Socrates Rounding Cape Horn
Two years ago today we reported that Jeanne Socrates’ second attempt at sailing nonstop around the world came to an end when she suffered a brutal knockdown as she approached Cape Horn. The knockdown broke her boom, took out her electronics and damaged her dodger. She put into Port Williams after rounding the Horn a couple days later, then sailed on to Cape Town, South Africa, where she spent nearly a year repairing and upgrading her Najad 380 Nereida.
Socrates started her third and final attempt at the feat — if successful, she’ll also set a couple records — on October 22 from Victoria, B.C., and she’s currently in the process of rounding Cape Horn. According to her blog and an email from her, this rounding is much different from the last. "The sea is so much calmer, it feels weird. This is not the Southern Ocean I’m familiar with! The long rounded swell is down to just 3 to 4 meters," she wrote in last night’s update. She’d spent the day drifting with the current because the wind had disappeared, but she should officially round the fabled landmark in the next day or so.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the Vendée Globe fleet are also approaching the Horn. "The Vendée Globe Race Management in Paris are helping by sending me their ice reports, and I send them my position to pass on to the skippers," she noted in an email. "We’re all on AIS so should ‘see’ each other." In comparing their positions and headings, it doesn’t appear any of them will approach too closely to the much-slower moving Nereida.
You can follow Socrates’ trip around the world at www.svnereida.com.
Vendée Update
Speaking of the Vendée Globe . . .
The International Jury that had previously disqualified Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) for accepting outside assistance and tying up to a Russian research vessel agreed to reopen the case after receiving the testimony of the skipper of the Russian ship. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that, the very next day, Stamm reported colliding with a UFO (unidentified floating object) that took out one of his hydrogenerators and severely damaged the other. The very same hydrogenerators that forced him to seek shelter at the Auckland Islands to repair, which is where he dragged and tied to the Russian ship. The irony is beyond cruel.
Consequently Stamm has turned off all but the most essential electronics to reserve as much power as possible. His team is working on a way to deliver fuel to the skipper to allow him to finish the race.
Elsewhere in the fleet, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) — currently in third place — reported that a soft shackle that attached the forestay to the deck had let loose. It appears there was no other damage. He immediately turned downwind and started repairs.
The leaders — François Gabart (MACIF) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) — are struggling with slow upwind progress, a far cry from the record speeds they were seeing in the Southern Ocean. Farther back, the second ‘pack’ of five boats are on their approach to Cape Horn (see above article). Alessandro di Benedetto (Team Plastique) is still at the back of the fleet, approaching the race’s second to last ice gate.
Stay tuned to www.vendeeglobe.org for lots of news every day, or ‘Lectronic for the occasional update.
The Souvenir That Lasts a Lifetime
©2013 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
All along the West Coast of the Americas, soon-to-be westbound cruisers are upgrading their boats, stocking up on spare parts, and boning up on skills like offshore navigation, weather-reading, and heavy-weather sailing techniques. Few, we’d guess, spend much time thinking about tattoos. But they ought to.
Although they may not realize it now, once each year’s contingent of Pacific Puddle Jumpers arrives in the islands of French Polynesia, many follow the lead of thousands of sailors who’ve gone before them in getting the one souvenir that lasts a lifetime: a tattoo. Even if they would never consider adorning their skin with graphic patterns back home, once immersed into the centuries-old Polynesian culture, many cruisers become enchanted by the ancestral significance of various symbols and designs, and opt in to carrying a bit of South Seas culture with them as they travel onward. After all, in Polynesia tattoos are believed to be imbued with a magical and protective significance.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
As you can see by the designs chosen by some recent Puddle Jumpers, individual tattoos can be quite elaborate, often borrowing ancient motifs and adding modern nuances to them. Over the years, we’ve collected some interesting photos of cruiser tats, but just for fun we thought we’d solicit more. So if you’ve gotten inked while cruising the South Pacific, please email us an image of your tat. If we receive enough of them we’ll post a special photo gallery online. (By the way, reliable sources estimate that up to 40% of adults between 26 and 40 now have a tattoo.)
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
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BREAKING NEWS: Ship Sideswipes Bay Bridge
As we post today’s articles, the first reports are trickling in regarding a cargo vessel striking the Bay Bridge in foggy conditions sometime during the late morning. According to a CalTrans spokesman, it simply "sideswiped" a bridge tower, or its protective "fender," leaving no significant damage to the structure or the vessel — at least as far as they know thus far. Of course, the last time we recall a commercial vessel striking that essential traffic artery (the Cosco Busan in 2007), damage was initially downplayed, although more than 53,000 gallons of bunker fuel ultimately spilled into the Bay.
The bridge is currently open and investigators have begun a thorough assessment.