Day 110 at sea

Feb. 26th John at the helm watching big waves on the SO
pic by Doug S.

Daily Log for Thursday:
Day: 110 at sea (Day 41 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 26th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9578 nm bearing 077
--15,500 approx. miles travelled.
Distance from Simon's Town: 4809 nm bearing 232
Distance from Melbourne: 821 nm bearing 081
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 73 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 100 n.m.
Latitude: 42 08.254 S
Longitude: 128 06.009 E
Boat Speed: 2 - 11 knots
Boat Heading: ENE 080 - right on the highway-
Boat Sails: staysail only overnight, #2 jib, #4 reef main, then staysail back to #2 jib, then just #4 reef main
Barometer: 1008.0
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 7 Moderate Gale, Near Gale
Sea State: 10 - 30 ft Very rough
Weather Conditions: rain lightning overnight, fog morning, clearing to sun in afternoon
Wind Direction/Speed: overnight NE 20 down to 10, today backing to W increasing to 25 g 30
Temp: Air: 10 - 15 C
Cloud Cover: varies 20 - 100%

From John Thursday:

Greetings from the kennel in the Southern Ocean,
More dogs days. The good news is the wind is now behind us and we are rolling at warp speed out of the kennel and into the barn. We elected to go with the #4 reef in the main - the only sail up and we are offski.
Things are a bit chaotic downstairs but the QM made a delicious concoction of rice and spaghetti meat just right for these rough conditions.

We are 637 miles S of Eucla WA and we can tune into ABC Melbourne - Giddyup.

On on to Willy.

Cheers
Your Crew
------------------
From Doug S. email Thursday:
Another very dark night. As predicted the winds died down, the waves got a little smaller, and the rain poured, hard at times. Some sheet lightning to go with that. Motored for a while with the light winds and only staysail. Wind had shifted north so we were heading towards Melbourne again instead of SE. Put up main to 4th reef at 1st light then I was off to bed to warm up.

When I awoke, sun was out but not for long. Sails had been changed to #2 jib and full main. Winds increased to over 20 as we got under some cloud, so then the staysail went back up and a # 4 reef put in the main. At 1400 Mel time winds had decreased enough to put the #2 jib back. So, to sum it all up....lots of sail changes.

Sun peeking out again now, looks like it's clearing with rain showers moving off. Winds backing to the West, making very confused seas. Waves coming from multiple directions. So it's rough again downstairs. Water is a pretty blue-green. Sure looks much nicer with the sun out!
A nice day compared to the last few! Cheers!

Day 109 at sea

"Dog Days at sea on the Southern Ocean"
Satellite picture from Google Earth
Wednesday Feb. 25th

Daily Log for Wednesday:
Day: 109 at sea (Day 40 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 25th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Melbourne: 908 nm bearing 081
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 32 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 80 n.m.
Latitude: 42 04.023 S
Longitude: 125 50.458 E
Boat Speed: 1 - 4 knots
Boat Heading: SE 150 - a lot below the highway-
Boat Sails: staysail
Barometer: 1014.1
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 7 Moderate Gale, Near Gale
Sea State: 6 - 30 ft V rough
Weather Conditions: cloudy, occ. rain
Wind Direction/Speed: NE 20 - 35 knots
Temp: Air: 10 - 15 C
Cloud Cover: 100%

From John Wednesday 19:00 Melbourne/ 8:00 UTC :

Greetings from another doggy day in the Southern Ocean,

Still dog days. You should see some of these puppies - they roll up sideways - classics of the SO - 30 footers about 8 seconds apart causing all sorts of nasty comments from the snag driving.
May this time go away v soon.

We are 706 miles SE of the famous Kalgoorlie WA

On on to Willy.

Cheers
Your Crew
-----------------------
From Doug S. email Wednesday:

A slow day for the boat and occupants today. Moderate to near Gale winds with rough seas outside. Just running along under the staysail, rolling in the waves.

Still On 2 hour shifts to deal with the conditions. Last night's shift had to be one of the darkest on the whole trip. You could see the outline of the mast, the lights at the top and the whitecaps of the waves when they were lit up by the strobe. Occasionally a wave would slap the side of the boat and a cold shower would result. It was also raining and with the winds from 20-30 knts, it stung when it hit my nose. With the foul weather gear it was quite dry and my hood and new hat kept my face protected, but my nose was out in the wind sometimes. ;-) I remember many nights at work like that.

Doug G had a thunderstorm go through on his shift then the wind died. Bright sheet lightning. Motor was turned on for a short while but the winds returned.
With all the rocking and only 8 hours between shifts, everyone sticking to bunks, reading and sleeping.

Winds forecasted to switch direction overnight then we can head more towards Melbourne again and get back on track.
That's about it for today.
Cheers!

Day 108 at sea

Satellite Weather Picture from Google Earth
Tuesday Feb. 24th

Daily Log for Tuesday:
Day: 108 at sea (Day 39 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 24th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Melbourne: 956 nm bearing 085
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 98 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 110 n.m.
Latitude: 41 05.812 S
Longitude: 124 36.930 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 6 knots
Boat Heading: SE 130
Boat Sails: #2 jib #2 reef main overnight. Morning staysail and #4 reef min, afternoon just staysail
Barometer: 1022.5
Beaufort Scale: 4 - 7 Moderate Gale - Near Gale
Sea State: 4 - 8 ft
Weather Conditions: cloudy
Wind Direction/Speed: NNE 12-28 knots - gusting to 33 knots
Temp: Air: 15 C
Cloud Cover: 100% But the sun has peeked out once or twice.

From John Tuesday:

It's a dog's day, the winds are blowing, the dogs are off the chains and they're saying ruf ruf ruf!

From Doug S. Tuesday:

Woke up to bouncy seas and building winds. Went to smaller sails as the day progressed. On my shift just after sunrise, had some waves spraying over the cockpit. Got good and wet twice. I lost my Royal Caribbean cap! Now I usually lose my hat on sailboats within days, but I've had the same one since NY and it was just starting to look nice and worn in. I was thinking I was going to make it the whole way with the same hat for once. Not a great loss really, I do have another.

