Dream Your Dreams

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Ship's Logs

Today we are on final approach for the equator, only 120 miles ahead. Last night we broke through the last line of big rain clouds – there was a very distinct line of them on the radar – and were then in a building southeasterly wind. Through the night, we sailed very...

Battling the ITCZ

by | Nov 17, 2016 | Ship's Logs

Today and yesterday have blurred together in my mind. Partially this is inadequate sleep, and an inadequate routine. When one puts in a reef, or rolls out a reef, at 0300, it confuses the day and the distinction between work hours and non-work hours. On an Open 60...

Extra: Pirates of West Africa

by | Nov 17, 2016 | Ship's Logs

Pirates aren’t usually a hazard for Vendée Globe skippers speeding along at 20-plus knots, hundreds and even thousands miles offshore. But on Monday, as we passed the Mauritania Exclusion Zone to our east, a curious thing happened. I checked navigation software for...