VDH pulls his hair out

Desperation in the Doldrums

Day 107
Position at 1300: 2°02 N / 16°42 W
Wind: 8 knots from SE, slight sea.
Temperatures: day 23°C / night 12°C / sea 27°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 115 miles.
To the finish: 3,632 miles.
Lead over Monnet: 25 days and 2 hours

Hi there,

My optimistic feelings from last week have melted away a little. First of all, I can really say I'm down in the Doldrums! Early last night, the wind dropped away completely and there was thunder in the distance, both of which are signs of being in this wretched area. I brought down the spinnaker, then raised it again. Then, the wind came around in just a few seconds, from a force 2 southeasterly to a force 5 northwesterly. I struggled to bring the spinnaker in again, permanently this time, and stowed it away. Then it was the solent, total calm, genoa, the wind came right around, northerly then westerly, then southerly, then easterly again...I'll keep it short. We're right in the Doldrums and we have to make headway northwards to get out of here! And each mile covered is tough going.

Then, the forecast for the area north of 15° N is not good at all. I may not be able to take the traditional route via the Azores, as there will be no wind there, so I will thus have to do some touring up the African coast with headwinds.

Finally, over the last few days, I've been steadily losing ground over Philippe Monnet. The Southern Atlantic on the return leg will have been the only stretch where I will have lost a few hours over my predecessor, which is something I'm not at all pleased about. In short, my planned arrival time has been put back, and I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't until the end of week 11, rather than early in the week, as I had been hoping. However, as long as I arrive during that week, I'll be quite happy!
See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A weekend with Michèle and Olivier's cuddly toys, who crossed the Equator hugging each other all the way!