Not much going on today as everyone keeps to their bunks and rides out the rolly waves. Winds are from the NE, right where we want to go. Is this the Atlantic again? So we have to head SE almost parallel to the Aussie coast. Low boat speeds with just the staysail up. Biding our time 'til the wind changes. We're going on two hour watches this evening instead of three due to stronger winds. Distance still decreasing to Melbourne although slower, we are under the 1000 mile mark!

Cheers!

Day 107 at sea

Daily Log for MONDAY
Day: 107 at sea (Day 38 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 23 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9786 nm bearing 073
Distance from New York: 10036 nm bearing 084
Distance from Simon's Town: 4650 nm bearing 235
Distance from Melbourne: 1062 nm bearing 089
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 115 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 115 n.m.
Latitude: 40 41.849 S
Longitude: 122 16.428 E
Boat Speed: 3 - 6 knots
Boat Heading: 66 North East - a bit above the highway
Boat Sails: #2jib #4 reefed main overnight, main down during motor, back up to #2 reef for the rest of the day
Barometer: 1029.4
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Sea State: 6 - 12 ft
Weather Conditions: mostly sunny
Wind Direction/Speed: NW to NNW 5 - 10
Temp: Air: 8 - 16 C
Cloud Cover: 50 - 80%

From John Monday:

Greetings from a calm Southern Ocean,

Things change fairly quickly here - as the CEO opined - the Atlantic Oceans weather is largely controlled by permanent high pressure systems, whereas here in the SO the highs, and lows (in particular) roll by quickly - here one moment, gone the next. Thank goodness too - yesterday's low with its rough seas has gone and now we are tooling along nicely with Jib 2 and #2 reef in the mainsail.

Tomorrow we are in for a 'last week on the SO blast' from - can you believe it ? - a high which is going to hit us with some of the strongest winds of the trip. And, of course, almost on the nose.

So we are not expecting a great deal of progress until later on Thursday. The decks have been cleared - we are carbo-loaded with pasta and meat sauce (and WD), catching some sleep (not on watch - oh no that would never happen), and quietly cursing.

We are 391 miles below Esperance WA

On on to Willy.

Cheers
Your Crew
----------
From Doug S. Monday:

Now the same ol same ol is it's always different. Mostly clear night with some small clouds moving through. Saw the comet again and could see it with the naked eye but was so dim that it was just barely visible. Brendan also saw it through the binoculars. Tonight (23rd-24th) is the closest it gets to earth, and is just below Saturn. Binoculars are the best way to see it. A lot of small fast moving meteors going from east to west. At first I thought maybe space debris, but I believe all satellites go from west to east, so guess not.

Wind died out around sunrise and the motor was turned on. Ran for a few hours 'til the wind came back up. We are now heading a bit North due to the strong NE blow heading our way which will push us South. Cloudy when I woke up but the sun has prevailed and it`s nice out now with a cool wind. Tonight should be on calm seas and low winds, as we prepare for what`s ahead this week.

Day 106 at sea

" get a load of that bad boy!! "
SO wave Feb. 22nd.
pic by John

22/2 John enjoys some sun as a squall line approaches
pic by Brendan

22/2 Big waves on the Southern Ocean
pic by Brendan

Daily Log for Sunday
Day: 106 at sea (Day 37 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 22 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9920 nm bearing 075-( travelled approx. 15,150 n.m.)
Distance from New York: 10167 nm bearing 088
Distance from Simon's Town: 4544 nm bearing 237
Distance from Melbourne: 1170 nm bearing 089
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 159 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 160 n.m.
Latitude: 41 10.154 S
Longitude: 119 49.389 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 11 knots
Boat Heading: 095 E
Boat Sails: #2 jib #4 reef main, later just #4 reef main
Barometer: 1026.0
Beaufort Scale: 4 - 9 STRONG GALE
Sea State: 10 - 30 ft very rough, big close together
Weather Conditions: sun cloud rain, all in 5 minutes
Wind Direction/Speed: NW to W to S to SW 14 - 45 knots
Temp: Air: 16 C
Cloud Cover: 0 - 80%

From John Sunday:

Greetings from a stormy Southern Ocean,

Late last night the wind came up to blow 47 knots making the wimpy burgers roll away the jib 2, and we just pulled it out again. We got some terrific pics of those fabled S.O. rollers arriving like cliffs at the transom of the boat.
Not too comfy inside - kind of rolly with the odd 45 degree port roll washing the deck nicely. Consequently nothing done on board except for snoozing and loud squeals of ' get a load of that bad boy!!'

Big Al and his mate showed their disdain for the seas surface conditions by landing in our wake, snapping up a snack, and simply sitting there bobbing over the tremendous waves.

The clouds roll up in a continuous procession from the South West with winds averaging 20 knots.
Getting closer still.
We are 428 miles below Hopetoun WA

On on to Willy.

Cheers
Your Crew
-----------------

Excerpts from Doug S email Sunday:

What a difference a day makes! It started during Brendan's shift as the wind picked up and a heavy shower came through. The winds getting up to 30 knots. We were heading downwind now. On my shift some light showers and winds up to 35 knts. Waves increasing. A good workout trying to keep the boat from gybing. Some surfing down big waves. A fun fast 3 hour shift.

John came up early and took in the headsail as it was too hard to keep flying. (The main was blocking its wind). Good boat speeds 8 - 12 knts, lot of rocking with the downwind sail and big waves. Very hard to sleep. Stayed up with John for most of his shift as wasn't tired and thought the clouds might clear. Sure enough after the cold front went through the stars came out and got a very good sighting of the comet with the binoculars. Getting closer to Saturn now. Still just a fuzzy ball but it seemed elongated so that may have been the tail.

This morning waves a bit bigger, still rolling, and winds up and down. Again a fun steer in wild seas. Towards the end of my shift a squall came through with a gust up to 47 knts. I put the boom in the water a few times. Just rocking from the big waves. Very pretty out there when the sun is out, with the different blues and whitecaps. Wind supposed to die off tonight and hopefully the waves too so the motion slows a bit.

All enjoying the experience (except the non sleeping part). Not the easiest 160 miles we've done but not the worst either. Cheers, Doug S.

