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

Day 93 at sea

John and Stu enjoying a sunny day on the Southern Ocean

Photo. By Doug G. taken Sat. Feb. 7th

Daily Log for Monday:

Day: 93 at sea (Day 24 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 9th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9797 nm bearing 280
Distance from New York: 9520 nm bearing 275
Distance from Simon's Town: 2761 nm bearing 260
Distance from Melbourne: 2989 nm bearing 109
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 165 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 172 n.m.
Latitude: 42 40.289 S
Longitude: 077 24.260 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 10 knots
Boat Heading: 070 ENE
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 #2 jib
Barometer: 1016.0
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 6
Sea State: 4 - 8 ft.
Weather Conditions: overcast, rain, now some sun
Wind Direction/Speed: Was NW then cold front went through now W 16-20
Temp: Air: 18 C
Cloud Cover: 70 - 100%

From Doug S. Monday Morning:

My shift just before dark last night was again hand steered. Woke up to Brendan steering a beam reach with about 25 knts of wind. Boat was becoming overpowered as the wind came up. We could not head North of East and that was the desired heading. Just before all of us came up on deck to shorten sail, the cold front passed and the wind shifted around to the West so now heading North. Went down to the #4 reef, furled the head sail, and put up the staysail. Going downwind now NE. Good direction but staysail just too small for downwind. John & Brendan came up to put up the #2 jib again but had another wind shift of about 30-40 degrees. Heading SE. So along with the #2 going up we gybed over and are going NE again downwind.
Winds are forecast to increase over the next couple of days to 25-35 gusting to 40 knots along with waves up to 20ft. Wed - Thur diminishing and then another blast Friday. Looks like some good mileage coming up to go with our new record today.

Passing directly south of two Islands today just over 200 miles away. There was some hope of visiting Saint Paul Island ( 38 42.776s 077 32.316e ), which is uninhabited , but it's too far north of our track. Amsterdam Island ( 37 50.559s 077 32.316e ) is about 50 miles directly North of St. Paul's. Some people do live there. That's it for land now until Australia about 1850 miles to the closest point.
Cheers. Doug S.
---------
From John Monday: 10:22 UTC

Day 93 (day 24 from SA) at sea on board FGT Mon 9 Feb 09
Position 42 27S 77 52E 2978 Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 18 to 25 knots S SW.
Sea state 6' to 12. Rough
Boat speed av 8.0 kts.
Av boat direction 60 East - just on the highway.
Barometer 1016.7
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the tasters of Southern Ocean storms,

We are in a min-storm heading 45 degrees up North East to get into less rough seas and less wind. While we have the jib2 and #4 mainsail reef with 25 knots of S-SW wind it is quite rough but fast - surfing to 13 knots - and in the right direction. We are fairly comfy, hunkered down in our bunks with lots of moral support for the helmsman - (not a lot of physical support cause that means going outside!) The SM has, once again, made himself popular by instructing the helmsman on driving techniques. More contributions to Tom and Courtneys swear box.

We would like to recognise a very significant contribution made to the Fight Cancer fund. This generous contribution and financial sacrifice was made by a Skilled Tradesman at the Ford Oakville Assembly Plant.
Thank you.
Fight Cancer funds at $19,000. Amazing.
On to Melbourne

Cheers
Your stormy crew.

Picture taken from Google Earth Feb. 9th
shows the weather systems surrounding Falcon GT

Day 92 at sea

"Big Splash"
Falcon GT surfs the Southern Ocean Feb. 4th /'09
Photo by John

Daily Log for Sunday
Day: 92 at sea (Day 23 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 8th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9633 nm bearing 280
Distance from New York: 9352 nm bearing 276
Distance from Simon's Town: 2590 nm bearing 263
Distance from Melbourne: 3157 nm bearing 110
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 129 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 133 n.m.
Latitude: 42 57.649 S
Longitude: 073 30.219 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 11 knots
Boat Heading: 070 ENE
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz spinnaker, Full main
Barometer: 1020.8
Beaufort Scale: 4 - 5
Sea State: 2 - 4 ft.
Weather Conditions: overcast early morning, mostly sunny by Noon
Wind Direction/Speed: NW 15 - 20 knots
Temp: Air: 18 C
Cloud Cover: 50%

From Doug S. Sunday Morning:

The nice sunshine lasted all day yesterday. Got most things dried out. Including ourselves as we sat and soaked up the sun. Some pre made spaghetti sauce and boat made garlic bread for dinner.
My 09-12 (Melbourne time), shift started in the dark and was cloudy. I was hoping to look at the comet (Lulin) that is starting to become visible but no luck. Wind was in the perfect spot and we had following seas so a very enjoyable hand steer in the right direction. Waves seemed small but getting some nice long surfs in with speeds up to 9 knots, winds around 10-15 knots.
Sun came up this morning with some nice colours through a small gap in the clouds. After shift, on the computer for the crew's e-mails and then back to bed as it was just sunrise.

