legs rather
than sailing non-stop round the world is that sight of the overall voyage
is lost in the rush to complete each Leg: catch the
tide at Port Phillip, reach Melbourne before dark, catch the plane, reach
the office on time. The result is inevitable over-pressing and so damage to gear at the end of each Leg. Worse, some damage is cumulative. It was £10,000 in Cape town, what will it be in Melbourne?
Closing the great mainland of Australia we are losing our ocean companions,
the wheeling albatross, the speedy black petrels
and the tiny storm petrels walking on the water beside us. It's as if they
prefer the vast great blue water ride round the
planet. They don't wish to be blown onto the hostile hinterland of
Australia. If you drink seawater, eat fish and sleep on
the sea, the land is not much use to you. I miss them.
Into the mist...John
PS We now urgently need a set of aluminium sail foils for the staysail,
that is for our Profurl furling system, Model No. NI42, I imagine there is
a Profurl Agent in Melbourne and the sailmaker will know him. Bit of a
panic as the parts may need to come from France and we sail on 28 December.
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 11th December 2003
Day: 139 (This Leg Day 49)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 40.34'SS 135.58'E
Position relative to nearest land: 463 nm WSW of Melbourne
Course: 049 T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,701
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,701
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 363 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from the entrance to Port Phillip, approx 100 miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1010
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force F5-6, (17-28 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Big swell and cross sea, but easing.
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Grey-headed Albatross, 1 x Storm Petrel.
Notes: Winds still favourable for cape Otway,our landfall on Australia.
Very pleased to see Elliot Morley, UK Environment Minister,is to head a
five-nation Task Force to tackle pirate fishing. Only sorry it will take 2 years to announce its plans. That will be too late for hundreds of thousands of albatrosses and petrels.
In Australia and NZ we will emphasise the seabird by-catch problem associated with pirate fishing.
Meanwhile, on the shippy, everyone is coping with short rations ok, we
should land with oatmeal complexions - not far to go!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 10th December 2003
Day: 138 (This Leg Day 48)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 42.04'S 133.04'E
Position relative to nearest land: 500 miles SSW of Adelaide.
Course: 079 T
Speed: 7.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 90 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,511
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,511
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 513 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 996
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force F7, (28-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Rough
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x juvenile Wandering Albatross, 5 x White
chinned Petrels.
Notes: Shortly after midnight the wind picked up and by mid-morning we had
a full gale from first the south West and then the West.
The boat picked up her skirts and romped along. As eager to reach Melbourne
as her crew. It's a really big bonus that we all get along so well. None of
us will forget the endless nights and days of hand-steering, what ever the
weather!
We are aiming to thread the eye of the needle. After seven weeks of
hand-steering our colours are running dry. But we must
pass through on the north side of a fifty mile gap between Cape Otway and
King Island. The Chart reads:
CAUTION - In approaching King Island, especially during thick weather,
caution will be required on account of the variablestrength of the current which sets to the south east with a force varying from half to two and a half knots, according to the strength and duration of the westerly winds. Many fatal wrecks have occurred on this island apparently from errors in reckoning.
The Cape Otway side is known as the Shipwreck Coast.
I wish we had the mainsail!
Into the mist... John.
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 9th December 2003
Day: 137 (This Leg Day 47)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 42.11'S 131.06'E
Position relative to nearest land: 640 miles west of Tasmania
Course: 102 T
Speed: 7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,421
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,421
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 598 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1005
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force F5, (17-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Lumpy
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wilson's Storm Petrel, 1 x White-chinned Petrel
Notes: The Low came marching east; centred just south of the 40th parallel.
We were south of the 42nd, heading ESE. The
barometer fell 17 points over the 24hrs and it looks as if it really has
passed just to the north of us, depriving us of the
longed for westerly air stream.
At 1845 the Mizen Staysail halyard block exploded at the top of the Mizen
mast, this brought people on deck pretty sharpish.
We gathered the sail in and just gilled along during the night, wallowing
in a sloppy calm.
Nick is set to take a bigger block to the mizen masthead tomorrow, when we
may get a bit of SSW wind off the back of the
Depression. Then we could set the trusty Mizen Staysail again; it has
proved such a good substitute for the damaged Mainsail.
A couple of Wandering Albatrosses still with us.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Monday 8 December 2003
Day: 136 (This Leg Day 46)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.41'S 127.49'E
Position relative to nearest land: 670 miles south-west of Adelaide
Course: 094 T
Speed: 7.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,271
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,271
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 737 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1019
Wind direction: NNE
Wind Speed: Force F4-51, (11-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Moderate and rising sea from NE
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Black-browed Albatross
Notes: The 990 Low advanced towards us. We held onto the Mizen Staysail
until 1400, then dropped it together with the Mizen
Sail itself. This left the two Headsails: No 2 Yankee and Staysail; adding
just a scrap of Mainsail, only out as far as the
damaged section of the Leech, and gave us our familiar storm sail setting.
As afternoon wore on our world turned grey and we thumped into a gathering
NNE wind. Everyone on their toes for what we hope
might just be our last gale before Melbourne. It looks as if the centre of
this Low could pass right over us.
A couple of tiny Storm Petrels walk on the water around us. The bigger
White Chinned Petrels, which are in fact all black,
except for the merest touch of white on the chin, swoop about. A young
Wandering Albatross or two quarters the vicinity like a
cruising B52.
There is also another smaller albatross which we cannot place. Snow white,
except for black wing tips and black frame to the
underwing and black tail, it has a black beak maybe. It is local to Australia.
Pretty bumpy by midnight.
Into the mist....John
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 7 December 2003
Day: 135 (This Leg Day 45)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.19'S 125.08'E
Position relative to nearest land: 953 miles WSW of Melbourne
Course: Becalmed
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 37 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,146
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,146
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 857 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force F0-1, (0-3 knots)
Cloud cover: 25%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Flat calm. Wonderful sea and cloud-scapes, reflected on
the oil-like sea. Silence.
Bird sightings (At 1200): Nil
Notes: Alone at the wheel in flat glassy calm, literally not moving, leaves
the mind free to wander. How do I come to be here, championing the Albatross, a bird beyond the
pale? What draws me here to this lonely giant?
As an adopted child in those bleak years after WW11, I was lonely. Most of
my time was spent fishing alone, rowing my small wooden boat up and down the Thames near Windsor. My eyes were sharpened, looking for wary Chub shadowlike under bankside trees. I was alone with nature.
In 1956, aged 18 and in the Merchant Navy, after Nautical College, I
visited the Southern Seas and saw my first Albatross.
Ten years later I was rowing the North Atlantic with Chay Blyth, one
asleep, one awake. Alone with the sea. In 1968 I was in a Race to become the first to sail alone around the world non-stop. Shortly after this I left the Army , and with MC, went to live in a remote coastal part of NW Scotland. Accessible by boat, Ardmore has been our home for 35 years, the first 18 were without electricity. We worked on Kinlochbervie Pier in the Whitefish Industry.
We owned a Salmon Farm for 17 years and still own a Mussel farm. We
witnessed the inevitable drift toward mass production and
genetic modification, to suit the market place and huge investment; and the
need to kill other fish to make food for Salmon.
At the same time I sailed a couple of times around the world and to
Polynesia, Greenland and Antarctica. Much time was spent alone at the wheel with the Albatross on my shoulder.
I understand the anarchy of the high seas and its association with flags of
convenience, low wages, piracy. The sea covers 3/4 of our planet.
I understand how charities must battle for funds, often competing with each
other for meagre sponsors from the same pool.
I have always had a fatal weakness for the underdog. I think I understand
how the lonely Albatross is beyond the pale.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 6 December 2003
Day: 134 (This Leg Day 44)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.27'S 124.19'E
Position relative to nearest land: 953 miles WSW of Melbourne
Course: 097 T
Speed: 4.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 67 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,119
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,119
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 893 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1026
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force F2-3, (3-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Virtually becalmed, occasional light breeze from distant
cloud with a few spots of rain. Very Slowly running
across flat sea under full N0 2 Yankee, full Staysail, full Mizen Staysail,
full Mizen sail
Bird sightings (At 1200): 3 x White Chinned Petrels (sitting on water), 1
x Wilson's Storm Petrel
Notes: Flat calm. The scent of the fleshpots is not getting any stronger in
the nostrils. First signs of oncoming privation:
Cocoa, Peanut butter, Biscuits exhausted, last 4 litre of paraffin into
cooker fuel tank.
It's a big effort for the seabirds to fly in flat calm. Many seem to sit it
out, particularly White-chinned Petrels.
Everyone settles down to wait. Not a common component of modern life.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Friday 5 December 2003
Day: 133 (This Leg Day 43)
Local time: 1200 GMT+9
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.38'S 122.58'E
Position relative to nearest land: 1,015 miles WSW of Melbourne
Course: 085 T
Speed: 2.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 62 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,052
Total distance from Ardmore: 13,052
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 955 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force F1-2, (1-6 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Slowly running across calm sea under full N0 2 Yankee,
full Staysail, full Mizen Staysail, full Mizen sail
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross, 1 x juvenile Wandering
Albatross, 3 x White Chinned Petrels
Notes: We are becalmed. Maybe for quite a while too, looking at the
weatherfax.
In a way, I'm sorry we are having to stop anywhere at all. This is the
third time I've been around the world in this boat and I'm beginning to get into the rythm of the 203-day non-stop circumnavigation which Andy Briggs and I sailed 20 years ago.
"Reel in, reel out", I would think then. One awake, one asleep, each left
to his own devices: the decisions reached over those 7 months resulted in the most rewarding period of my life thus far.
Ahead lies a forest of shopping malls and a burst of modern ("Oh you must
have a mobile!") high speed living. I don't expect to make any worthwhile decisions. But hopefully we shall do something for the poor old Albatross.
Coming on Watch at 18.30 we were making 2.5 knots towards cape Otway, 940
mile away. We were in a sort of oil patch, theripples falling back on themselves rather than break the surface tension.
The birds gathered, a dozen porpoises or dolphins
appeared around us and a couple of black three-foot long seals/sea lions
began stitching the waves with delight. Swimming White Chinned Petrels dived beneath the surface for a few seconds before bursting up with a silver fish or some pink thing wriggling in its beak. Big Albatrosses plumped down beside them, eager to join in; then the playful porpoises would break up the party, amid squawks of irritation from the birds. At 65, I'd rather be out here with them. Poor old guffer!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 4 December 2003
Day: 132
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.50'S 121.43'E
Position relative to nearest land: 490 miles south of Esperance, Western
Australia
Course: 110 T
Speed: 5.1 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 133
Distance traveled since last port: 4,990
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,990
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,028 nautical miles (nm) to Cape Otway, 60
miles from Melbourne.
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force F3, (7-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Quietly running across calm sea under full N0 2 Yankee,
full Staysail, full Mizen Staysail, full Mizen sail
Bird sightings (At 1200): 1 x Wandering Albatross
Notes: Another big day for Nick, the human crane.
At dawn I noticed small tears in the Mizen Staysail where it collides with
the Backstay bridle, a steel plate with sharp split pins. (Where the mainmast backstay splits to pass around the Mizen mast about half way up). We dropped the sail and MC, who once spent 24hrs sewing the split mainsail off Cape Horn, fell to with needle and Spinnaker tape.
With all his various worries, Nick has fined down a couple of stone since
he came aboard the Save the Albatross Voyage.
Combining his enormous reach with an enhanced power to weight ratio, he
makes a perfect Spiderman. With foot-long feet
clenched bravely in the Mizen mast steps, he unfolded like the wings of an
Albatross, stretching his skeletal frame across the void to wrap the
distant bridle with mutton cloth padding overlaid with black gaffer tape.
This was a stunning knee-trembler which only Nick could have managed. We
must hope he doesn't plump up over Christmas.
The fine sail hoisted once more, we continued our 2 knot progress through this great high pressure system. At 1900 the final digit fell from the GPS: 999 miles to Melbourne.
The occasional Wandering Albatross flies past, sometimes she answers my
call. Often she'll land up ahead and watch us sail by. Then a younger may
join her for a chat (or is it a feed) on the water. Slowly they'll bob
astern. After a bit of nap, they'll rejoin us, effortlessly circling the
boat, gliding so low, their wing-tips kiss the water as they swing in and
out of the silvery foot-high swells.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 3 December 2003
Day: 131
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.35'S 118.45'E
Position relative to nearest land: 400 miles south of Albany, Western Australia
Course: 062 T
Speed: 6.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 155
Distance traveled since last port: 4,857
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,857
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,204 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1025
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force F4-5, (11-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Reaching across light sea under full N0 2 Yankee, full
Staysail, full Mizen Staysail, full Mizen sail
Bird sightings (At 1200): 3 x White chinned Petrels, 1 x Wilson Storm Petrel
Notes: So we settled down to the new rig. Some say it's better than the
mainsail with the flapping headsails. We managed 155 miles noon to noon through the water and we now worry about taking a too northerly course which might land us in an airless Great Australian Bight. so we gybed in late afternoon, heading just a little south of east.
The seabirds are not as numerous up here. But today I did see something
I've not seen in a lifetime of looking: a Storm Petrel resting on the surface of the water.
These little chaps, they often appear to walk on the water, are much smaller than the other birds. There are never many of them in one place but unlike other species they are always there, all the way around the world from north to south and east to west. Just here, they come closer to the boat than I've ever known, we think they are Wilson's storm Petrel and Black Billed Storm Petrel. Albatrosses now less numerous.
1,100 miles ahead lies Melbourne. A restaurant in the city has apparently just bought all the Patagonian Toothfish, confiscated from the recent Uruguayan pirate boat. We have done all the road work, now we're down to the speed ball and light skipping: ready to continue our campaign to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross.
into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 2 December 2003
Day: 130
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 42.46'S 115.47'E
Position relative to nearest land: 1,338 nm WSW of Melbourne
Course: 103 T
Speed: 3.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100
Distance traveled since last port: 4,702
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,702
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,338 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail
further).
Barometric pressure: 1025
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force F2, (4-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 0%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: n/a
Sea conditions: Slowly reaching across light sea under full N0 2 Yankee,
full Staysail, full Mizen Staysail, full Mizen sail
Bird sightings: 2 x White chinned Petrels, (at 1200 that is - lots of
other birds at other times of the day)
Notes: Well poor Nick has had his three disasters in three days, he should
be alright now. After the Sunday Panda and the Monday Mainsail came the
Tuesday Mizen Staysail. It's a triangular light weather sail rigged between
the foot of the mainmast and the top of the Mizen mast, with the third
corner sheeted off the end of the Mizen boom.
Nick approached the halyard with customary zeal. The top of his head ran
straight onto the first step on the Mizen mast. The claret spouted and the
heartless crew drew their cameras. I squeaked my timeless battlecry "Keep
the blood off the sails".
Nick photographed himself, while eager First-Aiders glinted metal all
around him.
Later, coming off Watch at 2000, I spotted Nick and Igor in the Saloon;
still slumped on the port bench seat, Nick's bandaged head glowing white in
the gathering darkness.
"We're the sick parade!" they muttered.
"Next!" I called, looking at Igor, who sat nearest, "What's your problem
Sunshine?"
"I got suckerlogical problems" the sunny Peruvian sighed, his fingers split
with the cold.
All in all a good day's progress as we slant northeast toward the 40th
parallel, with four sails set, the glories of having two masts to hang them
from. I hope the old Albatross appreciates it, he's showing signs of
heading south for cooler climes, where even real men wear gloves.
Into the mist....
John Ridgway
Date: 1 December 2003
Day: 129
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43.28'S 113.39'E
Position relative to nearest land: 640 miles south of Perth
Course: 046
Speed: 7.0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145
Distance traveled since last port: 4,602
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,457
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,602 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1014
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force F6-7, (22-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 12C
Sea conditions: Running before rough sea, moderating.
Bird sightings: 2 x White chinned Petrels, 1 x Grey Petrel
Notes: We thought it bad yesterday, when Panda broke down. But at least we
didn't know what would happen today!
A maxim throughout my adult life has been some teaching I once heard in an
old black and white army training film:
"More soldiers are killed, returning from a patrol to enemy lines, than are
ever killed going out".
It's surprising what ground you can make up, over the piece, if you always
finish five yards after the line.
Well, today we allowed ourselves to lose focus and be diverted to problems
elsewhere. Bang! Smack on the snout, there it was.
We walked straight into the ambush!
The mainsail is now split along horizontal seams at the leech high up near
the peak. We have rolled it away, into the mast to await specialist treatment in Melbourne. Now we are limping.
Back to attention to detail, eyes aloft, dogged persistence. Cruel sea.
The Albatrosses sometimes sit on the water for a tea party, chittering and
rubbing beaks. Maybe humans should try it, to avoid bombing themselves out of existence.
into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 30 November 2003
Day: 128
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.14'S 110.22'E
Position relative to nearest land: 1,577 nm WSW of Melbourne
Course: 072
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120
Distance traveled since last port: 4,457
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,457
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,577 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will
therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force F4, (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 12C
Sea conditions: Broad reach over light to moderate sea.
Bird sightings: 1x black-browed albatross, 2 x juvenile Black-browed Albatross, 1 x Wandering Albatross, 2xGrey Petrels,
1xSooty Petrel, 1x White chinned Petrel
Notes: We are unable to solve Panda/Kubota overheating problem. Therefore abandoning Panda/Kubota until we get to Melbourne
agent who is vital to the Project.
All electric power now generated by alternator on faithful Mercedes main engine which has done it all before. All electric
demand cut to GPS and sending this Log. Boat going very well. Albatrosses with us.
into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 29 November 2003
Day: 127
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.30'S 107.32'E
Position relative to nearest land: 790 nautical miles SSW of Perth, Australia
Course: 078
Speed: 6.0
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140
Distance traveled since last port: 4,337
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,337
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,699 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1020
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force F6-7, 22-33 knots
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 11.5C
Sea conditions: Lumpy but gradually settling
Bird sightings: 2 x Grey-headed Albatross, 3 x white chinned Petrels,
Notes:
Rolling down wind in the early light of dawn, with just the staysail up,
the sea was very confused. It was as if we were on a broad, fast flowing and shallow river with all the waves running around us. The boat had bee difficult to control in the dark particularly in the frequent squalls.
Trevor and Quentin are busy planning their route home for Christmas. The Saloon is hung with Quentin's khaki sunhat and shorts, our tropical stuff is packed away in remote locations in waterproof
bags.
The wind eased during the day and the main as unfurled once more. But the Panda failed again (is it the sea-water cooling impeller?) and we fear being unable to furl the sail back into the mast.
We are visited by what we take to be juvenile Grey-Headed Albatrosses but
we are unsure precisely what they are. They look Black-browed
into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 28 November 2003
Day: 126
Local time: 1200 GMT+8
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.55'S 104.19'E
Position relative to nearest land: 1836 nm west-south-west of Melbourne.
Course: 075
Speed: 6.4
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145
Distance traveled since last port: 4,197
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,497
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,836 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1003
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force F8, 34-40 knots
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 11.5C
Sea conditions: Rough and very confused.
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey-headed Albatross, 2 x white chinned Petrels, 1 x
Grey Petrel
Notes:
Hello,
Thing is - it was never meant to be like this. It is the relentless 24 hour
a day hand steering which is wearing us down.
We have two automatic steering systems:
1. Monitor wind vane, which requires no electricity, only wind. We lost the
steering oar.
2. Whitlock 1/2 hp Mamba autopilot drive unit. Out of action since well
before Capetown. I just must get on to Graham Smith at Whitlock in Luton. I must. I will do it today.
We are into another gale. Quentin saw a white-chinned petrel flying upside
down. At the moment, it's all I can do to keep the boat on course, with me
woolly hat slipping over my eyes. Still, the wandering albatrosses roll
down the sky to see us each day.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 27 November 2003
Day: 125
Local time: 1200 GMT+7
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.06'S 100.59'E
Position relative to nearest land: 1,977 nautical miles (nm) WSW of Melbourne
Course: 104 T
Speed: 4.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4052 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 12,052 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 1,977 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1012
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 11.3
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: 5 White chinned Petrels, 1 Prion.
Notes:
Hello, Like me, You may have thought I was sinking over the past couple of days. But I do seem to have made another come back. Which is handy.
A front came through at 0700. In heavy rain, I went forward and gybed the sails while MC steered the boat and hoped I wouldn't get washed away (I think). We headed a little south of the track for Melbourne. The sky cleared to a Scottish Spring day: sunny and bright. The price was the falling wind.
We are north a bit now, messages are coming in again, by Satphone and by email, through both Sailmail and Iridium. It's very encouraging to know someone is reading this guff.
We've just cleared the 2,000 mile hurdle to Melbourne. Everyone bearing up well, silently nursing sore wrists and forearms. Having four wandering albatrosses with us is a constant thrill. It brings back a perfect solitary memory from my childhood; fly fishing for silver Dace, in a clear gravel run between waving weed beds, with the early morning cooing of wood pigeons drifting across the Thames at Datchet. Perfection, how seldom, how fleeting. Why destroy it what little there is?
For these birds, for many hundreds of miles, we must be the only show in town. They swing in so close, do I look like a sandwich? I remember a fellow falling overboard, off another boat down here, in the 1977/8 Whitbread Race. When he came on the radio that night, he told us how the birds had landed all around him,as the boat drew further and further away, before returning to pick him up. He was in no doubt, they'd come to eat him.
Into the mist....John.
Date: 26 November 2003
Day: 124
Local time: 1200 GMT+7
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.28'S 98.04'E
Position relative to nearest land: 2,098 miles west of Melbourne
Course: 082 T
Speed: 7.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 155 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,927 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11, miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,098 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further)
Barometric pressure: 1009
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force 7-8 (28-40 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 10.5 C
Sea conditions: Reaching across moderate to rough sea.
Bird sightings: 1 x Wandering Albatross, 1 x Pintado, 5 x White-chinned
Petrels,
Notes: Trying to ginger us up.
We are engaged in a war of attrition out here! Success depends on morale. We need to leave everything better than we find it - not just leave it to someone else.
The Heads, the floors, the brasses, the cockpit floors, the snack cupboard, the Galley draining board, the sink, the coiling of sheets and the prevention of chafe.
Please don't take oilskins and seaboots into the Saloon to dump saltwater over the engine beneath. If the previous 10,000 people had done this, we'd have no motor- what a pickle!
Take a look in the mirror. Are we a Superman or even a super man?
On some Whitbread Race boats they worked 4 watches: 3 on deck, one on cooking and cleaning - on this boat we have Marie Christine, please help her all you can
JR
(El Hypo Critter)
"The youth of today they've no pride,
grooming and manners have taken a slide.
It's long hair and skinheads have buggered this game,
That mutt Igor and his friends,
They're to blame.
But I guess I'm wastin' my breath on you sonny!"
(with apologies to John Williams, 1988)
Very lucky to have such a grand crew. No boat will ever have gone slower from Kerguelen to Melbourne. The hand steering takes it out of us.
We heard Albatrosses never land on the water but with us they fly ahead a few hundred yards and land, have tea and wait for us to sail by.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 25 November 2003
Day: 123
Local time: 1200 GMT+7
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing...'
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46.16'S 94.20'E
Position relative to nearest land: 2,250 miles west of Melbourne
Course: 054 T
Speed: 4.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3, nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11, miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,250 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
..
Barometric pressure: 998
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force 3 (7-10 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.0 C
Sea conditions: Moderate, becoming light.
