Captain's Log

February 17, 2003

Hello all,

So here we are, BTC Velocity and I, deep in the formidable Southern Oceans, far away from land and approaching for the first time the latitude of 50 degrees south, known affectionately as the Furious Fifties, but there is something wrong. I am having fun !!

The weather conditions for the past 24 hours have been following winds of less than 20 kts in seas that are less than 8 feet, as a monster High, current pressure is 1030 mb, slowly passes to the north. Boat speeds ranging between 7.5 - 10 kts in the slow swells as we are in a relatively upright position.These conditions are meant to last for the next 2 - 3 days. I am at the Nav station in my comfy chair, recently re upholstered in a fabric that feels like long underwear, reading a book. ( Whatever you do, don't tell anyone I am meant to be racing and not reading a novel !! )

The only lingering point to contend with is the exceptionally high incidence of icebergs and growlers that have been seen as far north as 51.30 degrees. So although I am tempted in these benign conditions to head further south, I will not as Icebergs I would rather see in someone else's photo's than in real life while sailing through them.

I can remember very clearly the first week out of Cape Town last December, when on about day 5 a storm came through, with winds of 50 kts and a wicked sea state that knocked us flat 3 times, putting the mast in the water and generally not having much fun. So today I will savor and enjoy, with the ever present looking over my shoulder, waiting for what must surely come, mother nature's finest attempt to resemble the spin cycle in a washing machine.

Having fun down south.

Alan
BTC Velocity