Oceanracing 2005- Solo-Around-Nonstop

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

07.01.2006
Saturday 7 January 2006 09:51 RECEIVED 23H09 ON 6TH JANUARY 2006
The night produced 30 knots of wind
that I was ready for and had the reefs in early. It stayed aft of the beam for most of the evening giving us some flat straight-line sailing heading west. In the early hours of the morning that wind came forwards on us and we ended up sailing up wind again, leaning over at a 25 degree angle and bouncing over the waves. The wind did start to reduce and the sky cleared as the sun rose again to leave us with am amazing sailing day of upwind sailing in 20 knots of breeze, sunshine, blue sky and a long sea that reduced the slamming off the top of the waves and also reduced the volume of icy seawater dousing the decks.

Jetzt beginnt der Kampf gegen den Wind

I called into the London Boat Show and spoke to Sir Chay Blyth and had to confess to those listening that today the Southern Ocean was a magical place to sail. I had been on deck to shake a reef out and as I was getting ready a whale rose and gave a snort about a boat length away. He didn't hang around but he wasn't the same guy as yesterday, this one had a very distinguished ridge down the centre of his back and was a bit more barnacle covered than yesterdays.

I sat at the top of the companionway steps out of the spray and facing the sun for an hour, just feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. It was the first time the end of my nose had been warm for a few days now. Beautiful conditions.

It's funny how the mind works. It has an amazing ability to forget any horrible experiences and only remember the good ones clearly. I know I shall have some horrible days sailing during the course of the Southern Ocean but they will not be remembered as clearly as today will be. Then, when I get back and people ask me of the Southern Ocean, I can tell them what fantastic days you can get and how magical the vastest ocean in the world really is.

The other surprise is that today which is the 48th day I have been onboard Aviva, I delved into my food cupboard and have eaten meals that I have not eaten yet on this voyage. Now that is pretty impressive. I am still getting surprises, so there is no chance of getting bored. I have noticed that although I eat more often with the change of climate and physical output, I also eat less at each sitting. Or maybe it is the Christmas chocolate still having an effect.

We have been able to head west for a couple of days now and have been eating up the longitudes! That also means that I pass time zones quite regularly and I often have to think when sending emails what time it is in the UK so I can expect a reply at the right time. It can be confusing but it means we are making progress in the right direction.
Dee & Aviva