21.02.2006
Dee Caffari “struggling with the voyage” psychologically
In Brief
- Personal Coach Harry Spedding says “half a world still to go” is a mentally draining prospect
- Feeling “under the weather” physically makes life in the rough stuff even harder
- Shallow waters of South Tasman Rise causing “excessive sea state” today
- Latest bout of harsh conditions forces Dee back into survival mode
Summary
“I am struggling with the voyage at the present time.”
Yesterday Dee wrote what Personal Coach Harry Spedding already knew – that she had hit an emotional trough and was finding it difficult to recover, despite some good runs in the right direction.
“Last week saw Dee cross the halfway point of her voyage, and then enter one of the hardest psychological battles so far,” explained Harry in his website commentary yesterday.
“Over the last 4 or 5 days she has been very despondent and struggled to deal emotionally with the extent of the voyage still ahead of her. On Friday she had one of the best 24-hour runs for a few weeks, and yet when she rang me in the evening she was depressed. She had talked on Sunday about not being 100% physically fit, and this has combined with having half the world still to go and has drained her mentally.”
Dee passed the physical halfway point of the voyage last Thursday, and was granted some timely consistent conditions permitting some much-needed rest, but it did not last long. The next day Dee wrote: “It was obviously too good to be true to last.”
Friday was dominated by high-pressure systems to the north and south of Aviva, leaving the solo skipper in a “void” making slow progress. On Saturday the pendulum had swung again, Dee reporting heavier conditions when dawn brought “30 knots and torrential rain.”
The reaching conditions then deteriorated into an impressive display of thunder and lightning. “The wind picked up to 45 knots and Aviva was struggling to sail straight, wrote Dee. “It was not a nice place to be and I don't like thunder and lightening at the best of times.” Eventually the storm passed and conditions returned to, “a more manageable 30 knots again.”
On Sunday gusty conditions made life difficult, but Dee chose not to play the “never-ending reefing game,” as she was not feeling fully physically fit. “I chose a middle plan that was effective for 90% of the time and just rode through the lulls as best as we could.”
By the time the start of week 14 arrived on Monday morning, Dee was drained, and wrote of her emotional struggle. Specifically, she explained the ongoing balance between progress and prudence and the subsequent frustration.
“I so desperately want to sail Aviva as hard as possible but we still have the whole second half of the journey to go and now is when fatigue on equipment may show itself. So pushing too hard in the wrong conditions may result in much slower progress due to breakages or damage. It is a very fine line and there is still another 5000 miles to go before we clear the remote expanses of the Southern Ocean.”
Unfortunately, conditions overnight will not have helped alleviate her frustration – she returned to “survival mode” in big seas.
“One explanation regarding the excessive sea state and amount of water being shipped over the decks would be that we were crossing the South Tasman Rise,” explains Dee today, “[which is] an area of the seabed that rises to only 700 metres deep and then returns to a depth of 3 - 4 kilometres.”
Thankfully, these conditions – that make life above and below deck so difficult – are predicted to give way to promising reaching conditions on Wednesday when a high-pressure system moves in and brings stable winds from the north-northwest. According to Harry Spedding, “at the moment it is sheer determination, and a healthy dose of bloody mindedness that is keeping her going. As her physical health, and thereby her strength, returns this should help to raise her morale.”
The conditions, too, will help Dee regain a positive state of mind as she contemplates the mammoth task still ahead, but her diary entry on Monday shows that even during difficult times such as these, she has not lost her sense of humour:
“…we have sailed just over 15,000 miles. I have been onboard Aviva now for 92 days from leaving Portsmouth and considering I have never been alone for even a week before, I am impressed that I still seem relatively sane!”
Quick Links:
Read Personal Coach Harry Spedding’s analysis of Dee’s psychological battle:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=53
“Aviva was using the waves as a launch pad again…” Read Dee’s latest diary entry:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6&thisDay=21&thisMonth=2&view=day
Send Dee a message of support:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=10
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