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey-headed Albatross, 1 x Prions, 4 x White-chinned Petrels
Notes: MC and I came on Watch at 0600. It was raining steadily from a leaden sky. It continued for the whole four hours of our
Watch, culminating for me in a 60 knot torrential squall which coated the sea like icing sugar. At the end, our ten year old
oilskins weighed a sodden ton.
After a week of these conditions the old fogies are feeling the strain. Trendy definitions like 'repetitive stress' trip off
the tongue. In my case the torn tongue as filling is all gone from the lower left eyetooth and the jangly half xxxxx scrape
the tongue at every syllable (Oh! Come off it, it's not that bad - but what would a xxxxx swollen gangrenous tongue be like
1,000 miles short of Melbourne?)
The main complaint is pins and needles in wrists and fingers, caused by battling with the wheel. Trevor has suffered this in
silence for some weeks and MC has chilblains on her fingers as well.
Blimey!
Anyway, we're bumbling along. What's a few weeks in a life time? If we can all leave everything we touch a little better
than we found it, we will prevail. Otherwise its back to gazing into the abyss of self pity.
There are no jet trails in the sky down here, no ships, no flotsam or jetsam. Very occasional clumps of kelp wrung from the
islands, now a 1,000 miles astern, is all we encounter to remind us of the existence of anything else on this planet but
endles sea.
The bad weather hasn't helped the inevitable anti-climax after the Marion, Crozet nd Kerguelen Islands, with all the drama of
the chase: satellite searches, abortive rendevous, meeting the French and certainly not least the hazardous navigation round
the islands through fog and tempest.
But there is a world out there. It's teeming with 6,000 million people. It's only too easy out here, to focus on our own
narrow problems. No doubt Birds Australia is short of resources to meet all the demands for support for native Australian
species, never mind take on the Albatross, something nobody ever sees in this age of air travel. No hard feelings, it just
came at a bad time.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 24 November 2003
"I've letters here," the Postman calls,
"For Mr Gale and Mr Squalls,
and Mr Frost and Mr Snow -
and Messrs Sleet and Hail and Blow.
I've mail for Berg and Storm and Grey.
And here's some post for Wilde I'd say."
"I'll take those, lad," our Skipper says,
(As ever proud and haughty),
"I know where all those blighters live -
It's in the Roaring Forties."
- Trevor Fishlock, aboard English Rose V1 in the Southern Ocean
Day: 122
Local time: 1200 GMT+7
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46.44'S 91.01'E
Position relative to nearest land: 2,383 miles west of Melbourne, Australia
Course: 072 T
Speed: 8.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,507 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,507 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,383 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1001
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 8 (34-40 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 10.7 C
Sea conditions: Rough. Reaching across a big sea.
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey-headed Albatross, 3 x Prions, 5 x White-chinned Petrels.
Notes: The weather kept up all day and a gale strengthened in the evening.
We made a determined leap at hurdle (2) today: the Panda generator. It had run about 150 times since we left Cape Town. Udo, the great German engineer had set it up to run for 12 minute sessions, thus keeping the batteries topped up to give Nick maximum voltage for his transmissions.
It had worked faultlessly for a month in dreadful conditions. On its own
suspension inside it's white fibreglass container it will have sprung about violently whenever a wave pushed the boat on its side.
It had failed to start, the day before yesterday. Gloom fell on the camp.
"Mechanical things occur gradually, electrical things occur instantly",
Nick quoted his old Melbourne chum, Nev.
Methodically the problem was located in the area of the Starter motor. Nick prodding about with his voltmeter looked like a Doctor with a stethoscope, I defined parts from photographs in the poorly translated Fischer Panda Manual.
It all came down to three relays, rectangular plugs on the aft side of the Kubota diesel. Nick took each one out and tapped it with the back of hisknife. "What page of the Manual is that then?" I said smiling at Igor.
But it started. Nick's face lit up like sunshine. "Good old Nev, he taught me that - a sticky relay!
Good old Nick!
Gales continued throughout.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 23 November 2003
Day: 121
Local time: 1200 GMT+6
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47.01'S 87.42'E
Position relative to nearest land: 2,513 miles west of Melbourne
Course: 072 T
Speed: 8.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,507 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,507 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,513 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1000
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force 9 (41-47 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.0 C
Sea conditions: Very rough. Still running with much rolled staysail before large breaking waves with cross swell to add to the confusion.
Bird sightings: 1 x Antarctic Skua, 2 x Sooty Petrels, 2 x Pintados, >10 White Chinnned Petrels, >25 Prions.
Notes: The night was particularly bad, as we have only one of two light bulbs working in the steering compass. As a result steering was hampered.
Mountainous seas and cross seas at dawn. Conditions same all day. These trips are really an endless set of hurdles to cross.
Three hurdles ahead appear rather tall just now:
1. Illness in Nick's family is causing major concern.
2. The Fischer Panda Generator is not working. With the wind and towing generators already down, we are now left with only the inefficient alternator on th diesel-drinking main engine to charge the batteries. Without electricity, furling the
mainsail and navigation become rather tricky. Communication ceases.
3. Our belated arrival in Melbourne coincide with a Birds Australia Conference so they are unable to help us raise awareness
to the plight of the Wandering Albatross which is a pity. However there are so many people already helping us in Australia I'm sure we'll be ok at the Sandringham Yacht club.
Because I'm too slow in bending my knees, when a rogue wave bangs over the side to hit me at the wheel, I sometimes swing across the cockpit on the end of the Jackstay in a wall of silver and green, crashing my rib cage into the leeward winch.
After ten times in a day I do occasionally feel nearer seventy than sixty.
But then the old Wandering Albatross comes swinging up out of the marble green...
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 22 November 2003
Day: 120
Local time: 1200 GMT+6
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47.04'S 81.o4'E
Position relative to nearest land: 2,648 miles west of melbourne
Course: 072 T
Speed: 8.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 155 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,372 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,372 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,648 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1010
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force 10-11 (48-63 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%, visibility poor
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.6 C
Sea conditions: Very rough. Running with much rolled staysail before large
breaking waves with cross swell to add to the confusion.
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey-headed Albatross, 5 x white Chinned Petrels, 4 Prions
Notes: Not a lot to say. three points -
1. 40 years since Kennedy assassination.
2. England won Rugby World Cup.
3. The weather got even worse in this part of the Southern Ocean.
Only the third of these events directly affects us right now.
A very trying night for everyone. The sea has a sort of white skin on it.
It'll be good if it doesn't last too long, like this.
I saw a Antarctic Skua today. I think that will do.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 21 November 2003
Day: 119
Local time: 1200 GMT+6
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48.22'S 81.04''E
Position relative to nearest land: 430 nm east of Kerguelen
Course: 067 T
Speed: 6.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,217 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,217 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,764 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1011
Wind direction: SSW
Wind Speed: Force 7 (28-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%, visibility good
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 8.6 C
Sea conditions: Moderate to rough sea on the beam, icy spray and hail
blowing across the boat and into your face on the helm.
Bird sightings: 1 x Wandering Albatross, 3 x white Chinned Petrels, 2 Prions
Notes: "Hello..." I can hear the empty echo returning. Another gale, or is it all part of the same one.? Grey, lumpy, icy breath mists off people as they eat their omelette lunch in the Saloon. Delicious.
Omelette because at 0950 we were hit by wave which knocked me down at the
wheel and put the boat on its side.
"Never put all your eggs in one basket" Marie Christine had chortled at
Trevor, a couple of days earlier, as she conducted yet another re-shuffle
in her open plan grocer's store below the Doghouse.
Very luckily it was two red plastic baskets. When the wave hit us 50 eggs
took to the air and flew for their individual targets like Pearl Harbour.
How one squadron finessed the corners to splatter the After Heads door for
modern art, no one can figure out. It made 'Top Gun' look easy.
Marie Christine did not take kindly to the attack. She was soon on her way
to 'Midway', hurling flasks and saucepans through a curtain of steaming
water like a good'un. It was a relief they were not coming at me for a change.
Generally there is a sombre mood. No pirates means goodnight. Ah well
life's up and down, we'll head north to warm the crew and get back on to
Sailmail, it's been like the dark ages.
Fewer Albatrosses now, the poor old things; their trouble is, nobody sees
them out here over the horizon. Like the fish there's nobody effective to
represent and protect them.
What a difference a couple of days north-east makes.: 3.2C at Kerguelen,
today 8.6C - still a step o the 31C we had near the Equator but still we've
definitely cleared the Antarctic Convergence
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 20 November 2003
Day: 118
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49.12'S 78.04'E
Position relative to nearest land: 300 nm east of Kerguelen
Course: 083 T
Speed: 4.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 160 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,187 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,187 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 2,874 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1001
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%, visibility good
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.5 C
Sea conditions: Moderate and falling
Bird sightings: 5 x Prions, 1 White Chinned Petrel
Notes: Hello, is there anyone there? We have have so many problems with our
communications that we haven't heard from anybody for some weeks now.
Mainly we hope Carol Knutson is going to met us in Melbourne, we'd ring you
Carol,if we could.
Well we're bowling along in bumpy grey. It's one gale after another and the
water temperature fell to 4C; good thing it's not freshwater, we'd soon be
set in a solid block.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 19 November 2003
Day: 117
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - The role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU
fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49.08'S 74.01'E
Position relative to nearest land: 140 nm east of Kerguelen
Course: 084 T
Speed: 8.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 142 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 3,027 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 11,027 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,024 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great
Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1015
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force 6 (22-27 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%, visibility good
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 4.6 C
Sea conditions: Light to moderate, some white caps. Wind rising.
Bird sightings: 6 x Black-browed Albatrosses, 5 x White-chinned Petrels,
10 x Antarctic Prions, 1 x immature Wandering Albatross, 1 x Pintado.
Notes: By midnight the land had fallen away and we were treated to a grand
display of the Aurora Australis. It was as if the white Antarctic had
bathed the sky in light, as if the sun might be going to rise in the South
rather than the East.
When Marie Christine and I came on Watch again at 0600, Nick and Igor had
already gybed the sails to suit a rising north wind. Gradually we increased
speed all morning.
Our old chums were there as usual, mostly in ones or twos: Wandering, Black
Brow, Light-mantled Sooty and Grey-Headed Albatrosses, the odd White-chined
Petrel, a pair of Pintados and the normal flock of Prions. With just the
occasional Storm Petrel.
Morale kept high. Quentin, Trevor and Nick each had their own reasons for
getting to Melbourne as soon as possible. Igor wanted to warm his Peruvian
hide. Marie Christine and I, well we were just looking forward to getting home.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 18 November 2003
Day: 116
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 49.32'S 70.30'E
Position relative to nearest land: Off South-east coast of Kerguelen
Course: 080 T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 20 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,885 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,885 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,150 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1009
Wind direction: SSW
Wind Speed: Force 7 (28-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 75%, visibility good
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 4.2 C
Sea conditions: Moderate
Bird sightings: >50 Antarctic Prions, 1 x immature Wandering Albatross
Notes: We all slept through from 2200 last night till 0500. Odd to have no sound, at sea there is always noise from wind, water and gear.
Flat calm as we sounded our hooter and waved goodbye to friendly Marco on the quay.
An email tells us the latest Australian government satellite sweep of Heard Island Economic Exclusive Zone has revealed no pirate vessels in these waters. Probably because of the presence of the two Australian boats,it was thought.
Fog blanketed our departure through Passe Royale but we were greeted by Force 7 wind as we gained the open sea. Unfortunately this prevented us laying Heard Island. Now we know there are no Pirates there, so I turned the boat for Melbourne and this was greeted with a hoarse cheer of approval.
3,150 miles to go, we are two weeks behind schedule from our excursion around Marion, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands. Now we can swing along the wind at last - on the track of our old chum the Albatross, who was waiting to greet us on the gale at the mouth of Passe Royale.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 17 November 2003
Day: 115
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: S E
Position relative to nearest land: At Port aux Francais, Kerguelen Course: -
Speed: -
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,865 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,865 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,110 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1016
Wind direction: North East
Wind Speed: Force 1 (1-3 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% but visibility good
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.7 C
Sea conditions: Calm
Bird sightings: Many South Georgia Petrels, 35+ Black backed gulls
Notes: A night of motoring in the fog. Glassy calm down east coast of Kerguelen. Dawn found us entering a typically Scottish sea loch with mountains poking above the clouds!
1340 we picked up a mooring at Port Aux Francais, a bleak tangle of barrack blocks on low treeless moorland. Windswept, this is no place to lie in bad weather, the last yacht here ended up on the beach, there have been only two in the past year.
Some 60 residents in summer, 30 in winter, scientists and biologists mostly, with French Navy and Army personnel to run logistics.
Marco and Oliver picked us up in a RIB. Three ornithologists all in their early twenties took us for a meeting in the smart, warm HQ Building.
Amelie, elfin and bright, spoke fair English. Fabrice, a John Lennon lookalike, shy and sincere was quietly spoken.
Cedric, more assured, has been here over a year, gave us some copies of his lovely Albatross photos.
At first we sat rather awkwardly round a formal table. I asked Cedric if, after his time on Kerguelen he was optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the Albatross. "Je suis desolee - I am very sad for the Albatross" he replied haltingly, looking out of the window. "We have been studying a sample of 300 Albatrosses for two years now, this year they are only 240 - 60 down - mostly female" added Amelie, warming to a subject very close to her heart. "We find many fish hooks in the Albtrosses."
"The best chance for the Albatross is for the fishermen to catch all the fish - then they will go away!" Fabrice spoke surprisingly directly.
70 miles N-S, 90 miles E-W kerguelen is 1/3 ice cap with mountains to 6,000 feet. Hundreds of islands, many fjords, A historically notorious place for man's butchery of wild life, in 1843 it is said there were 600 whaling vessels on these coasts - we saw no sign of a whale today.
Between 1791 and 1873 the vast populations of seals were virtually exterminated, boiled down in huge cauldrons fueled with local penguins.
Now it is the turn of the albatross.
As man is forever to hunt lower and lower down the food chain, laying a billion hooks a year for Toothfish from 1200 metres now, we'll soon be eating jelly-fish.
We just must regulate fisheries now. Surely if we can reach the moon, we can manage our fisheries?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 16 November 2003
Day: 114
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48.24S 68.33 E
Position relative to nearest land: Just off the NW corner of the Kerguelen Islands
Course: 100 T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,745 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,745 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,230 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and willtherefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: North
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (Fog)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 5.0 C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey Headed Albatross, 1 x Black-browed Albatross, 3 x White Chinned Petrels
Notes: Searchlight beams of Aurora Australis. We have dreadful propagation for HF radio Sailmail, is it the active Aurora or Maputo down again? Iridium aerial on the stern has been hit by a wave, Nick rigs up a bit of a car aerial inside the dome - claims dramatic improvement. We haven't been able to connect on the Iridium phone for weeks - tomorrow we'll have a trial to Marie Christine's mother in Brighton, a Volunteer Coastguard in Marine Gate.
Off the north end of Kerguelen. Really dense fog now. Water shallow brown. Seabirds few. "We have a target, 7 miles fine on the starboard bow", Trevor's Leader voice set alarm bells for action stations a'ringing all over the ship.
Marie Christine stayed in the Galley. I accelerated my shaving in the After Heads. It's never certain what Igor is up to in the Forward Heads. Quentin strode the Delessops Panama Canal plank at the wheel, a vision in green, red and yellow with sun glasses an ghastly quasi-beard. Trevor looks calm but concerned. Nick reached the Doghouse and scanned the radar. "It's moving away from us at 3.5 knots", he proclaimed.
"Oh wow! This is actually it." I thought, "A pirate fisherman at last". Igor even agreed to abbreviate, at least that's what I took the muffled mumbling to mean.
Now everyone but Marie Christine was by the wheel or peering out of the Doghouse hutch. Quentin the professional negotiator didn't want to be on the radio. I wanted to steer the boat right at the Pirate. But Nick thought I should be on the radio to the pirate. A simple white sailing boat doing 4 knots downwind, no markings on the sails or hull, save the red GBR 1218 on the mainsail. Innocent.
I suggested Marie Christine, the French interpreter of 43 years ago, should man the radio. Trevor and Quentin thought up penetrating questions. Igor was all set with cameras. The fixed video camera on the mizen mast pointed forward, I could aim the boat like a rifle.
Everyone set off to prepare themselves for the engagement. Leaving Trevor and Quentin on Watch.
"It's big. It's five miles. Is it a rock?" The leader voice enquired. I scuttled up the ladder and scanned my 1954 chart.
Right up on the very top, part of View A, there it was Ilot du Rendevous, tiny but 280 feet high. Trevor as awarded a gold star for his leader feat. I was chastened.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 15 November 2003
Day: 113
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47.35SS 66.41 E
Position relative to nearest land: 79 miles NW Kerguelen Islands
Course: 061 T
Speed: 5.1 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,645 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,645 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,330 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 5.4 C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: 1 x Grey Headed Albatross, 1 x Sooty Albatross, 1 x Juvenile Wandering Albatross, 4 x White Chinned Petrels
Notes: Hello, Imagine, if you will, that you are a 65 year-old man who's led a fairly hectic, mostly athletic life, driven by a love of excitement and a need to earn a living. You are now retired and find yourself looking down from your cottage at a magic carpet stretching right around the world. On the carpet there lies a white 60' ketch, too big to attract a buyer. Too big to afford as a hobby. Now well aware of your own mortality you decide on one more fling -"Beyond the far horizon". Most encouragingly, your wife of 40 years agrees to accompany you leaving behind loved children and grandchildren.
The price you must pay, for there's 'owt for nowt', is that you must concentrate on the seabirds which surround you as you stand alone at the wheel. Overtime, among these swirling birds, a pattern emerges, it's your own life: childhood, youth, adulthood, seniority.
The sun shines, making rainbows in the mist, these seabirds are indescribably beautiful and precious.
Please don't destroy them.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Friday 14 November 2003
Day: 112
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 48.05S 3.38E
Position relative to nearest land: 180 miles WNW Kerguelen Islands
Course: 095 T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,515 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,515 miles
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,420 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1010
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force 5-6 (17-27 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 4.6 C
Sea conditions: Light to moderate
Bird sightings: 25xPrions, 1xWandering Albatross, 1xGrey Headed Albatross, 3xWhite Chinned Petrels
Notes: Hello! When marie christine and I came on atch at midnight, 2000-2200 Trevor and Quentin and 2200-2400 Nick and Igor both reported in the Log that they'd each had the mid and aft cockpits flooded twice by breaking waves. But we were in for a spot of luck, the wind was easing and we stayed dry. It's snowing and most people are complaining of feet like blocks of ice in their bunks.
During the day conditions improved. We were surrounded by great numbers of birds: Albatrosses, Cape Pidgeons, Sooty, Wite Chinned and Storm Petrels. But most of allPrions or Ice Birds: They are too small to take hooks baited with frozen squid.
Spectacularly aerobatic I have seen them actually flying backwards at head height not 20 feet from the side of the boat. They are all Petrels, a derivativ of Peter, for their ability to 'walk on water' as they pick up Plankton from the surface.
We are closing on Waypoint 111 which is fishing ground 1 on the very edge of the Kerguelen Plateau. the Secret Agent has produced charts awash with pink and blue patches denoting target areas.
When I think about it how I admire him for choosing this as a way of life. Rather than sitting on his bum and whinging like so many.
Some dredful things are quietly happning, over the horizon on the great ownerless unprotected oceans. gradually we will see fish disappearing from the menus. And there will be only be films of seabirds to remind us of what we did. At the CCAMLR meeting in Hobart this week France owned up to killing 27,000 seabirds in the past couple of years . Most of those would have been right here - Kerguelen is a French territory.
But I just think how many have been killed by Pirates.
There must be a way to regulate fishing before it's too late. It jst needs a willing skipper on every boat. That's all it needs.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 13 November 2003
Day: 111
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 47.50S 60.10E
Position relative to nearest land: 317 miless WNW Kerguelen Islands
Course: 120 T
Speed: 7.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,375 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,375 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,565 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1000
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force 6-7 (22-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.1 C
Sea conditions: Reaching across building sea. waves est. 2.4 metres
Bird sightings: 2xGreyheaded Albatross, 1xWandering Albatross, 15 prions, 15 White chinned Petrels, 2xSealions, 1 Elephant Seal.
Notes: Perfect morning. bluest sky, whitest rollers. Good direction.
I waved at a Wandering Albatross "Aye Aye Cap'n" I called as he looked me in the eye. He rolled onto his side and waggled his tail as if to say "Good on yer, old top!" I was really chuffed.
He skimmed a few waves, rather kicking his heels, really. I could almost hear him say "Look, you can only do 150 miles a day - If I step on the pedal a bit I can do 1500. What say I nip on ahead and see if they've put the kettle on?"
During the morning the wind rose steadily. A couple of small brown seals gamboled around us.
"A fishing buoy! A fishing buoy!" shouted the Secret Agent from the wheel.
"How has he done it?" we asked ourselves. More magic.
"Oh no, sorry, it's an Elephant Seal" he called down.
By lunchtime we had a full gale. The rest of the day was reducing sail and the night holding the nerve while plunging down the overtaking waves which filled the cockpit on several occasions.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 12 November 2003
Day: 110
Local time: 1200 GMT+5
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR z- the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46.21S 57.30E
Position relative to nearest land: 420 miless WNW Kerguelen Islands
Course: 147 T
Speed: 4.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,240 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,340 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,690 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1007
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force 5 (17-21knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (foggY)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.5 C
Sea conditions: reaching across moderate sea.
Bird sightings: 15 Prion, 1 Wandering Albatross, 5 White Chinned Petrels, 1 Grey headed Albatross, 4 Sooty Petrels
Notes: There is a certain relentlessness to all this. We are heading southeast again and still there is fog. The wind is light and for here, the weather is kind.
For a while we had a lone King Penguin stitching the water 20 feet or so from our stern. A cheery fellow he was a particular delight to Marie Christine. A striking colour he grows to 3.75 feet high, weighs up to 26lbs and has been known to dive to 787 feet for squid. They breed on sub Antarctic islands like Kerguelen.
The highlight of the day for others was the dental surgey at 1100 hrs. I gazed up and thought. Surely they should be retired by now. Which route down my root canal will they take? Marie Christine, short hair, and gold rimmed glasses, looked uncomfortably like Anne Robinson in 'The Weakest Link'. She had mirrors and long shiney steel spikes. Trevor peered down enthusiastically at the fatal lower jaw with its missing filling, agitating, he was balling his fists. Very keen to "Have a go himself""Knock him out- I'm going in!"
"Oh Gawd" I thought. Remembering the two hours in that chair in the Cape Town dentist. "If this filling fails the tooth may disintegrate and that would be serious", Benjie Lowrie had told me. "Get it capped as soon as possible-Melbourne if you can!"
My wife screwed home the white paste. Both grave practitioners told me it would harden soon, but it seemed like chalk paste to me. Would I have to go aboard the Russian Icebreaker at Heard Island? Would that part-time dentist be like Lawrie Oliver in Marathon Man?
Anyway it seems OK for now.
Sat phone calls to Quentin gather pace. Australian skippers keen to RV in the snow somewhere. Better than knitting and gardening?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
A Verse on Shipmates hearing the Antarctic Owl
I'm the Antarctic Owl,
A fabulous fowl
Resembling the Dodo or Moa.
Ornithologists insist,
Since I'm not on their lists,
I'm as dead as a Dowager's Boa.
The fact is I'm heard
By a small gifted few
To Doubters I say
Look me up in who who.
by our Special Correspondent aboard English rose V1, Trevor Fishlock
Date: Tuesday 11 November 2003
Day: 109
Local time: 1200 GMT+4
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.38S 54.10E
Position relative to nearest land: 180 miles West of Crozet Island
Course: 110 T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 2,100 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 10,100 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,775 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1013
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force 5-6 (17-27 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (foggY)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 5.8 C
Sea conditions: Fast reaching across moderate sea.