We had a nice 24 hr. run of 133 miles with some following current even though we had some very light winds yesterday. Wind is up and speeds are in the 7-10 knot range and a nice warm sun today. Boat heeled over a bit under spinnaker. Very smooth seas. The main will have to be reefed soon as the winds increase. Looks like a great day for sailing!

From John Sunday Afternoon 14:29 UTC:

Day 92 (day23 from SA) at sea on board FGT Sun 8 Feb 09
Position 42 51S 74 38E 3130 Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 12 to 15 knots N NW.
Sea state 4' to6'.
Smooth Boat speed av 7.5 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway.- just -
Barometer 1017.2
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the smokers,
We are smoking - or more correctly FGT is smoking -big Cubans - this is really fun. Right now this is the moment we dreamed of during the years of build Perhaps HH is helping our memories.
Dawn broke brightly with the promise of a building wind. We were running downwind in 10 knots with the 2.2 oz spinnaker and the full main for 8 hours doing warp speeds until the auto speed alarm of the boom dragging in the water signalled time to reef. Down to jib 2 and #2 mainsail reef - speed down by 12% for a while - now it's back up.
Southern Ocean sailing at it's most enjoyable.

Thanks to Katja we now know we are in the most isolated place on earth. Nice work. But not for long!!!

Cheers

Your smoking crew.

Cherrios
Tweety
Brian, Allen & Ros, John & Leanne
Pam and Tim Mac
Paula K
Perry D -JMR & the rest of the CNX room
Steiner and Dom
Bob and Shelly S
Jane and Carl R
Estefania
Veronica
Karen
Myron
Kevin O
Wayne H
Kingsley D
Al C
Mark M
Alex Mc
Daniel R
Laura F
Joe Smith
Rob H
Sam B
Doug Goddard
George S
Leroy J
Rob B
Iman K
Gord V

Brendan enjoys H.H.

Day 91 at sea

Sunny Day on the Southern Ocean
Laundry Day
Picture by Doug G. Feb. 07/09

" Big Al. "
Wandering Albatross
Picture by Brendan Feb. 7/09

Daily Log for Saturday
Day: 91 at sea (Day 22 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 7th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9505 nm bearing 281
Distance from New York: 9221 nm bearing 277
Distance from Simon's Town: 2456 nm bearing 265
Distance from Melbourne: 3298 nm bearing 112
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 120 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 102 n.m.
Latitude: 43 08.999 S
Longitude: 070 28.532 E
Boat Speed: 2 - 5 knots
Boat Heading: 070 ENE
Boat Sails: #2 jib Full main, in morning 2.2 oz spinnaker set. Later main dropped due little wind
Barometer: 1028.5
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 3
Sea State: 2 - 4 ft. with occasional 8ft ocean swells coming through
Weather Conditions: sunny
Wind Direction/Speed: SW 5 - 10 knots
Temp: Air: 13 C
Cloud Cover: 0%

From Doug S. Saturday morning:

A very dreary day yesterday, wet, raining, little wind. Not much to do but read and sleep. I cleaned up the galley, and hit the sack for a long nap. For my night watch the wind had come up 15-20 knots, thus some decent boat speed but we were against the current which took 18 miles off our run.

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine. Wind chilly. Reminded me of an early Spring day with hot sun but cool winds. Hot showers on the transom. Everything damp was laid on deck getting an airing. The only bad thing today was little wind, just 5-8 knots. But it sure was nice in the sun.

Brendan and I had some sardine`s for lunch. Shared with our Petrel friends, gave them a treat. They where coming right up to the back of the boat. Very single minded though, it was only food when it was in the water. They didn`t see it in the air or on the fork. It had to be in the water. A Wandering Albatross ( a.k.a. 'big Al' ) came to watch but didn`t partake in the food. The Petrels beat him to it.

Sail banging around as we go about 2 knots. Wind started to come up to 11 kts. but has gone back to 5. Weather coming in tomorrow so we`re not too disappointed.
So today thanks for the sun and the bird entertainment. Tomorrow we sail.

" Big Al. " Landing
picture by Brendan Feb. 7/09

From John Saturday Afternoon:
Day 91 (day22 from SA) at sea on board FGT Sat 7 Feb 09 14:31 UTC
Position 43 11S 70 55E 3279 Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 4 to 9 knots S - SE.
Sea state 4' to 10'.
Smoothish Boat speed av 4 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway.- just -
Barometer 1027.1
cloud cover varies 0 - 20% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the go-slowers,

Misty rain has been our lot for the past 24 hours with no wind so not a lot of fun.
We had today off. After all it is Saturday with bright warm sunshine, smoother really bluey green seas, and a well rested crew brought out the domestic side of us snags. The deck blossomed with drying clothing, footware, handware, and naked bods on the transom enjoying a hot freshwater shower ( you never know - might not have these conditions again said one stinker).

We are now dried out, well rested, well fed and feeling rather sleek. The Petrels and Albatroi provided some synchronized low level flying for our entertainment, and H H was spent on the back verandah - topics discussed ranged from US politics to underwater appendages of both sailboats and the crew.