Day 105 at sea

21/2 Stormy rough seas
pic. by John

Daily Log for Saturday
Day: 105 at sea (Day 36 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 21st 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10065 nm bearing 073
Distance from New York: 10322 nm bearing 089
Distance from Simon's Town: 4412 nm bearing 239
Distance from Melbourne: 1333 nm bearing 091
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 145 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 160 n.m.
Latitude: 40 59.611 S
Longitude: 116 16.836 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 10 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E
Boat Sails: #2 jib #2 reef main, changed to #4 reef in afternoon
Barometer: 1016.2
Beaufort Scale: 4
Sea State: 4 - 10
Weather Conditions: mix of sun and cloud
Wind Direction/Speed: N NW 12 - 16
Temp: Air: 16 C
Cloud Cover: 0 - 80%

From John Saturday:

Greetings from a different face of the Southern Ocean,

This morning the wind came up and we reefed to #4 in the mainsail with the boat speed staying at the 7's and above. That's what happens when a cold front comes by. Later this afternoon we had a decent fresh water wash and a non-smooth sea. We just roll on at great speeds to Melbourne.

Right now we are 360 miles SE of Cape Leeuwin -one of the great capes of the Southern Ocean. So well under Australia heading directly for Cape Otway which is 1230 miles away.

Who saw something remarkable today? The CEO and the CD - that's who. And what was it? It was a glass ball with netting bobbing along. What else? A dirty big Noah's Ark swimming under the ball until we came by then that shark came over and gave those guys the hungry look. Squeals of alarm which caused the Noah to leave rapidly.

Our lunch was fried Indian bread with tuna salad, dinner spaghetti with a tasty sauce, HH with a discussion on what's the 3 things to do first after arrival at Willy.
Getting closer.

On on to Willy.
Cheers
Your Crew

Cherrios

Our family at Clunes - Ian, Carmen, Frank , Bill, and families
Mum and her friends at the Noel Miller Centre
Dorothy, Gwen, and Dr John
Danny A and his Mom and Dad
Maxi, Moni, Katja, and Anika
Bryan Sims and Beata
Allan H and Mrs H
Ingrid and Allan
-----

21/2 Stu cooks dinner on the gimbled stove
(What's vertical? Stove, boat or Stu?)
pic by Doug G.

Exerpts from Doug S email Saturday:

A nice smooth ride last night with fast boat speeds and a good run of 160 miles. A knot of current for 24 hours. Today the wind has been ahead of the mast so quite a bit of heel and rocking with the waves. Not used to it! Sun was in and out all day, felt good.

Not much else happening. I've been busy going through all the pictures and movies taken during the trip to make a little presentation for arrival.

Right under Perth now, so moved the clock forward 1 more hour to be on the same time. Only 2 hours different from Melbourne. The sun is starting to rise and set at the right time!

------------------------------

Video from Nov. 12/08 on the Atlantic Ocean


John tends to small repairs high up the mast,
while sailing the Atlantic Ocean.
filmed by Doug S. November 12th 2008

Day 104 at sea

20/2 Sunrise on the Southern Ocean
pic by Doug G.

Daily Log for Friday
Day: 104 at sea (Day 35 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 20th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10222 nm bearing 070
Distance from New York: 10488 nm bearing 089
Distance from Simon's Town: 4281 nm bearing 241
Distance from Melbourne: 1492 nm bearing 094
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 115 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 122 n.m.
Latitude: 40 49.939 S
Longitude: 112 44.763 E
Boat Speed: 3 - 7 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E
Boat Sails: spinnaker came down overnight as we motored then #2 jib Full main
Barometer: 1029.3
Beaufort Scale: 3
Sea State: 4' to 10' smoothish
Weather Conditions: sunny morning misty rain right now
Wind Direction/Speed: N 8 - 10
Temp: Air: 15 C
Cloud Cover: 0 - 100%

From John Friday:

Greetings from a very pleasant Southern Ocean,

Dawn brought v little wind so Mr Diesel went on and plugged along at 3 to 4 knots for a while. Then the wind shifted into the North and allowed us to sail at the same speed as motoring so off with the motor. Jib2 and full main all day until more wind at dusk so we popped in a #2 mainsail reef. Boat speed climed to av 7 kts - just can't keep a good boat down - she's romping to her rest in the barn.

It being smooth going - quite fantastic - downstairs in these conditions the motion is a gentle dipping fore and aft in almost total silence. The Senior Member and the CEO fully appreciate this and show their thanks by becoming semi-conscience a good deal of the time. Despite their slackness the anchor was put in pride of place ready at the bow to savage any waywood piers during the SM's shocking docking .
The CEO demanded certain areas get cleaned and they were - by his royal highness himself !
One Crew member listened to the ABC overnight program - a gentle introduction to the Aussie way of life.
The sailing can't be bettered, and we can just about taste the VB at RYCV.

On on to Willy.
Cheers
Your Crew
----------
Excerpts from Doug S Email:

Very clear night, time for comet searching. Audrey had written to me about the Comet Lulin and I've been waiting for a good night to try and spot it. I believe I saw it with the aid of binoculars. The description was to find the star SPICA and the planet SATURN. The comet is going to pass below Saturn on Feb. 23/24. So looking between the star and planet I saw what looked like a small galaxy (cloudy ball of light) right between them. I couldn't see any tail. The only way I could confirm that it was the comet was by it's movement relative to the stars around it after looking at it multiple times over about 4 hours.

We watched the movie "No Country for Old Men" Good movie but very violent!
Almost under Oz now. It's looking very close on our map. Under 1500 miles to go!

Day 103 at sea

Daily Log for Thursday
Day: 103 at sea (Day 34 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 19th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10331 nm bearing 066
Distance from New York: 10610 nm bearing 088
Distance from Simon's Town: 4178 nm bearing 242
Distance from Melbourne: 1613 nm bearing 096
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 163 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 173 n.m.
Latitude: 40 39.375 S
Longitude: 110 05.129 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 10 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E - on the highway-
Boat Sails: #2 Jib #2 reef main around Noon local 15:00 MEL went to spinnaker
Barometer: 1027.7
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Sea State: 4 - 6 ft and 10ft ocean swell
Weather Conditions: misty rain overnight then cloudy with sun patches, clear to the south
Wind Direction/Speed: overnight NW then SW after went through cold front
Temp: Air: 15 - 17 C
Cloud Cover: 100% early then thin cloud that let through sun

From John Thursday 1200 UTC

Greetings from rainy, then overcast , then sunny FGT,

Overnight very nice sailing - reaching on port tack with jib2 and #2 reef in the main - hull speed mainly. Dawn brought rain and a wind direction change so onto starboard tack, then out with the mainsail reef, then down with the jib2 and up with the spinnaker - right now we could do with a bit more air force propellant.