Bird sightings: 1 Prion, 1 Wandering Albatross
Notes: Endless fog but favourable wind. Warm air over cold water. Intelligence improving as we approach Kerguelen Plateau.
Un-wise to reveal all at this point. Everyone suffering a bit from relentless cold and the thought that it will get colder once south of Antarctic convergence. This good weather will not last indefinitely.
Here is something you could do to help the Albatross. Go to your nearest Aquarium and ask them to set up a montage for the Save the Albatross Petition on a wall within the building plus a facility for easy signing. Ask them if they will link up with other aquariums round the country, round the world. Japan is developing its +100 Aquariums. This is a way you could help save the Albatross.
Thanksalotty,
John Ridgway
Date: 10 November 2003
Day: 108
Local time: 1200 GMT+4
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.32E 51.09E
Position relative to nearest land: 110 miles NE of Crozet Island
Course: 105 T
Speed: 8.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1,955 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,955 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 3,925 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1010
Wind direction: N
Wind Speed: Force 7 (28-33 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (foggY)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 5.6 C
Sea conditions: Fast reaching across moderate sea.
Bird sightings: 1 Wandering Albatross, 3 Prion, 2 White Chinned Petrels, 1 Stormy Petrel, I Grey headed Albatross
Notes: A surging day. Under full sail we had the old ship making nine miles in the hour, trying to build the big MO for Kerguelen (Desolation Island) seven hundred miles ahead. The secret agent promises good intelligence once we are south of the Antarctic Convergence. Everyone in good spirits and managing the hard cold routine.
As well as signing the Petition, which I published in the log yesterday, there are some other things you could do to save the Albatross.
The Patagonian Toothfish is caught at depths of around 2,000 metres in the Southern Ocean. A single sashimi-grade fish can be worth US$1,000. They fall to some of the 1 billion hooks laid down here each year. Albatrosses fall to many of the hooks too.
Now, we're not talking about fish to feed the starving millions. No, the fish are eaten by Palm-Pilot folk, people with freedom to make choices in restaurants and super-markets. Patagonian Toothfish is not an attractive name, so it appears in restaurants as SEA BASS in USA and UK, MERO in Japan, LEGUNE in France. Just stop buying it! And don't hesitate to tell the seller why.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 9 November 2003
Day: 107
Local time: 1200 GMT+4
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.54E 46.20
Position relative to nearest land:
Course: 50 T
Speed: 3.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1,830 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,830 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,000 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1015
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: Force 2 (4-6 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (foggY)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 4.8 C
Sea conditions: Lumpy swell
Bird sightings: Sooty Albatross, Royal Albatross, Black Petrels, Sooty Petrels, White Chinned Petrels, Prions
Notes: Foggy and still. Just slipping along at 2-3 knots on a silky sea. Noon found us 130 nautical miles (nm) NW of Ile Aux Cochons (Isle of Pigs) in the (French) Crozet Islands. The islands are small and inhabited only by seabirds. The pigs were probably put there for shipwrecked sailors in the days of sail. Maybe they found them and ate them. Then what?
With the absolute silence of 2 or 3 knots (neither wind generator or towing generator work at this speed), time alone at the wheel in the fog offers "The bliss of solitude". A chance to study the visitors, who come ghosting in through the mist. Dainty Icebirds, incredible 12' wing span Wandering Albatrosses (how can that span be supported by a wing only 9" from front to trailing edge?). Cheerful piebald Cape Pidgeons, and the newcomer, the Antarctic Fulmar, so like our own Fulmar at home in NW Scotland, save for the white patch on the end of it's grey wing. The Sooty and White Shinned Petrels and the tiny Mother Carey's chickens.
How many millions of years have they been here? How did they learn to fly. How long is my own lifetime in all of this?
Why must we needlessly destroy them all, now in this particular generation? Surely, if we can get to the moon, we can stop this needless slaughter of the Albatross?
What can you do? Or do you just not care? I'm sure you haven't got much time and you have some more pressing problems to solve.
Well, the very least you can do is sign the Petition - on the website - now. I'll try and sail round the world and take it to the UN, in Rome, next June. Go on, sign it.
To stop pirate fishing, all countries must take action to:
1. End flags of convenience (FoC) for fishing vessels, and close all markets and ports to FoC vessels and their stolen fish;
2. Ratify all relevant international agreements to protect Albatrosses and other marine life, including the United Nations Fish Stock Agreement;
3. Enforce protection at sea and intercept pirate vessels.
You can help end the needless slaughter of the Albatross
Please sign and put an end to Pirate fishing.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 8 November 2003
Day: 106
Local time: 1200 GMT+4
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing. ..' Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.54S, 46.20E Position relative to nearest land: 160 miles West of Crozet Island
Course: 58 T
Speed: 6.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1,705 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,705 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,150 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1001
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 7-8 (28-40 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.3 C
Sea conditions: Moderate to rough sea on the beam
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Black Petrels, Sooty Petrels, White Chinned Petrels, approx 10 Prions
Notes: Around midnight we decided to gybe and take the northerly route round the fast approaching Crozet Islands.
This was a lumpy, bumpy day with grey everything, plus fog and rain. We made poor progress despite strong winds.
The first sighting of an Antarctic Fulmar - maybe from the Crozet Islands? We're a couple of weeks out of Cape Town. People are coping with things in their own way. Gritty, frozen Igor is sunny, carefree and totally caught up with Arnie Schwarzenegger's recent success: waking up and finding his wife had fixed him up with more than just a promo tour for Terminator 3 for the summer: "Oh gott, I'm in Polly Diggs!" Govenor of California.
Nick, ashen, devourer of manuals. Worries about communications and everything he thinks others are not worrying about. Driving the boat forward, longest at the wheel. Solid gold.
Quentin comes on Watch, rushing up the ladder into the doghouse, throws a pile of gear ahead of him, "Made it on time!" he gasps. Never mind the course, get those yellow lights going, switch on mobile satellite phone and the Palm Pilot. Call up Wagga Wagga, Washington or wherever, there's a world to save out there. Was I like that 33 years ago? Yes.
Trevor clambers up the ladder: loving the sound of velcro in the morning. Looking younger every day. Measured, avuncular, prepared to discuss the journeys of despair he and I made coincidentally and quite separately, to the Pomme D'Or nightclub in Portsmouth in years 1962/3. He's heard somewhere that the highest waves in the world are to be found on the Kerquelen Plateau up ahead. Unsure if he wants to see them.
Marie Christine, brusque, doing her watches, all the cooking, all the cleaning and 50% of all the washing up. Beats up her poor husband something cruel.
Me, worrying if the pain in my lower chest is a duodenal ulcer, stomach cancer or just a bruised sternum caused by being thrown onto the wheel against my safety harness. I could believe all 3. "Mein Gott, I'm in Orni Dollogy!"
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Friday 7 November 2003
Day: 105
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46.09S, 43.04E
Position relative to nearest land: 300 miles due east of Crozet Island
Course: 99 T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1,575 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,578 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,270 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1008
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.5 C
Sea conditions: Reaching at good speed over light sea
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Royal Albatross, Black Petrels, Sooty Petrels, White Chinned Petrels, approx 50 Prions
Notes: Marie Christine tried a new contortion t the wheel and the elbow improved. - just in time, we need all hands. We crossed two fishing grounds, rolling east toward the dreaded uninhabited Crozet Islands. Isle de Cochon: if we are wrecked there the pigs will probably eat us.
The triumph of the day was bleeding the Panda diesel fuel system and hearing it cough into life. No words can express our relief.
Each of us spend long periods alone on deck, at the wheel. It's 14 days since we left Cape town but few of us would really be able to guess the exact day or date. Life is geared to gales, the fourth is nearly upon us.
Our aim is to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross. At the wheel there is plenty of time to watch them and to wonder if we are achieving our aim. As it was getting dark a huge adult Wandering Albatross swung closer and closer across our bow.
All 12 feet of snowy white banking underbody and wings, crystal clear in the golden rays of the setting sun. It looked so plump and warm and at home; we are rushing along at 7-8 knots, surfing more. I'd like to be an Albatross.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Thursday 6 November 2003
Day: 104
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 46.10S, 339.24E
Position relative to nearest land: 100 miles NE of Marion Island
Course: 75 T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 40 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1425 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,425 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,320 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 997
Wind direction: S
Wind Speed: Force 6 (22-27 knots)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.9C
Sea conditions: Reaching across moderate to rough sea, many whitecaps.
Bird sightings: 2 x Wandering Albatross, 3 Sooty Petrels, approx 50 Prions
Notes: The glass dropped 6 points in 2 hours. Nick and Igor blinked into the ESE gale. Dead on the nose. They set a scrap of mainsail and lashed the wheel down to leeward to lie a-tri (Nick speak) and retired to the shelter of the Doghouse. Marie Christine and I were coming the other way: clambering up the ladder to join them. The wind generator was going like a banshee, the snowflakes attacked the window like a plague of moths trying to get at the dim light inside. We were happy to stay indoors, waiting for the Low to pass.
Throughout the night we drifted north at a couple of knots, away from Marion Island. At 0400 the Fischer-Panda coughed into life alerted by the radar's voltage drain. It had started automatically ten times yesterday. Now, after ten seconds, it died.
Another life changing moment had come. Lack of electric power would put us back into the dark ages. Can you imagine life without computers. Quentin who has been accused of working for the KGB by foreign governments before now, is never more than half an arm's length from his secret agent's black box and go-faster earphones. Nick's hyper-super-long fingers would cease their endless fluttering across the waterproof keyboard. His quasimodo hunch might wither and his screen-blank eyes might flicker back to life.
We would become Vikings. Strapped to the wheel. Unless we tame the Panda we will become Vikings strapped to the wheel.
By dawn the glass was rising 3 points an hour. By six the masts were shedding their coats of snow, thumping the decks like croquet mallet.
The wind swung to the south-west, up went the full Staysail and half the Mainsail.
The old boat lurched forward at 7 to 8 knots and surrounded by a cloud of approximately 100 pale grey Icebirds but few Albatrosses, we bore on toward the next two fishing grounds.
Poor Marie Christine has a sore elbow from the steering. We'll have to juggle with the Watches.
Nick and I got the Panda to start and this added to the sunshine but at the end of a great day's sailing, it failed again. 'Worrying about it won't fix it' muttered Nick, wearily, after his third attempt at starting. 'Let's have a go in the morning!'
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Wednesday 5 November 2003
Day: 103
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing. ..' Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.15S, 38.30E Position relative to nearest land: 60 miles NNE of Marion Island
Course: 117 T
Speed: 3.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1385 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,385 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,332 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1002
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 2 (4-6 knots)
Cloud cover: 25%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 6.3C
Sea conditions: Pretty much becalmed on light sea
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Immature Wandering Albatrosses, approx 12 Antarctic Prions, White Chin Petrel.
Notes: A beautiful moonlit sail from midnight to 0200. Nick and Igor did an extra hour at the wheel 0400-0700, so I would not have to steer 4 hours on my own but three, 0700-1000. As it turned out we were sailing gently and Marie Christine was able to steer for a good part, as well as get through all her stuff in the Galley.
There were great patches, rafts, of yellowy brown kelp, floating by like expired octopuses. And birds a plenty. Four Wandering Albatrosses, one with pink on the back of its neck, chatting together as they bobbed on the almost calm sea, one with pink on the back its snowy white head.
"Land Ho!" cried Quentin, thus winning the second of his four prizes. The first whale (off Cape Town), and first land (Prince Edward Island). The competitions for the other two prizes will probably be announced after Quentin has won them, this is a pity since the prizes involve chocolate. Prince Edward, 15 miles in front of Marion Island, was 35 miles away on our starboard beam and snow gleamed on its 2,370 ft peak.
As night came on a gale sprang up from the southeast and soon snow gleamed on us too. Drat it! Early Christmas.
Here we are roaring along amid snow and hail and Euan Dunn has just phoned to tell us that South Africa has ratified the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. Good on 'em.
Dear God! Why can't they agree to a 200 mile fishing limit around Antarctica and be done with it, before it's too late?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Tuesday 4 November 2003
Day: 102
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing. ..' Position - Latitude, Longitude: 45.41S, 35.43E Position relative to nearest land: 840 miles SSE of East London, South Africa.
Course: 100 T
Speed: 5.1 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1265 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,265 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,432 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further). .. Barometric pressure: 1005 Wind direction: WSW Wind Speed: Force 6 (22-27 knots) Cloud cover: 100% Air temperature: n/a Surface sea temperature: 7.3C Sea conditions: Wind has eased leaving us reaching along over a lumpy swell.
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Immature Wandering Albatrosses, approx 12 Prions, Cape Pidgeon, Sooty Petrel, Storm Petrel, White Chin Petrel.
Notes: 0400. Alone at the wheel. The stern rose, the bow fell. I am looking down the wall of a house, the pavement lay below. With a rumble the wave broke round my shoulders, raced on down either side of the boat creating walls of water. Slowly the bow rose and we surfed forward on compressed air. Some trembling in the stomach. This is no time to have aboard people who question the tactics. We have always pushed on. Sometimes, when the bow hangs 60' near vertical below, I wonder what would happen if the stern toppled ahead of the bow. That's called pitchpoling. I've never done that - others have.
The wind eased with the coming of the daylight. We mopped up and returned to normal watch routine. What ever you are doing there is a better way to do it - if you look hard you may see it. Plenty of room for improvement for the next gale.
Hello Koryu Maru 11. Kochira wa 'Ingurisshu Rouze Sikkusu' toh iuh yotto desu. Eigo ga dekiru hito o musen ni dashite kudasai.From 1700 - midnight we took turns in sending out this call in Japanese. Even Marie Christine. In Melbourne Tomoko Grainger had translated into phonetics our request to speak to the neutral bird observer aboard a 43 mete South African flagged Japanese longliner. Sorry we couldn't make contact, Tommy: Thanks all the same.
We've been chasing our tails round Marion Island for three cold and miserable days and nights now. If these people were serious, they'd be calling us, keen to display their adherence to regulations. But this is all about big money, not birds. Perhaps the best chance is for the boats to clean up all the fish +and go home, just as they have in the northern hemisphere. There will be no billion hooks a year laid for plankton soup which will be the next gold rush as the world population doubles yet again.
Now we've laid a course to cross fishing grounds, carving a needle thin swathe across hundreds of thousands of miles of freezing empty ocean. I'll need all my customary good luck.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: Monday 3 November 2003
Day: 101
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.06S, 32.47E
Position relative to nearest land: 194 nm WNW of Marion Island.
Course: 73 T
Speed: 6.1 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1130 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,130 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,552 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1008
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force 9 (41-47 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.4C
Sea conditions: Still rough.
Bird sightings: Black browed albatrosses, Wandering Albatrosses, Small flock Antarctic Prions
Notes: At 0300 in a rising wind, the sacrificial tube on the Monitor wind vane steering gear broke. Its stainless steel rudder then trailing behind on its Spectra safety line. Trevor immediately disengaged the Monitor and switched on the Raymarine Autopilot. The Monitor steering rudder was then found to have parted company with its safety line at the manufacturer's staple. We proceeded under the Autopilot. "Three wheels on my wagon" muttered Marie Christine.
Quentin then received information from the South African authorities that the legal South African flag Japanese long liner was not southwest but northwest of Marion Island, not 69 but 200 miles from us and due east.
This was a stroke of luck as the wind was building from the west.
But then while shaving I heard a chattering from the slim grey computer box in our Heads. and the Autopilot drive failed, this was a bit of a teaser, after lengthy costly servicing by the agents in Cape Town.
So we had to re-shuffle the cards a bit. With the boat surfing on winds gusting to over 50 knots, the tumbling waves were leaping hungrily into both cockpits. Now reduced to hand steering only, Quentin, Nick, Igor and I took hour long tricks at the helm, while Trevor and Marie Christine worked three-hour spells in the doghouse, generally supporting the Helmsman.
Heading into a familiar Southern Ocean night with the inevitable broaching, we seemed rather 'Up the creek without a paddle'.
Fairly long creek: 4,500 miles to Melbourne.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Sunday 2 November 2003
Day: 100
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: S 27.10S, 30.00E
Position relative to nearest land: 680 nm SSE of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Course: 77 T
Speed: 7.0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 1000 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 9,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,660 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1012
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: Force 9 (41-47 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.4C
Sea conditions: Rough.
Bird sightings: Black-browed albatrosses, Wandering Albatrosses, Small flock Antarctic Prions
Notes: Barometer fell 5 points in 5 hours and by dawn the wind was rising as Nick and Igor gybed the boat onto port tack. I reduced sail through the morning until we were running under a scrap of yankee in WNW Force 9 (41-47 knots). It is not appropriate for me to be explicit at this time but we are closing on the fishing grounds and await final details for a rendevous with a longliner. Unfortunately we have had to commit our course towards a general location already indicated and must hope for confirmation as soon as the weekend is over.
Conditions worsened all day and people became quiet and thoughtful. Trevor did his best to enliven things with his almost-sonnet to our final banana.
Both cockpits were filled by breaking waves at various times and cold, cold water got into annoying places. Poor Marie Christine had a bad day in the Galley with everything flying about and events wrecking the timing for both lunch and supper.
Writing like this, in a continuos email in the present is quite unlike writing a book when hindsight plays such a large part. We are all a bit ragged just now, as we approach one of those situations where hindsight is probably going to be used in a few days.
We need two things: A different RV position and the weather to ease. Both very possible.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: Saturday 1 November 2003
Day: 100
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 44.43S 27.10 E
Position relative to nearest land: 300 nm NW of Marion Island.
Course: 145 T
Speed: 4.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 105 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 870 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,870 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,790 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1013
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50% Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 9.2C
Sea conditions: Reaching across moderate following sea, some whitecaps, cold.
Bird sightings: Black browed albatrosses, Wandering Albatrosses, Small flock Antarctic Prions.
Notes: "Sailing directly toward a clean sunrise, with an astounding perfect rainbow behind us, just before 0500", Igor wrote in the Log, slipping along at a silent four knots they passed close by a resting albatross and were amazed at its bulk.
We all six meet in the Saloon for lunch. It's our only time all together. Trevor peers out of the Perspex dome and Quentin, the other half of the duty Watch, sits on Nick's Communications Centre seat, which can be wiped dry. The rest of us sit on Marie Christine's Cape Town washed cushioned seats. There are plenty of fuzzy ideas - let's see what we can make of it. Here we are, 100th day out and we're juggling with three bureaucrats in 3 cafes on 3 continents to end their 3 tiring weekends.
Nick finally solved the Iridium problem. He looks ten years older. Auntie BBC was doing a spot of house keeping - around 15th October - obliterated us, but forgot to tell Nick.
A bit testy,
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 31 October 2003 2003 Day: 99
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43.57 E 24.53
Position relative to nearest land: 646 nm NW of Marion Island.
Course: 109 T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 110 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 765 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8765 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 4,890 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1013
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 80%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 12.6
Sea conditions: Reaching across growing following sea, some whitecaps, cold.
Bird sightings: Cape petrels, White chinned Petrels, Storm Petrels, Small flock Antarctic Prions, Black browed albatrosses, Royal Albatrosses
Notes: Marie Christine and I came sweeping on Watch at midnight. Nick and Igor were in high spirits- they were off to their bunks for four hours!
The crescent moon was just setting over our stern and we were heading a little south of east with a steady breeze at our backs. the sea was smooth, the horizon a sharp, clean line, strangely lit in the south wet, far from the influence of the fast sinking moon. I settled down to review the log and continue worrying about our course. Marie Christine, well wrapped , was outside checking for any sign of ships.
"Come out! Come out! Her head ducked into the Doghouse, "You'll never believe it!".
"Icebergs!" I thought, wearily.
But it wasn't. The whole southern sky was bathed in light, deep red to the east, palest green to the west. A splendid introductory showing of Aurora Australis. Sometimes you can feel small and vulnerable out here.
Quite different in the morning. Sunny and blue to begin with but by eight o'clock a Front of black cloud was advancing from the western horizon. I rolled the mainsail into the mast but was too slow with the No.2 Yankee on the bow.
The rain roared in, the sea streaked white. Marie Christine and I resumed forty years of team building: me at the wheel trying to avoid shouting instructions, herself whirling on the wing,trying to avoid screaming defiance. Both still failing.
Anyway it was exciting. the dial showed top gust: 59.4 knots. Decibels un-recorded. Un-mimsy.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 30 October 2003 2003
Day: 97
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 43.12 S, 22.22 E
Position relative to nearest land: 580 nm south southeast of Cape Town, South Africa.
Course: 116 T
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 655 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8655 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 5,002 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1016
Wind direction: ENE
Wind Speed: Force 5 (17-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 100% (Thick mist)
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 14.5
Sea conditions: Very light sea just aft the port beam
Bird sightings: Cape petrels, White chinned Petrels, Storm Petrels, Small flock Antarctic Prions, air Black browed albatrosses.
Notes: A very different day. Close fog shrouded the boat and few birds ever found it. The wind began its anti-clockwise circle, turning from east through north-north-west. Nick and I are in a quandary about using our twin headsail rig poled out on either side; I think it will come but tactically we need maximum maneuverability just now.
Light following winds reduce our speed and so we are generate little power from either our excellent Ampair towing generator or the marginally less effective Ampair wind Generator. Therefore over the day the automatic Fischer Panda Generator switched itself on and off for eight brief sessions, each of 12 minutes, to keep the voltage up to transmission standards. Even so, Nick was unable to transmit at all either on Sailmail HF or Iridium. This sends him into paroxysms of frustration. However he was able to pick up a report of a sixty foot high iceberg to the north and a bit west of us. Steering in the fog sharpened a bit.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 29 October 2003 2003
Day: 96
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 41.45 S, 20.02 E
Position relative to nearest land: 440 nm south of Cape Town, South Africa.
Course: 129 T
Speed: 5.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 510 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,510 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 5,070 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1027
Wind direction: ENE
Wind Speed: Force 4 (11-16 knots)
Cloud cover: 50
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 14.7C
Sea conditions: Gently reaching across light sea, heading South, light breeze on the beam, under full mainsail, No 2 yankee and Staysail.
Bird sightings: Cape petrels, White chinned Petrels, Storm Petrels, Small flock Antarctic Prions, air Black browed albatrosses.
Notes: What fun it is to be completely immersed in something, with some of my favourite people in the world. To be old enough now, to realise this really is the main event. This rather than meeting with these old chums and talking of things past.
We are sailing across a smooth, vastly empty sea. We are in high pressure, the Glass reads 1024 the nearest low, off to our south, is 960, a fall of 64 points.
As you can imagine, there is an air of expectancy. The three Watches have come together very well. Trevor, a gentleman reporter since the age of 16, spends 8 hours of day and night, alone on deck with dynamic, astute Quentin, who's half his age, sometime opal cutter and climbing bum, longtime Greepeace operative. They'll get to know each other pretty well.
Long thin Nick is going well with exotic Igor (40), part Peruvian, English and Russian, who I've found to be a most agreeable traveling companion these past 17 years. We've been on many trips in the jungles of Peru, kayaked round Cape Horn and sailed to Antarctica together.
Marie Christine and I are in our usual. I feel so much better since the Root Canal treatment for my left lower jaw.
Between us, Nick and I run the sailing, ably helped by the newcomers.