We have a question for Katja and Anika - the SM's 10 and 12 yo nieces. At 43 South Latitude, and 71 East Longitude are we now in a spot on the globe that is furthest from a city or the most isolated place on earth? Don't worry we are not overly concerned.
Tomorrow there is lots of air force to propel us to Melbourne.
Cheers
Your slacko crew.

Cherrios

Ian, Anne and their houseguests
Lee and Maurice
Donna and John
Fran and Walter
Joey P
Dianna N
Derek P
Ron Thompson
Gary Smith
Don McC
Vickie
John F Riley

A sunny day on the Southern Ocean
Laundry Day.
Picture by Doug S. Feb. 7/09

Day 90 at sea

Editor's Note: When viewing the video's. Click on the small white arrow on the bottom far right of the video screen. Then click on HQ for high quality digital picture.



John at the helm as Falcon GT surfs the South Atlantic
Filmed by Doug S. Jan 5/09 en route to South Africa


Too rough to sleep in the V Berth that night.
Surf and Spray on the South Atlantic
Filmed by Doug S. Jan 5th/09 en route to South Africa
-------------------------
Now back to the present day, then another sailing video at the end...

Daily Log for Friday
Day: 90 at sea (Day 21 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 6th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9415 nm bearing 281
Distance from New York: 9128 nm bearing 277
Distance from Simon's Town: 2357 nm bearing 267
Distance from Melbourne: 3376 nm bearing 113
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 117 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 110 n.m.
Latitude: 43 40.399 S
Longitude: 068 14.443 E
Boat Speed: 4 knots
Boat Heading: 080 ENE
Boat Sails: #2 jib #4 reef main changed to #2 reef this morning
Barometer: 1030.8
Beaufort Scale: 5 down to 2
Sea State: 4 - 6 ft.
Weather Conditions: overcast/rain
Wind Direction/Speed: S 18 down to 6 knots
Temp: Air: 12 C
Cloud Cover: 100%

From Doug S. Friday Morning:

Yesterday was cloudy with a little rain, today is mostly rain. Winds have been decreasing as is boat speed. Boat very light on the helm so, I left steering to the auto helm, as are most of us. Lots of sleeping going on as we recover from the winds and waves of the last few days. Cooking was a pre-made Stui stew which was very good. Today I made a coleslaw and the motion wasn't too bad. I only bounced off the walls a few times.

Our excitement of the day was the bathroom door locked itself. Luckily no one needed it in a hurry. John worked on the outside, and Doug G climbed through the hatch and worked on the inside. Finally a grinder was brought out and the latch ground off. Another door was robbed of it's latch and all is good again.

We haven't seen the sun in a while and the cabin is still warm but everything is starting to get damp. Need the sun soon for a good drying out. Fingers are crossed!

Looking at the chart today, we are North of Kerguelen Island. Before the trip I really wanted to see this island, (having read of Captain's Cook voyage ), but it is way too far South. ( Check out student links on the right of this page for some interesting facts of this area ). Also today, we are half way between Cape Town and Perth Australia. So we are getting there.
Winds are light today, we will see what the future brings. Cheers! Doug S.
-----------
From John Friday Afternoon:

Greetings from the airshow at 44S 68E,
More rough work in the Southern Ocean - less wind - bouncing around in leftover jouncey waves making for v lively living inside the boat. Uncharacteristically the SM loudly advised a helmsperson on steering techniques raising the contributions to Tom and Courtney's swear box by both parties. Sloppying about is a teeny bit frustrating.

But - the White Chinned Petrels zoomed in to give us their Airshow in the Southern Ocean. Out the back six of them swooped, glided, zoomed, wing-overed, dived, stalled, and generally showed off for an hour. Hadn't seen that before and came just at the right time to forestall the tedium of the confused seas and slow going.

The CEO says 'may your lycra never sag' - aimed at Team Bruxner. -The SM will not allow comments in the Cherrios

Cheers, Your entertained crew.

Cherrios

Kathy and Steve
Kel Jackson
Hugh Smalling
Ron Thompson
Mike Balcain
Josh
Calvin
Georgia
Dorothy
Gwen
Fay
Team Tour de Bruxner - Martin and Di, Tony and Teena, Ian and Sue, and Bruce
Syl and Al
Barb and Jim
Lynn and Ken
Jim and Cherie
Jeff and Ethel
Suzy and Andy


For the sailing fans...more of John surfing the South Atlantic
Filmed back on Jan 5th/09 by Doug S.

Day 89 at sea

Feb. 5th Doug S coming in after a cold wet watch
photo by Doug G.

