25/02/2022
Blog Day 4
Latitude 41 24.72S
Longitude 114 47.73E
Hi everyone,
I am pleased to say that finally there is a little wind around. Last night was a night of completely no sleep as the winds dropped out to 2-3 knots at sunset and remained at this or less all night. Calm yes but unfortunately and even the best helmsman would struggle to drive a boat when the winds drop to 1 knot and my B and G Auto Pilot was no different. At times my boat speed reached the rapid rate of 1.5 knots but mostly it was at 0.5 knots. Alarms were getting triggered every 5 seconds to tell me that the boat was off course as we drifted with no steerage. The winds were also not constant coming at me from all different directions, I was on deck at around 3am trying my best to peg down the most stable wind direction and within a few seconds received gusts from the S, N and E making it difficult to choose a direction to set the sails up too. Every time I tried to get a nap the alarms would trigger, and I was up again. This carried on until at least 7am where I was finally able to get a few short hours of broken sleep.
Finally some wind.
So I woke a bit groggy at about 11 am Perth time and set about making a nice hot bowl of porridge. If you learn anything about me from reading these blogs it’s that I love my Porridge. To give myself more protein I add a mix of nuts and seeds to it making it 'out of this world' delish.
At 12 every day is the time for changing the first microplastic sample. I need to take out the 500 micron 22 hour sample that I run through the night and replace it with the 100 micron sample that we run for 2 hours. So, it was sample change and then doing general boat checks like filling out the log and taking a peek on deck etc before changing the next microplastic sample over - going back to a new 500 micron sample that will run over night.
Working on the science aspect of this project is actually one of the larger drivers for this project so I am really thankful to have found a great partnership with AIMS the Australian Institute of Marine Science who is working in partnership with IMOS the Integrate Marine Observing systems. AIMS will be processing all of the micro plastic samples from my project. Which is fantastic news.
After all of my general day’s jobs completed, I looked outside, and the cloudy grey skies of this morning had gone and were replaced with a lovely sunny day and a stable 5-7 knots of wind. I decided that it might be a while until I can get a proper shower in so I decided to have myself a bath on deck. I was so rushed on the morning of departure that I didn't even get to have a final shower, so it had been days since I felt clean.
Before Leaving Albany I went and invested in a little portable shower that you can fill up and hang on a tree or, in my case, on the rigging and take a shower that way. I was pretty excited about this because last time I was circumnavigating Antarctica I only had buckets which means the water gets dirty and you never feel completely clean…. but to have a shower... wouldn't that be amazing.
So after changing those microplastic samples I got everything set up and managed to enjoy a naked outdoor shower in the slightly cold sunny day. I have to say it has done me wonders in shaking off the sleep deprivation from the night before. Afterwards I decided it was so nice out that I would have a picnic lunch on the back deck in the sun. I am very well aware that I won’t be getting too much of it in the near future, so I am really trying to lap it up.
By this afternoon there was a little more wind around at 8-10 Knots from the west. bringing with it the low lying clouds from a passing trough. Bob McDavitt from MetBob has mentioned that I will have another lull tonight to get through and the hopefully I will be ready to cross on to the racetrack and pass below 45 South. This will allow me to turn east and start racing Fedor.
I also want to make sure to give a shout out to todays degree sponsor:
114 East - Paul and Bernadette Terry from Great Southern Wills.
Not only did they sponsor a degree but they also sponsored me a will which we are all hoping I won’t need for many many years to come, but it pays to be prepared.
I also wanted to let everyone know that I am still seeking 360 degree sponsors for this project. I am unfortunately not fully funded yet so my goal is to raise another 50 degree sponsors to cover all the project costs so while I am at sea it is not too late to get involved and become a part of the action. You can find out more information on my website under the 360 degree page.
Thanks
