Photos by Rick Deppe
Puma Racing Blog Entry:
The guys are really tired today and it's clearly visible in their faces- furrowed brows, wind burnt skin, bloodshot eyes and croaky voices. I just spoke with Jerry as he came down off watch. I asked him how he was holding up, "I'm just hoping this off watch doesn't get cut short.” He told me this as he peeled off the layers. "I'm knackered" he added (he actually said something else…). He's been filling in on deck for his opposite Casey, who's been flat out trying to fix the wheel so that we can make a few gybes as we approach the mark- the first of which we did about an hour ago. The glue [on the wheel] is barely dry but we need that wheel!
If the situation is getting to Jerry you know it’s tough, after all, it’s Jerry and he's one of the cheerful ones!! Everybody is handling the cold and fatigue differently. Some guys just get grumpy and quiet; others get a little bit shorter in the fuse department, so sometimes my jokes don't seem quite so funny. It's normally quite jovial over here on il mostro and I'm hoping we get it back once around Cape Horn. For sure there's none of the usual laughing and joking on deck right now. I was just up there- I asked Rob for a quote, all I got was a look! (see picture to right)
We are headed east towards the Chilean coastline where we will gybe again and then we’ll be making our approach to Cape Horn from a northerly direction. I understand this is quite an unusual situation- even considering that our "high road" passage of the Southern Ocean took us well to the north of traditional tracks.
We are headed east towards the Chilean coastline where we will gybe again and then we’ll be making our approach to Cape Horn from a northerly direction. I understand this is quite an unusual situation- even considering that our "high road" passage of the Southern Ocean took us well to the north of traditional tracks.
Hopefully we'll get to see some of the coastline and the mountains of Patagonia. It's looking like a we'll have a day time rounding of Cape Horn and probably be reasonably close considering our northern route. We really get to see very little of the Terra Firma (solid ground) parts of the world in the nine months that it takes us to circumnavigate. It's always a treat when we do and an iconic landmark such as Cape Horn will be an extra special experience. Although having said that, we certainly do get to see plenty of ocean.
- Rick
ps: Hello has anyone seen an Albatross??? I hope the low number of sightings that we've made is not indicative of the population strength of that magnificent animal because if it is, they really are in trouble.