Daily Log for Thursday
Day: 89 at sea (Day 20 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 5th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9313 nm bearing 281
Distance from New York: 9024 nm bearing 278
Distance from Simon's Town: 2248 nm bearing 269
Distance from Melbourne: 3467 nm -lots of Albatross miles- bearing 114
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 174 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 152 n.m.
Latitude: 44 01.278 S
Longitude: 065 44.594 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 12 knots
Boat Heading: 100 ESE ----on the highway
Boat Sails: Staysail, #4 Reef Main, After my shift at 09 main dropped
Barometer: 1028.4
Beaufort Scale: 6 - 8 Moderate to Fresh Gale
Sea State: 5 - 10 ft. very short choppy - rough
Weather Conditions: overcast
Wind Direction/Speed: N 20 - 37 knots
Temp: Air: 17 C
Cloud Cover: 100%
---------------
From John Thursday 04:12 UTC

Greetings from the crew of the FGT,
Another very rough day on the Southern Ocean - now down to staysail only as we thrash our way East.
It's a time for snuggling up in the bunk, reading , sleeping, and occasionally eating - then again that sounds like any other day at sea. Boat is handling the confused seas nicely but still is thrown about making movement about quite frustrating - whining again - could be up to my butt in snow.
Tomorrow calmer weather with a Windhoek as a reward - oh well that's every day.

2 days two lots of 170 miles made good to Melbourne v nice.
Cheers
Your crew

Cherrios
Fred, Lynn, Andrew and Paul Hussey
Linda and Mark Simone
Sheila and Bill
Karen and Wayne
Gail and Felice
Pat Leahy
Tom Southon
Courtney Miller
Cliff McAuley
Derek Power
Ron Muir
Adriana
Ken M
Flo flor
Paul Potter
----
From Doug S email:

Days are running together and we are hanging on. Another record day with 174 n. miles over the ground. That's nice! My 06 - 09 shift started out the same as the earlier one. Had to steer by the magnetic compass, and then could only hold it to within about 30 degrees. If I got too close (high) to the wind the starboard rail would go under and the sails would flap. Too low and you start worrying about gybeing. Took some muscle on the wheel when it swung high (weather helm). This is normal and usually gives you some feel through the wheel. But yesterday as the boat came down you had to crank the other way (lee helm) or it would go too far. If you took your eyes off the compass for a second you were 20 degrees off course and going for more. Lots of concentration. This got worse towards the end of the shift last night as the winds picked up. John came up for the start of his shift and said lets drop the Main. So down it came. I was doing 8 - 12 knts for my shift and after the Main came down we are still going 5 - 7 but much more comfortable.

A very dark night again. When going over 10 knts the stern was all lit up with lots of phosphorescence. The bow wave and all the white caps were glowing.

Moved our local clock ahead another hour so we are on Islamabad, and Karachi time now. That's GMT +5. Sun time of course. Still working our three hour shifts on Melbourne time.
Cheers! Doug S.

Day 88 at sea

Watch a video of Stu making a cake....
keep an eye on the gimbled stove, the stove is actually straight with the horizon,
it's the boat that's really on an angle.
Filmed on Dec. 26th 2008 by Doug S.
As Falcon sailed across the South Atlantic
---------------------------

From John for Wednesday 04:12 UTC:

Day 88(day 19 from SA) at sea on board FGT Wed 4 Feb 09
Position 43 18S 061 16E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 20 to 28 knots N-NE. Sea state 4' to106'. rough Boat speed av 8.0 kts. Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway. Barometer 1026.8
cloud cover varies 0 - 100% Air temp 17C

Greetings from the crew of the FGT,
What a difference a day makes - now 25 knots of air flow pushing us East on the highway to Melbourne at hull speed.
It's rough and rocky but what we want.
All well
Cheers
Your crew
-----------------------
From Doug Wednesday 07:00 UTC:

Daily Log for Wednesday
Day: 88 at sea (Day 19 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 4th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 9139 nm bearing 283
Distance from New York: 8850 nm bearing 281
Distance from Simon's Town: 2078 nm bearing 270
Distance from Melbourne: 3632 nm bearing 116
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 146 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 170 n.m.
Latitude: 43 24.557 S
Longitude: 061 49.013 E
Boat Speed: 7 - 12 knots
Boat Heading: 090 E
Boat Sails: #2 jib full main then to staysail, #4 reef mainsail
Barometer: 1027.7
Beaufort Scale: 5 - 7 Moderate Gale
Sea State: 4 - 6 ft. short wind waves, 10ft ocean swells come in sets
Weather Conditions: cloudy, windy, warmer
Wind Direction/Speed: N 15 - 30 kts
Temp: Air: 18 C
Cloud Cover: 100%

Nice sailing conditions yesterday with about 5 knts of boat speed. With our new weather forecast we were looking at some moderate winds during the night so to be safe, we went to the staysail, and #4 reefed main. That's as small as we can go without going to the storm sails, or then bare poles. This morning winds are gusting to 30 kts. but usually around 20. Wind is on the beam, so we are heeled hard over on port tack. Lots of water coming over the boat even though the waves are from our stern quarter. Looking at strong winds for the next 24 - 48 hours. And we are liking it despite the discomfort. A new record run for 24 hours with 170 miles!

We were having a laugh yesterday as the depth alarm kept going off. We figure a whale must have been playing with us just 10 ft under the boat. ;-). Don't really know what it was, just a glitch in the system, sure wasn't the bottom. We just had to turn off the alarm.

For lunch Stui made some egg salad, first time we've had that. And dinner was a pre made chili. I'm not getting any skinnier here.

