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A lumpy start to the Drake Passage crossing
Report 18 February - Team B on board Pelagic in the Drake Passage
Weather, lots of it, temperature:4c, wind:20 - 37knots, sea: confused, swell running at us from North and South East. Morale: Fair to middling.We apologise for the short delay in our usual service. This was due to a rather irate King Neptune expressing himself loudly for over 13 hours. Given that it's wise to at least occasionally listen to the boss it's been a case of all ears on deck (or pillows in 3 cases). Our mythological engineers tell us it was down to Neptune not receiving the last tot of whiskey from an emptying bottle. Suffice to say that the guilty party has been docked two of Kate's exceedingly good, fudge brownies.
Yesterday, at 6am, we left our last anchorage in Antarctica, most had taken time alone on deck the previous evening to say a 'goodbye' or perhaps 'until the next time' to this beautiful place. Hamish had picked a superbly calm and tranquil spot for our last evening - a sheltered channel in amongst a maze of ice capped islands. The seals huffed and puffed, the gulls and albatrosses cried out their familiar seaside call and Adrian snored, heavily.
Underway sharply with a rattle of anchor chains and the rip of velcro'd sailing suits we were'nt out of sight of land before the hard nosed sailing began. Our weather advice proved a little bit out and the wind strengthened to a consistent 30+ knots and what started as ripples and cat's paws on the surface became waves, then swell, until the mix of wind, current and tide produced gnarly wedges of power. It's quite unsettling to witness this transformation, you've no idea how big and nasty it's going to get and as these wedges slam into the boat and spit white foam metres into the air you wonder how the boat will ever cover the 516 miles to Cape Horn.
Taking the wheel at 37knots is a very demanding experience for non-sailors, it's well within the safety envelope no doubt but that does not stop you feeling it's a constant battle to maintain control and prevent the boat from burying a rail and going over. But there's a simple solution - have faith in Hamish and Kate and the sail area and course they set - and with one eye alert for ice, keep your nerve and stay on the bearing. Pelagic responds, taking the hits she makes between 6 and 8 knots per hour and if you find that extra bit of accelaration she'll even sing to you.
Life belowdecks is quite an experience as well, simple tasks like making a cup of coffee or putting your sailing gear on are near impossible with the constant and unpredictable movement of the ship. It is like being forced to live your life in one of the machines on the fun fair. But one gets used to it after a while and we have now reached the point that drinking or eating while standing on one of the walls has become quite normal! Soon we will reach the antarctic convergence. According to Kate the temperature will rise a couple of degrees from this point. It is probably still a bit early to pull out the swimming trunks but mentally it makes a big difference. We are leaving the Antarctic behind us and heading home.
Jeremy Topple and Eric Los