#10 Summer reading. Around the world on a 6.50-meter boat. The Great South (the Great Southern Ocean).
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I have been sailing escorted by albatrosses for several days now. They are beautiful! And it is a dream to be here navigating among them! Some have a wingspan of more than three meters! More than half of my boat…! At midnight I celebrate New Year’s Eve by drinking one of the three small bottles of champagne my mother offered me. I am now sailing in the Indian Ocean.
A low pressure is approaching. Romain discusses this with Yves, and it is finally decided that I can continue to go down in latitude and head toward 45° south, because the depression is less violent than expected.
I will be 39 years old on January 5. I open the sealed envelope I found in a box containing sugar. It is a greeting card from my mother. Around me majestic albatrosses escort me for days on end.
I spend time at the helm or rigging, repairing some sail rips. The new ones are “dissolving” like snow in the sun. I am watching out for the cold since the water temperature has dropped to 5 °C, and the air to 11 °C. After each maneuver the wet suit becomes icy, but they are in excellent shape and all the embarked parts are dry, tidy, and ready to use. I sail under an undulating sky with albatrosses flying past in level flight above the tree. Course to pass south of the Crozet Islands!
On January 10, the temperature drops quickly, the air temperature is on 5 °C while the water is below 4 °C…! I am afraid that there is an iceberg vici- no. I get in touch with Romain to give him the temperature data. The response I receive has nothing reassuring: “Warning! Iceberg alert! C’est la zone!”
These are tense moments. I increase the frequency of co- perta sorties to scan the horizon, but visibility gets worse and worse. Meanwhile, ashore, Romain searches for information about the possible pre- without of icebergs in my area. The night is a real nightmare and I spend very tense moments. On Jan. 11, visibility, due to fog, dropped to less than 60 meters and the water temperature ini- cated to rise. I am more relieved. A message from Romain says there are no icebergs around. He was able, through Seb, to get in touch with a researcher (Hervé Legoff) from the TAAF, embarked on the research ship that crosses my route about 450 miles away. The ship is heading up north, and the last icebergs have been spotted around 63° latitude. I breathe a sigh of relief.
On the 12th Romain writes: “New WP 47° 30’S – 60°E direct Keguelen. No icebergs and super conditions! Apart from the cold… TAAF boat south of Kerguelen, possible radio contact. The large depression descends to the south. No problem, wind from W 35 knots maximum.”
Course to transit south of the Kerguelen then. Isso the gennaker ver- de, the wind is between 16 and 22 knots, the boat runs fast on the waves.
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