30th January 2006
Dee and Aviva dive South towards the freezing Antarctic Convergence Zone
In Brief
- Low-pressure weather systems cause Dee and Aviva to head south towards Antarctica
- Dee bears the brunt of cold conditions
- 11,700 miles completed in the 72 days of the Aviva Challenge
Summary
As the Aviva Challenge enters week twelve, we see Dee and Aviva having completed a dive south on the advice of Weather Router, Mike Broughton, to avoid yet another developing secondary low with storm force winds. Dee also showed that she has learnt from her recent experiences:
“Last time I sailed through the centre of the low I put more sail up and then got caught out as the wind shifted for the tack and increased all at once…..I am learning from my mistakes…. The wind was coming from all directions and no one direction. I recognised where I was. Aviva and I had made it far enough south to avoid the storm force winds on the northwest quadrant and we were passing through the centre, or just below the secondary low developing…It may have been rather slow for a couple of hours but after not enjoying the day of beating into 30 - 40 knot winds and knowing that I had another 36 hours of it to come I took advantage of the lull, and refrained from putting more sail up.”
The lulls have provided some respite and Dee has had the opportunity to rest, refuel and enjoy reading a few more pages of the adventures of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s terra firma circumnavigation, ‘The Long Way Round’:
“The story tells of their ups and downs, the highlights and the low lights”. Dee comments that she could see many parallels with her own adventure - quoting from the book: “‘it’s hard here, really hard, but it’s also beautiful and we just have to concentrate more on the beauty and less on the hardship. No one said it would be easy.’ That statement like so many others could be said of the Southern Ocean just as easily and the more I read, the more I could relate to.”
The route south has had a real impact on the temperature, taking Dee close to the Antarctic Convergence zone where dramatic decreases occur, “The sea temperature had dropped to 8.6 degrees and the air temperature had definitely dropped.” Such cold conditions have taken their toll on Dee:
“The air was icy cold and that southern component in the wind was definitely showing its effects. I touched the cold of the winch handle and was scared that my hand was going to stick to it; everything felt that cold. By the time I was down below deck again, I screamed out in agony as the blood circulated around my icy fingers. The pain was unreal.”
Despite the cold conditions Dee is hopeful for warmer temperatures as she now navigates northwest. Mike Broughton is confident that Dee and Aviva have visited latitude 53° South for the last time.
Whilst the southerly routing and cold conditions were leaving their mark on this stage of the voyage, Dee was also confronted with a new cause for concern onboard Aviva on Sunday:
“There was a flow of water and some gurgling sound. I hadn't registered the sound before, so I set about armed with my torch to locate the noise.”
Dee explains that trying to find a specific flow of water on deck in the middle of the Southern Ocean would be similar to finding a needle in a haystack. Never one to be fazed by such long odds, Dee resolutely continued until she discovered the source of the unknown gurgling noise:
“In the centre cockpit there are two drain holes and with the amount of water being collected there, the indexsheet had washed along and was covering one of the holes.” The source of the gurgling and sucking noises found, “mission accomplished” and no real cause for concern.”
Aviva has completed a total of 11,700 miles in 72 days. Dee reflected today, that it took Dame Ellen McArthur 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds to circumnavigate the globe east about. This goes to highlight the difference between sailing from ‘west to east’ and ‘east to west’:
“I will have been in the Southern Ocean longer than she took to sail around the whole world. That is the nature of sailing a modified 45 tonne yacht against the prevailing winds and currents, west about the globe.”
Quick Links
Read Dee’s latest diary entry:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6
Listen to Dee talking to Elaine Bunting of Yachting World about the attrition of going through the succession of violent low pressure systems. The podcast also includes commentary on the Southern Ocean ecology and unwater topography from Dr Keith Reid of the British Antarctic Survey and Nick Tasker of the UK Hydrographic Office
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?PageID=32
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