[December 24, 2000 - 9:17:26 AM]
Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool): "Where is the end of the
world?"
Catherine Chabaud is at the farthest reaches of the earth but
each day is very different nonetheless. She describes that
"motorway" that she’s on, whilst reindexing very much aware of
the dangers of the area, as well as its magical charm.
Catherine’s trip round the world consists of little glimpses of
different countries through satellite connections and
meteorological charts.
44th day at sea. Catherine has found her position. She
continues her route without trying to necessarily gain on her
opponents. Her aim is to stay with the leading group and keep
skipper and boat in good condition, ready for the race back up
through the Atlantic towards France.
On Friday morning, Catherine was in eight position behind
Dominique Wabre (UBP). Having headed north just a few days
ago, Catherine Chabaud has decided to dive south again so
as to avoid a ridge of high pressure.
By fax, Catherine said :
"Where is the end of the world? Its here and yet its within all
of us. I’m not at the end of the world; I’m simply at one of
the millions of the ends of our world!
I’ve found my ’cruising’ rhythm, I’ve got the feeling that I’m
on that ’motorway’, with my automatic pilot doing its job as I
watch the miles go by (even if I can’t see very far since the
fog is rather thick here due to a 1° water temperature), taking
time out to change the boat’s clothes every now and again. I
roll, unroll, reroll, unroll again, put in a reef, shake it out or
take another one…
Its quite strange to head east without stopping, whilst at the
same time following the news of those back in GMT. Every
morning daylight comes at a different time but I can’t seem to
catch up. I do go to sleep when its night time yet I don’t know
whether its just a nap or my proper night sleep. I awaken and
either have dinner or a snack. Around one in the morning (UT)
the light starts to break through and I tell myself that it’s still
very early since nights are short in this part of the world. I
prepare breakfast at 4o’clock (UT), some porridge with raisins
and a mug of tea, then I have a second hot drink when its
breakfast time in France. In the meanwhile, I fix things on
board, take care of matters on deck, sleep a little or spend
some time surfing the net looking for meteorological
information or satellite photos… I also try out the local web
sites, especially the Australian ones since I’m just on the edge
of their forecast zone.
It’s amusing to have the feeling of entering another country’s
zone. I start receiving "EGC" messages which is forecast
information automatically received on my Standard C. For two
days I was receiving both South African information and
Australian information. I’ve slipped out of one country’s
perimeter to enter another. In the meantime I get messages
from Meteo France and the Reunion Island office…
I will be following the meteorological evolution of a whole
country for a few days as I will receive information concerning
a cable ship, test bombing or oceanographic trials (this is all
in the EGC messages) but indexly I shall see the lows and
watch the high pressure zones movements… discover a new
country by the way the skies ’breathe’.
There are few birds here (indexly petrels) and I’ve still not
seen any sea mammals. The sky is too cloudy due to the cold
to allow me to try learning the pet names of the stars that can
be seen in this region.
This low will be accompanying us for the next few days
bringing constant 30 to 40 knot winds. I will most probably
have to gybe but I will be heading for a waypoint on the
converging Antarctic line which heads north. Basically, I’ll be up
on deck quite a lot in the very near future. I’m going to cook
my bread now since its been rising for over an hour, then I
shall lie down or read "The Chronicles of San Francisco" which
I’ve just started, unless of course, Whirlpool needs me up on
deck…"
Christmas :
Catherine’s family and friends have taken it upon themselves
to make sure that she has a good Christmas. Decorations,
presents and a real Christmas feast with foie gras, duck with
chanterelles and wine have been provided. Whirlpool is
literally full of surprises…
Catherine recounts Christmas at sea with some episodes from
her past Vendee Globe: "To tell you the truth, it’s hard to
have a party all on your own! Four years ago Raphaël Dinelli
set off his distress signal and I did not think of Christmas at
all at that point; I opened my presents and ate my Christmas
meal a few days later. My parents had made a cassette for
me with some Christmas carols and I have some Christmas
music on board again this year."
