Friday, March 26, 2004
Have A Wetass Weekend...
Alpathon Update--19 Down, 63(!) To Go: A few weeks ago TWC reported on two Wetass Frenchmen--Patrick Berhault and Philippe Magnin--who are attempting to climb all 82 4,000 meter Alps in 82 days. Well, they are knocking them off, one by one, and going strong. Some bad weather has put them about a week behind schedule. But they are already doubling and tripling up on some days. Here's a somewhat convoluted report which nevertheless will give you sense of what their absurdly exhausting days are like:
"Patrick and Phillip woke up early this night at 2.30 and at about four o'clock in the morning they left in a direction of Emile Rey (4068m) pass in hope to rush by it (and the main thing, by its rockfalls attending the ascent) before the day's beginning. From there they started climbing Brouillard (4068m) - their first today's "4-thousand" mountain via the posh mixed ridge... Then they are going on the movement on the ridge up to summit of Baretti (4006m), their today's second "4-thousand" mountain. " It's a very beautiful, pyramidal top, with own charisma. Is a pity, that it is a little far," - Patrick comments. After Baretti Patrick Berhault and Philippe Magnin are going to descend to Emile Rey pass again to head for their third "4-thousand" mountain of this day - Louis Amedee (4470m). Then they plan to make their trip further on the ridge to the fourth summit - Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4765m), and, at last, at 17.20 the prospect to Mont Blanc (4810m) will be open..."
Incredible. The more I think about this one the more I love it. Just when you think there's nothing new to try, a couple of guys sitting around in a bar somewhere come up with something that's creative, easy to understand, and--most of all--unf*ckingbelievably difficult. Stay tuned. This is a monster project...
Mountain Maniac Magnin: "Look at all these goddamned Alps. What the hell were we thinking, Patrick?"
"Patrick and Phillip woke up early this night at 2.30 and at about four o'clock in the morning they left in a direction of Emile Rey (4068m) pass in hope to rush by it (and the main thing, by its rockfalls attending the ascent) before the day's beginning. From there they started climbing Brouillard (4068m) - their first today's "4-thousand" mountain via the posh mixed ridge... Then they are going on the movement on the ridge up to summit of Baretti (4006m), their today's second "4-thousand" mountain. " It's a very beautiful, pyramidal top, with own charisma. Is a pity, that it is a little far," - Patrick comments. After Baretti Patrick Berhault and Philippe Magnin are going to descend to Emile Rey pass again to head for their third "4-thousand" mountain of this day - Louis Amedee (4470m). Then they plan to make their trip further on the ridge to the fourth summit - Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4765m), and, at last, at 17.20 the prospect to Mont Blanc (4810m) will be open..."
Incredible. The more I think about this one the more I love it. Just when you think there's nothing new to try, a couple of guys sitting around in a bar somewhere come up with something that's creative, easy to understand, and--most of all--unf*ckingbelievably difficult. Stay tuned. This is a monster project...
Mountain Maniac Magnin: "Look at all these goddamned Alps. What the hell were we thinking, Patrick?"
Annals of Intervention--Free Willy: Divers from the Center For Coastal Studies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are going to try to disentangle a North Atlantic Right Whale from some fishing gear that has been killing it slowly for more than a week. The whale was tagged with a satellite transmitter off the coast of Florida, and has been tracked north while the teams wait for suitable weather. Today could be the day. Why all this effort to save a single whale? Well, there are only about 300 North Atlantic Right Whales, and every year a few are run down by ships or wrapped up and killed by fishing gear. So every one counts (find out more about Right Whales here). But it's not easy working with an exhausted, panicked 40 ton animal. You should see the size of the syringe used to sedate the whale...
"You humans made this gear....So get it the hell off me. Now!"
(Photo: NOAA)
"You humans made this gear....So get it the hell off me. Now!"
(Photo: NOAA)
JV Jumble--Ho-Hum: Geronimo is passing under New Zealand, a solid 500 miles behind Cheyenne's pace, but 1350 miles ahead of Orange 2002. Unlike Cheyenne, they just haven't been able to sit on one or two depressions, and ride them across the Southern Ocean. Still, they have been improving on Orange 2002's performance, and Geronimo's web site helpfully provides the figures to prove it:
"The total number of nautical miles covered in the first 30 full days at sea was 12,904.04 for Geronimo, compared with 11,847.37 for Orange.
The average daily distance covered point-to-point since the start was 444.97 nautical miles for the grey trimaran, against 408.53 for the catamaran Orange.
The average speed achieved since the start by Olivier de Kersauson and his crew has been 18.54 knots. The figure for Bruno Peyron and his crew at the comparable stage of their 2002 attempt was 17.02 knots.
Geronimo's best day so far was Day 15 (12 March 2004), in which she covered 608.61 nautical miles point-to-point, at an average speed of 25.26 knots. Orange's best day was her Day 17, when she covered 532 nautical miles at an average of 22.15 knots. In both cases, these best performances were recorded in the South Atlantic, a few days before rounding the Cape of Good Hope."
One thousand miles from the Equator, Cheyenne has finally found the trade winds, and has managed to maintain a lead of a few days over Orange 2002. It's been a frustrating 3 days for the crew. Dave Scully is reduced to pleading:
"The track made by the little green boat on the chart plotter has changed from long smooth arcs, to a drunken scrawl, and all the while the ghost ship Orange is closing the gap we have spent three quarters of the distance around the world opening. The crew is tired of looking at it.
