Solo-Around-Nonstop - Dee Caffari/Aviva www.avivachallenge.com - zur Übersicht 06.03.2006 Hazardous iceberg field takes Dee to all-time low In Brief - Icebergs litter Dee’s path causing intense sleep deprivation and stress - Dee reaches her ‘lowest low to date’ trying to find a course through the ice - Light winds make a course away from danger difficult, increasing the psychological strain - Nights spent staring at the radar screen replace any chance for sleep - Moment of clarity once clear of ice reminds Dee what her voyage is all about Summary After diving southwest to avoid the second storm in three days at the end of last week, Dee had been hoping to catch up on some sleep. Instead, she was awake for 60 hours straight, navigating through a dangerous minefield of icebergs at 47° south and intense stress took her to the “lowest low to date.” Dee spotted the first iceberg at dawn on Friday and spent the weekend desperately fighting to find a way north. But light winds made her escape difficult and increased the mental strain caused by the fact that a collision with one of the many ‘bergs’ could have had disastrous effects. “Utter despair took hold today,” wrote Dee on Sunday. “It was the early hours of the morning in the UK and I was sat for the first time on this voyage saying to myself, 'I can't do this.' I didn't even have the strength to cry at first, I was too tired for physical signs of emotion; there was just this voice inside my head. “The breeze had dropped to a pathetic little puff every now and then, and speed and direction was sporadic. When I did get moving, I was making a course for either 200 degrees, back to the ice and the increased threat of ice, or east of north, which was basically backwards.” Skip Novak, one of the world’s most experienced high latitude sailors described the potential effects of hitting a growler*: “If you hit one with a metal boat you probably wouldn’t sink it, but if you really hit a big one, like a house-size ‘bergy bit’ which is just below the surface but 20 tonnes of ice, you’d probably dismast the boat and rip the rudder off as you went by it and you’d do a lot of damage. The impact is the biggest risk.” For Dee, “The daunting reality of sailing at night,” amongst ice kept her awake. Her “eyes ached from staring at the radar screen,” and the anxiety grew to the point where a way out seemed impossible for the exhausted solo sailor: “I reached my lowest low to date. Two days ago I had survived two sixty knot storms back to back and felt I was making progress and that I could take on the world, now less than 48 hours later I was beginning to think there was no way out.” The Shore Team discovered that the ice littering Dee’s path was the result of an iceberg 15-20kms in length breaking off from Antarctica, which had been floating north into the Indian Ocean for some months, breaking up into a group of icebergs spread over a 100km area. For Dee, understanding the reason behind the danger, “suddenly made the situation easier to deal with.” Project Director Andrew Roberts wrote that Dee had spotted 11 icebergs by 1100 GMT on Friday, adding: "At times like these I'm very pleased that Aviva is a strong steel yacht but it is still hazardous to be amongst the ice and even more so at night and alone. I don't recall reports of so much ice in any of our 50 crossings of the Southern Ocean.” On Sunday Dee finally got the breeze she had been hoping for to take her clear of the ice, and the chance to look back on one of the most eventful and psychologically draining weeks was prompted by a timely sunset: “We had found some breeze and finally started sailing in the right direction. Aviva was cutting through the water easily at 8 knots bathed in a warm pink glow from the colourful sunset … I had hit rock bottom less than 10 hours ago and here I was through the other side of it all. I shed a tear as I sat there, all the effort was worth it, we had survived the iceberg minefield, and the water temperature had risen for the first time in 24 hours. “For a change the visible icebergs were abeam of me and as the light faded for the second time in this minefield there were no bergs visible ahead on my current track … If I could freeze frame that moment, it would display exactly why I took this project on. This is what it was all about to me, these twenty minutes, these rare moments of fantastic relaxed sailing in amazing locations and beautiful conditions. We just have to endure lots of bad stuff to make the good bits really special.” Dee’s latest diary entry happily reports no icebergs in sight and her average speed is up to 7.5 knots, heading just north of west. * Growlers are smaller icebergs that are almost entirely submerged Quick Links: “Utter despair took hold today” – Read Dee’s diary about her “lowest low to date”: http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6&thisDay=5&thisMonth=3&view=day Read Project Director Andrew Roberts’ latest Shore Team commentary: http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=6&thisDay=3&thisMonth=3&view=day See the pictures of icebergs taken by Dee: http://www.avivachallenge.com/index.asp?pageid=48 Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE