Location: 40 deg 36 minutes south latitude 178 degrees 49 minutes east longitude
Sunday November 12th, 2000
There were a few albatross circling us in the moonlight last night as we motored on south, heading for the wind. There are several more albatross around this morning, some quite large, but I only climbed out of my bunk at 0730 and haven’t had the identification book out yet. More important has been the first cups of tea and a bowl of porridge – then further tea (for me).
The weather forecast is to have a breeze by this evening – probably northwest then going southwest overnight and freshening to 30 knots. This is the reason we are heading south – to catch a favourable wind so that we can turn off the main engines and enjoy the sailing for a change. Our course will then take us more eastwards than south, to approximately 50 degrees south latitude, when it will become east – 090 on the gyro compass for most of the way to South America.
Ollie filmed the sunset last night as the Mahia Peninsula dipped below the horizon to starboard and New Zealand was gone. Today our flags will be stowed to stop wear and tear.
From tomorrow, we are hoping for favourable winds for many days, mainly between northwest and southwest, sometimes with large seas – so today we will be making sure everything is really secure. Today is washing day for those that want a shower (only 2 short showers allowed per week) as tomorrow it may become more difficult to make water.
Temperatures have dropped and it is now good to get under the duvet in the bunk if trying to catch up on sleep. It will be cooler from tonight with the new wind.
My 0900 to 1200 watch is nearly on – time to go on deck (well, in the pilot house) and discuss the days activities.
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe
