Berrimilla Down Under Mars Status Report 20 September 2008
McQ: Tuna Pasta
As EVERYONE knows, any self respecting voyage is not complete until the LAST evening meal of the journey- tuna pasta- is finished. DARN tuna pasta. I cooked tuna pasta TWO nights ago. It was SUPPOSED to be the last meal on board!!! But here we are two nights later... it turned out I was a bit pre-emptive with the tuna pasta and those VICIOUS Atlantic wind gods had a good chuckle to themselves as they brought us to a standstill and dashed my optimistic hopes for a late Friday Falmouth arrival!! So here we are still fighting our way home, and I am now going for a late Sunday afternoon arrival and fish and chips in Falmouth for dinner tomorrow night now instead. Tonight WILL be the last meal I cook on board this voyage!!! It WILL!!! The only thing is there is no tuna left, so pasta pesto it is!!! Though maybe a contingency dinner would be more wise given how heeled over we are!!! Beans, with, er, beans, anyone???
I can't wait for a small, celebratory, glass of something tomorrow night!!! (It had better be tomorrow night!!!!)
I'm really hoping someone has/could communicate to my dad that we will be in Falmouth soon and I think tomorrow evening now but also sorry if he got my eta of yesterday and is dithering around Falmouth waiting for us!!! I will try and call when in phone range assuming my phone still works. My Dave, you are THE BEST EVER. I love you!!! Believe me, going as fast as we can!! xxx
Ali, no worries, I'll be up to see you very very soon, I can't imagine you'll want to go even to South West London after my welcome home party tonight, let alone traipse all the way to South West England tomorrow, and, we WON'T still be out here monday!!!! Lots of love and CAN"T WAIT to see you, have fun tonight, sorry I'm not in attendance and please apologise but thank my other party organisers (Sally and TP) on my behalf too ;)!!! xxx
Lots of love
McQ
xxx
ps: Simon and Gail, as you know today is a very, very, very, important day- it is only 6 months exactly until my birthday!!! Oh and yes, I think someone's wedding too- ALL my congratulations to you both- sorry I missed it- believe me I would currently far rather be there than tacking round the Scillies, against current!!! Am even close enough to know you picked a nice day for it (would, of course, expect nothing less since G organised!!!) See you for celebratory champers very soon though. Lots of love to the whole family (N & M too!!!) Bol xxx
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 18:57
And another thing
We sailed Pascal's dotted line and it works. Good one, Pascal and thanks for the inspiration! Still have your beer, but it's under threat. Gotta cross that line sooon!
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 15:31
4950 00703 A line in the imagination
There's a line between The Lizard and Ushant, familiar to sailors down the ages. Nelson used it - can't remember the exact words, but to the effect that, once past Ushant, every sailor considers himself single, Nelson himself included, it seems. Poor Cloudesley Shovell and several hundreds of his sailors didn't quite get back there, which itself is an interesting story about notions of discipline and knowledge. World records start and end there, famous circumnavigations and Atlantic crossings too. And it marks the entrance to the English Channel. I've crossed it a few times - less that 10 times each way - but it still has enormous significance as a symbolic marker.
For us, when we cross it, as we definitely will, sometime real soon now, it marks the end of a biggish undertaking. Berri and I will have completed perhaps only the second ever circumnavigation of the world via the North West Passage, after David Cowper. We have also completed a circumnavigation via Cape Horn and Berri may be the very first boat ever to get close to claiming the two, although the claim is dubious because the two circs stared from opposite ends and share the Falmouth - Sydney leg. However, each is complete in itself. Sydney, Cape Horn, Falmouth, Sydney in 2005 and Falmouth, Sydney, NWP, Falmouth Aug 20 2005 to tomorrow? And Kimbra and McQ have a nice new line of a different sort for their CVs.
I think that I can safely say the following: Berri is, we think, the 77th boat to have completed a transit of the North West Passage, the third smallest and one of only about 25 sailing yachts. Only about half of these yachts have done it in one season. All the other vessels have been icebreakers or ice-strengthened ships. Some of these have made multiple trips - 14 is the record so far, I think - so our transit was the 114th since Amundsen in 1903-5. We are probably the only vessel ever to have sailed from Sydney to the UK via the NWP (Fine Tolerance may have beaten us to it) and we are the first Australian boat to have done it in one season and without icebreaker assistance. Again, Fine Tolerance beat us through but they took a couple of years and I think were assisted by an icebreaker after they had abandoned the boat. I've said before how astoundingly lucky we have been - could'a easily been us. But we still have to cross that line!
Sending this today because tomoz might get busy and a bit vortexy. Izz, there will definitely be an orange sail, but not sure which, or whether the angle will allow you to see it at the Manacles from Pendennis. And all y'all, come join us at the Harbourmaster's jetty for a bit of a celebration. My guess - very dodgy still - would be tomorrow evening, 1800 UTCish.
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 15:27
4946 00718 The sitch as it seems from here
We're heading more or less for the Scillies from 34 miles west of Bishop Rock. Might just make it past them to the South on this tack or by putting in a short one when we get close in, which would get us reasonably close to the Lizard by middayish tomoz. IFF the wind holds, that is. If we can do that then we should have a flood tide from 1500 to take us the last 20 miles to Falmouth into a 20 knot ENE erly. Won't be pleasant, but wow! will it feel good to be doing it. But it all depends on the next 24 hours. If the wind knocks us about too much, then we're in the poo as far as the tide tomorrow is concerned. Cross 'em please and hold that pose! H - and anyone else who needs it, my UK mobile will be +447816004379. We should be in range from the Lizard.
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 13:20
K: Schooshling
KP - what do you mean you couldn't find any other references for "schooshling"?? The Concise Oxford told me they'd accepted my recommendation to include it. You sure you spelt it right??...Oh well...
Anyway, we're at it again - schooshling that is. My earlier optimistic view that we'd manage to stay ahead of the high pressure system was obviously overly optimistic and we had a nice park-up after all. Very frustrating when the end is almost within cooee. Now beating into a short choppy Celtic Sea, and looks like we're going to be head-bashing the rest of the way from here too. Huey's definitely making us work for it, right to the end!
We've now started to feel the effects of the tides around the south coast of the UK. This is also quite frustrating. Whenever I think we're making progress from the boatspeed and course shown on the compass/instruments on deck, half the time the GPS down below shows that we've been barely moving at all. Or worse - going backwards. But we are now definitely closer to England than Ireland.
The smog has been very thick on the horizon at sunrise the last few mornings, with the sun a sinister orangey-brown colour when it rises. And we've started to see ships again too - not as many as I would have expected given how close we are to the traffic separation schemes off the SW corner of the UK. Anyway, all signs of progress of a sort. I'm hopeful we might see some lights from some off the lighthouses tonight too.
Keep that bubbly cold, and don't drink it all before we get there. On our way - honest!!
K.
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 13:20
4950 0731 For Katherine
Happys - wish I was there to administer birthday hug! Will try to call if we ever get to Falmouth. Lots of love.xx
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 09:29
4957 00739 Moving again
15 knots on the nose but much much better than nowt! Heading as close to Falmouth as the wind allows, vmg currently 3+kts, 120 miles to go in a straight line.
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POSTED BY BERRIMILLA DOWNUNDERMARS AT 09:00