The motion of the ocean is quite smooth - lots of snoring going on, punctuated by the SM baking bread (under directions from the QM, of course) so that gave us our lunchtime sandos, and for dinner the QM produced a magnificent Shepherds pie - great ruffage.

It's the old waiting game right now as we inch our way to being under the map of Australia.
Summary - a quiet day on the Southern Ocean,

On on to Willy.

Cheers
Your Crew

Doug S. on watch during a sunset on the Southern Ocean
picture by Stuart

From Doug S. email Thursday:

On my early morning shift the wind had backed around a bit behind the beam heading us slightly North. There was a misty rain falling throughout. I was hand steering and the sail started flapping. Looked up and saw the winds backing again. Turned more North and got things settled. Flap, flap again, look up, a big wind shift, turned more North, now going right into the waves, boat bouncing around now. We had just passed through the cold front. John came up, we had to gybe to get back to our Easterly heading. Actually did a chicken gybe as it was easier.

A very good daily run, maybe a record? of 173. Winds not as high as forecast so the easy sailing continues until tomorrow. Then it shows some more fronts coming through. All is good.

I think the geography lessons are over for now as not much changing. Although we did move our clocks forward another hour last night. That puts us on GMT +8 which is the same as Perth, Beijing and Hong Kong. We are actually on standard time here. Melbourne is normally GMT +10 but we are 3 hours behind due to daylight savings. Will have to add an extra hour in there somewhere before we land.

Day 102 at sea

Feb. 18 Misty day at helm for John
pic by Doug S.

Daily Log for Wednesday

Day: 102 at sea (Day 33 from Simon's Town)

Date: February 18th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC

Distance from Oakville: 10444 nm bearing 058

Distance from New York: 10740 nm bearing 081

Distance from Simon's Town: 4024 nm bearing 244

Distance from Melbourne: 1787 Albatross miles bearing 097

Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 155 n.m.

Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 163 n.m.

Latitude: 40 35.994 S

Longitude: 106 18.013 E

Boat Speed: 6 - 8 knots

Boat Heading: 100 - on the highway.- -

Boat Sails: 2.2 oz spinnaker full main, then #2 jib, #2 reefed main

Barometer: 1025.9

Beaufort Scale: 4

Sea State: 4 - 6 ft building

Weather Conditions: cloudy with sun peeking out once or twice

Wind Direction/Speed: N 10 - 13

Temp: Air: 15 - 17 C

Cloud Cover: 99%
----

From John for Wednesday

Greetings from the racing FGT,

Another great days sailing. The wind is lightly behind the beam and when it strengthened this morning to 15 knots we dropped the blue chute after a full 3 days, went to the jib2 and 2 reefs in the main for the most perfect reaching sail the Senior Member can remember ( which is getting shorter).

There is a nice big underlying SW swell topped with the local wind waves from the NW which shoot the boat way above hull speed every few seconds making for v satisfying sailing.

Some of the crew claim to have seen a large fishing boat around lunch time. Others didn't see anything so there is a debate as to who 's maybe seeing odd things??? Is this a sign that enough is enough? Maybe- we think this adventure will be over too soon and we'll be standing on the dock at Williamstown wondering what that was about.

On on to Willy.

Cheers

The racing crew

From Doug S. email Wednesday:

Went through the night and morning still flying the spinnaker. 3 full days. That's what we thought would happen all the time on this trip! It was nice to get one long run in. Winds were coming up, with stronger in the forecast so decided to take it down and what good timing. Just as we got the #2 jib up and the reef in the main, the winds had increased. Our speed was hardly affected plus we could head directly East now. Ride is a little more heeled over but the waves haven't got big yet.

Yesterday while steering, the birds were having fun with the spinnaker. They would fly right towards the sail. As they got into it's wind shadow they would ruffle their feathers, flex their feet and dive away. It must have felt good to them to be in the turbulent air for some reason. Still hard steering yesterday so auto helm did most of the work until morning when the wind came up. Stui said he had one of his best sailing shifts of the trip early this morning.

And for todays great circle routes. To get to Oakville we would head towards Perth, NE out over the Pacific paralleling the Asian coast, then start turning more East off Russia. Just South of Alaska come ashore in northern B.C. For N.Y. we would head just South of Melbourne, head towards the top of New Zealand, across the mid Pacific and make landfall on the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, over Texas and up into N.Y. And the Oakville trip would be 300 miles shorter???

Winds and fronts coming through the next few days, so the miles should roll off but not quite in the comfort we've become accustomed to. Actually after the months of going against the wind this is still very comfortable! Thank you Roaring Forties.
Cheers. Doug S.

Day 101 at sea

Two more video's from the first leg of the journey back in November/08


Doug G at the helm on the North Atlantic
Filmed Nov. 16th/08 by Doug S.
en route to South Africa


Stuart and John catch a fish on the North Atlantic
Filmed Nov. 19th/08 by Doug S.
en-route to South Africa

Daily Log for Tuesday
Day: 101 at sea (Day 32 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 17th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10569 nm bearing 033
Distance from New York: 10650 nm bearing 284
Distance from Simon's Town: 3888 nm bearing 245
Distance from Melbourne: 1950 Albatross miles bearing 100
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 150 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 152 n.m.
Latitude: 40 14.578 S
Longitude: 102 45.068 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 8 knots
Boat Heading: 080 - on the highway.- -
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz spinnaker full main
Barometer: 1029.9
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Sea State: 2 - 5 ft
Weather Conditions: mostly cloudy, sunny break
Wind Direction/Speed: NNW 5-10
Temp: Air: 12 - 17 C
Cloud Cover: 100% but did break for a couple hours around noon local
--------------------
From John Tuesday :

Greetings from creamy smooth FGT,

What can you say about the past 60 hours sailing with the spinnaker and full main up ticking off the miles to the barn? Another 500 miles under the keel with halcyon days and velvety nights.

