Oceanracing 2005- Solo-Around-Nonstop

Solo-Around-Nonstop - Dee Caffari/Aviva
www.avivachallenge.com - zur Übersicht

04.01.2006
At 0940UTC I rounded Cape Horn.
But it was so busy. I was quite close so there was little wind. I spoke to Mr. Cape Horn Radio and it must have taken him about 6 goes to get that I was the only person onboard! Then a cruise Liner spoke to me, called 'The Hanseatic', from Cape Town. The index man was called Ulf and they had gone from Cape Town to Island de Trinidade, to The South Sandwich Islands to The Antarctic peninsula and then to Cape Horn and then Ushaia. Cool heh!

Then the Chilean Navy turned up and chatted, it was just so busy. I thought at one point they wanted to come onboard and I was ready to defend the vessel at all costs.

I am now going slow with not a lot on the nose. heading south of west already.

Still really pleased I saw the Horn for real and I don't have to come back a third year running. I even saw penguins in the water.

Das obligatorische Beweisfoto

AVIVA rundet Kap Hoorn

Confused by any of these terms? Read our Glossary Shore team commentary Sir Chay Blyth Wednesday 4 January 2006 10:02 As Dee rounds Cape Horn, hopefully with her autopilot problems behind her, she can settle down again in the knowledge that Aviva is fully prepared for the Southern Ocean. Dee was very concerned about her autopilot and quite rightly so. Without her autopilot it would be extremely difficult for her to continue so this can only be a ‘worry’ for her and of course her team back on land.

My own self-steering was smashed beyond repair the day after I rounded Cape Horn. Luckily for me, I was in a ketch and for part of the voyage I could balance British Steel so that she could sail reasonably well herself – even if the course was a bit meandering! The trouble with a situation like that is the minute you go to reef or change the headsails (no furling gear in my day!!) the boat becomes unbalanced and starts going round in circles, backwards and every which way. Very bad for the temper, very bad for expending energy and very bad for chaffing and extremely frustrating and time consuming. I do not wish this on Dee at all.

The weather for Dee has gradually become colder as she got closer to Cape Horn and she would have been faced with a major decision – to go through the Straits of Le Maire or not.
For those that don’t know, there is a group of Islands east of Cape Horn and the furthest most one is called Staten Island – maybe some relation to the famous New York Staten Islands Ferries. There you have the Straits and in the South America Pilot, volume II on pages 137 – 141, it tells you about sailing through the Straits . You’ll probably be able to find this information on the internet as well.

For my part, I was petrified as I approached the Straits and finally when I got there the tide was against me so I sailed round. I contemplated lying a hull and just drifting and resting until the tide turned but it was not the best place to drift around and I felt I could not sleep in such a place. I chose to sail round and outside the Straits, which added time and distance to my route.

Lets see which way Dee goes – my betting is being such a ‘gutsy lady’ she is braver than me and will sail through the Straits.
Confused by any of these terms? Read our Glossary