Captain's Log
April 1, 2003
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Hello All,
Greetings from hot and sultry Salvador, Brazil. After 49 days at sea from Tauranga, New Zealand the longest leg of the race so far with 8,200 nm sailed BTC Velocity is comfortably berthed in Centra Nautico de Bahia.
In this update: The passage from Tauranga to Salvador is broken up into 3 distinct sections and I will relate them below.
Southern Ocean crossing: After leaving Tauranga, NZ the race heads deep into the Southern Ocean, as the further south you go the shorter the distance and the stronger the winds. The important strategy is to find a balance between extreme gale force winds and the probability of ice bergs. Amazingly enough the fleet was blessed with a massive high pressure that provided steady following winds from 25 - 30 kts with a barometric pressure reading on BTC Velocity of 1044 mb. This warmer than normal weather ( 55 - 60 degrees during the day and upper 40's at night ) had an effect on the ice conditions as growler sightings ( small bergs ) were frequent by the leading boats and as a result I stayed further north. A close encounter with an ice berg was not something that I wanted to go ' bump in the night ' !!!
The conditions were very pleasant for the first 20 days of the passage, then the real southern ocean began to show its true colours. The skies turned an angry gray and had an edge of malevolence. Winds and sea increased until at approximately 52 degrees south latitude and 600 nm from Cape Horn the first true gale of this leg hit BTC Velocity with winds of 40 - 45 kts and 15 - 20 foot seas. This was only a taster of what was to come on Day 25 just before rounding the infamous cape.
Rounding Cape Horn: 250 nm from Cape Horn and just shaking off the last gale and another monster gale was forecast. When vectoring in on Cape Horn at 56 degrees south there is no room to maneuver within a frontal passage, as the coast of Chile is not a place you want as a lee shore, so south you must go. The night before rounding Cape Horn the gale arrived. This time it went very quickly to 40 kts and peaked out at 50 gusting to 55 kts. Remember the Antarctic peninsula is only 300 nm south of Cape Horn so extreme conditions should be expected.
Unfortunately these winds coincided with the water depths changing from 4000 meters to 130 meters on the Cape Horn bank. When the winds reached 50 its time to take down the mainsail and sail on jib or staysail alone. The experience that occurred next was one that will stay with me for ever. I was at the mast when a wave came from abeam and knocked BTC Velocity 90 degrees to the water. A full knockdown. One moment I was hanging on to the sail and the next the water came to within 3 feet of my face as a wave washed completely over me and the boat as we were laid flat. Wow, good thing I was holding on tight !!! The sea conditions were horrendous with waves coming from 3 directions and all about 20 - 25 feet. Just had to tough it out and wait until the storm subsided. It finally did after about 18 hours and just 30 nm from Cape Horn.
As the sun set Cape Horn was 12 nm away and just visible in the mist. At 8:30 p.m. ( Bermuda Time ) on March 8th we rounded Cape Horn to become the first Bermudian to sail the southern oceans solo and round the 3 capes. Those of Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, Cape Leeuwin, Australia and Cape Horn, Chile. Similar to climbing Everest, you still have to get down. In this case BTC Velocity still had to get north and away from this stormy area. There was to be one more gale which hit the same evening and less than a day from the last one. This gale again reached 40 kts quickly and peaked at 55 - 60 kts. BTC Velocity had 3 reefs in the main and 1/2 a staysail and consistently was surfing at 20 kts of boat speed. After one surf to 23.1 kts it was time to take down the main. Sea conditions were again difficult, but not as bad due to being in the lee of Tierra del Fuego and away from the endless marching westerly swells.
There was however trouble with one of my fellow competitors, Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada who was 100 nm behind me. I offered and did try to slow down just after the gale preceding Cape Horn to stay closer to Hatfield in case of an emergency. His keel was beginning to move uncontrollably and it was feared that it might work its self loose. As you can tell it was not possible to slow down in 55 - 60 kts, but as soon as this gale blew out I sailed under jib alone. As Hatfield was rounding the Horn he was in the same gale as me and disaster struck. A monster wave picked his boat up from behind and literally flipped it end over end. He was in the cockpit, thrown into the water and then pulled back on board as the yacht righted itself, amazing story. His mast was gone, water had shorted all his electronics and the keel was worse than ever. He turned the engine on and retreated to a nearby port called Ushuia. I then continued on with the race as he was OK and the situation was under control.
Falklands and North to Salvador: After leaving Tierra del Fuego behind and heading north I went to the east of the Falklands and then headed due north to Salvador. Then I had my own little problem. From Cape Horn to Salvador the distance is 3000 nm and at mile 1300 a stay snapped on my mast. This stay was the same one that broke off Tasmania in Leg III. Clearly something is amiss in the design or actual properties of the rod rigging. This was of small comfort as 1700 nm to sail to Salvador was going to be mostly upwind and the thought of losing my mast was not a possibility I wished to entertain.
After some consultation with others I proceeded to set up a 2:1 block and tackle with a spectra line and then on the opposing side a Spanish Windlass that uses a wrench and tightening a line by twisting with a harness on one of the spreaders. Luckily the fix was strong enough to last the distance through some trying sea conditions.
Once the cold southern oceans gave way to the tropical Atlantic the difference could not be more pronounced, from using a heater to dry the cabin from condensation and wearing 3 layers of polartec clothing to 95 degrees and almost no clothes and avoiding the sun if at all possible !!!
This was truly the toughest leg of the race. Yet we came through well and with a 4th place in Class II and now 26,000 nm sailed and 4,000 nm to go, I dare to believe that BTC Velocity and I will be successful in our quest to be solo circumnavigators.
Thank you all for your support and kind wishes throughout the campaign.
Regards,
Alan S. Paris
BTC Velocity