Breakfast - eggs sunny side on hot pan cooked flat bread.
Lunch - pancakes with lime sugar and rum
Dinner - stew and mash with sautéed cabbage.

This is dream sailing.

Thank you Neptune

Cheers
Your Crew

Cherrios
Milo Kynkal
Bonville Bashers, and the Sawtell Surf Club Latte' sippers
Ingrid and Allan
Tom P
Pauline Tsokov
The AC and Jazz Ozone gang
Dan, Bruce and Al - the old crew
Pauline, Ken and the girls
Rich K
Charles and the folks at Ford Detroit
Tom P
FCI folks
------------------------------
From Doug S. email Tuesday :

As opposed to yesterday our track was very straight as we continue to sail under spinnaker. Auto helm doing a great job. The speeds have been very nice and we ended up with an above average 152 miles. All have commented on how easy and effortless these downwind miles are compared to pounding into wind and waves. First time we`ve been able to fly the spinnaker 48 hours straight. Nice having constant conditions too.

I actually steered my late afternoon shift yesterday as the waves were still big and the auto helm had a hard time with some of the ocean swells coming through. It was very enjoyable surfing down the big ones with the constant 10-13 knt winds. Getting boat speeds up to 11 at times. Doug G made pizza`s for a nice change.
Today we broke the 2000 mile mark to Melbourne and are past 100 degrees E. It`s even looking closer on the map to us. More strange geography for you today. Mileage shows 1 mile closer to Oakville today which is now nearer to us than N.Y. I never would have guessed that happening! We actually figure that we have travelled approx 14,500 miles since Oakville.

All are good here and starting to look forward to arrival. It almost seems on the horizon now with only 1950 miles, but still a long way to go and we never take the weather for granted.

Day 100 at sea

Feb. 16th Doug S. steering in the rain
photo. by Doug G.

Feb. 16th The crew enjoy fresh muffins baked by Brendan
photo. by Doug G.
-----------------

Daily Log for Monday
Day: 100 at sea (Day 31 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 16th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10570 nm bearing 005
Distance from New York: 10503 nm bearing 275
Distance from Simon's Town: 3742 nm bearing 247
Distance from Melbourne: 2097 Albatross miles bearing 100
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 139 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 120 n.m.
Latitude: 40 36.627 S
Longitude: 099 27.754 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 11 knots
Boat Heading: 080 - on the highway
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz spinnaker full main after daylight
Barometer: 1031.1
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 5 - 10 ft
Weather Conditions: clouding over
Wind Direction/Speed: SW/NW variable 8 - 13 knots
Temp: Air: 10 - 15 C
Cloud Cover: 50 - 100%

From John Monday Afternoon: 11:53 utc

Greetings from the rocking FGT,

Today we gybed backed and forth 4 times until we settled on port tack and headed directly for home using 2.2 oz spinnaker and full main.
The day passed with 50% sun and some changeable winds - then off we went until now right now as we debate HH - to whether or not to drop the spinnaker - decision made - let the SM make the call and then we'll blame him!
More tomorrow.

Cheers
Your Crew

From Doug S. Monday --( A Lesson in Geography and Global Mileage ).

As I was putting in the mileages to the different cities I noticed that the mileage to Oakville has started to go down and the bearing is 005. With our chart plotter, I just point the curser on the city and it tells me the distance and bearing of the shortest course. So right now the shortest way to Oakville from here would be over the North Pole! If you look at the tech. info. above, the bearing for New York is 275, which would take us through Africa, and across the Atlantic.

The shortest routes around the globe are usually on a great circle route which is impossible to figure out on a flat map. You must use a globe and a piece of string to see the difference between a straight course and great circle route. There are computer programs out there also that make this easy. The one we use is from www.pangolin.co.nz and the program to download is MagVar. Google Earth also helps show this by simply joining two points together and looking where the line goes between them.

If you`ve flown a long distance on an airline you`ve probably gone on a great circle route.

From Simons Town to Melbourne the shortest route would have taken us down to Latitude 58 S but we have stayed North going no further than Lat. 43 S. From my rough calculations we our going about 300 miles further by staying up here. The reason for the more northerly course is the very bad weather that we would have encountered in the "Furious Fifties". Just not worth taking a chance down there.

There`s your geography lesson for today! Hope you had a good one. 100 days at sea! H.H. was extended today to celebrate! Cheers!

Day 99 at sea

Feb. 15th Doug G writes emails home

----------------------

Daily Log for Sunday
Day: 99 at sea (Day 30 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 15th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10584 nm bearing 316
Distance from New York: 10386 nm bearing 272
Distance from Simon's Town: 3627 nm bearing 249
Distance from Melbourne: 2206 Albatross miles bearing 102
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 168 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 160 n.m.
Latitude: 40 50.427 S
Longitude: 096 50.343 E
Boat Speed: 6 - 8 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E - on the highway.- -
Boat Sails: Staysail #4 reef mail. In the night #2 jib #4 reef main, during daylight 2.2 oz spinnaker, #2 reef main
Barometer: 1031.3
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 3 - 6 ft with occasional 12 ft ocean swell going through
Weather Conditions: sunny
Wind Direction/Speed: SSW 10 - 15 knots
Temp: Air: 17 C and falling
Cloud Cover: 20%


From John Sunday Afternoon:

Greetings from the Sunny FGT,

Last night we had a sparkling moonlight sail at hull speed plus - just a treat for the helmsperson, and just a night out of the box. Surfing down 15' swells burnished with moonlight.

The sun came out today and brought with it all the damp clothes, boots, and wetweather gear . Great to get things dry now we need a tad more air force propellant to keep the daily mileage up. Running with full main and 2.2oz spinnaker.

