Hi,

Another day at work, getting pretty chilly out there as we move south in the Pacific.

We passed the second ice gate so another milestone done for us and now we are free to go where we want to the Horn.  The gamblers seem to be having some new chances as weather is not clearly defined until the famous Cape and several routes can be in play now. Jules (Jules Salter – navigator) and Torben (Torben Grael – skipper) are scratching their heads as new opportunities arise for us.

 Wind has dropped in the last hours and our speed consequently, so some sail changes have been handled during the day, something not so easy in the cold as you have all your gear and good gloves on.

Regards food department some new Chinese delicatessen has been showing up as promised by the food managers.  We already had meat sticks and square pig pieces that would have been difficult to give even to my dog. 

The new product is a dry meat that looks like it has hair on it; it even has a cow on its wrapper.  It looks like a dead rat somehow dried!! Looks like this new snack is in all bags to Rio, so I’ll skip this delicatessen from the Chinese’s gastronomy!!

In terms of life around us, not too much.  Not even the Albatrosses have been around, only a few curious ones that, by the way, have quite fat bodies. From below the sea all we have seen was the shark that ended bent over our fin keel and obliged us to make a back down a day ago.

We are all looking forward to passing the Cape and arriving in Rio, but time seems to be gaining on us as we move in a more upwind mode.

The Buzios (small stones used to guess the future in Brazil) have been thrown; let's see what ends up in our hands for the next hours, days, weeks....

Horacio Carabelli - Trimmer