A flock of Icebirds appeared toward dark, welcoming us as we headed southeast. Whales were seen in the distance and a small brown seal was seen on three occasions
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 28 October 2003
Day: 95
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 39.47 S, 18.59 E
Position relative to nearest land: 345 nm south of Cape Town, South Africa.
Course: 176 T
Speed: 7.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 160 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 380 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,380 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 5,143 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we will not go so far South and will therefore have to sail further).
Barometric pressure: 1036
Wind direction: E
Wind Speed: Force 5 (17-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 75%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 19.3C
Sea conditions: Reaching across light sea, heading South. Some whitecaps.
Bird sightings: Black browed, Grey Headed and occasional Wandering Albatross, Cape pigeons, Petrels.
Notes: The glass remains high and the wind holds good from the South-East. We continue to tip-toe down the longitude fence into the fearful Southern Ocean while the giant slumbers. Should I tell the others how awful it's going to be? The skinning cold and the lurking fear: If it gets much worse, we're going over". But this is just the defeatist talk of an old man. Six of us, with all the modern gear - Furling sails, Doghouse, Auto-Pilot; surely we'll find it easier than Andy Briggs and me on our 203-day non-stop trip round the world 20 years ago with those three shivering months in the Southern Ocean. I thought you were supposed to forget the nasty things in life. Then, I was 12 years older than Quentin is now. He has a good power to weight ratio, for a Powder Monkey.
Maybe the the surest form of education is the nose in the way of the slamming door. I love a bit of spark. Only dead fish swim with the stream.
During daylight hours we tried hand steering, in place of the Monitor wind-vane. This allowed us to press on a bit and the noon-to-noon run showed a respectable 160 miles.
A Wandering Albatross landed nearby. Folded its huge wings and looked on approvingly as we passed by.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 27 October 2003
Day: 94
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 37.01 S, 19.05 E
Position relative to nearest land: 140 nautical miles SSW of Cape Agulhas, South Africa.
Course: 174 T
Speed: 7.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 nm
Distance traveled since last port: 220 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,220 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 5,263 nautical miles (nm) (Direct Great Circle route, we willnot go so far South and will therefore have to sail further). ..
Barometric pressure: 1034
Wind direction: SE
Wind Speed: Force 5-6 (17-27 knots)
Cloud cover: 20%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.8C
Sea conditions: Tight reach (wind on the side), sailing south across moderate sea, whitecaps.
Bird sightings: Black browed, Grey Headed and occasional Wandering Albatross, Cape piggeons, Petrels.
Notes: Bumpy again today. So the repairs to our health, achieved yesterday, rather failing today. 'B' Watch (Trevor and Quentin) was rather quiet. Trevor (62) the seasoned Foreign Correspondent who has sailed a lot with us, smiles wanly, when Marie Christine calls him "Treasure". Quentin (33), tells us he is more Politician than Birder. Small, dark and wiry, he spits out words like machine gun bullets. A Greenpeace Team-Leader in the South Pacific, Quentin has contributed greatly to getting the Petition going. In the couple of weeks before we sailed from Cape Town, he had traveled from Fiji to his home in Australia and swiftly on, to multi-meetings in Europe. Arriving in Cape Town only a day or two before we sailed, he immediately set up key meetings for us, including the filming of the pirate ship. Now he's finding it difficult to settle down into the 24-hour rhythm of a year-long voyage. We must help him 'Down-stress'
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 26 October 2003
Day: 93
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the role of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing.
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 35.31 S, 18.12 E
Position relative to nearest land: 80 miles SSE of the Cape of Good Hope
Course: 136 T
Speed: 5.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120
Distance traveled since last port: 120
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,120 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 6,000 nautical miles (nm) ...
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: Force 5 (17-21 knots)
Cloud cover: 20%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.0C
Sea conditions:Beating into light sea
Bird sightings:
Notes: Rather too close to the west flank of the notorious Agulhas Bank. We must head due south until we reach 38 South. Then we can turn S.E. for Marion Island, some 1,100 miles away. The first of the Patagonian Toothfish fishing grounds.
The wind eased and the sea calmed down a little. Grand to see the great Albatross again! Grey Heads, Black Broweds and Yellow Noses were about as if to encourage us on toward their home on the Southern Ocean, still 300 miles to our south.
Everyone managed to keep some food down and a bit of laughter returned to the old ship. We'll be alright soon
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 25 October 2003
Day: 92 (Day 21 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 3, "The Wandering"
Focus of leg: CCAMLAR - the rle of a regulated fishery. The impact of IUU fishing. ..
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 33.54'S, 18.19'E
Position relative to nearest land: A few miles due west of Cape Town, heading out...
Course: 268 T
Speed: 1.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: tbc
Distance traveled since last port: tbc
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port: Approx 6,000 nautical miles (nm) ...
Barometric pressure: 1024
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: Force 7-8 (28-40 knots)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.0C
Sea conditions:Rough. Motoring west into steep swell to 20ft and strong wind to 40 knots from the WNW to gain sufficient sea room to clear Cape Point on a starboard tack.
Bird sightings:
Notes: Up at 0530 for the last hot shower. We sailed on the dot of 0900. A strong NW wind made it a bit of a test. Flashing daggers slashed ropes as we sprang backwards into the huge dock lined with tankers and fishing boats. Hope nobody was watching.
A radio message came from the Yacht Club anxiously asking if we were returning. We were motoring into a big swell and forty knots of breeze. "No!" I said. It was 25 years to the day since we'd sailed out of here on the 1977/8 Whitbread Round the World Race.
Anyway it was a dreadful day, all six of us were horrifically sick. I must go and lie down.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Leg 2 - 'The Yellow-nosed'
Date: 24 October 2003
Day: 91 (Day 20 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Notes: A terrific rush. Always the same at the start. Aldo Berutti, Head of Birdlife South Africa, phoned to say our stay in Cape Town had created more publicity for the Albatross than any project they had ever had.
In the afternoon, Igor and I, went with Quentin and Anton to film a pirate fishing boat which had been arrested by the French.
Registered in the Dutch Antilles we could see the previous names she'd had during her chequered career. How many Albatrosses had she killed?
While modern technology can ensure each boat reports its position automatically, every half hour, this is a pointless exercise if that position is only reported in its 'Flag of Convenience' country. Every fishing boat could easily report to a neutral 'Umpire' international body.
We gave a presentation to 60 under-priviledged black school children from Hout Bay, a nearby fishing community. Many of them could become fishermen. All we need to save the albatross is a willing skipper one every fishing boat. Marie Christine and I sang a song for the children and they responded wuth a dance about a wounded bird. I thanked them,"You may not understand what a Petition is, but I know you understand what we are trying to do for the Albatross." I've always been one who cried in the movies. Soppy really.
Into the mist... John
Date: 23 October 2003
Day: 90 (Day 19 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: At 0800 I met Quentin off the London flight. The day rushed by, with people all around and jobs suddenly accelearating. Even so the Riggers were still at it, long after dark.
In theory we are now all set for sea trials tomorrow. This gives us time to make alterations after the trials.
Provisions are aboard and stowed!
We are getting such support from the scientific community here in Cape Town. It is most heart warming. Nothing seems too much trouble for them.
The lights are very much red and amber now, any minute they'll go green.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: 22 October 2003
Day: 89 (Day 18 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: At the airport by 0700 to meet Trevor Fishlock. My fourth visit. Just about got it workled out now. Still not been to a Filling Station though, will I get beaten up? Igor tells of the recent 10 day Conference in Durban, for World Parks where 2000 attended and 600 were assaulted. Christina Barlow, defending at home, interjects, and tells me I will survive in Cape Town.
We have poured into the hire car, the last of the petrol we brought from Scotland at 85p per litre. We want to use the petrol jerry cans for diesel on this Leg.
My old chum Skip Novak appeared in his new giant aluminium sloop 'Pelagic Australis'. At some 70 feet long and 20 feet wide she is an upsacale version of a 45 foot boat he specified for me in 1999. Special lifting keel to slip into small bays to avoid drifting icebergs in Antarctica. All those years of Skip's trips down there, out of Ushuia, will have awakened support for the Albatross in so many people.
Good steady progress on all fronts with the boat for Saturday's departure.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: 21 October 2003
Day: 88 (Day 17 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Hello Marje and John, and Everyone
Work resumed today and people were everywhere. It looks as if we'll be ready.
Marie Christine addressed the nation on South Africa's version of Woman's Hour and a ripple of applause rocked the boat from Nick, Igor and Christina, so I joined in so as not to be a gooseberry. But this is a tough place with plenty of problems of its own, never mind the invisible Albatross. But we are building a core of people who will keep working to help the old boat until we return next April of May.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: 20 October 2003
Day: 87 (Day 16 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Hello Marje and John, and Everyone
Yesterday was a day away from the jobs Marie Christine and I went to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and walked up Cecil Rhodes' ox-track still lined with his camphor trees. Sitting peacefully on one of many memorial seats, with a green flank of Table Mountain rearing up before us. I thought of my own three brief visits to Cape Town: 1956, 1977, 2003. This is a taut place, what will I see if I return in another 25 years? I will be 90 by then.
Beyond the side of Table Mountain lay the deep blue sea. Will I see Albatrosses out there 25 years from now? The gardens have a display of Cycads, the very same plant on which the dinosaurs grazed millions of years ago. Why must we kill all the Albatrosses?
Stewart, a small and freckle-faced boy, son of the people we had lunch with, had left a bit of his prep on the hall table:
The land breaks up in the time of the degradation and we lose our topsoil, then crops won't grow. Don't break, heal the land, take pride in your country.
Maybe it will all work out happily. I do wish I believed that.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: 19 October 2003
Day: 87 (Day 15 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Good Morning Marje, John and Everyone.
South Africa stopped for the World Cup Rugby match versus England which was played in Australia today. We watched the match on a big screen in a long room in the Yacht Club. Keeping quiet. It was the Opening Day of the Season at the Royal Cape Yacht CLub. The band played. England won and we crept away. South Africans are awfully big.
Amidst all this, we must try to balance the reality of our position beyond the harbour wall, a week from today, with the need to unwind and get a reserve of sleep in the bank. In fact, we gave a supper party for the two visiting Zimbabweans, Rob and Pat, and got to bed at midnight.
"We've got to focus on what's in store for us and we've got to protect ourselves" said Marie Christine wearily. I had a nightmare: I was being
followed by assassins, every footfall might be them. A loose interpretation might bave been my concern for the moorings on another wild and windy night and my worrying if Igor would return safely to the boat - and how effective he might be in the morning. Nothing new.
Everyone we meet is keen to save the Albatross. "What can we do?" They all ask. We urge them to sign the Petition. Others suggest the world will have to stop fishing for twenty years - if not the story of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland will be repeated on a global scale as sure as night follows day. Others feel that this time world fishing can be regulated effectively but I am a pessimistic realist.
Save the Albatross and you will save so much else besides.
Into the mist... John Ridgway
Date: 18 October 2003
Day: 85 (Day 14 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Hello Marje and John, and Everyone
The crew for the voyage to Melbourne are beginning to arrive. This involves meeting individuals at the airport and the consequent struggle to convince Immigration that they do have a valid exit from South Africa. That and meeting Rob Duncan and Pat Callasse off the plane from Zimbabwe took all day. Such are controls on movement today, I believe it would be the case anywhere in the world. It was really cheering to meet our old chum Igor Asheshov from Peru.
Marie Christine has completed the purchase and stowage of rations. All that remains is fresh fruit and veg. which will be bought at the last minute. Planning our route to Australia, my faint pencil lines on the chart of the Southern Ocean show that we will be sailing 25 years to the day, from our start from here on the second leg of the 1977/8 Whitbread Round World Yacht Race. Hopefully, a good omen!
We are well on course with preparations on the boat now. Raymarine Electronics and Whitlock Steering seems complete. The Hood rigging needs only a sea trial.
There is very much bustle in ultra-modern Cape Town. Sadly, the Albatross is out of sight, over the horizon and low on priorities. We are so encouraged by news of the petition.
Into the mist... John.
Date: 17 October 2003
Day: 85 (Day 14 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Good morning Marge and John,
Christina Barlow, Marie Christine and Nick at full tick.
I have been feeling pretty ropy for a year or more. Yesterday I felt very much better. Is there anyway it could be a result of the Root Canal treatment?
Or is it the very good news from Euan Dunn at RSPB in UK, about the 'Save the Albatross Petition'? He says 'As we all know (As Quentin [Hanich of Greenpeace] said, the nice thing abouit this Petition is that no-one 'owns' it, since John's initiative is independent and not sponsored, so everyone should hopefully feel able to support it and try to post it on their own Websites".
This description captures the essence of what Nick, Marie Christine and I are trying to achieve. The whole ridiculous struggle to avoid financial support from anywhere, not BBC, nor any newspaper, not any company, nor any individiual, not any charity. This enable the Petition to work freely through the big international organisations like Birdlife, WWF, British Antarctic Survey, GreenPeace etc. I'm sorry I can't explain better what I'm trying to do.
Euan goes on to say 'I can tell you that the online petition is going down a storm here, has really captured everyone's imagination. Carol just emailed to say that 2 days ago there were 150 signatures but today there are over 750. In the last 24 hrs, people have emailed me from all over - Norway, Canada etc to pledge their support, including wanting to add the petition to their own websites. A couple emailed to ask what they could do beyond the petition - they want to set up a stand in Coventry city centre to raise awareness and money - I've sent them brochures and posters straight away.
Did you hear about the new (IUCN) red-listings of the albatrosses? A significant deterioration in their status, just in the last couple of years. There are 21 species, of which 19 are now globally threatened (including one
- that wasn't even thought of as being in trouble before) and the other 2 are 'near-threatened'. It's desperately sad but makes your initiative utterly timely and significant. All strength to your collective elbows."
This is the power of the people - as Nick dreamt it with the Internet.
Save the Albatross and you'll save so much else besides.
The Petition is at http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/petition/index.asp
Into the mist...
Date: 16 October 2003
Day: 83 (Day 12 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
...
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 0 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Hello Marje and John,
Yesterday was dominated by the two hours 0f root canal treatment on my left lower jaw out at Seapoint Dental Practice. Dr Benjamine Laurie turned out to be a genius. I practiced the yoga breathing and managed to be half asleep most of the time. Anyway, thank goodness it's done.
Christina Barwin is a tower of strength with transport and local knowledge.
While I'm groggy with the tooth, Nick battles on with the computer, grey with concern at managing barely 10% of output on a fast link.
Tremendous news from Euan Dunn at RSPB and Carol Knutson in New Zealand. They are rolling out the petition across the world. We must focus on getting the boat round the world.
Another day is just coming up from the east. So far we have managed a fair bit of publicity for the Albatross in South Africa: A piece on SABC TV News, a half hour radio programme on SA FM and some pieces in newspapers and magazines. But we should now focus on getting the boat safely to Melbourne.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 15 October 2003
Day: 82 (Day 11 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 0 knots
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Good Morning Marje and John,
I phoned Dr. Marek Lipinski in the morning and he arranged for me to see himself and three other Scientists later in the day. It was very good of them to interrupt their own schedule at such short notice.
They showed me the draft "South African Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries".
South Africa has three kinds of Longline Fishery: Patagonian Toothfish on the seabed, Hake on the seabed and Tuna on the surface. The Albatross will benefit greatly from this plan of action.
It seems to me, that countries which have historical interests in islands in the Southern Ocean are empowered to enforce a 200 mile economic exclusion zone around those islands as well as around their own homelands.
Other nations from the Northern Hemisphere, with these EEZ's in the Southern Ocean suddenly find there are very few places left for them to fish. Of course they would prefer 25 miles limits. A case in point is the ajoining French EEZ around Kerguelen and the Australian EEZ around Heard Island.
I shuffled back to the boat, crossing the same dusty railway lines I crossed 47 years ago. Have I really changed anything? Cape Town can seem bleak to the visitor.
On Thursday we'll be seeing Dr. Patrick Garratt about the possible involvement of Aquaria in the "Save the Albatross Petition".
Now I must summon up the blood and cut away to the dentist for the 2hr root canal treatment. Very jolly.
Into the mist......John
Date: 14 October 2003
Day: 81 (Day 10 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date
25 October 2003
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina,
about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
...
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 0 knots
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Hello Marje (pronounced "Margie")
You were sitting with your husband John in the front row at our first
public engagement last night. It was in the impressive modern Two
Oceans Aquarium, on the Cape Town Waterfront.
Understandably, I was nervous. You looked to me like a bright,
intelligent, professional, modern couple. Perhaps you are bombarded
with requests, from good causes, which make you feel guilty, just like
Marie Christine and me.
That's all I know about you.
I'd better try and engage your interest in the old Albatross, which is
flying around out there just over the horizon. So from now on, each
day, I will imagine I am talking to you both when I am writing this log.
Well, the talk went alright. When I was standing in front of the
mirror, shaving, yesterday, I invented this wise saying "Remember - when
someone says to you 'that was fantastic!' Fantastic is derived from the
word Fantasy"
Things are going very badly wrong for the Albatross. The John Ridgway
Save the Albatross Voyage needs to do something pretty effective, pretty
quickly. Here goes:
From the list of names at the talk last night, Samantha Petersen, Head
of Seabirds for Birdlife International in South Africa, will expedite
signing of the "Save the Albatross Petition".
Dr. Marek Lipinski, Senior Specialist Scientist in the South African
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism suggested I ring him and
he will help me create "Willing Fishing Boat Captains" in the truly huge
Southern Ocean Fishing Port of Cape Town. I will phone him today.
Dr. Patrick Garratt M.D. of the Two Oceans Aquarium, suggested we
mobilise the World's Aquariums to Save the Albatross. Very
encouragingly he mentioned a sea change in Japan's interest in
Conservation since his visit to Japanese Aquariums in 1996 (there are
100 Aquariums in Japan). I will phone Patrick Garratt today.
Save the Albatross and you will save so much else besides!
Well, Marje and John I'm boring you. I'll shut up and do something.
I'll write more tomorrow.
Please sign the Petition.
Into the mist......John
Date: 13 October 2003
Day: 80 (Day 9 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25
October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about
200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
Everything closed here today, so we three were able to get on with work we have to do on the boat. Doing it yourself is more fun than worrying and organising others, but sadly, less effective.
John Boyce, President of Hood Yachtspars flew home to UK today. The physical presence of someone who can make things happen is most reassuring.
Tomorrow we are giving a "Save the Albatross" talk at Two Oceans Aquarium. I think our best plan is to follow the format we used in the Tenerife talk: all three of us outline our various tasks but this time we will ask the scientific audience for their own ideas for the most effective means of "Saving the
Albatross".
The communications are not easy from here. Nick longs for his own computer inhis own home, in Melbourne.
We keep looking across at the Japanese boat opposite us, he has been beaten back here twice. I look hopefully at our own past tracks on the chart.
.
Into the mist......John
Date: 12 October 2003
Day: 79 (Day 7 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
An attempt at relaxation. Not something I'm very good at and not something developed by 35 years of self-employment. Relaxation is falling asleep.
Hood Yachtspar's President John Boyce is similar. He flew the small plane he has built himself, from Burnham-on-Crouch to Denham and caught the BA flight to Cape Town from Heathrow. We spent the morning on the rigging. Living on the NW corner of Scotland, we see perhaps ten sailing boats a year at Ardmore, which is accessible only by boat or on foot. Working on the basis that "there is always a better way", I approached John with a view to learning some better way to handle our own boat. I was not disappointed. I made copious notes.
We decided to take half a day off. We had scarcely been out of the marina in daylight, except to Immigration, Customs and the Dentist.
My knowledge of present day Cape Town is limited to J. M. Coetzee's novel "Disgrace". We drove to Stellenbosch and then on, via Somerset West, to make a circuit of a section of the forbidding, wreck strewn, coastline. By the time we returned to the boat, in early evening, I was thinking sombre thoughts. There are no flip solutions to such intractable problems as you see here.
You might think, what chance has the lonely Albatross, out there, over the far horizon? But the majestic bird is a symbol, and that is it's fighting chance. Save the Albatross and you might save so much else.
Into the mist......John
Date: 11 October 2003
Day: 78 (Day 7 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes:
They say that Napoleon, when considering the promotion of one of his generals, would listen to all the recommendations and then say "very good, very good - all of that - but is he lucky?"
I've always been lucky.
Today we saw another side of Cape Town, one that's not represented in the beautiful postcards. A cruel wind has blown for 36 hours now. The relentless fine black dust I remember from 25 years ago, is back. All the masts and wind generators howl like banshees. The boat bucks and rears on ten mooring ropes. Footsteps make black puddles on the deck We're at the front door of the Southern Ocean.
I've always been lucky. This would have been no time to approach Cape Town with five of the nineteen strands broken on one cap shroud. But even being lucky can be tiring.
This is our seventh day in Cape Town. We have achieved much. The one bleak area is the Autopilot: Raymarine have been outstanding but the Whitlock Autopilot may bring them down, for they are linked. This is the area the salesman calls "After Service". It is a proving test at which Hood Yacht Spars Ltd.has made a real effort. John Boyce, their President, has flown out and looks like sending us into the Southern Ocean with top-line rigging. I was always lucky.
Samantha Petersen has brought further news of the "Save the Albatross" Petition. Nick is toiling at the computer but is shocked at just how slow the link can be. We have asked Tireless Sam Semple at BBC Bush House in London if he can put the Petition at the head of every page of our website. Nick doubts if Sam will believe how slowly his Cape Town computer can compute.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 11 October 2003
Day: 77 (Day 6 in Cape Town)
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date
25 October 2003
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina,
about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed: 35 knots (!)
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Toes wriggling quite nicely. Much better day in the fighting
with cotton wool in a foreign land. Repairs looking good - things never
as good or as bad as first reported. But it's now a race to see if
Whitlock and Raymarine can really cut the mustard.
A Uruguayan pirate fishing boat caused a stir out here, a few weeks back
It seems the Australians found the pirate, fishing for Patagonian
Toothfish (whitegold) , in Australian territorial waters. Evading
arrest the pirate fled. The Australians gave chase and called on the
South Africans, who diverted a supply ship. The pirate was faster and
tried to disappear into the pack ice. South Africa sent reinforcements:
the largest ocean-going tug in the world, laden with paratroopers. The
pirate surrendered and was brought to justice.
The publicity from this event helps the poor Albatross. While we are
doing Radio, TV and Newspapers here, I still feel that a great lever
"to prevent the needless slaughter of the Albatross" really lies is the
Education of Fishermen. I must do something about this.
The other great piece of news is Carol Knutson's "Save the Albatross
Global Petition" is up and running on the web at:
Nick is now bending his back to link it round the world. Much more on
this to follow.
Into the mist .......John
Date: 9 October 2003
Day: 76
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land: In the Royal Cape Yacht Club marina, about 200 yards from shore via the boardwalk!
Course: n/a
Speed: 0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia departing approx 25 October
Distance to next port:
...
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: A certain amount of sand was kicked in my face yesterday. And why not? After the euphoria of landing after 10 weeks at sea there has to be the odd shock when the undercarriage hits the tarmac.
Firstly; the excellent Raymarine gear and the Fischer Panda generator are more work than we had hoped.
Secondly, when the cheerful young dentist looked at the x-rays of my lower left jaw, he sucked on his gums for a moment and said "This is a bigger job than I'd hoped".
The upshot is that I'm to have root canal treatment on the abscess and it will take at least one two hour session, next week.
Something to look forward to.
On the plus side, we managed to make a half hour programme with SAFM Radio about the plight of the Albatross. Also, Nick resolved his problem with the computer power supply.
