“Good morning. Just to give you a brief update on the things here in the Southern Pacific. We had 30 knots of wind with gust up to 40 knots all night and sailed east-south-east. Conditions were good. The night passed smooth.
Yesterday we passed south of MacquarieIsland. I did not see it due to the poor visibility, but ocean was full of dolphins, little penguins, whales and coastal birds. A “Hercules” airplane flew over due north, making a lot of noise. I think they seen my boat, because they changed their course. I have marine VHF but they are using different frequency on the planes. No voice contact was made. I guess they are flying from South Pole Antarctica to New Zealand (Christchurch). That is why on the South Pole polar station they live under New Zealand time.
We are sailing on edge of 55 South. The most southerly point we got was 56’30 South and the cold was very serious there. My lap tops have LCD monitors and they change colors, to funny blue. When N-W winds came we are sailing in the warmer front, these winds brought warmer air and I took off several layers of cloths.
Again this night was enlightened by Southern polar light. Fantastic view. Curtains of polar lights were falling down and rising up. It was very impressive and it was light enough to work in the cock-pit without head light.
It is hard to believe, but in 24 hours in the area of 56 -57 South we will have another light wind area. I have periods of calm weather with winds below 10 knots every 3 days. Forecast suggests better wind below 57 south, but I don’t want to go below Cape Horn Latitude at this early stage. We have limited data about this season iceberg location and it is risky to sailed deeper South. Perhaps we will get 10 more knots of wind but increase chances of iceberg contact. I would like to stay here on the 55 South, it gives optimal mileage for the Antarctica Cup Race Track, I can come up North to 50 South to avoid heavy weather and it gives good angle for Cape Horn approach.
Fedor”
Forecast from Lee Bruce:
“The medium-range forecast suggests that a WP of 57S 173E is best for now. But a front on the 13th/14th may bring light and variable wind. We will have to watch subsequent forecasts to see if that is a reliable scenario.
12/00Z: N to NNW 30-40 gust 45
12/06: NW 20-30
12/12: NW 15-20
12/18: NW 10-15
13/00: variable near front”