Being Sunday morning the SM thought he would emulate the breakfast served at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia ( CYCA) in Rushcutters Bay on Sydney Harbour. The CYCA is the home of the famous Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. One Sunday the SM and CEO popped into the CYCA for breakfast - It was eggs, bacon, tomato and onion all mixed up and cooked on a hot plate BBQ. Known as 'Train Smash'.
And to cap off an Aussie food day - fresh bread and vegemite sandos.

The crew notes the map of Australia with the map of Tasmania is now on the horizon.

Cheers
Your Crew
----
From Doug S. email Sunday:

Good speeds overnight with the wind up. After my shift John came up and changed the staysail to the #2 jib. Boat speed was going down throughout my shift. Cool night with a mostly clear sky. Waves still pushing the boat around so had to be alert at the wheel. Broad reaching on starboard tack.

Earlier in the day yesterday, I made a coleslaw, which of course involves lots of chopping. Stui asked if I was having a baby from all the grunts and groans coming from the galley. With the hard heel and motion there were a lot of G forces making it hard to stand in one spot. Also due to the cold wet day, I had on a thick pair of wool socks( Christmas present, thanks Audrey ), it was like being on a skating rink. Brace yourself, chop, go to fridge, hang on and pull up hill, "groan", hold on with one hand and dig into fridge with the other. Slide back down to cutting area, bang into cupboard, "grunt". Boat heels over hard, "groan", as you lean into it. That's why the guys decided to pre make the meals in Simonstown. Good idea. All they have to do is re-heat the main course and boil water for the rice or noodles.

We've moved along pretty nicely the last few days to the East so it's time for the clock to go forward another hour. As compared to the last time change these cities are very recognizable. GMT (UTC) + 7 Bangkok, Hanoi, and Jakarta.
If you have been following our friends on the Spirit of Mystery who are about 300 miles behind us you`ve read that they just had 50 knt winds. We are happy to hear they made it through that okay. We never had over 40 knt gusts so were very lucky. The winds are supposed to fill in from the West over the next few days, on we go!
-----

Day 98 at sea

Feb 14th Stormy day on the South Atlantic
Stuart at the helm
photo by Doug G.

Feb 14th one of many big waves on the Southern Ocean
photo by Doug G.

Here are more pictures taken in Nov. Dec. and Jan.
when Falcon and her crew were sailing across the Atlantic to South Africa.
(These pictures were recently received via mail from South Africa)

John at the helm surfing the South Atlantic waves
1/5/09

Doug G prepares fresh fish for dinner
01/03/09

" Did someone say 'Wave' ? "
Stu relaxing on the waves of the South Atlantic
12/26/08

Stuart, Brendan and Doug G enjoy a sunny day on the Atlantic.
11/25/08

Doug S at the helm on watch for those approaching waves
11/15/08

"If I close my eyes I'll imagine a big wave coming behind me"
Stu on the North Atlantic
11/5/08

Monster waves from Port Window
11/3/08

Now back to the present day and how the crew are weathering stormy seas:

Daily Log for Saturday
Day: 98 at sea (Day 29 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 14th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10463 nm bearing 296
Distance from New York: 10227 nm bearing 272
Distance from Simon's Town: 3472 nm bearing 251
Distance from Melbourne: 2360 nm bearing 103
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 167 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 167 n.m.
Latitude: 41 09.469 S
Longitude: 093 19.616 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 10 knots
Boat Heading: 110 ESE all night just tacked over on wind shift now 070
Boat Sails: Took down staysail, and main and went with just the #2 jib for the night. #4 reef Main came up at daybreak, and now staysail & #4 reef main
Barometer: 1025.1
Beaufort Scale: ** 6 - 8 GALE **
Sea State: 10 - 15 ft
Weather Conditions: cloudy, rain
Wind Direction/Speed: NNE 16 - 25 knots all night now SW 25 - 35 knots
Temp: Air: 17 C and falling
Cloud Cover: 100%

From Doug S. Saturday Morning:

Same ol same ol. Lots of wind, lots of waves, lots of speed! Nice run of 167 miles! We had to head a bit South due to wind direction but are slowly coming back up now. The cold front went though with a wind shift during Stui's watch. Earlier on my shift (the sunrise patrol) the rain started and got quite heavy at times for the full 3 hours. I just had the #2 jib up and was able to go due east with the wind shifting slowly. John came on and he put up the main (#4 reef)for a few more knots of speed. Later with the frontal passage the wind came up to 35 knots so the #2 jib was furled and the staysail put up along with the main at #4 reef.

A hang on kind of day, with the sharp heel angle. No sun so the boat is getting damp again. Lots of condensation on the port covers. Everyone sleeping or trying to sleep in nice warm sleeping bags. The SM got tossed around trying to make pancakes yesterday, thus the cause for "Oraleffluency". All is good on board FGT. That's about it on this cool cloudy rainy Valentine's day in the southern ocean. Have a good one!
------
From John Saturday Afternoon 14:40 UTC

Greetings from the Rocking and Rolling FGT,

Here we go - 30 knots from the NW gives us a rocking ride, at 8 knots average - can't move around the cabin very well so folks are lying in their bunks (pun intended) at HH making pronouncements on accceptable on board behaviour - that, of course, following the Oraleffluency reference - (thanks for the email responses).

Ok - the weather synopsis - cold front came by with preceding squalls and rain with a sudden change from NW to SW which threw the CEO out of his bunk and onto the foredeck frigging with sails, followed by a stable SW wind of 20 knots - we took that and settled in to a run along the 41 parallel to Melbourne. QD helming - so far so good - almost anyway.

If we had wives on board we would make them Valentines dinner with all the trimmings.