Today will be better. It's getting light.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 8 October 2003
Day: 75
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land:
Course:
Speed:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: 0500 in the Doghouse, waiting for the light to come. After
yesterday's gales all is quiet. It's real. Walking the line. No safety
net. No insurance. Nothing to fall back on. Cold but pure, reality.
This giant harbour, with its many arms, crammed with ranks of fishing
boats in one of the strategic fishing capitals of the Southern
Hemisphere.
All 21 species of Southern hemisphere Albatross are endangered - so are
the fish.
30 metres away, across the dusty wharf, lies a big squid boat, on its
stern is written; No 57 Dae Wong - Pusan, Korea. Uniformly
whitish-rusty, water pulsing out of its side to show it's alive.
Bristling with antenna, lumpy with satellite domes, like the boats we
passed north of the Equator. They're from another harbour, world.
We spent a lot of time in the Eastern Bloc-style Immigration Building,
checking in, checking 'Rie' out, maximum bleak. Body searches going in
and going out. What could we steal in an empty corridor, while looking
hopefully through the grill at heavy Afrikaaner officials?
We see them everywhere in there: crocodiles of young fellows, from I
guess the Far East. We don't smile at each other. There's a huge gulf
between us - I don't know how to communicate with them. Are they
thinking about preventing the needless slaughter of the Albatross. Why
not? It doesn't take much time. Where they're going (and where were
going), the water's cold and the nights are long.
If I weren't so weeak and ineffectual, I'd find a way to speak to them.
All we need is a willing Captain - on every fishing boat, everywhere.
How could I do it, I wonder? Need to pull some levers. Maybe I'd cut
more ice when we return, next April, after we've sailed round the world.
I'll try and set it up, now. I've seen films about the education of
fisherman I'll find out where it is happening here.
Switch off the headtorch. It's light again- spared for another day. The
thinnest white cloth on Table Mountain. Self reliane, positive thinking,
and leaving things better than you find them. I'll go for a shower, then
clean my lavatory, pick up old soap packets, razor blades. Leave the
place better than I find it. Sanctimonius old git! Hope no-one kicks
sand in my face.
No-one else stirring yet. We lost the mobile phone last night, a spanner
in the works, for today. Can't ring Carol Knutson in New Zealand.
Yesterday was good. Cape Town has the infra-structure to get things done
on board to our specification. The major groupings have been to the
boat: Raymarine electronics, Fischer Panda generators, Mercedes diesel,
Hood mast and rigging. I think they'll do the business.
It's like the front line here in the harbour: massive lumps of steel
preparing to hurl themselves into war. Beyond the habour wall: the
Southern Ocean war.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 7 October 2003
Day: 74
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean - planned departure date 25 October 2003
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land:
Course:
Speed:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 0 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to: Melbourne, Australia
Distance to next port:
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: Feeling a little more clear headed. Nick, Marie christine and I are pretty clear from the lists what we each have to achieve in Cape Town between now and our departure for the Southern Ocean route to Melbourne on 25 October.
On a venture of this length it is important that we three pace ourselves. Being a busy fool is not being effective. I yearn for the phhysical fitness of earlier yeaars, the wonderful state of tirelessness. Accordingly, there is no booze or faags on the boat and we three continue to live on the boat rather than accept hospitaality ashore.
i'm writing this at 0530, as the light of a new clear day sseps into the sky. Table Mountain is dark and there is no table cloth. I love the spare existence. Minimalism.
Ever after rowing across the north Atlantic with Chay Blyth in 1966, where we surived and the two fellows in the other boat were drowned, Ihave tried to tap my foot on the ground to reassure myself I'm still alive, 43 years later. Every day is a bonus. I'll make this one count for the Albatross.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 6 October 2003
Day: 73
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: In Cape Town
Focus of leg: Preparing for the Southern ocean
...
Position - Latitude, Longitude: In Cape Town
Position relative to nearest land:
Course:
Speed:
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 37 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,880 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 8,000 nm
Headed to:
Distance to next port:
...
Barometric pressure:
Wind direction:
Wind Speed:
Cloud cover:
Air temperature:
Surface sea temperature:
Sea conditions:
Bird sightings:
Notes: here we are. Cape Town. Blimey!
Can one man make a difference? It looks daunting. What larks, Pip!
We slept well after steak and chops in a shopping mall. Here I am again, ten weeks on the sea, then back in the shadow of the shopping mall: everything I have spent my life struggling against.
'Rie' is leaving us here and flying home. She saved our bacon on the trip down from Tenerife to Cape Town. Nick, Marie Christine and I would be exhausted now if she hadn't been steadfastly on Watch, alone, for 8 hours each and every day. But the Southern Ocean is another thing. Nick, Marie Christine and I are like 'Greyhounds in the slips', absolutely at the top of our game. This is the time of our lives.
We have seven pages of jobs to be done. Every page has up to 25 jobs. There's always something to worry about.
I gave a short talk about Saving the Albatross in the Yacht Club. Am I up to this. Samantha Peterson was a great help in getting us on the right road here but we do feel a bit groggy on land just yet.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 5 October 2003
Day: 72
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population ... Position - Latitude, Longitude: 33.55'S, 017.57'E Position relative to nearest land: 19 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 81T
Speed: 081 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,843 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,963 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 19 miles
Barometric pressure: 1031
Wind direction: NW
Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)
Cloud cover: 0%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C
Sea conditions: Big swell left over from very fresh overnight blow from the NW
Bird sightings: See below
Notes: Our old chum, Rob Duncan, called on the Satphone at lunchtime
yesterday. He had flown down from Zimbabwe to meet us.This had a great
effect on morale. There's nothing like the thought of having someone to
meet you, on arrival in a foreign land.
We were 150 miles west of Capetown when Rob called. He mentioned that we
might expect strong NW winds and he was right. Soon we were rushing along
under a bit of Yankee and a scrap of Staysail. The sacrificial tube on the
vane steering broke (the third tube) and later the stopper knot on one of
the steering lines pulled through.
We had gusts to 50 knots in the night. No time for overconfidence. we can
still lose the mast!
But they're all here to meet us.
This morning: Blue skies, bright sun, big white crested waves. There are a
couple of Yellow nosed and one Black-browed Albatrosses. Various Petrels
and Shearwaters, and Pintados. What with Mother Carey's Chickens, flights
of Golden headed -
Gannets, a Tern or two, Black-backed gulls and even a grizzley old Great
Skua, it's almost like home was, 72 days ago.
Marie christine and I last sailed in here, 25 years ago, almost to the day.
We were skippering this good old boat in the second Whitbread Round the
World Yacht Race 1977/78. there were 150 brave souls in 15 boats. I wonder
if any others will show up for the 25th anniversary this week.
Table Mountain wore a table cloth but 8,000 miles and ten weeks from home,
Capetown and Africa look full of surprises.We finally tied up at the Royal
Cape yacht Club at 1630 and Bob and his wife Leslie were there to meet us.
We were thrilled.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 4 October 2003
Day: 71
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.22'S, 015.18'E
Position relative to nearest land: 154 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 72T
Speed: 4.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,703 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,823 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 154 miles
Barometric pressure: 1025
Wind direction: NNW
Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)
Cloud cover: 50%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.4 C
Sea conditions: Lumpy, following passage of weather front and 90 degree
shift in the wind direction. Just starting to sail again under full No 2
Yankee and Staysail.
Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels
Notes: The first absolute silence for ten weeks! People whispered. Silent
sea, all sails rolled away.
We had six hours of flat calm. In my bunk, coming off Watch at 10.00,
there was no chuckle of water passing my ear, no rattle of blocks or squeel
of winches, no banging of sails. Eerie!
I awoke at noon, all the sounds were back. Nick was setting sails and
tuning his baby - the wonderful Monitor wind vane steering system. We were
hard on the wind.
While it was still smooth we rushed into unpacking the centre cockpit: 4 x
5 gal cans of diesel, 2 x 5gal cans of water, 2 x 8 man Life Rafts, 2 x
5gal cans engine oil, 5 x 2 1/2gal cans petrol, 1 x can hydraulic fluid, 1
x can anti-freeze, 4 x flare containers full of survival grab bag stuff, 1
x Avon speed boat, etc.
Quick macaroni lunch, then the delicate business of pouring the 4 x 5gal
Jerrycans of diesel into the main tank, through the filler in the floor of
the now-empty centre cockpit. Plus the other three cans we keep beneath
the saloon deck by the galley.
Plenty relief to have a conservative 30 gals in the fuel tank now, as we
close Africa. Oh, how exciting. Do I smell the flesh pots already?
The wind filled in during the afternoon and the Albatrosses and Petrels
took interest in us again. What joy it has been to see a Yellow-nosed
Albatross skim barely a couple of inches above the low silver banks of
swell in the calm. Perfection.
How could anything gauge the distance so nicely? I do so want to be an
Albatross.
Rations are low, corned beef has many disguises. Nick and I had our Chilli
Con Carne supper together in the Doghouse. Nick the Whippet was detailing
the process by which he had lost so much weight between his visit to
Ardmore in January and his stripping off for the Durness Highland Games
Hill Race on Friday 26 July.
"PSSHHTTT!"
"What's that noise?" I interrupted, ever eager to draw a veil over my own
inadequate performance in the Race.
Out of the corner of my right eye I saw the vapour from the Blow, followed
by a long shiny black back, rolling up, followed much later , by a small
curved dorsal fin.
"Could be bigger than us" murmured Nick.
"Whale! Whale!" I called down the hatch. Nick and I jumped out of the
Doghouse door. Marie Christine came hopping up he ladder, Con Carne in hand.
"Longer than us, would be over 60ft Nick!" I said.
"Rie" stayed firmly below. She doesn't like the squid that land on the
deck. And she certainly doesn't want to see a 60ft fish.
I hope he's just coming along for company. Maybe we look like a 60ft whale
from under the water. Very chummy. He easily cruised along at our 7.5 knots.
I'm not looking for any mating games, where he sees us as a rival. One butt
from him and we start the two-mile glide to the sea bed.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 3 October 2003
Day: 70
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.42'S, 012.43'E
Position relative to nearest land: 282 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 164T
Speed: 1.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 110 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,563 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,683 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 282 miles
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: ENE
Wind Speed: 7-10 knots (Force 3)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.6 C
Sea conditions: Just starting to sail again over very smooth sea with light
variable breeze coming from E-N . Full No 2 Yankee, near full Staysail,
full Mainsail, no Mizen.
Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels
Notes: We have been becalmed for the past 32 hours and motored for 24 of
them. But we are now out of fuel, so we'll just roll about on the glassy
swell - and whistle up the wind.
The main job for the day will be to unpack the Liferafts and Emergency
stores from the centre cockpit and then pour our reserve 7 x 5 gallon
containers of diesel into the main tank.
But we do need to keep that fuel for emergency use when we close Capetown,
only 282 tantalising miles to our east. And tantalising these are, on Day
70, ten weeks out from our home, faraway now on the NW coast of Scotland.
It will be autumn there now, the first touch of frost will turn the bracken
red. Sandy will have to gather the sheep on his own. Down here we have the
first promise of spring.
Motoring in flat calm and pitch dark last night, we left a broad track of
white fire behind us. Luminous squid surfacing to feed in the
phosphorescent soup of life which is all around us. They say that in some
places the plankton is so dense it colours the sea and causes rain.
Trouble is, no one country owns the ocean, so we have that old bogey:
shared responsibility. And yet it is the hub of life on the planet. I doubt
if the crew of 'Thor Pilot' notice they had only one bird following them,
as they bustle along Bangkok to Brazil with their cargo of rice. Perhaps if
they never saw even one, they would not mind.
We have seen only two immature Wandering Albatrosses in our 70 days. They
may well be nesting at this time but not all of them.
Doom and gloom is easy. Positive steps are needed. The Petition lies just
over the eastern horizon.
The calm's getting to me!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 2 October 2003
Day: 69
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.42'S, 010.19'E
Position relative to nearest land: 401 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 088T
Speed: 5.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,453 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,573 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 401 miles
Barometric pressure: 1031
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: 4-6 knots (Force 2)
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C
Sea conditions: Motoring over smooth sea with moderate underlying swell
from the West
Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black browed Albatrosses, Petrels
Notes: Just seen our 2nd Wandering Albatross, also immature. But it was
really following a west-bound bulk carrier 'Thor Pilot'. Registered in
Bangkok, she was carrying rice to Brazil. The huge bird just gave us a
quick looking over and chased after the 'Thor Pilot' which we passed only
some 200 metres apart.
The wind has failed. It's hot and sunny. We are motoring to charge our
batteries as the Fischer Panda generator has gone on the blink. We hope to
meet the Fischer Panda agent in Capetown. The little generator has worked
faultlessly for eight weeks but the automatic start and cutout have just
failed. I think there is very little wrong and we could probably run on
manual but I feel it's best to wait until Capetown.
The sea appears carpeted with tiny bubbles, on closer inspection they turn
out to be baby Portuguese Man'o'war jellyfish.
There are few birds today. Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses come
occasionally. The odd Pintado now and then. The black Petrels must be busy
elsewhere. Four Terns passed, in a team, heading south, for the Antarctic
summer?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 1 October 2003
Day: 68
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.46'S, 07.55'E
Position relative to nearest land: 528 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 088T
Speed: 5.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,333 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,453 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 656 miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: W
Wind Speed: 11-16 knots (Force 4)
Cloud cover: 75%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.0 C
Sea conditions: Still running with wind on the starboard quarter, under
full No 2 Yankee and Staysail with 2 rolls in it. No Mainsail or Mizen. A
gentle easy sea running with us causing only erratic rolling.
Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses,
Petrels, see below.
Notes: Early yesterday morning we narrowly missed being run down by a
west-bound fully laden container ship. She was out of Hong Kong and Burma,
had come round Cape of Good Hope and hoped to be in Buenos Aires next week.
We need to keep a better look-out. You go for a month seeing nothing then
you nearly hit one - not many lives left in this cat! We'll Brasso the
Doghouse windows.
Closing Capetown, nursing the rig. We mustn't lose the mast aafter 5,000
miles of limping along. Softly, softly catchee monkey.
Marie Christine's vegetable store is looking spacious: 18 shrivelled
potatoes, 20 onions, 5 sweet potatoes, 7 lemons, plenty garlic, a few
sprouting ginger. Maybe five days to go! "Ready, Steady, Cook!" It was Toad
in the Hole last night. Corned beef, Batter, Fried Onion and generous
gravy. Finger-licking good. Pasta and rice coming up on the outside - fast!
Frankly, Headmistress, I've had enough Pesto sauce. Olive oil's OK but
Basil reminds me of your cousin Marjorie and that hotel off Sloane Street.
Steady retinue of Black Petrels (two types), a few Piebald Pintados, the
odd Shearwater and Storm Petrel. Yellow nosed Albatrosses usually around
and occasional Black-browed albatrosses. We pass the odd fishing buoy,
usually ballasted with a comunity of Goosenecked barnacles. Same as those
on the hull!
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 30 September 2003
Day: 67
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 35.00'S, 05.20'E
Position relative to nearest land: 656 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 093T
Speed: 5.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 125 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,208 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,328 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 656 miles
Barometric pressure: 1026
Wind direction: WSW
Wind Speed: 17-21 knots (Force 5)
Cloud cover: 25%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.0 C
Sea conditions: Running with wind on the starboard quarter, under full No 2
Yankee and Staysail with 2 rolls in it. No Mainsail or Mizen. A gentle easy
sea running with us causing only erratic rolling. A pleasant change after
yesterday's gale.
Bird sightings: Solitary Yellow-nosed and Black-browed Albatrosses, Petrels.
Notes: A good taste of what is to come. Northerly gale all day. We're
heading east, so we were plodding across a big sea with waves breaking over
the boat.
Rolling heavily, everything shifting from side to side, particularly
humans. Misjudgment of balance leads to a heavy fall. I am particularly
aware of not wanting to crunch my face with something.
Nick and I have run up a long list of minor jobs to do in Capetown. Each
easy enough when the boat is still but tricky on a switchback.
I dropped the cap of the water can. It exploded into life and bounced all
over the place, shouting "I can see a place even deeper and harder to
reach!". Breaking all gymnastic records it reached the very bottom of the
bilge, beneath the gearbox of the engine.
Marie Christine and I looked at long thin Nick, Nick's fined down after 8
weeks - a human pipe cleaner. We grasped an ankle each and lowered our 9ft
Dyna-rod towards bottom dead centre. For a while the Gollum-like fingers
writhed around in the darkness, then "Got it!" and we heaved him back plus
white plastic cap. The old veins in his forehead were going like Hitler. A
beautifully-built boy.
At 1800 a purple rain squall heralded a 90 degree wind shift North to West.
Suddenly we emerged into blue skies. Bright sinking sun and an easing wind.
Immaculate Albatrosses and Petrels swung about us in glee, celebrating our
surviving a storm in a teacup, and we watched the great bank of cloud
shrink to the far horizon.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 29 September 2003
Day: 66
Local time: 1200 GMT+2
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.41'S, 02.53'E
Position relative to nearest land: 776 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 084T
Speed: 7.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5,083 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,193 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 776 miles
Barometric pressure: 1023
Wind direction: NNW
Wind Speed: 33-48 knots (Force 7-9)
Cloud cover: 100%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 15.3 C
Sea conditions: Sailing across rough sea with gale force wind on the beam
under No 2 Yankee with eleven rolls in it and Staysail with four rolls. No
Mainsail or Mizen sail. Occasional waves bursting across the boat.
Bird sightings: Few birds seen today in these fresh conditions. Occasional
Albatross, Petrel and Shearwater only.
Notes: 36 hrs more Penicillin V. Jaw still swollen but no problem.
The wind has steadily increased to a NNW gale. Lumpy sea. We struggle to
keep on a line due west of Capetown.
Nothing much to say or do except concentrate on a safe entry into Capetown.
After +7,000 miles this is the very moment to concentrate harder than at
any time since leaving NW Scotland on Sunday 27 July.
The odd Albatross and Petrel but not many birds today.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 28 September 2003
Day: 65
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.30'S, 00.05'E
Position relative to nearest land: 916 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 094T
Speed: 6.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,943 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 7,053 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 916 miles
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: 22-33 knots (Force 6-7)
Cloud cover: 20%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.4 C
Sea conditions: Sailing across quite rough sea with strong to near gale
force wind on the beam under No 2 Yankee with nine rolls in it and Staysail
with five rolls. No Mainsail or Mizen sail. Life aboard? er... bumpy.
Bird sightings: In these fresh conditions today birds have been
surprisingly scarce. We have seen occasional solitary albatrosses, Storm
Petrel, and Shearwaters today.
Notes: Feeling much better. We had a grand day of sun and calm until lunch,
then a good northerly breeze carried us onward in the afternoon.
After eight weeks with only the four of us on the boat, things progress at
a happy pace, plenty of space, no conflict. The days rush by, a sure sign
of contentment. An awareness that "This is the time of our lives".
There are four yellow-nosed Albatrosses on our stern right now, glorious,
beautiful things. How lucky we are, to be doing something which may help
their survival.
Of course the excitement of Capetown fewer than a thousand miles ahead
lifts the spirits.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 27 September 2003
Day: 64
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.14'S, 02.25'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,040 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 126 T
Speed: 0.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 98 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,813 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,923 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,040 miles
Barometric pressure: 1033
Wind direction: NE
Wind Speed: 1-5 knots
Cloud cover: 20%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 15.7 C
Sea conditions: Very light with long swell from South.
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado
Notes: Luckily the memory is short. Much better after 36hrs of Penicillin V though the left side of the face has taken on a rather aldermanic look. I'll try and do without the codeine now but must finish the five day course of Penicillin.
Enough of that. Look forward. I was able to put the boat about and set us heading SE in a near flat calm. Waiting for the next Low to come through.
Alone at the wheel this morning, Marie Christine was freezing cold.
Suddenly, a huge black whale came up on her Port side. Close enough to
touch, it let out a vast wheeze. Looking it straight in the eye, she
stopped feeling cold and yelled for us to come and see it but we were all asleep. She stopped herself from ringing the alarm hand bell, fearing it might alarm the whale, with unknown consequences.
It's sunny but calm, surely I'm better. The prospect of the grizzly dental tools being used 'to relieve the pressure' is retreating, surely. Groggy.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 26 September 2003
Day: 63
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.40'S, 04.16'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,130 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 083 T
Speed: 4.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,715 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,825 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,130 miles
Barometric pressure: 1025
Wind direction: Southerly
Wind Speed: 16-25 knots
Cloud cover: 50%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C
Sea conditions: Tight reach across moderate to rough sea, lots of white
caps and a big swell on the beam. Great sailing.
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado
Notes: Not so cracky. A lump is rowing on my left lower jaw. We red and
re-read 3 sets of instructions from dental boxes dating back to the '70's.
Bumpy night. Inky black. 2130. I called across the 20" aisle to Marie
Christine, "That's it, I'm in for a bad night. I've avoided pills all my
life: \now's the time to take my bonus. I'll start the 5 day course of
Penicillin right now."
"Are you sure?"
"Well this lump is growing. Why wait? Why wait? I replied.
It was a bad night - I couldn't sleep - spent some time drumming my foot
against the bulkhead at the end of the bunk.
Joanna Trollope didn't help, I felt I had more problems than her 'Southern Girl'.
10 long, long days and nights to Capetown with an abscess.
Marie Christine kindly did the midnight to 0200 watch on her own, but I did pad round to see how she was getting on. 'Rie' is stalwart as ever and somehow we must ensure Nick get's his sleep.
Dentist Bill Bennie in Morayshire answered the 0730 Satphone call to his
home from Marie Christine. He endorsed the Penicillin V course and said to add the Metronidazole if there's no improvement in 48 hours. Beyond that lie the grisly tools 'to relieve the pressure'.
Maybe that immature Wandering Albatross which has come at dusk on the past two evenings, is me. I was always trying to be immature. At least I'll know to steer clear of fishing boats.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 25 September 2003
Day: 62
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.52'S, 06.41'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,248 nm west of Capetown.
Course: 094 T
Speed: 5.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,595 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,705 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,248 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1019
Wind direction: SSW
Wind Speed: 16 knots
Cloud cover: 50%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 15.7 C
Sea conditions: Reaching across moderate to rough sea with occasional rain squalls
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Pintado
Notes: Bumbling along under the two headsails, both out to port. Making 5 knots in cold SSSW breeze. Bright day for third day of trouble with the gnashers: Lower left jaw, last one but one, Bill Bennie in Elgin, if you're reading this! Oil of cloves makes your eyes water, and your mouth too! I'm using stuff from your Dad's dental box, Bill, keeping your stuff from this century until it gets worse. I'll get through to you on email or the blower if there is a nose-dive. Meanwhile Macarthur can keep using his extra long tees with his Driver and make sure everyone at Royal Dornoch signs the 'Save The Albatross" Petition!
The average set of birds with us nowadays is: Half a dozen Black Petrels
(of two different types), a Shearwater, A Storm Petrel, and quite often now an Albatross. Good thing they can't see Nick in his Japanese Yukata of a morning, as he emerges from his bunk, dressing for a nosebag of Muesli. They'd soon push off.
Meanwhile 'Rie' is feverishly Marmiting three oatcakes for her own meagre breakfast. It's 0955 and any minute she'll haul herself up the ladder and into the Doghouse. Rodney Stewart's Atlantic' Crossing will be stifled. Then she'll move on out to take the wheel. Knees now tinged with blue, she'll adjust her round black specs, brace herself and head on towards Capetown 1,250 miles ahead.
It's a good day. I'll take the oil of cloves down with me
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 24 September 2003
Day: 61
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.38'S, 08.30'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1336 west of Capetown.
