Peter wrote:

This is in fact not true. I have done many, many trips from Australia
to Antarctica over the last 10 years. The conditions can be extreme
but there are also plenty of times where the Southern Ocean can be a
millpond.

Thanks for the good info. I was actualy speaking more of the mindset for
preparation than describing the weather conditions anthough that wasn't
particularly clear. A mill pond day that far from anywhere in an ocean with
that kind of fetch and weather systems is dangerous. It's like being far up
on Mount Everest on a calm, warm, day.

I posted a while ago about the people who have gotten into trouble in the
Southern Ocean due to not realizing how many calm days there are and that
many periods are characterized by the extremes. The big clipper ships would
hook on to a low and stay with it for hundreds of miles. The small yacht
has to hunker down in the heavy weather and doesn't have the speed to stay
with the system. Then come the calms and little progress is made until the
next big system comes through and beats them up again.

Pretty impressive passage from New Zeland to Cape Horn Donna Lange made
though in her 28 footer.

--
Roger Long