On on to Melbourne

Cheers
Your Crew

Cherrios
Linda Beers
Rob Mackay
Dave Belford
Tom Pollock
Erna and Steve
Bianca, Jessica and Michele
Breezy Dan
Han and Janet
Bella amd Balu
Astro and Dallas
Happy Birthday Pa Sandrin for Feb. 13th

For those who may have missed seeing this video the day it was posted

Stuart and Brendan sailing on Falcon GT on the North Atlantic
Filmed by Doug S. Nov. 3rd 2008

Day 97 at sea

Daily Log for Friday
Day: 97 at sea (Day 28 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 13th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10301 nm bearing 292
Distance from New York: 10060 nm bearing 274
Distance from Simon's Town: 3318 nm bearing 252
Distance from Melbourne: 2526 nm bearing 105
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 147 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 155 n.m.
Latitude: 40 41.580 S
Longitude: 089 41.281 E
Boat Speed: 6 - 9 knots
Boat Heading: 100 ESE
Boat Sails: Staysail, #4 reef main
Barometer: 1031.7
Beaufort Scale: 5
Sea State: 5 - 10ft
Weather Conditions: mostly cloudy
Wind Direction/Speed: NNE 16 - 20 knots
Temp: Air: 17 C
Cloud Cover: 80 - 100% Sun peeks through some thin clouds

From Doug S. Friday Morning:

The motor was shut down shortly after the 3 Stooges ended, cruising at 3 - 4 knots for a while. As it got dark the wind came up nicely. My shift was a very pleasant steer with steady winds and little waves. Today the waves are building, coming right from the side. For a nicer ride I had to steer a little more to the South so the boat wasn`t rolling quite so much. We are in the remnants of a storm that came from the tropics and could smell just a touch of them. Not normally any smells out in mid ocean. At least outside the boat.
Lot of heel with the wind on the beam so doing anything on the boat is an effort. But it sure is nice going at speed. Our forecast is showing wind for the next three or four days at least, so here comes some more good runs. One bad part is a cold front coming through so the temps will be going down and there is supposed to be a lot of rain. Cheers! Doug S.
--------
From John Friday Afternoon: 14:40 UTC
Day 97 (day28 from SA) at sea on board FGT Fri 13 Feb 09
Position 40 57S 90 48E 2474 Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 18 to 25 knots N - NW. Gusting to 30 knots.
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 7 Moderate to Near Gale
Sea state 4' to 10'ft. Rough
Boat speed av 7.0 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway.- -
Barometer 1028.5
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 17C

Greetings from Mr Toad's Wild Ride,

No worries about lack of air force propellant right now. We have been in the wind money for the past 14 hours ripping along the highway which is slightly potholed, and it's likely to continue for days - you little beauty - all we have up is the jib 2 because we were a tad overcooked with the main up as well- who wants to surf all day and night?? Beauty rest was needed plus -
It has been discovered the Senior Member is suffering from an affliction known as Oraleffluency. This serious condition is triggered by rough motion on the ocean resulting in the SM yelling bad words quite loudly at the helmsperson. The helmsperson is immediately contaminated with the same affliction and responds with his own brand of bad language.
A cure has been found - Happy Hour.
Stew and spuds for dinner.

On on to Melbourne

Cheers
Your Cured Crew.

Day 96 at sea

Feb. 12th Movie day The Three Stooges
photo. by Doug G.

Daily Log for Thursday:
Day: 96 at sea (Day 27 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 12th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10156 nm bearing 290
Distance from New York: 9907 nm bearing 277
Distance from Simon's Town: 3178 nm bearing 254
Distance from Melbourne: 2676 nm bearing 107
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 130 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 121 n.m.
Latitude: 40 37.389 S
Longitude: 086 16.466 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 7 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E
Boat Sails: #2 jib #2 reef main, then dropped all sails due no wind. Motoring
Barometer: 1036.6
Beaufort Scale: 2
Sea State: 6 - 8ft big ocean swells
Weather Conditions: overcast
Wind Direction/Speed: calm
Temp: Air: 15 C
Cloud Cover: 100%

From John Thursday :

Greetings from the smooth sailing FGT,

No air force propellant for the past 16 hours but we know what is coming so we chugged along at 3 knots with the help of Mr Diesel at just above idle revs. You just gotta do what you gotta do.

We are up to cruising speed right 6+ knots right now as we head into the night.

So to fill up the daytime hours the Cruise Director ordered a cultural event - he made us watch
A) 'The Italian Job' because C Theron is a South African and we owe them big time for introducing us to the Windhoek Draft in large cans,
B) then review film making from some years ago with 'The three stooges go hunting'.
The trick was to spot the similarities between them and the crew. The SM was id'd immediately!

On on to Melbourne ( apologies to the Hash House Harriers)

Cheers

Your Cultured Crew.

Cherrios
Wendy and Gerry
Jenn And Kevin
Chips and 41
Owen
Rolly and Pam
Mike and Hjordis
Peter and Jim
Bruce and Gail
George
Reginald
Hartley T
Alex and Ted
----------------
From Doug S. Thursday email:

Winds dying over night, we've pulled down the sails and are motoring. Having a relaxing day swaying back and forth in the big swell.
It was declared movie day so are watching " The Italian Job" the new version, Thank You J.J.
Had chili & rice for dinner last night.
That`s really about all today. Looks like the wind should be back tomorrow, but one never knows for sure in the southern ocean!

Click below to view previous examples of a quiet day on the ocean.

Filmed on the North Atlantic in November

Brendan reads and Stuart sleeps "soundly"!
Filmed by Doug S. Nov. 9th 2008

Watch as Falcon rolls smoothly on the waves of the N. Atlantic.
Doug G reads a book oblivious to the motion.

Filmed by Doug S. Nov. 5th 2008

(*no audio with this one*)

Day 95 at sea

Daily Log for Wednesday:
Day: 95 at sea (Day 26 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 11th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 10043 nm bearing 288
Distance from New York: 9788 nm bearing 277
Distance from Simon's Town: 3058 nm bearing 255
Distance from Melbourne: 2790 nm bearing 107
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 153 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 143 n.m.
Latitude: 40 45.848 S
Longitude: 083 38.212 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 9 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E
Boat Sails: #2 jib #4 reef main
Barometer: 1034.1
Beaufort Scale: 5
Sea State: 8 - 15ft
Weather Conditions: mostly cloudy
Wind Direction/Speed: SSE 15 - 20
Temp: Air: 12 C
Cloud Cover: 80%

From Doug S. Wednesday Morning:

Another milestone today as we are now over 10,000 miles from Oakville. Very cool last night, but the waves are down and we are heeled over now without the rocking. Sleeping is much easier. There is a lot of that going on, with only 8 hours between shifts everyone is finding nap time. Steering is also easier as we have the wind on the beam (side).