Catherine’s solitary Christmas "will allow me to think of all of
the people I care for, I shall think of them spending
Christmas together, happily reunited and maybe trying to get
through by phone to say a few words".
Her present to her family will be "to send messages or phone
the other end of the earth".
Her most beautiful image of Christmas is a childhood one
"When I was a child, we would go to midnight mass in Allauch,
Provence and there would be a live crib. Christmas at my
grandmother’s house was always very special".
Source: Laurence CARAËS - KAORI
December 23, 2000 - 4:07:13 PM]
PRB is leading the race again
A small lead, just 2 miles, but PRB has retaken this morning
the leadership of the fleet he left a few hours to his friend
Roland Jourdain. Michel, who for the first time in the race is
approaching the screaming fifties, is going faster than "Bilou".
Kingfisher has lost some ground giving 215 milles to PRB
when it was 180 yesterday...
The young British girl Ellen Mac Arthur, is 5° further South than
Michel, but 10°more in the West (which represent 400 miles in
longitude), share the same option with Thomas Coville,
Thierry Dubois and Dominique Wavre.
"Hiya,
Quiet night in my bunk, without the wet weather gear. It’s
nearly farniente, sun in between the squalls, winds of 30/35
knots coming from 250. It should be the same for the next
few days. The sea is chopped, it’s hard to stay on your feet,
the boat often surf at more than 20 knots. C’est la vie quoi. .
I wish I could share some ’bubbles’ with you!
Mich"
Source: Carré Mer - Eric Coquerel
[December 23, 2000 - 3:31:06 PM]
Philippe Jeantot’s analysis: Christmas’ Eve
For the skippers sailing in the screaming fifties, Christmas has
a different meaning. They know that, far from where they are,
on shore, their family, their friends are all together preparing
the festivities. It’s hard to ignore it. The same friends and
their families have already thought about this special day and
have often prepared a few things for them. All (butmay be
more the French ones?!) are going to enjoy a special surprise
dinner, sometimes with a few drinks but never in excess.
Drinking and driving such racing boats single-handed is not
recommended. But despite chasing the weight, the
competitors have let their loved ones hide some presents.
Some of them have decorations to embellish their cabins
(mini Christmas tree, garlands…)
Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagère) even has a Santa
Claus costume. He has sent us some video footages via
satellite which are quite impressive. He says is in charge of
distributing presents to the children of the Southern Ocean
starting with himself!. Christmas couldn’t be better but we
know there will be no present for Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB)...
who has just retaken the lead.
For those sailors alone in the deep end of the world, the most
important moment will be when, with the magic of the satellite
telephone, they will be able to share a few minutes with their
families.
The tough reality of the Southern Ocean will remind them very
quickly of where they are. A new low pressure system is
arriving with some winds up to 40 knots. It’s cold, the deck is
constantly being washed up by the waves and the manoeuvres
can’t wait. There is no respite in the fifties. The sea doesn’t
allow this kind of emotions.
Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool) was telling us: "At sea I am
not bothered with all these feasts. It’s just a calendar thing. I
much prefer to celebrate the days when I round a Cape as
Good Hope, Leeuwin or Horn, also the big lines like the
Equator, anti-meridian…" However, with the nice weather she
encounters at the moment, she has offered Whirlpool a good
‘Christmas cleaning’. " There is a nice big blue sky and it’s
sunny. I am taking this opportunity to open the hatches and I
try to dry inside. I have done a big cleaning."
The temperature is very low. The water is at 4°, outside it’s no
more than 5° and inside the boat just 7° when it’s day light.
During the few hours of the night, it’s really freezing. Inside
the boat, the humidity level is at his highest and everything is
wet. It’s hard to live like that and it’s tiring. Unfortunately it is
useless to add more layers of clothes, as the humidity goes
everywhere.
Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear), who has been doing really well
in the past hours, with very good average speeds, got scared
a few times when his boat broach and his mast nearly went in
the water: "I took my time to clear the mess, as I didn’t want
to break anything, and finally it all finished well. It was more
frightening than it hurt ! ".