Course: 110 T
Speed: 3.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,495 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,605 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,336 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of
Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1022
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: 4 - 10 knots
Cloud cover: 100%, Raining
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.6 C
Sea conditions: Raining and (according to Marie Christine in the galley,) a very lumpy sea.
Bird sightings: Wandering Albatross, Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels
Notes: We'd look an odd sight, limping along with our two scraps of
headsail on the port tack and no Main or Mizen set. We are a forest of
stout blue and white ropes holding the mast up on either side. And how
we've come to love this Hood In-mast furling sail. It enables us to sail
the boat like a dinghy, tuning the rig by night and day at a moments's
notice. Nick loves it.
Our team thinks we're almost in Capetown. But it's almost as far as Ireland to Newfoundland, still to go.
A succession of wintry squalls rushing up behind us. The Monitor wind vane (steering) battles nobly, Nick strokes it and croons "My baby", grinning like a madman. But the truth is it doesn't really like what we're asking it to do, which is to pursuade the 60ft hull to slide across the huge swell. Every now and then a big sea catches the back of the boat and pushes it along before it. Of course the wave hasn't yet caught up with the front of the boat and so the bow gets left behind. Next thing we have swung right round and we are left lying broadside to the waves. In other words - we have broached.
It's just a little taste of the Southern Ocean where the waves are somuch larger. On the bigger scale the boat sheers round before a 'widow-maker', which rolls on, right over the boat, filling the two cockpits like swimming pools. Beyond that (and very fortunately I've managed to avoid this so far down here), the boat rolls right over. Let's draw a veil over that part!
Anyway, the splendid huge Wandering Albatross swings to and fro over our
stern, as he has done for countless thousands of years.
Are we a packed lunch?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 23 September 2003
Day: 60
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 34.18'S, 111.05'W
Position relative to nearest land: 170 nm north of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 104 T
Speed: 6.0 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 110 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,360 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,470 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,469 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1020
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: 25 knots
Cloud cover: 15%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.1 C
Sea conditions: Reaching across a rough sea, many whitecaps and a big
swell, sailing under 2/3 No 2 Yankee and 7/8 Staysail
only. No main or Mizen. Rolling a fair bit. Sailing under Monitor windvane steering system.
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters.
Notes: 1500 nm to Capetown. I gybed the boat this morning, just before we were caught by a black squall which caused the barometer to drop a couple of points. Plenty of boiling purple clouds. Luckily the edge only just clipped us and the glass went up again.
I was sweating a little by the time I got back to the Doghouse after a gymnastic session swinging on the uncontrollable boom.
At least my arms felt longer.
And there was a passenger! A little swallow, swift or House Martin had
taken shelter by the perspex dropper/door. Marie Christine opened the
doorway and he settled on her knee. His eyelids were drooping so she put
him in a straw basket from the Perlas Islands, covering it with a bit of
duvet to make him think it was night. There are some sesame seeds and water for his continental breakfast when he wakes. We are halfway between Buenos Aires and Capetown, it's 1500 miles to the beach.
Unless of course he's heading for Tristan da Cunha, 170 miles due south. 1,500 miles beyond that and he'll need his thermals, in Antarctica.
We had hoped to call in at Tristan, but we must hasten to Capetownn to repair our rigging. We are slowed somewhat by being unable to set our twin headsail rig as all the winches are taken up with the bracing ropes for the broken cap shroud wires. We've been delayed a couple of weeks.
Tristan is a 7,000' volcano poking out of sea 2 miles deep. It is the most distant community and has the least chemical polllution in the world. Home to great numbers of albatrosses, it's strange we see only one at a time.
We called in there, on our way back from South Georgia in 1995, hoping to take a picture of a sheep dog which had been shipped out from a village near us in Scotland. There are 300 people but only eight families, all living in the little village of Edinburgh, by a solidified river of black lava which flowed down from the crater high above. They speak an old fashioned type of English and many prefer the potato as currency to money.
Evelyn Hagan ones the dog. Short and dark haired in a yellow blouse she
looks cheery and capable. Her sturdy white cottage with its wind break of flax looked very comfortable to Marie Christine. Over tea and biscuits we got talking about the river of lava.
"Hoh yes, I was 18 then. Hof course we didn't know what it was. The
rumbling began in June but we never imagined it would come to anything".
Her eyes brightened at the memory of it.
"It must have been terrifying", said Marie Christine.
"No,not really, Heverythin' that age is excitin! Then one mornin' in
Hoctober, we looked across the green field at the back there", she nodded at the window, " and it just split open. An' we saw the sheep fallin' in,an' smoke come pourin'' out. We were told to go to the potato patches down the coast. So we just hup and left. Leavin' heverythin'. We didn't come back to the house for two years! Warship picked up off the shore an' took to H'England!"
On the way back to English Rose, anchored to the 120' stems of kelp, Joe the Boatman, told me they can only get to sea on 60 or 70 days in the year. All boats have to be craned out at 5.30 each evening.
"Do you get many yachts, calling in?", I asked Joe.
"Hohh, yes! Sometimes we get three, h'even five some years!"
Let's hope we call in on the way back from South Georgia next year. By that time we should have followed the circumpolar track of the albatross right round the world. It would be good to 'tie the knot' just about there.
It's Day 60. If anyone is reading these ramblings,you should know that both Rebecca (our daughter in Ardmore,) and Richard Creasey will be away through October. Your only contact with us (other than Sat phone to the boat), will be Sam Semple who will be in BBC, Bush House, the Strand, London, except weekends. All that fuss. It looks if October will quiet after all.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 22 September 2003
Day: 59
Local time: 1200 GMT+1
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 33.00'S, 12.34'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,555 nm west of Capetown
Course: 124 T
Speed: 4.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,250 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,360 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,555 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1025
Wind direction: WNW
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 10%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 16.9.0 C
Sea conditions: Running with moderate jubbly sea, periodic sets of large
swells from SW and rain/wind squalls. A bright sunny day of lovely sailing, but cool.
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, big black Petrels, Shearwaters, Pintados, Storm Petrels
Notes: Working on my guiding principle that 'Whatever you are doing - there is a better way of doing it', We have had a fresh
look, with an open mind, at the sets of three winches and four jammers
situated on either side of the steering wheel at the
back door of the Doghouse. By re-leading a few ropes and switching the
usage of four winches we have taken a leap forward in
the ease of handling the boat by one person alone on deck.
Can the same principle be applied to the saving of the albatross? Is there a better way of saving the albatross? If the present way was successful, there would be no need for us to make this voyage. Because the albatross population would be on the increase.
While we are seeing the occasional Albatross there is by no means an
infestation in the South Atlantic.
Over the past couple of years awareness of the threat to the Albatross has undoubtedly grown in the UK.
We must succeed with the aim of the Petition. To do this the Petition
itself must be a success. - and this depends on everyone concerned getting masses of signatures. Can you help please?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 21 September 2003
Day: 58
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 32.05'S, 14.55'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,675 nm west of Capetown
Course: 101 T
Speed: 5.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,120 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,230 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,675 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1024
Wind direction: SW
Wind Speed: 22 knots
Cloud cover: 10%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.0 C
Sea conditions: Still rough
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, Black Petrels, Pintados, Storm Petrels
Notes: The first day of a true South-West wind. The top of a Depression marching across the Southern Ocean faraway. Up till now it has been East wind of one kind or another, all the way down from the Equator.
I'm writing this in the 'Dome', watching an immature Yellow-Nosed Albatross who's been with us all day. The dome is a clear plastic blister set on top of the main hatch, at the after end of the Saloon. My bum is sat on a special board slotted in above the top step, and my back is shielded from the elements by the heavy perspex dropboards which serve as the Boat's front door, leading down into the Saloon. My feet are braced against two convenient vertical posts below. It's my notion of what it would be like as a top centre gunner in the fuselage of a Wellington bomber. And it's where I hope our resident bird expert will target their albatrosses for their observer programme as we follow these magical birds on their circumpolar track, right round the world, Capetown eastabout to Capetown.
The sliding Perspex hatch cover draws toward my chest and makes a
convenient shelf to write on. At the forward inside edge of the dome, a
merely a dozen inches from my nose, a repeater Raymarine AutoPilot gives me our course and allows me press button steering of the boat. This will be handy in cold thick weather, though in reality the boat is controlled by the person on Watch some dozen feet aft in the Doghouse. Down beyond my left knee a repeater radar blinks from Nick's Communication Centre.
It's a fine bright summer day. The water temperature at 17C is a long way down on the 31C at the Equator. We have a steady 20+ knots of wind with plenty of white breakers all around. In fact there was a writing-cowering pause just then, as a wave broke over the dome. I flinched and instinctively looked to see if my clean-on-today shirt had got wet.(It's only my third shrt in 5 1/2 weeks so it's freshness is precious). Hooray! it's dry as a bone!
I love this old boat. I really do. We've been in some scrapes in the past 27 years. It'll have to come up the slipway and become a relic like English Rose 111 and IV when we get home; Marie Christine says I can live on it and clean the brass each day, she's been sick of it for 27 years.
Every dog has it's day.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 20 September 2003
Day: 57
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 31.29'S, 17.01'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1,800 nm west of Capetown
Course: 148 T
Speed: 6.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 85 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 4,000 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,116 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,800 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1027
Wind direction: NE
Wind Speed: 24 knots
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.8 C
Sea conditions: Rough
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross, Black browed Albatross, Black Petrels, Pintados
Notes: Having reached, long since, that point or time in life where
everything appears to go just numb, it was surprising this morning to be
alone on deck and to bump into someone I used to know.
All night we had been shadowed by a thunderstorm. Frightening lightening flickered around the rim of our moonless night. Nick, the giant workhorse, was plainly exasperated at having to gybe the boat for a second time just before dawn. With all the strings and tweaks, this can take up to an hour in the dark.
Springtime can be bumpy in the South Atlantic. For Marie Christine and me, the morning began plainly enough. We sipped our flask hot lemon and water from insulated mugs. I gulped down the Allbran, sultanas, milk powder and cold water. ( My wife gives this a miss) then we moved onto the next course: Stocktans Oatcakes from Orkney. The Pinhead oatmeal crisped up in the oven. there are two Marmite and four home-mad blackcurrant jam for me.
Marie-Christine makes do with only two of these thin triangular delights. But then she is very much a small pocket battleship.
Breakfast over, MC went below to bake bread. The wind freshened sharply and I left the shelter of the Doghouse for the wheel. Safety strop 'clunking' comfortingly onto the angular point.
Disengaging the wind vane steering from the hub of the steering wheel I
gently turned it off the wind. The purple thunder cloud was upon us. With the wind came 'The thresh of the deep sea rain'. The true wind read 46 knots on the dial and the lazy old boat picked up her skirts.
Guessing the squall would pass I didn't want to call for extra hands to reef the sails. The 30-ton boat danced and I felt myself coming alive. After the rain I was joined by an immaculate pair of Black browed Albatrosses.
Nearly 40 years ago, Chay Blyth and I rowed across the North Atlantic. When times were especially exciting we used to joke,"Well at least we're going through the front door". Who'd have thought I could still feel like that!After an hour or so, alone with my former self, things settled down a bit and I reefed the main sail with the wonderful Hood Inmast furling. Then took in a good bit on the No2 Yankee and the Staysail.
With the boat back on the windvane steering once more and the speed down to a sensible 'still 20,000 miles to go or so' 7 knots, 'Rie' didn't need to touch the steering for the four hours of her watch.
But Nick had 60 knots later.
Meanwhile, we push on for Capetown.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 19 September 2003
Day: 56
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 30.29'S, 19.50'W
Position relative to nearest land: 482 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 120 T
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 153 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,915 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 6,031 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,864 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: NNW
Wind Speed: 22 knots
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 17.8 C
Sea conditions: Moderate very grey sea from the N, some white caps,
occasional rain squalls bringing poor visibility. Good speed sailing on
run with full No 2 Yankee, 7/8 Staysail, 75% Mainsail,no mizen. Sail
reduced at 6am with freshening wind.
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross, Black Petrels, Pintados
Notes: Bumpy night - broke wind vane steering oar. Hand steering, lumpy sea, feel sick.
Saw our 3rd Albatross this morning. A raggedy old fellow with frazzled wing tips who had to keep flapping his wings to keep airborne in a Fore 6 wind, while Pintados and Petrels were gliding effortlessly.
Early on in my thousand trips round Handa Island at home in NW Scotland, I noticed there were only fit birds there - the weak were just lunch for the strong. Poor old albatross.
Tough all over - gawd I feel weak.
Good news about the Save the Albatross Petition, with phone calls from Australia and the USA today. It seems there is a call for it to be on paper as well as online.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 18 September 2003
Day: 55
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 28.30'S, 19.50'W
Position relative to nearest land: 634 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 140 T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,762 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,878 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 1,980 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of
Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1035
Wind direction: NE
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 100%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 19.3 C
Sea conditions: Moderate very grey sea from the NE, some white caps, constant drizzle, low visibility. Good speed sailing on broad reach with full No 2 Yankee, 7/8 Staysail, 75% Mainsail,no mizen. Becoming cool. Now wearing full wet weather gear on deck.
Bird sightings: Yellow nosed Albatross. Pintado, Black Petrel
Notes: At 0915 in position 28 degrees 18'S, 20 degrees 03'W, on Day 55, I saw the first albatross. Though it stayed for hardly 5 minutes, arcing its brilliant white underside across our wake and coming right over our stern before shooting off to the West like a narrow plank, balanced in the centre, whose ends curve down under their own weight. We peered after it, into the grew drizzle, through the open hatchway at the back of the doghouse.
"I'm sure it's because I've just washed the cooker smoke off the Galley ceiling and walls!" laughed Marie Christine.
I was thinking how thoroughly worthwhile this is. All the time and savings. I was thrilled.
If we could prevent this miracle of flight from becoming needlessly extinct. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, this is what I would like to be - a Wandering Albatross, ranging the globe at will.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 17 September 2003
Day: 54
Local time: 1200GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 26.28'S, 21.00'W
Position relative to nearest land: 770 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 172 T
Speed: 5.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 58 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,622 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,738 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,080 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1038
Wind direction: ESE
Wind Speed: 16 knots
Cloud cover: 60%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 21.8 C
Sea conditions: Fairly smooth with some white caps on a long swell from the SW. Making good speed to windward with full No 2 Yankee, 7/8 Staysail, 75% Mainsail,no Mizen.
Bird sightings: 4 medium large dark Petrels.
Notes: Rejoice, the night of Black Cloud brought first, four hours sailing North East (Glum!); then we tacked due South at last on a good ESE wind.
Just after dawn we were paid a visit by an all black bird which might have been a large Petrel.
We're hoping this wind will allow us to sail south for a few days without interruption so we can then commence the easterly run in to Capetown, riding on a westerly air stream (surrounded by albatrosses!). The reality is seldom like that.
I'm afraid the return to a bumpy, on the wind, motion has me rather queasy.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 16 September 2003
Day: 53
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 25.34'S, 21.22'W
Position relative to nearest land: 826 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 89 T
Speed: 0.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 55 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,564 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,680 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,124 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1037
Wind direction: SSE
Wind Speed: 0 - 5 knots
Cloud cover: 30%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 23.8 C
Sea conditions: Flat calm, big long swell from SW, each swell pushing a
narrow wave of wind ahead of it which reverses as the crest passes beneath
the boat.
Bird sightings: One bird in the distance thought to be a Shearwater
Notes: wriggling lke a worm on the hook of the South Atlantic High Pressure
Zone. We twist and turn our course every which way but the sea has that look and feel of oily calm.
Still no birds. It's too calm for them. Just one Shearwater flapping its
spikey wings almost batlike. Black head, pure white underneath, grey brown above.
Sails slat, and slat and slat as we battle for half a knot south, the only
way out.
Of course it's lovely weather for anything except going south. At home we
long for the mention of a High coming in from the Atlantic, it means a break from the rain and wind so prevalent in the Highlands.
What about a bit of patience?
We've run into a bit of trouble with our communications. Nick is spending
two and three hours each night trying to get through on Sailmail (a free data over HF radio system). All too often he establishes a link but such a slow link that he loses it half way through the incoming messages, let alone sending the daily log.
In the end he has to send the log by Iridium (data over satellite phone) at £1 a minute without even receiving the incoming mail. This gives the impression that we only reply very slowly, when nothing could be further from the truth.
We think there is something wrong in the set up of our Sailmail equipment.
Hopefully we can solve this riddle in Capetown.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 15 September 2003
Day: 52
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 24.54'S, 22.05'W
Position relative to nearest land: 880 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 125 T
Speed: 3.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 115 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,509 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,625 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,160 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1037
Wind direction: NE
Wind Speed: 3-9 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 22.2 C
Sea conditions: Becoming very calm, light wind now from almost astern
making for very difficult sailing conditions. hand steering (too light and
variable for Monitor wind vane steering system)
Bird sightings: Three unidentified white birds sighted in the
distance(thought to be Shearwaters) flying across our path ahead.
Notes: Light airs remain. But we are making way to the south and the great
Southern Cross is big in the velvet night sky.
Lone Storm Petrelss and Shearwaters occasionally call in but they are too
busy to stay. Gotta press on! Can't they just spare a few moments?
Pierre Pistorius, the bird expert would be pretty bored by now if he'd come
with us. Perhaps he knew there would be no birds?
So what else could you do personally, to prevent the needless slaughter of
the albatross, as it dives towards extinction, far away from you?
Well clearly its a question of the fuss people are prepared to make.
Fishermen are decent people, they simply don't realize the damage they are doing. It's simply a question of of education - parents are often inadvertently educated by their children. If schools took the symbolic albatross to their hearts - children would tell their fisherfolk parents.
In South Georgia, the British Antarctic Survey offered to help us film the
'instrumentation' of albatrosses for satellite tracking. We hope to film school classes watching these 'instrumented' birds fly thousands of kilometers in a day. Strangely we have run into trouble with this idea. Children are no longer allowed to be filmed without parental approval as the film may be viewed by paedophiles - unsure how we may get around this - perhaps we just film the teacher and the backs of the children's heads? It would be good if we could film a school in a fishing community. Perhaps you could have an effect on the school where your children go? The albatross symbolises, stands for, the health of the ocean itself which covers 3/4 of the globe. The ocean which no country owns and the health of which no country feels responsible.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 14 September 2003
Day: 51
Local time: 1200 GMT
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 23.30'S, 23.27'W
Position relative to nearest land: 2000 nm ENE of Buenos Aires and Igor
Course: 138 T
Speed: 5.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 95 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,394 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,510 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,254 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1035
Wind direction: ENE
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 20%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 23.4 C
Sea conditions: Light sea with big long swell rolling up from the SW. Wind
has now filled in to a steady 12 knots. Sails
comprise Full No2 yankee, full staysail, full mainsail, full mizen. Sailing
under Monitor wind vane self steering.
Bird sightings: Nil. Did see Flying fish today, maybe our last until we
pass this way again heading north, all being well.
Notes: "It doesn't get much better than this" agreed Marie Christine,
watching the whales as we ate our curry supper on a lovely evening.
"Except on the land of course", I reminded her. We've had another quiet
day, pulling clear of the tropics. The highlight has been the handful of whales, blowing continuously on the surface half a mile away on our port side as we slipped gently past at 4 knots.
I've seen Mares' Tails in the upper sky and there's a long long swell
rocking up from the south-west, the first for a
very long time. We dodge along snatching a breeze from scattered black
clouds, each hanging its grey skirt of rain. Patience
is a virtue but sometimes in my case it seems suspiciously like laziness,
Nick of course, works tirelessly, as ever - we must
get the dinghy out of the big locker on the back of the boat. It's jammed
in, but we must get it out, under it lies the big
loose luffed furling drifter sail which would be handy in these light airs.
Still no sign of the Yellow-nosed albatross - if the total population is
35,000 pairs and 900 are being killed by
long-liners off SE Brazil alone each year, never mind elsewhere, it looks
as if time is rapidly running out for them.
One of the ways you can help stop this entirely needless slaughter, is to
put your shoulder to the wheel to close the legal
loopholes which allow pirate fishing vessels to operate under a 'flag of
convenience'.
More than one billion hooks are laid each year by long-line fishing boats
using lines up to 130 km long. we've seen them way
out in both the Atlantic and Pacific.
Please do write to your national Fisheries Minister, MP, Representative,
Euro-MP or Senator, and ask what is being done
about seabird by-catch, and what steps the government is taking to close
'Flag of convenience' loopholes for pirate fishermen.
And please do send a copy of your letter to Birdlife International,
Wellbrook court, Girton, Cambridge, CB3 ONA, UK.
A 'Flag of Convenience', allows a fishing boat to be owned in one country
and registered in another. Thus these pirate boats
avoid international fisheries regulations and operate with total dis-regard
for the terrible number of seabirds they kill.
Many of these pirate boats operate in the Southern Ocean, right along the
line of the Albatross's flight track, targeting
'White Gold' the Patagonian Tooth fish which is sold as 'Sea Bass',
Antarctic Blue Hake and Mero.
Halting these fleets of 'Flags of Convenience' pirate boats is essential to
prevent the albatross becoming extinct. Key
states providing 'Flags of Convenience' to pirate fishing boats include
Panama, Belize, Cambodia and Honduras,with the
majority of boats owned by companies back in Taiwan, Spain, Belize, Panama,
Honduras, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and
China.
As you can see it is a huge and hidden problem. So great that registered
vessels carry observers to ensure seabirds are not
caught.
If you are able to help with our Petition for the United Nations in any way
please contact Carol Knutson at the NZ Forest and
Bird organisation (see link to their website in our pages on H2G2). Carol
has been a tower of strength in organising the
Petition and she will be sailing with us from Melbourne to Wellington in
December.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 13 September 2003
Day: 50
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 22.45'S, 24.40'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1083 nm NW of Tristan da Cunha
Course: 131 T
Speed: 2.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 73 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,299 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,415 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,354 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1035
Wind direction: E
Wind Speed: 2 - 6 knots
Cloud cover: 20%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 24.0 C
Sea conditions: Very calm, long gentle swell from SE, brief periods of wind
up to about 8 knots give short lived burst of speed over the very smooth
blue sea. The gentle swell throws the wind out of the sails (Full No 2
Yankee, full staysail, full mainsail, full mizen). Too little wind for the
Monitor wind vane self steering. Steering mainly by hand.
Bird sightings: Nil
Notes: Scrabbling for 3 knots whenever we catch a passing breeze. Plenty of time to beef up the bracing for the mast. It's easy to curse our luck with the faulty wires but we shouldn't forget the miracle of the Hood Inmast furling system. What a blessing this is on dark and stormy nights. The mainsail comes and goes with just the flick of a switch.
Still no birds. If it wasn't for the full moon playing on the slumbering
silver sea at night this would seem a god-forsaken place.
The heavy albatross likes strong winds and hates the calms. Maybe he'll
come with the wind. I'd love to see an adult Wandering Albatross the same
age as me. Of course he'd be much more traveled than me, he'll have been
about as far as the moon and back by now. But will he be alive still? How
many pieces of squid has he scooped without being dragged down by the
sinking hook? And what are the odds against a young fella repeating that
trick for 65 years, today, I wonder?
For thousands of years man only lived for 25-35 years while the albatross managed anything up to 100. Now it looks as if it may have to go, simply because of man's laziness.
It only need a willing skipper on every fishing boat and the albatross will survive.
Marie Christine and I have come on this year-long voyage to see if it is
possible for two old fogies to actually make a difference in this fast
moving trivial world. Time will tell. Capetown is the start line of our
voyage to follow the circum-polar flight track all the way round the world
and back to Capetown.