Day 87 at sea

From John Tuesday 04:00 utc
Day 87(day 18 from SA) at sea on board FGT Tue 3 Feb 09
Position 42 54S 057 35E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 10 knots N-NE. Sea state 2' to 6'.
Smooth Boat speed av 4.0 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway.
Barometer 1025.1
cloud cover varies 0 - 100% Air temp 17C 0400 utc

Greetings from the patient crew of the FGT,
Here we are waiting for an increase in air movement which is forecast to be a beauty. Some 25 to 45 knots from the N and NW arriving late today - we have our plans - fill up on food and get the sails ready.
More tomorrow

Cheers
Your crew


Press Play Button to View Video
Falcon GT sails across the South Atlantic towards Cape Town.
Brendan at the helm while Doug G and John discuss the sail.
Filmed by Doug Sandrin Jan 5th 2009

Daily Log for Tuesday
Day: 87 at sea (Day 18 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 3rd 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 8966 nm bearing 286
Distance from New York: 8680 nm bearing 283
Distance from Simon's Town: 1908 nm bearing 273
Distance from Melbourne: 3797 nm bearing 118
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 87 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 78 n.m.
Latitude: 43 03.665 S
Longitude: 057 57-913 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 6 knots
Boat Heading: 110 ESE
Boat Sails: Overnight #2 Jib Full Main, morning #1 jib Full main
Barometer: 1025.6
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 4
Sea State: 2 - 4ft
Weather Conditions: overcast cool
Wind Direction/Speed: SE 8 - 12 kts
Temp: Air: 15 C
Cloud Cover: 100%

From Doug S. Tuesday Morning:

Seas where very smooth and boat speed was down around 2 knts. The engine had been running but we can't run it forever. First Doug G came out while I was on watch and decided to use the transom (steps at the back) shower. There is a hot water tank, which after the engine run is all warmed up. Air temp was around 18 deg but cloudy with a cool breeze. It looked pretty refreshing, so off to get my towel. Stui was already out the door and had decided to take a quick dip in the southern ocean. He jumped in, and popped up pretty quick onto the transom for a warm-up shower. Ok, I'll try a dip in the ocean too. Hold onto a rope so the boat can't get away from me. Dive in off the deck at the back. Hit the water, and as I go down, thinking hey this isn't too baa-, whoa, WHOA, this is cold! Turn to surface, fast, come up and pull myself back to the steps. Up the steps, ahh, the air even feels good, then the hot shower, much better. Ocean temp was 11 C. For people who know me, water that is 25 C is not to be entered! But had to try it once. And once will be enough.

A whale kept an eye on us for the afternoon. Stui saw him first, a couple hundred meters off the starboard side. Smaller than the one we had the close encounter with the other day. He would spout 2 or 3 times then submerge for a few minutes, and reappear. This lasted about 15 minutes. About an hour later he came up within about 30 meters of the stern. Everyone came up for a look but no good pics as he disappeared quickly. I saw him again just before sunset off in the distance. The smooth seas and small waves made for easy whale watching.

For dinner Doug G warmed up some of our meat pies, chicken this time, with smash (powdered potatoes), fixed up with some garlic, onion, and bacon bits.

I had the 0900-Noon MEL time shift. Dawn comes around noon now. Light rain, then as the sun comes up the temp always drops, which formed a thick low level fog. Visibility was less than a kilometer, but you could see blue sky straight up. All night the wind was veering and during Brendan's & my shifts we had to keep turning slowly to the North to keep the sails full. As John came up it was time to tack over and head back East. Right after we tacked the sun must have risen, because we were heading right into an pink, orangey thick fog, sea, sky. Worth staying up after my shift in the damp cold to see.

Short 24 hr. distance due to light winds and the tack. Winds better today as we await the low coming up behind.
Meantime enjoy some more video's of Falcon GT that I filmed in January as we sailed towards Cape Town South Africa. Cheers! Doug S.


Press Play to View
Falcon GT sails across the South Atlantic
Filmed by Doug Sandrin Jan. 5th 2009


Press Play to View Video
Brendan at the helm, John enjoying the sail.
Filmed by Doug Sandrin Jan. 5th 2009


press play to view
Spray over the bow Falcon sails the South Atlantic
Filmed by Doug Sandrin Jan 5 2009

Day 86 at sea

Satellite Phone used to call home or sometimes transmit pictures.

Doug S setting up Sat. Phone antenna

Success! Time to call home!
Notice antenna wire going up and out the window.
-----------------------------------------------

Daily Log for Monday
Day: 86 at sea (Day 17 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 2nd 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 8895 nm bearing 286
Distance from New York: 8615 nm bearing 284
Distance from Simon's Town: 1832 nm bearing 274
Distance from Melbourne: 3850 nm bearing 119
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 136 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 140 n.m.
Latitude: 42 59.647 S
Longitude: 056 13.345 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 6 knots
Boat Heading: 100 ESE
Boat Sails: Spinnaker in morning then down to #2 jib. #2 reef main all day
Barometer: 1022.1
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 4
Sea State: 2 - 4ft
Weather Conditions: sunny but cool, then clouded over, some showers and fog overnight
Wind Direction/Speed: N 5 - 10 kts
Temp: Air: 18 C 64 F
Cloud Cover: variable, clouded over later in day.