Mike Golding is preparing to spend his 5th Christmas at sea in
the Southern Ocean. He still has a complicated repair to do on
his genoa furler, and he has to climb at the head of the mast,
which is impossible to do at sea. Mike has planned to anchor
in the South of the Kerguelan Islands to do the repair. May be
he will see the French people living on this Island.
[December 23, 2000 - 12:19:42 PM]
Mike Golding (Team Group 4): "not far from the Kerguelen
Islands"
"It’s lunch time for me now. I am not far from the Kerguelen
Islands but still 100 miles from the coast and 140 miles from
where I intend to repair. The genoa starts struggling a little,
so I’m going to try the gennaker, but it’s still rough.
It’s a nice day today, I have a bright blue sky so I’m going to
try to worl through my job list.
The only thing that worries me is the visibility. Yesterday I had
lots of fog and being up the rig and anchored is not good.
Windwise it’s not too bad. Hopefully we’ll go across smoothly.
It looks like I am going to arrive tomorrow morning very early.
I reckon by midnight tonight (GMT) I will be looking for a spot
where to anchor. It’s not great? i don’t really like the anchor I
have onboard so if I can I will try to find a place with sand and
mud.
It’s difficult to know how long the time to repair is going to
take, but realistically 4 hours. There are a few other jobs to do
as I’ve been pushing the boat a lot.
It’s normal, when you have a problem then you’ve got another
as a consequence of the first one. If you do something wrong
it always leads to another problem. For example now I have to
use more power, more diesel. So you’ve got to do the best
you can!
It’s not my first Christmas at sea, I think it’s my fifth. THis
year it’s going to be a busy day, as ther’s still a lot to do, a
big back log. My only luxury - if my sat B is still working -
would be to speak to my family."
December 23, 2000 - 11:47:08 AM]
Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) : "I have sailed the whole of the
Atlantic on just one rudder"
"I am going very well. I was just taking a bit of time off and I
was taking some images as the light is nice ane there some
little waves, really nice. I am not a good cameraman but I try
to have fun.
Sailing wise I haven’t pushed the boat too much but I was
faster than my friend on Sill-La Potagère and I am back in the
positions. I spent my night inside the boat as it was going
smoothly with the auto-pilot. I’ve finished to tidy up
yesterday’s miseries. I was more lucky than Thomas when the
same kind of things happened to him. Everything is in order
today, it was frightning but it didn’t hurt. There is a little hole
in the genoa as it got stuck in the rudder. The fact that the
ruuder lift avoid me to have to dive to unblock the sail. It
doesn’t matter too much for this sail as I have another one
very similar. It’s the first time since the start that I have done
a mistake it’s not too bad. Now I need to stop the boat to put
the rudder back in the water. If I am sailing upwind in medium
wind I can do it, for example I have sailed the whole of the
Atlantic on just one rudder. At the moment it is outside and
it’s better for the auto pilot. The only thing is that I must be
careful and not bear off if not you end up with no rudder to
leeward! But anyway if you gybe the boat stops , the balance
is uncimfortable and you know the first thing is to put the
rudder back in the water but I have already done it with just
the engine of the swinging keel.
I have no problem with the magentism problem. My gyro
compass works since the Kerguelan, so I am keeping a good
course. We thought about it before and I am glad we did the
investment, it’s good for the quality of life.
I haven’t planned anything for Christmas, but my team has!
There is a Christmas tree in a bag, there are some stars on
the chart table, and I know there is a box with some presents.
I will open my presents at the same time as my children. Food
wise I have everything I need but the conditions don’t invite
me to cook. There is a wonderful sun set! I wish you were
there
Christmas it’s just a thing for people on shore, we have other
things to worry about. MaisNow it’s bed time, I ma going to
put my pyjama, go in my duvet and night, night!"
[December 23, 2000 - 11:09:18 AM]
Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) : "It’s my fourth Christmas at
sea and my third around here"
"I’am having bad time since the last 10 hours. I have 47
knots of wind, and I have just sailed 135 miles in 6 hours. It’s
really windy, it’s sport! The sea is bgger.
