VDH tours Brazil

Favourable conditions as VDH heads for the Horn

Day 20. Position at 1300: 21°33’S / 37°35’W
Wind 20 knots from NNE. Choppy sea.
Temperatures: day 29°C / night 17°C / sea 25°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 251 miles.
To Cape Horn 2,466 miles.
Lead over Monnet: 3 days.

Hi there,

The weather is starting to change, and I’ll soon be coming around, as the wind will be coming from the north, and following Pierre Lasnier’s advice, I’ll continue to hug the Brazilian coast in order to get as far west as possible.

Last night, I passed close to an enormous oil platform. We can see that between the town of Vitoria on the Brazilian coast and the island of Trinidade out at sea, the ocean bottom is like a mountain, as the depth varies from 4,300 m to 50m or even above 158 m, where it goes above the surface (which is the summit of the island of Trinidad). In all these folds, it isn’t surprising to find oil, and there are a lot of boats going up and down the Brazilian coast looking for it.

Yesterday for a while, I suffered from a lack of wind and took advantage of that to lower the mainsail and check everything. No abnormalities to announce...so everything is fine!

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with Marius, the little dog from the IME sailors in Champhol.