I know it's easy to cough up a few bob to salve the conscience. But we want to try and actually do something ourselves. Particularly we want to avoid other people from putting up money to help us personally. I hope you can understand this, I'm not very good at expressing myself.
If you feel you want to help the battle to save the albatross and you are unable to do anything yourself, then perhaps you could make a financial
contribution to Birdlife International's 'Save the Albatross' campaign.
You should contact Euan Dunn at the RSPB or your national organisation
affiliated to Birdlife International.
But hopefully you will find it more fulfilling to actually do something
yourself. But what? Well, first of all you could stand by to get as many
people as you possibly can to sign the global petition which is being
organisd by B.Weeber of the NZ Forest and Bird orgnisation. We hope to
launch the Petition in October and fly from the boat on our way home in
June next year to present it to the United Nations in Rome. We will need
all the help we can get with this, and we welcome any ideas through the BBC
H2G2 website to the boat out here in the South Atlantic.
Well, that's a start. Tomorrow, I'll come up with other practical ideas on how you can make a difference to help save the albatross.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 12 September 2003
Day: 49
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 21.34S, 25.26'W
Position relative to nearest land: 980 nautical miles ENE of Rio de Janeiro
Course: 161 T
Speed: 3.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 90 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,226 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,342 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,416 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1034
Wind direction: E
Wind Speed: 2 - 8 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 24.6 C
Sea conditions: Almost becalmed, long gentle swell is throwing wind out of
sails (Full No2 yankee, full staysail, full mainsail, no mizen), sails
noisily slatting, hand steering.
Bird sightings: One Storm Petrel sighted early in the day, otherwise no
sign of life.
Notes: Written while lying under a teabag (for the sty)... Alone at the
wheel not long after sunrise. Mc down polishing the faithful paraffin
cooker with its three rings and an oven.
Coaxing three knots out of the boat in the lightest of breezes. I've been down here in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and now the naughties. I
remembe the old Clan Kennedy, a welded Liberty ship, steaming through just
this light weather in 1956. An old rust bucket; with my fellow Clan Line
cadet, we chipped the rust all the way out to Capetown and primed her with
red lead all the way home to Avonmouth. My most vivid memories are of
plouhing along, flat out at 8 knots, right through the middle of vast
patches of fish, all jumping like crazy to escape the marauding tuna.
Nothing like that now. We are 22 degrees South, Haven't seen a bird for
days. Nothing. Who wrote 'Silent Spring'? Rachel somebody? (Carson?). Is
this how it's going to be?
We should have seen the Yellow-nose Albatross anywhere since 15 degrees
South. On the diagonal that's nearly 500 miles astern now.
Our old chum, Euan Dunn has sent us the latest situation report on the
Yellow-nose we have yet to sight.
"The Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos) breeds
(Sep - May, probably annually) only on Gough and Tristan da Cunha where it
currently numbers around 35,000 pairs. Outside the breeding season it
disperses throughout the South Atlantic, mainly between 45°S and 15°S.
The species has just been upgraded from Near Threatened in 2000 to
Endangered in 2003 after research at colonies indicated a 58% reduction
over three generations. If this threat does not abate, population models
suggest that the species may need to be classified as Critically
Endangered, the final category before becoming Extinct. The threat is
chiefly from longlines, including around 900 birds killed annually off SE
Brazil where it is one of the commonest followers of boats. Many are also
killed off Uruguay and by Japanese and Taiwanese tuna longliners off
southern Africa (where it also attends trawlers). Proportionately more
females are killed than males which is worse for the population's ability
to breed and grow than if both sexes suffered equally.
Dr Euan Dunn, Senior Marine Policy Officer, RSPB"
Euan's Grandad skippered a North Sea Steam Trawler, out of Aberdeen and he knows about the fishing boat problem. It's not that fishermen want to drown the birds with their baited sinking hooks, they don't, of course they'd much rather the bait was taken by a valuable fish.
All that's needed is a willing skipper on each fishing boat.
No fish means no fishing. Look at the situation at home: De-commissioned
boats are scrapped and burnt. Surely, if we can get to that big silvery
moon up there, we can sort this out.
Try contacting Euan at the RSPB, he'll tell you how you can help.
Tomorrow, I'll come up with a list of things you can do. There are simple measures which will regulate the fisheries and prevent the needless
slaughter of the as yet un-seen albatross. And there are things you can do
to help.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 11 September 2003
Day: 48
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 20.17'S, 26.12''W
Position relative to nearest land: 160 nm east of Ilha ea Trinidade
Course: 150 T
Speed: 5.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 130 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,136 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,252 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,483 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1036
Wind direction: E
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 50%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 24.6 C
Sea conditions: Gently reaching across light sea with moderate swell, a few whitecaps, a few rain showers around us, wind easing.
Bird sightings: No birds sighted today.
Notes: I was just dozing on the bunk, MC and I were soon to be on watch. It's a lovely day here, somewhere in the South Atlantic. We haven't seen a bird for days. Tristan da cunha is only 1,250 miles ahead and we are 48 days out from Ardmore.
In the very early days when we were still feeling seasick in the Minch, an email from a less than charitable soul in Canada told us were were 'sailing into obscurity'. It does feel like it. Right now, pinned down on a rescue voyage with wonky rigging and 3000 limping miles of empty South Atlantic between us and the safety of Cape Town and new wires, I wonder is it surprising that the stye on my right eye is throbbing?
MC was counting the onions this morning to see if they'd run out with the extra couple of weeks or so this Leg of the trip is going to take.
This is the super rig which was going to transform everything. Right now I would not turn down a steak from the rump of the person that did it. I've always been doubtful about swages and now I've got plenty of time to think about it.
The phone rang just now but there was no one there. It would have been our third call in seven weeks. If you're bored give us a call on 00 881 631 532 789. Make it short, it'll cost you the price of cup of coffee, £1 a minute.
Grrrrr
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 10 September 2003
Day: 47
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18.20'S, 27.19''W
Position relative to nearest land: 160 nm NE of Ilhas Martin Vas by Ilhas Die Trinidade (South Atlantic)
Course: 148 T
Speed: 5.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 3,006 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,122 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,593 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1035
Wind direction: E
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Cloud cover: 25%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 25.0 C
Sea conditions: Sailing close hauled into light swell, some white caps, blue sea.
Bird sightings: No birds sighted today.
Notes: Yesterday I hauled in the 2ft long heavy black turbine, during a lull in the wind. It hasn't been spinning as forcefully as we expected. It wasn't twisting the 90ft line linked to the white generator hanging off the back of the boat. There was not sufficient vigour to make the needle jump on the ammeter dial above Nick's Communications Centre down in the Saloon.
Even at four knots of boat speed the twisting rope burnt my hands as I hauled it in. Marie Christine piled the line into the aft cockpit to avoid any chance of it snagging the rudder.
There didn't appear to be any kinks in the line and I took this to be both because we were going to windward and because we were streaming a heavier line (10mm rope in fact) than on previous trips. But as I lifted the big spinner over the stern I saw a heavy spiral of deeply scored shiny silver metal gouged out of the shaft. It looked to me as if something very big had taken a snap at the passing turbine. Whatever it was had let go pretty sharply, probably with a few broken teeth. No place to fall overboard.
At last the wind has gone round from SE to E (I think that will be veered in the Southern hemisphere). This has allowed us to head SSE toward Tristan da Cunha some 1380 miles ahead. There are plenty of albatrosses there and the people were very kind to us in 1995, when we came in to photograph a sheep dog sent out from a village near Ardmore the pevious year.
We'd really like to see them again.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 9 September 2003
Day: 46
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 16.30'S, 27.06''W
Position relative to nearest land: 2,400 nm west of St Helena
Course: 191 T
Speed: 4.9 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,906 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 5,022 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2663 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1035
Wind direction: ESE
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Cloud cover: 15%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 25.8 C
Sea conditions: Still on tight reach across big Trade Wind swell, many
white caps, with occasional vigorous rain/wind
squalls.Sailing under 2/3 rolled up No 2 Yankee, Staysail with 2 rolls in,
Mainsail rolled into mast so head is down by 2nd
spreaders, no mizen. Sailing under Monitor windvane except during frequent
squalls. Max gust last night 34 knots.
Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater.
Notes: How I hate getting up in the middle of the night to go on watch! I
always hated it. Now in later years, I hate it even
more. It reminds me of all the bumps and bruises I've ever had. The torn
shoulders, the disc taken from my back 25 years ago
and its accompanying numb left leg, the long shot knees, the over stretched
Achilles, the ears that won't hear and the eyes
that won't see, and now a stye over the right one.
At the start of this voyage of rueful self discovery, it looked as if the
doddery Chieftain of the Durness Highland Gathering
would be unable to rise from his bed - I just couldn't reach across the
aisle to grasp the rail beneath the window into the
centre-cockpit. I suppose I was grinning as I belly-flopped onto the deck
and hauled myself into a sitting position to dress
the sorry sea-sick frame.
Last night there were three grim 'wake-ups'. the first at 2300 was
organised by my wife of 40 years. Having battled with the
levers and knobs necessary to crank up the Heads to have a pee, then haul
on the waterproof kit necessary for steering
through the squalls, I negotiated the rails of the Generator on my way to
the rocky rolly Galley, thinking black thoughts.
Then up ahead, as bloody always, a familiar female voice from up in the
Doghouse called down. "I'm awfully sorry, I've called
us an hour early!".
Mutter, mutter. Of course it's impossible to go back to sleep for 50
minutes. But it wasn't. Waking up at midnight was a
perfect duplicate of the earlier dress rehearsal. It was blowing 32 knots
and we shortened the mainsail. And 0600 was no better.
But it was a perfect night. Crystal sky,diamond stars, full moon. How could
anyone lie-abed?
17 degrees south and soon we'll see an albatross. Soon. It's eleven years
since I last saw one from the boat. But we did
visit the Royal Albatross Colony in Dunedin in NZ four years ago.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 8 September 2003
Day: 45
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 14.22'S, 26.49''W
Position relative to nearest land: 700 nm East of Salvador, Brazil.
Course: 185 T
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,771 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,897 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,718 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1033
Wind direction: ESE
Wind Speed: 25-58 knots
Cloud cover: 90%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 25.8 C (cooling down now)
Sea conditions: Now on tight reach across big Trade Wind swell, many white
caps, with frequent vigorous rain/wind squalls. Sailing under 2/3 rolled up No 2 Yankee, Staysail with 2 rolls in, Mainsail rolled into mast so head is down by 2nd spreaders, no mizen. Sailing under Monitor windvane except during frequent squalls. Max gust last night 58.9 knots.
Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater.
Notes: The battle has begun. A little sooner than we hoped. Luckily the
massive bracing with a 3-fold purchase of 16mm Yankee sheet makes the mast
at least look very solid.
We're sailing 100 degrees off an Easterly wind so we are heading almost
South, sometimes a little to the East. The squalls
have merged into rather a lot of strong wind. The wind speed recorder
showed 59.98 knots of true wind as the biggest gust
last night. 'Rie' is finding it something of a little test alone at the
wheel at night but she has got into the hang of
ringing the brass handbell when her nerves begin to fray. Whether she
thinks it's better than the booze industry only time
will tell. She is now hand steering for two hour periods in the dark each
night so there is time to think about things.
Marie Christine has started to bake bread as the weather gets cooler.
When he's not on watch Nick battles away at the communication systems. He
spends hours trying to get through on Sailmail, (Data over HF radio), through Belgium, but he's not been able to send a message this month so far and we know we have
messages waiting to be delivered, some waiting for days. Pity we didn't have time to do more trials with it before we left. I think when (hopefully) we reach Capetown, the local ICOM man will find a
fault somewhere in the set up, otherwise it's been a waste of £4,000.
So we send this email Log to the BBC each night via Iridium, but this costs
£1 a minute and the £4000 spent on the ICOM would have bought us 4,000
minutes on Iridium.
As old Rockefeller muttered when the US government ruled he had to break up
his Standard Oil, "Ain't life a damm!"
Looking through our logs for the 203 day non-stop round the world trip with
Andy Briggs in 1983, (in this same boat), I see we saw our first Albatross soon after 20 degrees South, that could be in just four days or so. At the moment it is just the
occasional Shearwater and it's a very 'sidey' life, as Isso would say, if she were sitting here with us. It's like a switchback but we are getting there. Down here of course it's like early
March would be in the northern hemisphere.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 7 September 2003
Day: 44
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 12.27'S, 26.19''W
Position relative to nearest land: 720 nm East of Salvador, Brazil.
Course: 175 T
Speed: 5.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,651 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,777 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,760 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: SSE F6
Wind Speed: 25 knots
Cloud cover: 20%,
Surface sea temperature: 26.7 C
Sea conditions: Still beating SSW across big Trade Wind swell, many white caps, a bumpy ride under half rolled up No 2 Yankee, Staysail with 2 rolls in, Mainsail rolled into mast so head is down by 2nd spreaders, no mizen. Sailing under Monitor windvane except during frequent squalls at night. Max gust last night 47 knots.
Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater.
Notes: The 44th day, its Sunday and as always, Nick is saying. "How's the Log coming along?". Well, it isn't. It's very bumpy, thewind has been SE 25 knots for days now and at nights it goes up to more than 40 knots in the rain squalls.
It's Sunday and we're being thrown all over the place, it's a day of rest and it's hopeless trying to write.
Marie Christine made corn fritters for lunch and we had coffee for the first time in 44 days. MC made proper coffee and we both had it strong and black with much sugar, to remind us of our dear daughter Isso, who we found in the jungles of Peru 17 years ago where they drink enamel mugs of home grown coffee in this way.
The effect of the coffee and the number of Broken Biscuits I ate enabled me to tackle the sorting and packing of my kit. It's been in a complete jumble ever since we left home. It had to be done, it's getting cooler and warmer stuff is needed for night watches.
The draft of the Save the Albatross Petition has arrived for our approval. I think it's going to be run on the Internet around
the world. Hopefully, if we can get enough signatures, I will fly from the boat in the Azores in June next year, to present the Petition to the United Nations in Rome. I'll come up with the details so please get all your friends to sign it. It would be truly wonderful if after all, together we really did manage 'To Prevent the Needless Slaughter of the Albatross'.
"Nick - I've finished the Log, I'll do the rest of your watch while you type it and send it by Iridium (at £1 a minute – it would be much better if you could send it by SailMail, which is free, but doubtless you won't be able to get through)".
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 6 September 2003
Day: 43
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 10.13'S, 25.43''W
Position relative to nearest land: 540 nm east-south-east of Recife, NW Brazil
Course: 197 M
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 135 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,511 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,637 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,809 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: SSE F6
Wind Speed: 25 knots
Cloud cover: 2%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.1C
Sea conditions: Beating SSW across big Trade Wind swell, many white caps, a bumpy ride under half rolled up No 2 Yankee, Staysail with 2 rolls in, Mainsail rolled into mast so head is down to 2nd spreaders, no mizen sail. Sailing under Monitor windvane except during frequent squalls at night.
Bird sightings: Shearwaters plus one Blue-nosed Booby.
Notes: Now we are 10 degrees South of the Equator we feel the Yellow-Nosed Albatross is somewhere up ahead, maybe 1,200 miles, but still we are now in the same Ocean. It was planned for Pierre Pistorious to fly from Capetown to Tenerife to join us, as our resident albatross expert, for this Leg from the Canaries to Capetown. Sadly he was unable to to make the trip and by then it was too late to find a replacement.
Never mind, the trip is really Capetown-Capetown we told ourselves, "Only a minor setback". And a minor setback it is – for us. But maybe not for the Albatross - time is running out for the poor old bird.
We have now passed two Asian trawlers. No sign of any 'mitigating' gear to prevent the by-catch of sea birds on either. But who's checking anything out here?
We have many books on the subject of the Albatross aboard, but the best summary of the mortal danger it faces is contained in a 14-page booklet, easily read in half an hour. It's called 'Conservation through Co-operation' and is published by the NZ Dept of Conservation. To get a copy email Janice Molloy, [email protected], or write to her at Dept. of Conservation, PO Box 10-420, Wellington, NZ. Tell her you are following the John Ridgway Save the Albatross Voyage and that we should be into Wellington for Christmas and we look forward to meeting her then. We feel sure that international co-operation is the best way to ensure the survival of the mighty bird which has graced the oceans almost forever.
Why should our generation exterminate it?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 5 September 2003
Day: 42
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 08.20'S, 24.32'W
Position relative to nearest land: 600 nm east of Recife, NW Brazil
Course: 235 M
Speed: 5.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 120 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,376 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,502 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,825 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: SSE F5
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Cloud cover: 2%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.1C
Sea conditions: Beating SSW across full Trade Wind swell, many white caps.
Bird sightings: Shearwaters, Stormy Petrels, Terns.
Notes: A rather more trying night for Nick. Hugely experienced, (read his background on H2G2), he was on watch alone at 0530 when he found himself becalmed between two black clouds. He pulled on a rain jacket, fearing something unusual, uncoupled the wheel from the trusty Monitor windvane self-steering system and braced himself, steering by hand in the darkness. He was just in time. A wall of rain hit him and the wind shrieked up to what the electronic trip recorded as 43 knots. Nick was able to run off downwind. Three more squalls followed in quick succession.
When Marie Christine and I came on watch at 0600 we helped him reduce sail and set the boat up to sail on the new wind which is pushing us a little more out to westward.
We'd had a lucky escape. If this situation had happened earlier in the night, when 'Rie' was alone on watch between two and four in the morning, things might not have turned out so happily as she would not have had time to call Nick, who was next on watch.
I fished out the old brass bell on its length of plaited line. All she has to do now is to ring it vigorously. It should wake someone!
At 0715, with things in order once more, John Boyce of Hood Yacht Spars called on the Sat phone as arranged by email through Richard Creasey. it was quite an event as it was only our second call in 42 days, and it was reassuring to hear from John who told us he had been in touch with David Cooper of Holman Pye, who had designed the boat. They are both in agreement that we have the correct rigging, It is just that the swages have failed on the wire ends, below the lower spreaders on the mast.
We have done all the bracing we can. While 4 of 19 strands broken is not good, it looks as if we have stabilised the situation and we are sailing at well under full power.
I reflect on how heavily strengthened the boat is and where it has taken us in the past. This whole rig including the mast was fitted new in 2000, specifically to sail round the world. There are always set backs. Be of good heart...etc. Meanwhile the old ship ploughs on SSW and we try a little dogged persistence.
A new bird arrived today. I was hoping for a Scarlet Tailed Tropic Bird but it turned out to be a large white Tern with a
short forked tail, black head and black wing tips. It didn't stay long. Shearwaters still persist around us and the occasional Storm Petrel. But
how I long to see the first albatross steer across
our horizon.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 4 September 2003
Day: 41
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 06.32'S, 23.42'W
Position relative to nearest land: 660 nm east of Recife, NW Brazil
Course: 195 M
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 140 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,256 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,382 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,860 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1032
Wind direction: SE F5
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.5C
Sea conditions: Beating south into moderate sea and fair swell from SE.
Bird sightings: Shearwaters are still flying with us.
Notes: A trying night. Inky black, 10/10 cloud cover and wind gusting to 30
knots. In all the 27 years with this boat we have never been constrained for
speed, usually we weren't going fast enough! Now we have to throttle back
and it doesn't suit.
We are presently making 2 degrees south each day, while conditions are good
for making three. We are 41 days out from Ardmore and if the mast holds I can see another 26 before we see Capetown.
I feel assailed. A good man would relish the challenge. Anyway...
Now, what about the Albatross? He's not showing his shiny beak up this way.
But we did have over 100 Shearwaters around us and one or two Storm Petrels
at 0930 this morning, just after a white Asian fishing vessel crossed our
stern NW-SE at about 1 nm. It was smothered in aerials and domes but did
not respond to our call on Channel 16. The name was 3 words, perhaps the
central one was Chang, the funnel blue.
Three quarters of an hour later we passed a red buoy with an aerial.
Perhaps they were fishing for tuna. No sign of mitigating measures to
prevent seabird by-catch, and plenty of birds all around.
We are on the high seas, fishermen can pretty much do as they please. Whenever I have been down here, over the past six decades, there have been these white Asian fishing vessels, though less sophisticated than nowadays.
At home, when the lobster men come in to lay their fleets of creels, they
say 'I know there are very few left, but if I don't
take them, somebody else will. So it might as well be me!'.
The disasters of the Newfoundland Grand Banks, the Barents Sea and the
North Sea are soon forgotten.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 3 September 2003
Day: 40
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 04.06'S, 23.05'W
Course: 197 M
Speed: 5.1 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 2,116 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,242 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 2,925 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: SE F5
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.5C
Sea conditions: Beating South into moderate sea annd growing swell from SE
Bird sightings: The 8 Shearwaters are still flying with and still often
landing near the boat to feed.
Notes: Well, as I said, "John Boyce, Managing Director of Hood Spars, will come up with something". Richard Creasey, our Comms Director at the BBC has been in contact with John, who has most generously offered to be in Capetown in person with replacement standing rigging when we finally reach port. Few manufacturers can supply that kind of support. After discussion with his team it seems the Cap Shrouds are failing at the swages and John suggests we brace the mast with the port spinnaker halyard in way of the port cap shroud chain plates.
Meanwhile, we have come out into the broad corridor of the boisterous SE Trade Winds and we must find a way to 'ferry glide across them, with failing wires supporting the mast. Accordingly, Long Nick and I spent the morning tuning a new rig, in 20 knots of wind and a rising sea:
1. We rolled up the No 2 Yankee which leave us with an empty fore triangle and no strain on the mast head.
2. We set the full Stay sail which has its own Forestay, tacked way back on the foredeck and rooted 3/4 of the way up the mast. The loading of the Staysail on the mast is directly offset by the port running backstay which is rooted at the same height on the mast as the staysail forestay and led aft to compensate.
3. We have furled the mainsail to the point where its head reaches only
just above the height of the Staysail forestay.
4. We have set the full mizen sail on its entirely separate mast.
Nick is a huge help in all this.
We are down to about 4.5 knots, plus a bit of surface current and sailing well off the wind. The boat is becoming a bit of steam bath, threatening the return of the prickly heat. Although we shall now take a week or more longer to reach Capetown, one of the advantages of reaching the senility of 65 years is that I am a little numbed to the pricks of humiliation to my puffed up pride. It was not always so!
The aim is "To prevent the needless slaughter of the albatross".
Keep on truckin'.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 2 September 2003
Day: 39
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 01.47'S, 22.45'W
Position relative to nearest land: 620 nm NW of Ascension Island
Course: 197 M
Speed: 4.8 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 98 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,966 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 4,092 nm
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,005 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1031
Wind direction: SE F4
Wind Speed: 15 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.5C
Sea conditions: Beating South into light sea from South-East
Bird sightings: 8 Shearwaters constantly flying with us and often landing
near the boat to feed.
Notes:
Hello Molly and Hughie
Now, what about the 'Mystery Ship? There we were, Granny and me on night watch, 660 miles NW of Ascension island, in the middle of the ocean. I was standing in the aft cockpit, arms resting on the blue padding around the edge of the Doghouse,looking out to see if there might be a ship coming. But we aren't really expecting to see another boat before we
arrive in Capetown, in three or four weeks time.
Fishing boats there might be, but I've been along this way three times
before. The others don't know how huge and deserted it really is. It would
be foolish for me to go on about it too much. I've got plenty to worry
about in the damaged cap shrouds, without causing alarm. Nursing the team
to Capetown with the damaged boat is what I must do.
