Rough weather for Telefonica Blue, in the Southern Ocean, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Bouwe Bekking (skipper)
We have been lucky so far, no major gales in this part of the world yet. In the previous races there were always one or two big storms, which we had sail through, but it looks like this time not too bad. That is one thing that has changed with these boats, you are actually looking for an area of not more than 30 knots of wind, as otherwise the sea state is a problem to keep high average speeds.
All the guys are now looking forward to get around this famous landmark, and getting out of here. It hasn’t been too bad temperature wise, but I think for some this is already cold enough. The heater has played up today and David (David Vera) was more than happy to spend the entire afternoon downstairs to try to get it going again. It is nice down here when it is up and running and sleeping is way more comfortable, especially since it seems you don’t need to pee so often. When you are cold, most of the guys have to pop up after two hours. A tough choice, stay in the warm bed, but nearly impossible to sleep, or get out. Put your boots on, and find a bucket or bailer and do your business. Then back to bed and sleeping is your reward.
The heater was running for a couple of hours but has stopped again; tomorrow is another day to have a look at it. Most likely again a hammer job, and a bash on the fuel pump, which was the fix this afternoon, (after David had the entire thing apart and still not running).
Volvo Ocean Race
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