At one point the boat broach and was lying vertically, the mast
nearly touched the water, it was reallty, really impressing. I
don’t think I have broken anything. I took my time to sort
everything. The sea was smoking around the boat. I rolled the
genoa before and I am glad I did! I have some big squall,
very cold, where the wind goes up to 35/40 knots. I don’t
know what I am going to do tonight because I am really tired.
I will not push. We are doing some big S because of the
magnetic perurbations playing on the pilot. Four years ago I
did the same road as Ellen and I didn’t have much problems.
I have a gyro compass but the boat still do some S. I am
standing in my wet weather gear near the pilot remote
control!
I have quite a lot of presents. BUt I haven’t anything special
yet, I’d like to have a party but they are not waiting for me
ahead! They are not playing a lot, but well I’ll catch them for
the New Year. It’s my fourth Christmas at sea and my third
around here"
[December 23, 2000 - 11:02:52 AM]
Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool) : "It is sunny so I try to dry
the boat and my clothes"
"It’s sunny outside. I’ve just passed under a quite violent
squall, and I did a surf at 25 knots! The sea is getting
organised with a long swell and waves. The annoying thing is
that the wind comes from the West and it’s not easy to choose
a tack. It wasn’t really good when I try to go up North. It’s
really cold onboard.
Yesterday it was sunny so I tried to dry the boat and my
clothes, it’s good for me and for my boat. I have to look after
her. I hadn’t seen the sun for many days, and I was missing
it. It’s incredible to the sun’s influence on the morale of a
sailor going round the world. Now it’s not really high on the
horizon as it’s nearly the end of the day for us.
The water temperature id 5°, and there is a lot of humidity in
the cabin. Where my bunk is,it’s really wet.
It’s hard for the body to support this humidity and the cold.
When you do some manoeuvres you are sweating, so you
need to get change but we haven’t got 36000 pieces of
clothes! Around the engine I put little items like my gloves,
my hat, etc. Talcum powder is a good solution to dry the body.
On a wether point of view, we still are under the influence of
the low pressure ahead. There is a high gradiant, and it looks
like it’s blowing a lot. Michel and Bilou are under another low
pressure. I spend a lot of time looking at the satellite photos
and the australian forecasts. With internet we have everything
it’s really great!
I have some stuff onboard to have a good party, but I will
limit it to a good Christmas dinner. I am going to pass cape
Leeuwin soon and it’s really important to me, but I will call my
family. For New Year’s eve, I will feel like that we are not far
from the end! It’s quicker for me than four years ago when I
stayed 70 days under the 40° South, now we have nearly gone
through the Indian Ocean."
December 23, 2000 - 10:33:27 AM]
Ellen MacArthur’s outlook is better than of late...
"I’ve not sailed that well during the night, but the weather
situation looks so much better this morning than yesterday. I
really struggled yesterday, spent at least 8 hours on the
weather, went round in circles! Looks like the depression in
front and to the north could deepen and I should get some
southerly breeze from that. FANTASTIC!"
I grit my teeth as I open the fore-hatch, as the cold handles
seem to Œbite my cold, hard hands. Feeling stupid, I use my
feet, frustrated at myself for making an unhealed knuckle
bleed once more. For this is not the Atlantic, here it is cold
and remote - the nights moving in - with a feeling that the icy
Antartic winds slowly place their arms around you...the cold
seeping through to your bones..
The days at the moment are better - the sun rises and sets -
which seems extraordinary for the south,. I always imagines
an endless grey - but it has proved to me that it has many
faces, many moods and many seasons.. It is unpredictable
and as I sit here there is a massive band of dark cloud to
windward. As always it approaches us slowly but surely - with
the rain clearly visible as it pelts down to the sea below..
I hope that this option in the south is not going to turn out
too bad. I hope we will not have another scenario as Yves..
We just have to stay far enough North to touch that line of
breeze to lead us to the next depression.
Here’s hoping.
Source: Kingfisher Challenges
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