From Doug S Monday :
Cool day yesterday, but not bad in the sun. Later clouded over and got very damp at sunset. Then overnight some fog and rain showers moved in. This morning the winds where dying right out and we were motoring after a while.

The spinnaker came down in the early afternoon. Nobody wanted to do it in the rain, and since rain looked to be heading our way, down it came early. Of course it missed us. Our speed wasn't affected too much. Not a bad day with 140 miles under the keel. John made some muffins in the morning, I made coleslaw for lunch and Stui warmed up some of the spaghetti sauce that was made in Simon's town.

Down here the weather comes in waves, ( literally ) with the lows blowing through. Right now we are in the calm between systems. Not much you can do but wait.
We're getting down to 43S latitude, same as Oakville back home in the North. 43 00N is actually the line of latitude for Sarnia Ontario. Home town of my In-Laws, Audrey's family.

We have choices here. The great circle route to Melbourne would have us go much further South. This decreases the mileage. You need a globe to visualize it. Or we stay more North and add distance, but have warmer temps, and the low pressure systems should not be as strong. If you read about the Vendee single handed racers, you will see what kind of trouble they got into going so far South. We don't want anything like that. Besides, it's cool enough here!

Looks like a relaxing day today with low mileage. And I know I've said a lot about the people in Ontario getting blasted by the snow and cold, but the Aussies are putting up with record breaking heat waves. Over 40 degrees C. ( 104 F) Too bad you can't trade for a weekend.
-------------------------------
From John Monday afternoon 15:00 UTC

Day 86(day 17 from SA) at sea on board FGT Mon 2 Feb 09
Position 43 00S 056 18E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 12 knots SW.
Sea state 4' to 8'. Smooth
Boat speed av 4.0 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East - on the highway.
Barometer 1023.7
cloud cover varies 0 - 100% Air temp 17C 63F

Greetings from the happy crew of the FGT,

We have a question. What do other crews do on a voyage like this, at times like this? Currently we are tooling along at 4 knots enjoying Happy Hour, over a smooth sea, waiting for the propellant and the pie dinner. Topics include ancestry, philosophy of living, ovens, food preparation, boat building and medical issues in South Africa.

So what do others do? We will quiz Pete Goss and crew in Melbourne. He is scheduled to berth at the same yacht club in Williamstown. Check out his website ( bottom right side of this page "Other Links" ) - he's a Brit hero, and his boat is a wood classic, and he and his crew are great company.

Hey - whale day - a beauty visited for two hours but didn't get too too close.

Cheers
Your crew

Feb. 2nd Smaller Whale passing
pic by Stuart

Day 85 at sea

Editor's note: It's not all been smooth sailing! Watch videos taken on Dec. 22nd 2008 when Falcon GT and her crew encountered a gale in the South Atlantic. Winds gusting to 50 knots with waves over 30ft. Just minutes before this video was taken, Falcon was knocked on her side with the mast in the water, and Stuart at the helm, hanging on to the wheel with all his might. (He was tethered and wearing his life jacket). Down below in the cabin, the crew looked out the pilot house windows as if inside an aquarium. These videos, (taken by Brendan ), were just received this week via mail from Simon's Town.

The two video's may take time to load depending on the speed of your connection. Wait a few minutes until you see the picture, then click the play button to view.

John at the helm. Stu. seated.
Dec. 22nd 2008 Gale on the South Atlantic

Dec. 22nd 2008 Doug Gayford enjoying the ride,
during a gale on the South Atlantic.

50 knot winds, waves over 30ft. at times.

Now let's get back to some smoother sailing reports from today:

Daily Log for Sunday
Day: 85 at sea (Day 16 from Simon's Town)
Date: February 1st 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 8757 nm bearing 288
Distance from New York: 8466 nm bearing 286
Distance from Simon's Town: 1693 nm bearing 276
Distance from Melbourne: 3997 nm bearing 121
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 136 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 161 n.m.
Latitude: 42 35.495 S
Longitude: 053 06.123 E
Boat Speed: 4 - 8 knots
Boat Heading: 100
Boat Sails: 2.2 oz spinnaker, #2 Reef Main
Barometer: 1022.6
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 2 - 4ft
Weather Conditions: some sunny
Wind Direction/Speed: NW 7 - 10 kts
Temp: Air: 17 C /63 F
Cloud Cover: 80% thin cloud with some sun peeking out.
From Doug S Sunday Morning:

I'm sure this is the first time we have sailed that we have left the spinnaker up for a full 24 hours. Very steady airs. (I'm not using the w word anymore either). With the small seas, and steady steering, it was declared movie night and we watched "The Cruel Sea". A Christmas present from my Mum & Dad in-law. Good movie. Thank You. Lots of people bobbing around in lifeboats, RN warships crashing through big cold seas. Did not look comfortable!
A reminder of what older generations had to do to secure our future.