Anyway, I'm thinking about this when I imagine I see the 'loom' of a light
on our port beam, a little aft of 15 degrees
maybe. "You're imagining things", I thought. But there it was whenever we
rode up on the crest of a wave. A faint glowing
dome of light.
"Come up and see the 'loom'" I called to Granny. It was 0030 and she was in the galley pouring hot water from a flask onto slices of lemon in our mugs.
"Ooh!" She squeaked excitedly,"Just coming". Marie Christine's hands came
up from the darkness, grasping her red plastic mug in her right hand and my
shiny silver one in her left. She placed them on the down wind side of the
floor, safe against the face of the seat. Then she rattled up the six metal
rungs of the ladder, practising her leg gymnastics and propelled herself
through the tiny hatch and straight on across shiny wooden floor and
through the open door of the Doghouse; twisting round to look out to Port
as she came. Granny is pretty as well as bendy.
As usual there was no sign of the 'loom'.
"Yes. I've got it!" She said, just as I was persuading myself it wasn't there.
We both agreed it was. I'd already turned on the radar but there was no
mark on the shiny screen. We hauled ourselves back inside the tiny door and
gawped half interestedly at the screen.
"There it is!" I muttered. A thin block of yellow appeared well forward of
our port beam on the six mile ring of the bright screen.
Five minutes later it was nearer the four mile ring. "Which is it Johnny?
The line nearest us or the outer one - they must be a 1/4 mile apart?".
"I think we must take it as the nearer one of the two, to be on the safe
side", I replied.
Then it was gone. Not a sign, Not on the screen nor on the horizon outside.
Was it a submarine on the surface,which had now dived? I'd seen just that
off the Butt of Lewis once.
Was it a UFO 'An unidentified flying object' from Mars or somewhere up
among all those millions of stars in the blue velvet sky above.
Was it two ancient Grandparents imagining things?
The whole thing started at 0030 and was done by log time at 0100. We were
on watch for another hour, 'Rie' took over at 2am.
We did see the odd blue mark on the radar screen but they never lasted long.
We went below at 0200 for four hours more sleep before we took over from
Nick in the dark at 0600, through dawn, until 1000 in the morning.
Marie Christine, sleeping on the floor in our cabin, had very odd dreams,
about a ladder up from the flooded River Ness and into the upstairs of 8,
Douglas Row. In spite of the floods she was so happy to be home.
I slept more or less ok. The cool wind from the south is cooling my
prickly heat but pricking my memory with thoughts of the
desperate times to come, down there.
At 0615 I was looking at the dawning horizon again, out on the Port beam,
and there was the 'loom'. Marie Christine came up from making more hot
lemon. She saw it too. But there was no sign on the radar. 15 minutes
later it was nearly light.
Sunrise and sunset come quickly in the tropics.
Then at two o'clock in the afternoon we saw a white Asian trawler crossing
our bows only three miles off. No sign of by-catch mitigation measures.
In the UK, fishing vessels have to report their position every hour.
Technology is running far ahead of international regulation of fishing
stocks. Every fishing vessel and fish processing vessel in the world should
report its position every hour and every landing should be inspected.
I'm writing this for you now, because by the time you have grown up, if the
lines on the graphs run as they are now pointing, there will probably be
12,000,000,000 people in the world instead of the 6,000,000,000 there are
now and all the fish will have been caught and all the albatrosses will be
dead.
You see the sea covers 3/4 of the world and the people need fish to eat.
It is we, your parents and grandparents who are allowing this to happen.
The albatross is a symbol. If it prospers and increases, so will the fish
and the people. If not, it will be 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. And
that's why Granny and
Granddad are out here in the middle of every night.
Grandpa
(John Ridgway)
Date: 1 September 2003
Day: 38
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 00.08'S, 22.08'W
Position relative to nearest land: 660 nm NW of Ascension Island, South
Atlantic.
Course: 232 M
Speed: 3.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 96 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,772 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,994 nm
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,048 miles (Great Circle route from present location, we'll sail further to make the most of
Trade Winds and Westerlies)
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: SE F3
Wind Speed: 10 knots
Cloud cover: 5%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.1C
Sea conditions: Beating wsw into light sea from S
Bird sightings: Still have three Shearwaters with us.
Notes: Crossing the Equator i mid-Atlantic at 21 W
This is to certify that on this day, 1 September 2003, Marie Louise Rogers, of Biggleswade, aboard the yacht English Rose V1, whilst floating in her lilac sheeted pipe-cot, unwittingly did cross the Equator, 12,000 ft above a carpet of oceanic mud and ooze at 21 degrees West, witnessed by; John Ridgway, Chieftain of the Durness Highland Gathering, Marie Christine Ridgway, Batman to Chieftain Robin, and Nick Grainger, Mogul from Melbourne.
And so it came to pass!
An extravagant certificate containing the above was presented at a luncheon of Fried Peanuts and Almonds, Egg Mayonnaise Salad, and Nick's sister Diana's Delicious Derby cake, Nick having now completely recovered from his superhuman feat (with photos) of setting up the three part purchase on the deck to the lower spreader span of the port cap-shroud.
The wind is steadily going round to the South and we hope to be heading a little West of South before too long. Already the Great Circle course to Capetown is slowly diminishing.
We are sccanning our books for any information on the Yellow-Nosed Albaross but its still Shearwaters around here with luminous flashing sub-sea life at night.
Into the mist...,
John Ridgway
Date: 31 August 2003
Day: 37
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 00.58'N, 21.21'W
Position relative to nearest land: 1000 miles from anywhere
Course: 245M
Speed: 4.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 102 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,772 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,898 nm
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,065 miles (Great Circle route from present
location, we'll sail further to make the most of
Trade Winds and Westerlies
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: S F3
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 10%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.5C
Sea conditions: Beating wsw into light sea from S
Bird sightings: Yes our friends the Shearwaters and Storm Petrels are
still with us.
Notes: A thousand miles from anywhere and three thousand from Capetown, in
fact this number is steadily growing as we have been sailing west.
I believe several people would be a bit anxious, if, a thousand miles from
anywhere, their un-insured 70ft mast looked like
falling into the sea.
Today, we feel a bit shamefaced about it. Even to the extent of rubbing out
the the pencilled word 'major' in front of 'concern about stranding of the
cap shrouds' hastily written in the log by Marie Christine yesterday
afternoon.
Nick's three-fold purchase of 16mm rope looks sound, Its sunny (again) and
everything 'Looks alright'. Isn't it grand how
that calms you down, 'Looking alright'.
At 0615 this morning we heard a bang on the front of the Doghouse. On
watch, Marie Christine and I ducked our heads and
looked at each other. "Probably a bird!" she muttered, trying to play down
any sign of 'Major concern',and thinking of the
dead Storm Petrel Nick had found in among the Life-rafts and Emergency
jerry cans of water, in the centre cockpit a few days ago.
Later, she threw 25 dead flying fish from the decks into the sea. 'Rie'
found a dead one in the forward Heads but didn't like
to touch it.
Bec's email from home tells us our own computer, in our home on the other
side of the wood, is calming down. "its mostly just Viagra adverts in the
Mailbox now". Funny old life, far away.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 30 August 2003
Day: 36
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 001.57'N, 19.47'W
Position relative to nearest land: 112 nm north of the Equator, 1000 nm ENE
of Brazil
Course: 254M
Speed: 4.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 115 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,670 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,796 nm
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,552 miles
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: SSW F5
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 10%
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 28.3C
Sea conditions: Beating W into light sea from SSW
Bird sightings: Our friends the Shearwaters and Storm Petrels are still
with us.
Notes: An exciting day.
We have found four broken wire strands at the top of the lowest section the
Port Cap shroud,just below the lowest of the three spreaders on the port
side of the mainmast. And one broken strand at the corresponding place on
the starboard side.
The job was to fit a 3-fold purchase to support the lowest section of the
Port Cap shroud.
Putting it rather baldly, if the Cap Shroud breaks, the 70 ft mast breaks
and falls into the sea with a bit of a splash.
We're trying to keep calm and compose an email to John Boyce at Hood Spars
at Burnham on Crouch. He'll come up with something, hopefully the name and
the address of the fellow who made up the cap shrouds!
And now to get to Cape Town. It's still some 3,500 miles, mostly to
windward and early spring in the South Atlantic.
How do I keep getting into these situations? Sometimes I wish I was doing
knitting and gardening.
Here we are. It's pitch dark (now 9.20pm) and were 1000 milles from anywhere.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 29 August 2003
Day: 35
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 002.42'N, 18.04'W
Position relative to nearest land: 430 nm SW of Sierra Leone
Course: 259M
Speed: 5.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,655 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,681 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,667 miles
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: S F5
Wind Speed: 22 knots
Cloud cover: 90%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 28.7C
Sea conditions: Beating W into moderate sea from SSW
Bird sightings: > The Shearwaters are still with us often flying very
close to the boat and sometimes landing on the water, now joined by three
Storm Petrels.
Notes: Nearing the Equator, some way out from Africa,heading toward Brazil.
Imagine you have been doing the same thing for the past 35 days. Not all of
it comfortable.
Last night, moonless and bumpy, we crossed the line where two great ocean
currents grind up against each other. The Guinea current heading East, at
up to 1 knot, and the Tropical Current heading West,at up to three knots.
Massive forces caused by the earth spinning.
We saw 4 fishing boats, way our there in the blackness.
Now we are pointing towards NE Brazil and so far off Africa we are a third
of the way to South America already.
When will we see the first Yellow-Nosed Albatross?
Bumpy and baked beans for lunch. Settling down to the new motion.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 28 August 2003
Day: 34
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 04.13'N, 18.51'W Position relative to nearest land: 180 nm north of the Equator
Course: 187M
Speed: 6.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,555 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,581 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,767 miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: SSW F3
Wind Speed: 10 knots
Cloud cover: 75%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.5C
Sea conditions: Motoring south into growing sea from the S
Bird sightings: 8 Shearwaters (together on the water), one Stormy Petrel
Notes: 35 years ago I was in almost this exact spot on the boundary between the Guinea Currentand the Equatorial Current and it was my 30th birthday. I was alone and Marie Christine asked the BBC World Service to play Matt Munro singing Born Free, or rather, they were playing it anyway and she persuaded them to include birthday wishes.
Anyway we're here together today, Derby and Joan. Can we save the Albatross?
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 27 August 2003
Day: 33
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 06.42'N, 18.52'W
Position relative to nearest land: 480 nm west of Monrovia
Course: 193M
Speed: 5.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 155 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,410 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,591 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 3,912 miles
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: S F3
Wind Speed: 8 knots
Cloud cover: 75%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.1C
Sea conditions: Motoring south into light swell from the S
Bird sightings: > 15 Shearwaters
Notes: Since leaving the Gannets and Fulmars of home, we could be forgiven
for thinking that only Shearwaters and Stormy
Petrels inhabit the ocean waters down to the Equator, and precious few of
them too. This afternoon Nick had 15 Shearwaters
round the boat, with most landing nearby, though I can see only one,
curving across the swell, as I write this in the aft
cockpit just before six o'clock suppper.
We've been thinking a lot about Charles Taylor and his long, firm rule of
Liberia and the Americans who have helped him move
his things to his new home. He'll have a lot of time on his hands now,
maybe he'll take up bird watching.
After our grand sail of yesterday, the wind did at dawn and Marie Christine
and I put away the four sails.
A couple of days motoring due South at six knots should set us across the
SE flowing Guinea current and into the NW flowing
south Equatorial current. Then we can sail west towards Brazil on the
expected SE Trade Wind.
Its a bit of a gamble with our small reserve of diesel
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 26 August 2003
Day: 31
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 08.26'N, 20.39'W
Position relative to nearest land: 450 nm west of Freetown, Sierra Leone
Course: 151 M
Speed: 6.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 150 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,255 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,436 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,067 miles
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: SW F3
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 15%,
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 28.7 C
Sea conditions: Sailing into light sea from the SW
Bird sightings: Flying Fish, occasional Stormy Petel and Shearwater.
Notes:
No birds save the occasional Shearwater or Stormy Petrel.
The water temperature has climbed daily, since 10C on leaving Ardmore to 30.6C! at noon yesterday. Today it fell for the first
time. The fresh wind is from the SSW. Have we crossed the Doldrums?
We are sailing under four sails and we would look a bonny sight at 7.5 knots. A cloud of white sliding across a blue, blue
sea.
Just before dark last night we saw a ship, way out on the port quarter. Bows up and empty, with black smoke puffing from her
funnel she was a scruffy sight.
Ten minutes later her bearing from us had not altered.
"If the bearing does not appreciably change, risk of collison may be deemed to exist" I chortled to Nick, Rie and Marie
Christine, as we munched our vegetable curry in the stern. They looked dis-believing, surely this further memory from my
Merchant Navy days of 1956 would be a boast too far.
Half an hour later I spoke with the Officer on watch on the radio. the Greek ship was jogging along at 10 knots,on the way
from Naukshott on the Sahara coast to Brazil with a Ukrainian crew. He was the 'Giving way vessel'.
"We'll be passing rather close" I suggested.
"Yes" came the reply in a thick accent. Clearly he thought us so small that we should surely get out of his way.
We both held our course and he crossed our bow with 250 yards to spare. The welder never looked up from the rust bucket.
We were glad this hadn't happened in the dark.
Marie Christine said she thought they were carrying slave children to South America. I was thinking that if they had run us
down they might have just kept going, it's a rough old world, down Liberia way. Not much health and not much safety
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 25 August 2003
Day: 30
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 10.55'N, 20.54'W
Position relative to nearest land: 300 nautical miles west of Bissau, West
Africa
Course: 198 M
Speed: 6.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 103 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1105 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,286 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,215 miles
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: SW F2
Wind Speed: 8 knots
Cloud cover: 100%, Grey
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 30.3 C
Sea conditions: Very confused swell with wavelets in all directions
Bird sightings: Flying Fish, occasional Stormy Petrel and Shearwater.
Notes: The winds become lighter and more variable in direction, governed by
huge black thunderheads which have lightening and thunder in vicious squalls.
When we came on watch, at 0600, after a night of just dribbling along,
Marie Christine and I switched on the engine and headed due south. Straight
into the heart of a dark cloud.
At 11 degrees N I still felt anxious that we were too far north to be into
the Doldrums. I had set aside three days fuel for motoring through calms on
this six wee leg of the circumnavigation. Was I wasting precious fuel?
It grew dark in the cloud, stair rods of rain flattened the sea. Marie
Christine and I stripped down into our altogether and soon had shampoo in
our eyes. That was the signal for the rain to stop.
But the cloud wasn't watching for signals, the wind shrieked up to 45 knots
and the boat lay right over onto its side. The surface of the sea was raw
white with rivulets of foam and the two innocent bathers cut a sorry sight.
But at least the shampoo washed off.
Nick's face grinned up from the galley, "Sardine sandwiches?" he called.
The wind died and our world became shades of grey. A shearwater appeared,
as if nothing had happened.
We motored on, in search of a steady cool south wind frm the southern
hemisphere.. This will allow us to tck and head for Brazil, away from
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Charles Taylor ad all that. I don't suppose he cares
for the albatross either.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 24 August 2003
Day: 29
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 12.29'N, 21.13'W
Position relative to nearest land: 250 nm west of Kazabane, Guinea, West Africa.
Course: 136M
Speed: 5.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 55 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 1,002 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,183 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 4,320 miles
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: S F3
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 10%, Trade wind sky...
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: Flying Fish - no birds
Notes: Crinkly sea, swell coming from all directions. Hot + prickly heat. Going 30 days and nights now. The light wind goes right round the compass in 24hrs. With never any birds in sight it is sometimes difficult to focus on the reason we are out here, "To prevent the needless slaughter of the albatross". But there is much going on behind the scenes: The Global Petition
, organised by Forest and Bird far away in NZ; the Sat phone interviews for the media; The UN Conference in Rome next June.
When will we see our first albatross? The last one that Marie Christine and I saw was from this boat leaving the South Atlantic in 1995. I wondered then if I'd ever have the chance to see this great bird again.
Well, I do have that chance.
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
ps What interesting things have you done in the last 30 days?
Date: 23 August 2003
Day: 28
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 13.23'N, 21.22'W
Position relative to nearest land: 280 nm west of Gambia
Course: 182M
Speed: 5.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 88 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 947 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,128 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,375 miles
Barometric pressure: 1027
Wind direction: ESE F4
Wind Speed: 15 knots
Cloud cover: 30%, patches of blue in between squalls
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: Flying Fish - no birds
Notes: Bumping along, wind on port bow. Monitor wind vane steering system broken and we can't extract broken pipe.
Really no birds to be seen.
Backlog on SailMail now cleared at last. Persons wishing to contact us should do through Rebecca Ridgway or Richard Creasey.
We have been unable to transmit, only receive on our 10 minute daily SailMail allowance.
John Ridgway
Date: 22 August 2003
Day: 27
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 14.33'N, 20.34'W
Position relative to nearest land: 180 miles west of Dakar, N Africa
Course: 192M
Speed: 5.2 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 92 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 859 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 3,040 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,443 miles
Barometric pressure: 1028
Wind direction: E F3
Wind Speed: 10 knots
Cloud cover: 100% grey and humid -imminent squalls
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.9 C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: Flying Fish and Pilot whales
Notes: Scarcely any wind in channel between Dakar (West-most point of
Africa) and Cape Verde Islands. V.hot+prickly heat.
Fruit and veg rotting. 900 nautical miles to Equator. Apart from that - GREAT!
John Ridgway
Date: 21 August 2003
Day: 26
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 16.00'N, 20.23''W
Position relative to nearest land: Between Dakar (W.Africa) and the Cape
Verde Islands
Course: 187M
Speed: 4.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 75 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 767 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 2,948 miles
Headed to: Cape Town, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 4,555 miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: NNE F3
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 100% but bright
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 29.1C
Sea conditions: Light
Bird sightings: Flying Fish
Notes: Frustrating day of light wind. High pressure blocks the normal power
of the Trade Wind. Poles down. Wind vane steering
with four sails. Shooting stars. SeaMail working again.
John Ridgway
Date: 20 August 2003
Day: 25
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 17.06'N, 21.09'W
Position relative to nearest land: 100 miles east-north-east of the Cape
Verde Islands
Course: SSW
Speed: 4.4 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 767 nm
Total distance from Ardmore: 2872 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 4631 miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: ENE F3
Wind Speed: 8 knots
Cloud cover: 10% bright sun
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 30.7C
Sea conditions: Smooth
Bird sightings: Flying Fish
Notes: At last the wind has gone too far to the East for us to sail with
the twin poles. They have brought us all the way from Portugal.
Now we are making 5.5 knots under 4 sails: No 2 yankee, staysail, main and
mizen sail. The boat is steady on the port tack and the rolling has stopped.
John Ridgway
Date: 19 August 2003
Day: 24
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 18.27'N, 20.07'W
Position relative to nearest land: 200 miles north-east of the Cape Verde
Islands
Course: 198 M
Speed: 7.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 170 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 590 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 2,772 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,731miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: NNE F5
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 80% hazy
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 27.9C
Sea conditions: Calm/modate
Bird sightings: Occasional Storm Petrel, Flying Fish
Notes: Flying fish in the galley via Doghouse. Foot high sharks fin 60 ft
on starboard quarter. Splendid wind. Andrea Bocelli
sings to inspire us for the Albatross. That's the good part.
Worryingly:
1. Barred from SailMail, we have not been in touch with London for a week.
We can't afford Iridium data at one £ a minute.
2. There are two broken strands in the 1x19 port lower cap shroud,
Hood's
wire holding up the mast. How I rue that time in
Burnham in Crouch July 2000.
John Ridgway
Date: 18 August 2003
Day: 23
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 21.16'N, 19.33'W
Position relative to nearest land: 145 nm west of Nouadhibou on the Sahara coast
Course: 205M
Speed: 6.6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 145 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 429
Total distance from Ardmore: 2610 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 4,893 miles
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: NNE F5
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Cloud cover: 0% slightly hazy
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 26.2 C
Sea conditions: Moderate following trade-wind sea
Bird sightings: Storm Petrels, Flying Fish
Notes: Off Sahara Desert coast. NE wind has improved. Rolling south.
Hot. Albatrosses still far away. Settling in. Finding coolest spot on boat.
Tropics are 2,500mmiles wide!
John Ridgway
Date: 17 August 2003
Day: 22
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 23.31'N, 18.17'W
Position relative to nearest land: 130 nm off Sahara coast
Course: 228M
Speed: 6.7 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 66.9 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 275.9
Total distance from Ardmore: 2,456.9 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approox 5046 miles
Barometric pressure: 1030
Wind direction: NNE F4
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 20% hazy
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 24.6C
Sea conditions: Calm
Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater, Flying Fish
Notes: Very light winds close toSahara Desert. Barred by Seamail for
overuse is a blow for the Albatross Campaign. Must think...
John Ridgway
Date: 16 August 2003
Day: 21
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 2, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The education of fishermen - the role of Projecto Albatroz
(Brazil)
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 24.39'N, 17.45'W
Position relative to nearest land: 150 miles off Spanish Sahara
Course: 206M
Speed: 4.3 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 103 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 208
Total distance from Ardmore: 2,389 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: approx 5,114 miles
Barometric pressure: 1029
Wind direction: NNE
Wind Speed: F2 7 knots
Cloud cover: 50% very hazy
Air temperature: Hot
Surface sea temperature: 26C
Sea conditions: Flat with gentle low swell
Bird sightings: Very Occasional Shearwater
Notes: 150 miles off Spanish Sahara (1967 chart). Jogging south in light
winds. Settling into 6 week haul to Capetown. Time
to think - about the albatross: "Wonders never cease. Do they?"
John Ridgway
Date: 15 August 2003
Day: 20
Local time: 1200
Leg Number and name: Leg 1, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position - Latitude, Longitude: 26.33'N, 17.04'
Position relative to nearest land: 35 miles SW of Gran Canaria
Course: 218M
Speed: 5.5 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 100 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 105
Total distance from Ardmore: 2286 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Distance to next port: tbc miles
Barometric pressure: 1031
Wind direction: NNE F4
Wind Speed: 12 knots
Cloud cover: 0% but hazy
Air temperature: n/a
Surface sea temperature: 26C
Sea conditions: light sea with some whitecaps
Bird sightings: Occasional Shearwater, Sighted first Flying Fish
Notes:
Into the mist...
John Ridgway
Date: 14 August 2003
Day: 19
Local time: 1630
Leg Number and name: Leg 1, 'The Yellow-nosed'
Focus of leg: The long-line fishing industry - its global
impact on the albatross population
Position: 28.12'N, 15.50'W
Position relative to nearest land: 5 miles south of Los Gigantes, NW Tenerife
Course: 190M
Speed: 6 knots
Distance traveled in last 24hrs: 5 miles
Distance traveled since last port: 5 miles
Total distance from Ardmore: 2186 miles
Headed to: Capetown, South Africa
Barometric pressure: 1033
Wind direction: SSE F3
Wind Speed: 9 knots
Cloud cover: 0%
Air temperature: 26 C
Surface sea temperature: 26 C
Sea conditions: very light
Bird sightings:
Notes: After 2 baking days in Los Gigantes, Tenerife, we finally sailed at 1630 today. Motoring 25 miles south down the channel between Tenerife and Gomera and hoping to pick up the NE Trades again at the southern tip of Tenerife. Everybody was so helpful and kind. We gave a Save the Albatross talk to the Lions last night which was a very valuable evening for us, anyway!
John Ridgway
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