VDH does the samba

A report from Jean-Luc Van den Heede's solo round the world record bid

Hello,

Cabo Calcanhar last night, Natal at day break, Joao Passoa at midday and Recife tonight... these are the latitudes with disorientating names that I am crossing! You've got it; I am tearing down the Brazilian coastline in the trade winds. Far too far away, certainly, to hear the samba bands but near enough to dream of them!

The clever daily calculations that I do to assess the distance separating me from the Le Maire Strait, relative to Philippe's position, gave me a considerable lift this morning, on finding, that finally, I am now more than a day ahead of him.

As a result, as in the song, I am going from town to town to learn the steps and dance the samba!!!

Until tomorrow

JL VDH

Position at 14 h : 6°39’S 31°34’W
Wind: 24Kt from SE.
Temperature Day 30°C Night 18°C.
DIST covered in 24h: 301 naut. miles
1 day 4H ahead of P. Monnet.
Dist. to Lemaire 3332 naut. miles.