28.02.2006
100 days at sea for solo sailor
In Brief
- Dee has been at sea for 100 days
- A ‘full-on’ storm is expected tonight, and there is nowhere to hide from potentially “violent” conditions
- Weather forecaster Mike Broughton has predicted winds up to 60 knots
- Just under 4,500 miles to the Cape of Good Hope
Summary
Today Dee marks her 100th day at sea in the depths of the Southern Ocean and tonight faces what weather forecaster Mike Broughton describes as a ‘full-on’ storm.
Sailing south of Australia with just under 11,000 miles to the finish line, Dee will have little time to contemplate her latest landmark due to the heavy weather expected this evening.
“On Tuesday night and into Wednesday a very vigorous cold front with winds in the high 50s and low 60s is going to generate violent conditions and there will be no hiding place,” said Mike.
“Looking forward to Friday we’re going to change tactics and head southwest to go underneath a secondary low-pressure system so we avoid the stronger winds to the north. But for tonight Dee will be facing a ‘full-on’ storm.”
Although Dee will be busy in the short term concentrating on the conditions, there is no escaping the fact that most people never spend more than a few hours alone, let alone 100 consecutive days. In the latest Aviva Challenge podcast – now live on the website - Elaine Bunting explores the effects of extended periods of voluntary isolation and gets the expert’s perspective.
Doctor Jean-Yves Chauve works with the world’s top solo round-the-world racers, and says mental problems are almost always encountered: “For some people [round-the-world solo] sailing is a dream, but sometimes the reality is not the same as the dream and the navigation in the south is very, very difficult. Some of them are surprised because they feel they are in danger.”
Peter Suedfeld, Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia, is a world-leading authority on the psychology of isolation and comments that, while there are negative consequences of extreme solitude in challenging environments, overall the effects are not always adverse.
“There comes a time when people really crave stimulation and there are ways of achieving that. One way is to become ever more sensitive to the outside world so that you notice things that you would not have noticed otherwise, and that, in some cases, is very beneficial.
“To the great extent they are positive effects - solitude gives you a chance to reflect on things and to explore your own feelings, your own emotions, your own ambitions and so on.
“But in other cases people start turning to stimulation that is generated from within their own body or mind and, in many of the cases of single-handed sailing, there have been what we call ‘sense presence experiences’, which is where the individual basically starts to hallucinate. When you have periods of boredom punctuated by periods of high arousal, these problems go on and people get more tired and more stressed and their decision-making starts to deteriorate. They’re not able to process as much information as effectively as they would under normal circumstances”.
Dee says, “The reality of being alone has been the hardest challenge of all. It took me most of the Atlantic leg to come to terms and address the issue of loneliness.” But now she has become accustomed to her environment, returning to civilisation can be a daunting prospect:
“My life with Aviva in our own little world is all I know at the moment. Emails keep me up to date with news but I can’t imagine simple living tasks such as shopping. When you count up the days they have passed really quickly, but at other times I feel as if this whole voyage is taking an eternity.”
As if to remind her of her solitude, she was forced to scale the mast on Sunday to try and repair her wind instruments, but was stranded halfway up the rig, stuck in a dangerous situation with darkness and a squall closing in.
“I thought ‘right I’m stuck’ and nobody could help me because there isn’t anyone here,” says Caffari, “it was just before it was getting dark so the light was fading. I did have a big panic, but I just kept working at it and working at it.
“It wasn’t until I got all the gear away and back down below that I actually got affected by it and I was really panicking and cried about it afterwards. I wanted someone to look after me then but of course there was no-one here.”
Caffari sustained bruising to her left arm after, “taking a beating and being thrown around the rig,” but is now recovering well and preparing for the approaching heavy weather.
Quick Links
Latest podcast now live – Elaine Bunting explores the effects of extended voluntary isolation and gets the latest from Dee as she approaches her 100th day of solitude:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=32
Read Dee’s latest diary entry:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6
See the video clips of Dee crossing the equator, wrestling with the autopilot during an emotional Christmas, rounding Cape Horn and entering the Southern Ocean:
http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=31
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