Good summary video of Uwe Rottgering's 2003 trip
http://seefieber.de/Aktuell/Englisch/Englisch.htm
Scout


"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
Congrats to Dee Caffari... for crossing her outbound track.
She is one of fewer than a hundred people who have solo
circumnavigated.

http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.o.../solotable.htm

I don't see many French names on the list, so obvioiusly, the
true number is much higher than the 60 listed.

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AVIVA UPDATE

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Dee crosses her outbound track in high spirits
Days at sea: 165
Distance to finish: 1,947
Position: 600 miles west of Mauritania, West Africa
Current conditions: 15-20 knots from the northeast
Dee and Aviva are currently on course to cross the finish line* sometime
between 17th and 20th May
Latest News
In the early hours of this morning Dee crossed her outbound track and
"completed the loop" round the planet. Tangible landmarks have been scarce
in Dee's gruelling westabout circumnavigation, so psychological milestones
such as this are of huge importance. She has now crossed every line of
longitude on the planet and has set her sights firmly on the finish line,
now less than 2000 miles away.
In the latest Aviva Challenge podcast with Elaine Bunting (which also
includes an interview with one of Britain's foremost adventurers David
Hempleman-Adams) she said: "I was checking the charts every ten minutes
and when I actually did it I had a huge grin on my face and thought 'well,
that's one loop, now I've got to get home!'"
Asked if she feels close to the finish, she said: "I do, once I cleared
the Doldrums and started heeling I felt better about things and getting
north of the Cape Verde islands is quite a significant landmark. Now I can
see the Canaries and Madeira on the chart and they are pretty close to
home for me compared to where I've been. Life is just brilliant at the
moment and it's very exciting!"
Having recently seen a passing tanker and heard voices on the VHF for the
first time in weeks, yesterday brought another reminder that she is
heading for busy waters, but this time Dee reported a "strange encounter
in the early hours." A vessel came in sight with lights indicating it was
under engine despite obviously sailing, and with "nothing showing on the
radar" Dee was concerned.
"I shone a strong beam onto my sails and then at the other vessel. I was
relieved to see a deck floodlight go on, on the other vessel. At least I
knew someone was awake and had seen me . He made no alteration of course,
so I adjusted my course and as I was sailing faster, I cleared enough sea
room to be able to get ahead and return to my northerly heading . I wanted
to speak to the vessel as a courtesy, as he had no radar signal at all ...
I was going to suggest a radar reflector be hoisted for his journey. I
tried three times to raise the vessel on the VHF and yet had no response.
It made me nervous for his passage and for the remainder of mine."

Weather
Aviva Challenge weather forecaster Mike Broughton's latest forecast
prompted an ecstatic response from Dee. In an email she wrote: "Wow, this
is exciting news. I was grinning from ear to ear reading your message."
"Traditionally at this stage of the voyage," says Mike, "Dee would expect
to be beating to windward all the way to the Bay of Biscay. Sailing into
the wind in this manner is slower than reaching or running so she was
thrilled when I suggested that her speed would increase if she bears away
by 10-15 degrees in anticipation of a high-pressure system around 700
miles up the track.
"The high-pressure system is south of the Azores and moving east and the
exciting news is that as it moves east, hopefully Dee can sail round the
western side of the of the system and benefit greatly from the conditions
in about six days time.
"Rather than adopting a 'zig-zag' course into the wind, Dee will enjoy
favourable downwind running conditions. Not only is it a more comfortable
point of sail, but it is also faster. She is already doing around 8 knots
at the moment and by digging in to the favourable conditions Dee could
take up to 2 days off the time remaining if conditions play out as we
hope."