The return of higher speeds onboard Cessna Citation means that we can get a solid charge from our trusty hydrogenerator (pictured earlier) and that means that we are living by the wilderness maxim “take nothing but photos and leave nothing but footprints”. Our passage is marked only by a short skreech from the generator and our foamy footprint fades in seconds. However, the downside to this green travel on the ocean blue is that we don’t have an excuse to run the engine to warm ourselves up!

As we only have a tiny camping stove for boiling cupfuls at a time, our bodies are the primary source of heat on board. As such, in an effort to conserve our meagre supply of BTUs (British Thermal Units, the measure of heat pumps and heaters the world over) we keep the companion way doors closed except when one has to rush out to ease the sheets in a gust. In a small closed environment our breath condenses on the inner surface of the hull and deck, leaving them constantly dripping until pools form in the crevices in the structure of the boat. At least we’re not sinking, but the rate of accumulation is staggering!

The good news is that the wind is moving ever more to the south, allowing our boat to shift from a walk to a trot with a gallop forecasted soon. After we tacked north looking for extra pressure a couple of days ago the north-south separation between us and Financial Crisis has been worryingly large. Thankfully we have been able to maintain quite a high reaching angle with the boat’s favorite sail and as they have come north on the new breeze our north-south leverage has been decreasing along with their lead. Being closer together reduces the risks that they will find a favorable shift and leave us for dead, as they almost did by burying into the high pressure zone yesterday.

Currently 717 miles to the Horn and 14 miles to take back. I’m thankful that we only have a 2% disadvantage to overcome as we must sail prudently in these cold and unforgiving conditions. The wind blows harder here for a given wind speed, so sail settings that worked in the warmer Atlantic climes need to be adjusted to avoid wipeouts. The new routing has confirmed my earlier ETA of an early Tuesday morning rounding of the Horn. However the race doesn’t stop at this mythical landmark, especially as a low pressure system also has the same forecasted arrival time!