Even more news from the Southern Ocean
Sunday 10th Oct 99

Hello all,

We're still chugging away at crossing the Southern Ocean - at the breakneck
speed of 8 kph!! (about 4 knots). The swell for the last two days has been HUGE, ie sometimes up to 10 meters. The boat often crashes over the tops of waves into the troughs with the bow going under the water and collecting a swimming pool sized amount of water in the process. The water temperature has fallen from around 9deg at Hobart to 2.3deg C as we cross the "Antarctic Convergence zone". The Convergence zone is an area south of about 52deg where the sea temperature drops rapidly and most of the winds are constantly circulating around the earth with no land to slow them down. Yesterday the wind was averaging 40-50 knots (90 to 100 kph), and sea spray was everywhere. The good side is that the sun is out which makes for good photographs of the boat dipping it's bow into the waves.

Sleeping in my bunk at night can get difficult. I keep sliding down the bed and hitting my head or feet on the end of the bed when the boat rolls. Also taking a shower is difficult as I have to use one hand to hold onto a handle - let alone stand on one foot to dry my feet! Taking a shower in a heavy swell is definitely a health hazard.

We are having an Iceberg sweep - a raffle where people wager when the first
iceberg will be sighted. We should see one in the next 4 days. The times are divided up into 15 minute sections, at 20cents per go. I will be putting my bid in for about 50 different 15 minute sections!

more updates later...

Cheers, Kym