NW breeze - 20 knots
Air temp - 9 degrees
Water temp - 8.8 degrees
3618 nm to Cape Horn

KOOEE (COMMUNICATIONS) ..... anyone out there.

Hi there from "Sal" and the gang. 'Tis another day below 50° south ..... what a place this is! Yesterday we saw sun for the first time in two weeks. Down here there are just shades of grey, bleakness ..... it's either cold or bloody cold! I'm about 4 hours ahead of Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time (AEDST). It gets dark at 6.30pm and it's light again at 1.30am, so there's only 7 hours without daylight. We are in fog a whole lot - visibility is down to 100 metres at times, but generally around 200 metres. Magnetic variation is the effect that the North and South Poles have on your compass, and it varies with the part of the world you are in. You have to make allowance for magnetic variation when setting the true course that you want to steer. Around Lake Macquarie, magnetic variation is about 12 degrees. We are much closer to the South Pole here, and it's a huge 30 degrees. It takes a bit of getting used to when your compass says you are heading NE but really you are heading closer to an E course.

We have only seen one pack of dolphins but plenty of glorious albatross. The weather has been good to us. Monday saw a 20+ knot NE. The wheels fell off a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the winds being lighter, we were down to drifting in circles. Roger Badham's forecast for next few days is stronger following winds up to 35 knots, so we should eat up some miles. "Sal" has averaged about 5.5 knots since we started.

I have been taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading, but I find myself wanting to sleep a lot. Is that a by-product of the cold? The only BI-LO fresh produce left are eggs, carrots, onions, 2 oranges, 1 apple, 2 tubs of margarine. "Sal" is going absolute great guns with all systems firing. Kevin (Kevvy) and Frank (Frankie babe) have been okay. I had a really good talk to them the other night. As the trip progresses, I find that I am understanding them better. All in all, we have a pretty happy ship here and I hope this update finds you in a similar way.

I enjoy receiving e-mails so don't hesitate to register with STATION 12 and go for it!!!

Take care,

Tony Mowbray