A cool morning sunrise watch for me. I let the auto helm do it's job because it's so good at it. Never loses concentration like I do. Put the fishing line out but had to bring it back in because a black Albatross was eyeing it a little too much. Saw what I think was the Biggest Big Al yet. Had to be well over 10ft wingspan.

Moved our local clock forward 1 more hour. We are moving quickly to the East. Now, we are GMT +4 same as Abu Dhabi. Just noticed on the chart plotter that Madagascar and the Cape of Africa are now to our West. Next time zone, The Seychelles, that looks like a nice place to visit sometime!

A good day with the steady speeds so almost a record run. Looking at a low coming up behind us, but not too bad so far. We are just going to enjoy the little bit of sun we have today. Cheers! Doug S.
-----------From John Sunday Afternoon 13:00 UTC-------

Subject: Day 85(day 16 from SA) at sea on board FGT Sun 1 Feb 09
Position 42 48S 054 05E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 9 -12 knots SW.
Sea state 4' to 8'.smooth
Boat speed av 7.0 kts.
Av boat direction 110 East - on the highway.
Barometer 1021.3
cloud cover varies 0 - 30%
Air temp 16C / 61 F

Greetings from day 3 spinnaker sailing on the highway,

Highlights today? - the crack of dawn provided us with the promise of another day of perfect sailing in the Southern Ocean. The promise held true until just now when a cold front lowered the temps forcing HH out of the cockpit into the warmth of the cabin.

The CEO made the heads spotless not that it was bad in the first place -nobody stinks on this boat - the QM repositioned the fresh water from the transom adding to the boats performance - a buffed up transom is v nice.

And that's it.
Cheers
Your crew

Day 84 at sea

Daily Log for Saturday Morning:
Day: 84 at sea (Day 15 from Simon's Town)
Date: January 31st 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 8600 nm bearing 289
Distance from New York: 8308 nm bearing 287
Distance from Simon's Town: 1532 nm bearing 278
Distance from Melbourne: 4111 nm bearing 123
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 93 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 112 n.m.
Latitude: 42 26.174 S
Longitude: 049 27.403 E
Boat Speed: 5 - 9 knots
Boat Heading: 080
Boat Sails: overnight #2 jib #2 Reef Main, 2.2 spinnaker #2 reef main
Barometer: 1024.9
Beaufort Scale: 3 - 4
Sea State: 6 - 12ft ocean rollers
Weather Conditions: mostly sunny
Wind Direction/Speed: NW 7 - 12 kts
Temp: Air: 17 C
Cloud Cover: 40%

From Doug S Saturday Morning:

Slow day yesterday, with light winds, sailed a bit, motored a bit. Winds came up to around 10 kts. as it got dark, so boat speeds around 4 kts all night. Not a bad day's run of 112 miles really. This morning the sun is back out. Sure makes the cabin more comfortable. It was down to 15 C in here last night after my shift.

For those of you who are also following Pete Goss aboard "Spirit of Mystery". We were within 30 - 40 miles of each other at Midnight UTC. We've tried them on the radio numerous times today, but so far no luck. At deck level the horizon is only about 12 miles away, so we have to get a lot closer to each other before we'll see them.
Our boat is 46 ft, theirs is 37, usually the way it works is the longer the boat, the faster. So we should start pulling ahead now. But it depends on how each sails their boats too.

Today riding up and down large ocean swells with a following wind in the sunshine. Feels very nice. No one is missing beating to windward, that's for sure.
Stui made pizzas last night, a very nice change. We have certainly eaten well on this trip thanks to our cooks. This morning the SM had his hand in and made scrambled eggs, bacon, fries peppers and scones. We may be chaining him to the galley in the mornings.

Not as many birds around today. Maybe our buddy the Petrel has warned them off. I think the problem yesterday was due to the clouds the fishing line wasn't visible to them. Hope that doesn't happen again!
So a nice day downwind sailing with the spinnaker up, a smooth ride, and decent boat speeds. Can't ask for much nicer than this. Tomorrow maybe a cold front comes through. More wind! Means less sail, but same speeds. Everything good so far as we reach the approx. 1/4 way mark. Cheers, Doug S.
--------From JOHN Saturday Afternoon 1300 UTC:

Subject: Day 84 (day 15 from SA) at sea on board FGT Sat 31 Jan 09
Position 42 21S 050 28E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 9 -12 knots SW.
Sea state 4' to 8'. smooth
Boat speed av 7.0 kts.
Av boat direction 90 East right on the highway.
Barometer 1023.7
cloud cover varies 0 - 30% Air temp 18C

Greetings from the highway sailing sailors on the FGT,

What can one say about reversal of fortunes in the air force dept. - can't say that word yet - starts with w, ends with d. .

Last night was a sombre one - v dark, not much propellant, low boat speeds, not quite the right direction, folks on shift just lolling about - moods not very buoyant ( nautical term for a little p o'd).

Dawn broke - clear sky - hmm some propellant about - hoist spinnaker, wait - it's from the NW - let's gybe, did that - propellant settled in nicely - now we are rolling on the highway at a steady 7 knots shooting up to 10 with the swells. This makes it one of the nicest days sailing to date - sun's out, clearish skies, sparkling waters and the swell to boost us.

Pete Goss is reported 30 miles to the NW of us - hopefully we don't run into him.

We are currently well fed and feeling pretty darn good. The SM was hungry so he cooked a massive amount of scones, scrambled eggs, bacon, and lashing of steaming hot coffee. Found there was enough to share so everyone got lots.
Cheers
Your crew

Day 83 at sea

Daily Log for Friday
Day: 83 at sea (Day 14 from Simon's Town)
Date: January 30th 18:00 Boat(Melbourne)/07:00 UTC
Distance from Oakville: 8493 nm bearing 290
Distance from New York: 8200 nm bearing 289
Distance from Simon's Town: 1420 nm bearing 280
Distance from Melbourne: 4238 nm bearing 124
Distance travelled (Boat Log) 24 hours: 126 n.m.
Distance travelled in straight line 24 hours: 158 n.m.
Latitude: 42 21.347 S
Longitude: 046 56.477 E
Boat Speed: 3 - 5 knots
Boat Heading: 080
Boat Sails: #2 jib #4 reef main, went to #2 reef main at dawn, then 2.2 oz spinnaker
Barometer: 1028.5
Beaufort Scale: 2 - 4
Sea State: 2 - 4ft up to 10ft ocean rollers
Weather Conditions: cloudy with rain showers around but not here
Wind Direction/Speed: NW 7 - 11 kts
Temp: Air: 12 C
Cloud Cover: 100%
From Doug S Friday Morning:

Winds are down to 10 kts. waves are down and so is the rolling. Nice and smooth on board now. Still doing decent boat speeds with the spinnaker up.

My evening shift was some surfing down 6 to 8 ft waves with speeds up to 12 knots. Not as much excitement as earlier in the day but fun for me. Today's shift with the lighter winds, the spinnaker went up. I watched how the auto helm did for a few minutes then took over. Nice light steering, very responsive. Could steer within 5 degrees until an ocean roller kicked the back end around.

There were a flock of 4 Big Al's keeping up with the boat. At one point all 4 of them had landed together about 100 meters from the boat. After they land it takes a minute for them to fold up those long wings. They disappear for awhile then come soaring by again later. Each has distinct markings so it's easy to tell them apart.

Stui threw out the fishing line today and the Petrels were all having a good look at the lure. I was on shift with the auto helm on, looking forward when " zingggg"! I'm thinking, "Alright! fish!" Look back and there's a Petrel surfing behind the boat. @#*!! Let the line reel out hoping he can get free. No luck. Wind him in. He's going under occasionally and popping back up. Stui came out with some gloves on. We brought him right up to the boat then Stui grabbed him. The line was just twisted around his outer most flight feather. No damage. I un-wound the line, Brendan took a picture and Stu let him go. Off he flew, glad to be away from the boat I would guess. When I was winding him in, all his buddies where circling around. I think they were hoping for a casualty. They are very aggressive scavengers.

Stu rescues the Petral no injuries sustained
picture by Brendan

So today is tooling along at about 5 knts with little motion. Everyone taking it easy after all the rolling of the last few days. We're waiting for the next system to catch up to us, to start the cycle over again. Cheers! Doug S.
---------- From John for Friday Afternoon 14:00 UTC

Subject: Day 83 (day14 from SA) at sea on board FGT Fri 30 Jan 09
Position 42 20S 047 22E lots of Albatross miles to Melbourne.
Wind 4 -12 knots SW.
Sea state 4' to 8'.smooth
Boat speed av 3.0 kts.
Av boat direction 130 South -East not on the highway.
Barometer 1027.1
cloud cover varies 0 - 80% Air temp 12C

Greetings from the slackers on FGT,

Yesterdays log 'Long may the winds continue'. Should not have said that - now there is little wind and none forecast for 3 or 4 days. We dropped the main, left up the spinnaker and are tooling along trying to make the best of the little wind we have - the sails take a beating when you drop into the troughs and the wind disappears - banging and crashing sounds - so get the main down strap in the spinnaker and stick it on auto

Having reduced the noise factor the question is what's for breakfast lunch and dinner as I have caught up on sleep - how about some decent food for a change - that's the crew's position delivered in less than lady-like terms.
So to satisfy the uncouth hungry mob, the steward force fed them pancakes with jam, coffee, cereal, tuna salad and fresh bread, baked beans from S.A., crackers, Windhoek Draught, pizzas and get your own canned fruit. And of course HH cocktails - tough life especially considering in Ontario there is more record snow falls - keep on shovelling. Which reminds the SM - This weekend Tom G (and the Tedmeister)is on his way South to crew on the FGT in Aus. Be nice to have him on board, and his friends too. Hope his bro Alex can make it. Fun fun fun.

Now - nobody is to say anything at all about wind in the Southern Ocean at 42S 47E.

Cheers
Your crew