A tough 24 hours starting last night with two major black clouds in the path to the south. These are very localized conditions and can be disruptive for many hours as you get through them. Especially after dark, it is hard to tell the intensity and sometimes the wind doubles in strength. This can be boat breaking if you have a lot of sail up when it hits. The first one had torrential rains as well and caught me on deck without my wet gear on. The fresh shower was welcome but by the end of it I was freezing and unable to leave the helm. Today the wind has shifted to the south a little bit so I am upwind at 5 degrees north through the doldrums. Always an experience. Two beautiful snow white seabirds have been following me now for an hour, flying very close to the transom. I'm not sure what they are expecting but I think they will be disappointed with my leftover noodles and chicken Mountain House freeze-dried lunch.

Take care

Derek

Position: 05 00.77'N by 26 56.48'W
Distance to Finish: 21491.3 nm
Distance to Loick: 1509.1nm
Speed: 10.2 kts
Direction: 183
Distance to Next competitor (Norbert): 226nm a gain of 73nm from yesterday

See Vendee Globe Images:

Subscribe to BYM News Vendee Globe RSS feed and get notified when news, photos and videos are added

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 November 2008 )