Despite a ferocious storm and large breaking seas in the Southern Ocean, Pete Goss and the crew of Spirit of Mystery say they are elated to have reached the halfway point between South Africa and Melbourne.
The long passage across the vast expanse of the Southern Ocean has so far seen its fair share of mixed weather, but it was as the little wooden lugger reached one of the most remote areas on Earth that the 37-foot-long vessel and the crew faced their toughest test to date.
Pete takes up the story: “It was mid morning before the storm decided to really show us what it had with a consistent 45-50 knots with gusts on top. The seas were steep, nasty and breaking, spume torn off the top adding vent to the driving rain as it bounced and tumbled across the ocean’s surface. Two hours on watch left us numbed by the shear ferocity of the elements; our faces stinging from the needle-like spray, bodies aching from the physical effort. No matter how much we ate it just didn’t seem to replenish that which was being burned.”
The adventure is very different to Pete’s previous sailing exploits, where the speed of his high-tech sailing yachts can be used to run before a storm or place the boat where it suits. Pete likened the 5-6 knots speed of Spirit of Mystery to a hedgehog crossing a busy motorway. “The most positive action available on hitting the fast lane is to shut your eyes and hope,” he said.
Celebrating crossing the halfway point on Valentine’s Day, thoughts on board have turned to being reunited with loved ones.
With 2,692NM to go and the storm behind them without damage or injury, Pete said that he felt able to calculate the approximate arrival date in Melbourne, which after much thought he is estimating will be around 10th March.
Updates will be given as the voyage progresses and people can follow Spirit of Mystery via Pete’s website which features a satellite tracking facility. Pete also writes an engaging daily blog from the boat, which can be seen on his website at petegoss.com.
Pete and the crew hope that as many people as possible will turn out to welcome them to Australia , including descendants of the original brave crew who sailed the wooden Mounts Bay lugger Mystery from Cornwall to Australia between November 1854 and March 1855.
- Eilot Goss – Photo Courtesy Pete Goss/Spirit of Mystery
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Pete Goss wrote today “ Just pulled our way through a major Southern Ocean storm with 50kts wind and gusts above so all very tired. Spirit of Mystery did us proud and we have no damage or injuries. Will do a proper blog tommorow as it’s dusk now and am going to get some kip. ”
Read more about Pete Goss’s Spirit of Mystery Adventure here
Photo courtesy of Pete Goss/PeteGoss.com
Pete Goss and crew are back out on their adventure. Here is an Pete talking about their beginnings of this leg “Last night was a very long night on the helm for all of us seem to be inordinately tired and I am not quite sure why. A combination of not much sleep in South Africa thanks to hard work and play, feeling a bit ill and trying to settle into the watch system I suspect. There is also the mental side of squaring away the scale of the next leg; 5,500NM in the Southern Ocean takes a couple of days to put into context such that it is broken down into the daily routine of here and now, bit by bit.
This morning, our second at sea, was the morning that I felt I had started to settle back into ships routine. For a start I didn’t feel ill when I woke up. Two cups of coffee, four slices of toast and a morning constitutional before relieving Mark had me feeling human again. I was able to enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean again rather than grind through the watch with a dull eyed fixation on the compass and my ever so slow watch. You have no idea of how long two hours can drag unless you have been ill and tired on the helm.
Suddenly it was lovely to be at sea again and as the influence of the land recedes over the horizon so the pleasure of the ocean and its simple routines takes over. The fresh milk has gone off; some of the bananas have had to be ditched despite being green when they came on board. The solar panels went up this morning to allow the sun to do its magic on our batteries. We are starting to be at one with nature and its rhythms again.”
Follow more of Pete an his crew’s adventures at www.PeteGoss.com
Pete Goss and the crew of Spirit of Mystery made a great end to the first leg of their adventure by arriving in Cape Town for Christmas. He speaks of their arrival, “As we rolled into the 25th of December 2008 the wind increased and Spirit of Mystery Mystery lifted her skirts and made a run for Cape Town surfing on the residual swell from our big blow. It was a beautiful night which although a bit chilly allowed us the freedom of just wearing thermals; always very liberating after a few days in full gear.
Eliot spotted the first sight of land in the dark as we were putting our final reef into the big lug and a fission of excitement swept through the boat. We were actually going to make Cape Town for Christmas with the family and Eliot was effervescent with excitement; singing and dancing a little jig on the foredeck.
Dawn could not have been any better as the sun rose to throw the mountain range into silhouette with a beautifully mellow golden sunrise which was unable to drown out the moon that sat above it all. Albatross capped it as they swept about us with efficient grace and suddenly we smelt Africa and I can tell you that after a couple of months at sea it has an evocative smell”.
Read more about their adventure at www.petegoss.com
