Monday 2 January 2006 09:21
If I had a drink for every toast made to Aviva and I on New Years Eve
then my head would have been very bad yesterday. Thank you again for all the kind messages and thoughts at this time of year. They are really great to receive and really help me pick my head up and get going again.
New Years Day bought with it 35 knots, rain, thunder and big seas. The temperature also plummeted with the southerly wind. We reduced sail early as we were expecting it and hung on for the ride. This is the test we needed for the breather pipes on the autopilot. It was a bouncy introduction to 2006 but a very positive one.
I have started 2006 with new stores of determination, resilience, confidence and tenacity. The Southern Ocean will require a different mind set than the Atlantic. I will need to nurse the boat and myself, preserve ourselves and make sure we get through unscathed. After that, as the conditions improve, then we can re evaluate how we are doing and what condition we are in. This is all about the end result now, of completing the voyage.
The afternoon bought with it a change in conditions. The sky cleared for the first time for days and blue patches were seen between patches of much thinner cloud. The wind was still from the south so was still cold but it had eased and allowed us to fly a little more sail. The sea had not had time to abate and there was a big swell residing making progress through the waves and against the Falkland Current very difficult. We are trying to make our way to the corner and at present the forecast is for some good conditions to round Cape Horn. I have my fingers crossed that we can get the photographic evidence this time so maybe next year I can take a break from coming round again!
I have been thinking about any New Year resolutions that I could try. The only one that I was concentrating on was to complete this voyage safely. I considered stopping biting my nails, but I am pretty close to my knuckles already after the drama of the last few weeks, so that one is a long shot and one that I make every year. The aims, hopes and aspirations for 2006 are difficult to make right now at the bottom of the world with 18000 miles still to go, but as we make progress and get closer to home I am sure they will become clearer. I have already been thinking of other events and adventures that I would love to take on, but we need to do these things one at a time and I think I should concentrate on the job at hand.
I may have been sympathising with everyone who had a sore head this morning from parties they may have attended but the first day of the year seemed to last forever. I was dozing and waking up, thinking I had been asleep for ages and only ten minutes had passed. I did a few jobs, thinking it must be nearly dinnertime and again it was still really early. This may have had something to do with calling home UK time and then being up changing the sails really early again and just generally starting the day super early. Time was definitely on a go-slow. Thankfully the wind wasn't.
All the best from Dee & Aviva
As I write, Dee has a really cold blast of gale force winds from the south, behind a tricky front that has passed east towards the Falkland Islands. These winds are pretty much direct from Antartica hence a real wind chill on deck of Aviva today.
The waves are not pleasant either, as the Falkland Island Current which is slowing Aviva down, will produce a nasty sea state till late afternoon.
Later a high pressure is forming over Terra del Fuego that will bring lighter winds that will eventually back all the way around to the north. Good news for Dee as she negotiates the strong tidal currents of the Straits of the Estrecho de la Maire, prior to turning right towards Cape Horn.
The forecast for Dee as she passes Cape Horn in about 48 hours time are for northerly winds of 15-20 knots. Given the present nasty conditions, I would imagine Dee will be quite happy with that bit of news.
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