VDH spots two icebergs

And darts north promptly

Day 55 Position at 1 p.m.: 53°58 S / 179°33 E
Wind 25 knots from NW, slight sea.
Temperatures: day 11°C / night 7°C/ sea 7°C
Distance covered in the last 24H. 151 miles.
To the Cape of Good Hope 6,935 miles. Lead over Monnet 13days 17h

Hello

A cold shock for Adrien! Yesterday evening at 54°35 S, before nightfall, I was astonished to see a strange cloud in front of the boat.... With the binoculars I could see it was an iceberg. As usually those monsters aren't alone, I decided it would be better to head north to 54°.

What a shame, as the wind is a nor'westerly and I'm not gaining any degrees of longitude. But my lead is comfortable, since at the antipodal meridian I was exactly 13 days 21H and 30mn ahead. Two hours later, I spotted a second iceberg, which was very low-lying. 2.5 miles away from me, it was clearly visible and could be detected on the radar. As luck would have it, the moon was out and the visibility was good. But I'm going to keep an eye out tonight and watch the radar.

That didn't stop me from having the little meal I'd planned: scallops in a cream sauce, potted guinea-fowl also in a cream sauce with chestnuts, my usual Camembert in a box and my final fresh grapefruit (Pity I don't have anymore of them, as they keep even better than oranges). The only change of plan involved the fine wine I'd planned to open. I need to keep my wits about me and have a clear view of things for the nightwatch that is coming up.

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with Léa Medori's cuddly toy (from Cap Communication), a little mouse, who is crossing the dateline and spending New Year's Day 2004 with me.