Wind returns

Jean-Luc van den Heede gets moving again after severe delay in the Doldrums

Day 109. Position at 1300: 5°09'N / 16°13'W
Wind 10 knots from NNW. Slight sea.
Temperatures: day 30°C/ night 20°C / sea 28°C
Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 163 miles.
To the finish 3,376 miles.
Lead over Monnet: 24 days.

Hello

While for more than 24 hours, I had been struggling to edge forward metre by metre, yesterday, I started to see some ripples on the surface indicating that there was a little light breeze coming up. Then, puff by puff, the wind got up from 3 to 5 knots. I can't tell you what a joy it was to hear the slapping of the sea on the hull once again, instead of the sound of the boom swinging from port to starboard and Adrien rolling from side to side with the swell. In short, we've been off again since yesterday afternoon, and I hope to put a stop today to the slipping away of the miles I had gained over my predecessor!

The winds aren't yet back in their usual direction, as they're coming from the NW, while the trade winds in this area are from the NE. However, they should come around little by little towards the normal direction, which will allow me to get back on a normal course towards the NW. I will admit to you that after this difficult stretch, I managed to get a rest last night to make up for my lost sleep, even if there were still many flashes of lightning illuminating the starry skies.

Consequently, this morning I put back out my line behind me hoping that the sea bream in the Northern Hemisphere will be hungrier than those in the south!

See you tomorrow,

JL VDH

A day with Cécile Baggiani-Tardieu's cuddly toy, the pretty little lion called Loustic.