Aboard his Class40 GryphonSolo2,American Joe Harris departed Newport (RI) on November 15 in a tender to fracture the 40 Foot Monohull Solo Non-Stop Round the World Record. That plot, however, or got derailed when a stop in Cape Town was needed for repairs to his energy systems. Heres an update from Joe on January 18...
It has been fairly exciting out here at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and/or the top of the Southern Ocean,where the westerly winds and cold fronts just keep rolling through. Last night it blew between 30 and 40k all night, and luckily I had not much sail up (3 reefs and the staysail), and so the boat rode through it Ok,although the big seas throw the boat around a lot. I heard from Commanders Weather yesterday that Tropical Cyclone Corentin is brewing to the north of me off Madagascar, packing winds of 80 to 100 mph, and so was advised to head East and South as posthaste as my little legs would carry me.
Yes Sir. I believe I have been averaging well over 9 knots over the last 3-4 days and it feels like I am in a rhythm with the weather systems and the boat. Lots of sail changes,but I like the work-out and it helps tire me out- which is good- as too much sitting around produces anxiety.
In other breaking news aboard GS2, I finished Neil Young's autobiography, and "Waging Heavy Peace" and thought it was,in the words of Richard Sherman, highly mediocre. Though I love his music, and this rambling,disorganized tale bounced around aimlessly in time, and literally seemed like he wrote it or dictated it in random spare moments as he drove or flew or whatever. besides, and it’s always great to hear how crazy a musician's life is,as it makes the rest of us gawk tame by comparison with our minor addictions and snide habits. These guys went big and many of them died young. A fun read for me, but not one I would recommend unless you are a enormous Neil Young fan.
Read on.
Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com