Another Sailing Milestone - Dee Caffari

Another milestone passed today as I crossed to the north of Gate number 9. That leaves just one more gate and Cape Horn left down here then Aviva and I can hand brake turn left and head north. I also broke through the 10000 miles to go barrier which is a nice incentive.

Sad news about Jonny on Artemis, after all he had battled in the Indian Ocean, it is sad and I can tell he is frustrated.

Aviva's mainsail still holds on and we have had words today. I asked nicely for her to stay strong as there is nothing I can do on a starboard gybe, so she can only have love and attention on the other gybe. The good news is gently, gently, ever so gently I shook out the third reef as that is the worst place for the sail and now feel much happier that all the damaged area is flying because that keeps all the fibres in the right place. Now I just need to stick and patch a bit more and we will be good for another few days!

My monochrome grey Southern Ocean world also broke up today to reveal a hint of blue for about an hour. I was lucky enough to be doing a sail change at the time so I didn't miss it. I had almost forgotten what a blue sky looked like!

Dee