Icebergs ahoy?

New fears for Jean-Luc van den Heede

Day 56 Position at 1300: 55°19 S / 173°48 E
Wind 22 knots from WNW, slight sea.
Temperatures: day 9°C / night 5°C / sea 6°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 216 miles.
To the Cape of Good Hope 6,618 miles. Lead over P Monnet 14 days

Hello

Yesterday I was so worried about icebergs that I forgot to wish you a Happy 2004 and the best of health etc. I only have one wish. That is to bring Adrien safely home!

Those two icebergs did produce one major good effect. I wasn't really watching out for them before, as Adrien had never come across any. Moreover, the area, where I am, isn't regarded as particularly dangerous for them. I can honestly say that now I'm keeping an eye out non-stop around the clock. Whenever I sleep, I put on my Simrad radar, which I've set to a 6-mile warning zone. If an object enters that area, it triggers an alarm. Besides that, to save energy, it turns itself on automatically, every 5, 10 or 15 minutes, depending on how I set it. You can't stop progress!

Today, the weather has been fabulous with some sunshine and 20-knot winds, but it is cold. Tomorrow, I'll head down again to 55/56°S to avoid the worst of a storm, forecast for tomorrow evening.

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day spent with young Jacqueline de Mandelieu's cuddly toy, a bear that's yellow all over.