Last night Stui heated up some of the pre-made spaghetti that Doug G had made in Simon's Town. We've put our local clock forward 1 hour to GMT + 6. Here's some places that I've never heard of that are on the same time. Amaty, Novosibirsk, Astana, and Dhaka. And just for your info, we are now 15 minutes ahead of Kathmandu which is on GMT + 5:45. And we thought Newfoundland was funny being a half hour ahead.

I had the sunset and sunrise shifts the last 24 hours. Last evening the full moon came up like a spot light in front of us. Way too bright for any star gazing. The waves where still big. One broke right beside me with a lot of foam and roaring. As I turned to watch I caught sight of it's twin coming up behind, I cranked the wheel to get going straight down. It was like standing on a big hill looking down. The boat hesitated on the top like a roller coaster and then zoom down we go amongst the foam. Not quite the 18 knots Doug G had earlier but I glanced over 15 knots before I was concentrating on steering again.
On the sunrise shift the waves had diminished along with the wind. Much cooler and overcast. The guys had unfurled some of the #2 jib overnight. The wind still went over 20 occasionally but it was much easier than it has been.

John made scrambled eggs, scones, and bacon for breakfast. And then everyone headed back to their bunks.
Still getting good daily runs. Looks like a small lull coming up before the next front moves through. Then we'll be off again!
-------
From John Wednesday Afternoon 14: 23 UTC
Day 95 (day26 from SA) at sea on board FGT Wed 11 Feb 09
Position 40 45S 84 45E 2741 Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 16 to 24 knots S SW.
Sea state 6' to20'. Slightly bouncy
Boat speed av 6.0 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - right on the highway.
Barometer 1036.1
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the Highway to Melbourne

Today the wind and seas went down to give us a smoother ride as shown by all the snoozing going on. Took out reefs so now using jib2 and #2 reef in mainsail - just tooling along. This prompted an early HH with the Windhoek Draught the featured drink. Topics centered on Windows vs Macs. Nobody was injured during the discussion so that was successful.

Spotted the occasional sets of the Southern Ocean swells - you know those numbers that rear up 100 meters behind giving rise to shouts of 'Oh take a look at that monster'. Very gentle slopes so nice riding up and down them. Big Al and his mate were doing close passes all day - hoping for food - but they are never seem to eat anything.

On to Melbourne

Cheers

Your Southern Ocean Crew.

Day 94 at sea

10/2 Big Southern Ocean wave approaches the bow of Falcon
pic by Doug S.

John steering in big waves on Southern Ocean
Picture by Doug S. Feb. 10th

Daily Log for Tuesday:
Day: 94 at sea (Day 25 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 10th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9914 nm bearing 285
Distance from New York: 9650 nm bearing 277
Distance from Simon's Town: 2915 nm bearing 257
Distance from Melbourne: 2915 nm bearing 109 HALF WAY!!!!!!! ;-)
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 180 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 165 n.m.
Latitude: 41 10.789 S
Longitude: 080 30.688 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 12 knots
Boat Heading: 050 NE overnight 090 E during day
Boat Sails: overnight went to #2 jib #2 reef main. This morning down to #4 reef main, tried staysail but too small so put back #4 reef main only
Barometer: 1024.5
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 7 High wind, Moderate Gale, Near Gale
Sea State: Big 10 - 20ft following
Weather Conditions: mostly sunny, small rain showers around
Wind Direction/Speed: WSW 17 - 25 knots Gusting to 32 knots
Temp: Air: 18 C
Cloud Cover: 20 - 100%
From Doug S. Tuesday Morning:

Well look at that, just as I was checking distances on our chart plotter, we are half way!! A great milestone to pass as we ride out some big waves. Not easy sleeping last night with a lot of rolling back and forth in the large seas. The staysail was brought down before dark as the main was blanketing it, and we couldn't keep it flying. We also went to 2 hour shifts, because of the concentration needed to steer. 3 hours is a little too long. Just after daylight we gybed over to starboard tack and are heading due East.

Last evening Doug G heated up some pre-made stew and made some instant potatoes. As he was handing them out the boat rolled and one serving ended up on the starboard settee and a bit on John. No damage and the meal was salvaged.

Over night a bright moon with partly cloudy conditions, good visibility. Birds even flying around. Steering the course by the following wind, with the seas pushing the boat around. You have to watch accidental gybing in these conditions as the boom would swing quickly across the boat if the wind gets on the wrong side. That would not be good for the mast! We have a line called a preventer attached and it does hold it back, but you can't depend on it. As John came up for his shift, I lost concentration just as a gust hit and the main backed for a moment. Just goes to show you how fast it can happen.

A beautiful day today with greenie blue seas and white foam in the bright sunshine. Everyone is quiet catching up on sleep now that we only have 8 hours off between shifts.
Today the winds are forecast to remain high, slowing decreasing tomorrow. A nice mileage day but cut down some with the gybe and maybe some current against. So we hang on through the next 24 hours and put the miles under the boat. Cheers, Doug S.

10/2 Brendan on watch with stormy big waves

pic by John

From John Tuesday afternoon 11:55 UTC

Wind 18 to 35 knots
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 8 FRESH GALE
S SW. Sea state 6' to12.
Rough Boat speed av 8.0 kts.
Av boat direction 60 East - just on the highway.- -
Barometer 1025.8
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the Roaring Forties,

Now we know why the Southern Ocean at 40 degrees South is called the Roaring Forties - The roaring noise comes when the waves overtake the stern and break alongside the cockpit. Then you look behind for the big nasty cliff of water and sure enough - thar she blows. The cliff looms high then slides under the boat for a feeling 'got away with it again'

The CEO hit 18.6 knots surfing in 41 knots.

Life on board in these hard running conditions - #4 reefed main - is a little uncomfortable. It's a wait and see existence , and washing one's svelte bod with baby wipes - the greatest sailors invention for '08/9. Hey Stui's stew is the best in stormy weather.

We are hearing the horror stories of the Victorian bushfires - awful and unimaginable to us out here.

On we go to Melbourne
Cheers

Your Southern Ocean stormboys.

Feb. 10th Google Earth satellite picture
showing weather patterns around Falcon GT