Waves, all shapes and sizes

Hi All,
 
The mobile aviary left Bahrain Team Pindar last night at sunset, perhaps to go back to Gough Island. Now just passing a few birds on our route, and they do not stay for long, they have fish to catch.
 
But what we have lost in birds, we have gained in waves, all shapes and sizes, some breaking, some not, big rollers and little sideslappers, and all of them cold to the touch. They have been formed by the 35 knot tail winds that are pushing us eastwards towards the first ice gate, now just over 100 miles away, and it’s the first Southern Ocean gale for us.
 
The boat is handling it really well, the bow is riding high with the gear stacked at the back and the aft water ballast filled. I have done quite a bit of steering today as the average speed is higher hand steering, but the real top speeds are always under pilot, as the pilot has no fear, and it will jump into the biggest hole if it appears in front of it, and ride it to the bottom, carving like a surfer across the face of the wave. The boat is bouncing off all the little waves and it’s a job to hold on down below when we take off on a big wave. The highest speed so far is 28.3 on the GPS.
 
Looks like most of the fleet are doing good speeds, but it is likely some of the leaders might be getting into lighter airs tonight, so there is a chance to make up some miles. The boats behind are in even better conditions and will push through with strong winds for several days, so expect some compression all around.
 
Had a good tidy up last night to get ready for the strong winds today and in the process of stacking everything aft, I freed my bunk from storing equipment, so for the first time in 25 days I slept in something other than a bean bag. It felt good, but I won’t do it again tonight as I want to stay closer to the hatch and the instruments in case of any problems, so it’s back to the bean bag for me.
 
Cabin temp a pleasant 20 degrees and the water temp is 11.5 degrees at 4120S 01W.
 
Regards
 
Brian