06.12.2005
Dee enters the doldrums – tricky conditions ahead
“The doldrums are looking rather tricky again unfortunately,” reports weather specialist Mike Broughton, “only last Wednesday they were very narrow indeed and things would have been easy.
“Dee is going to have to work hard as she gets into the top end of the doldrums in the early hours of Tuesday (6th December). There are pockets of gale force winds to absolute calm - pretty standard doldrums conditions. We are using a lot of satellite imagery to negotiate the best way through and I am hoping we have opted for the best spot, timed to work our way through the major tropical cloud cells and avoid the largest area of calms.”
Although the unpredictability of the doldrums is set to challenge Dee over the next few days, she enjoyed some consistent – and even enjoyable – conditions over the weekend. “There was warm sunshine, consistent breeze from the east, calm seas, and dolphins playing around the bow of Aviva for hours,” wrote Dee on Friday. “They were having great fun, as was I, sat on the deck watching them.”
The conditions also provided a timely opportunity to deal with vital repairs and indextenance work. Fixing the water maker was high on her list of technical priorities.
“Given that much of my food relies heavily on having water, its effect is massive,” said Dee. So she set about following instructions from the Technical Team to rebuild the water maker’s high-pressure pump. Unfortunately she hit a stumbling block:
“In the end, I had adjustable spanners, pipe wrenches and HP Pump Oil everywhere and still no joy. Frustration got the better of me. I swore and sat on deck in a sulk. Eventually, I got it together and swallowed my pride, accepted defeat and phoned the Tech Team.”
Her second consultation with the experts on shore solved the problem, but she had not anticipated the “tears and swearing” of a stressful six-hour repair job.
Personal Coach Harry Spedding wrote on Friday that although Dee wrote about the pump in a light manner, it was actually quite a traumatic experience:
“In her mind she knew that if she could not get the pump working it could cause severe problems. Trying to catch rainwater so that you have enough to drink is not something that she would want to be doing.”
Thankfully, he went on to report that although it seems like it is one problem after another at the moment, Dee has got her body into a rhythm: “She is now sleeping properly (a massive 20 minutes at a time), drinking more (thanks to the water maker), and fuelling her body with food.”
Watch out, Flying Fish about!
On a lighter note, she has also developed a fish scoop to tackle the flying fish landing on the deck of Aviva! “I knew it was going to happen, it was only a matter of time,” wrote Dee on Saturday. “I now have a new duty each morning and that is to rid the deck of the unlucky souls that didn't see us coming on their night time flight across the water.”
Although the thought of flying fish coming across the path of a steel Challenge yacht and her extremely tough round-the-world skipper sounds like a minor inconvenience, Dee has admitted to being rather squeamish when it comes to dealing with the unlucky flyers. “It has been a massive hurdle,” she joked, before pointing out that, “Dead flying fish smell really bad. My biggest fear is that with the days and nights being much warmer now and having hatches open is that a fish finds it way through an open hatch.”
Dee is keeping a running score of the unfortunate flying fish she meets each morning. Check the site for the latest…
Quick Links
Read Dee’s description of the stressful water maker repair job:
watermaker
Read Personal Coach Harry Spedding’s analysis of Dee’s condition as she enters the doldrums:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6&person=harry
Read Dee’s latest report from the water;
Report
Listen to the latest programmes following Dee's progress in the Aviva Challenge:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=32
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