Well, you get a bit of this on the big jobs, and one knows that all it will take to turn the mood around is another 5kts of wind speed. We are not hard to please. But we would like it NOW PLEASE, BECAUSE WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF LAUNDRY TO WASH! The WSSC does not offer a consolation prize for cleanliness on arrival in Ouessant."
Next up are the Doldrums and Equator. Very tricky stuff, which will keep Adrienne Cahalan glued to the nav chair...
Yo, Adrienne: "I know Steve is worried about the record, but I wish he'd let me up on deck at least ONCE a day..."
"The total number of nautical miles covered in the first 30 full days at sea was 12,904.04 for Geronimo, compared with 11,847.37 for Orange.
The average daily distance covered point-to-point since the start was 444.97 nautical miles for the grey trimaran, against 408.53 for the catamaran Orange.
The average speed achieved since the start by Olivier de Kersauson and his crew has been 18.54 knots. The figure for Bruno Peyron and his crew at the comparable stage of their 2002 attempt was 17.02 knots.
Geronimo's best day so far was Day 15 (12 March 2004), in which she covered 608.61 nautical miles point-to-point, at an average speed of 25.26 knots. Orange's best day was her Day 17, when she covered 532 nautical miles at an average of 22.15 knots. In both cases, these best performances were recorded in the South Atlantic, a few days before rounding the Cape of Good Hope."
One thousand miles from the Equator, Cheyenne has finally found the trade winds, and has managed to maintain a lead of a few days over Orange 2002. It's been a frustrating 3 days for the crew. Dave Scully is reduced to pleading:
"The track made by the little green boat on the chart plotter has changed from long smooth arcs, to a drunken scrawl, and all the while the ghost ship Orange is closing the gap we have spent three quarters of the distance around the world opening. The crew is tired of looking at it.
Well, you get a bit of this on the big jobs, and one knows that all it will take to turn the mood around is another 5kts of wind speed. We are not hard to please. But we would like it NOW PLEASE, BECAUSE WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF LAUNDRY TO WASH! The WSSC does not offer a consolation prize for cleanliness on arrival in Ouessant."
Next up are the Doldrums and Equator. Very tricky stuff, which will keep Adrienne Cahalan glued to the nav chair...
Yo, Adrienne: "I know Steve is worried about the record, but I wish he'd let me up on deck at least ONCE a day..."
Thursday, March 25, 2004
The Wetass Library: I'm on a major mountain climbing literature jag, and because there is a documentary which just hit the theaters am reading Joe Simpson's Touching The Void. This is Simpson's beautifully written account of crawling off a Peruvian mountain with a broken leg, after his climbing partner Simon Yates was forced to abandon him on the mountain to save his own life. It's an incredible story. After pioneering a route up the remote Siula Grande, Simpson fell on the descent and shattered his knee. He knows instantly he is almost certainly dead and will probably never get off the mountain. But Yates tries to lower him down thousands of feet of steep, dangerous mountain face. Eventually, in the midst of a storm, Yates inadvertently lowers Simpson over an ice cliff. The rope is not long enough to get Simpson to the bottom, and he is too weak to climb back up to solid ground. Yates is locked into a belay seat carved out in the snow, holding Simpson's full weight. Neither climber can move, and if something doesn't change they will both freeze to death. Slowly, Yates's belay seat starts to collapse underneath him. He has two choices: try to hang on and almost certainly be pulled off the mountain with Simpson; or, cut the rope. It is a brutal, brutal, dilemma. But Yates does what he has to do. He cuts the rope--knowing that he is almost certainly sending his friend and climbing partner falling to his death--because if he doesn't the Siula Grande will kill two climbers instead of just one. Here's Yates' account in the book of what was going through his mind:
"The knife was in my sack...Fumbling at the catches on the rucksack I could feel the snow slowly giving way beneath me. Panic threatened to swamp me. I felt in the sack, desperately searching for the knife. My hand closed round something smooth and I pulled it out...It needed no pressure. The taut rope exploded at the touch of the blade, and I flew backwards into the seat as the pulling strain vanished. I was shaking...I was alive and for the moment that was all I could think about. Where Joe was, or whether he was alive, didn't concern me in the long silence after the cutting. His weight had gone from me. There was only the wind and the avalanches left to me."
And here was what Simpson was thinking at the same moment, as he dangled over a gaping crevasse:
"My torch beam died. The cold had killed the batteries. I saw stars in a dark gap above me. Stars, or lights in my hand...Then, what I had waited for pounced on me. The stars went out, and I fell. Like something come alive, the rope lashed violently against my face and I fell silently, endlessly into nothingness, as if dreaming of falling. I fell fast, faster than thought, and my stomach protested at the swooping speed of it. I swept down, and from above I saw myself falling and felt nothing. No thoughts, and all fears gone away. So this is it!"
Amazingly, Simpson survives a 100-foot fall. As he lies in the crevasse he pulls the rope end to him and sees that it has been cut. He understands. He is not bitter. He took his chances, and knew Yates had made a choice, the right choice. But he doesn't give up. He manages to crawl and climb his way out of the crevasse, and drag himself over six miles or rough ground and glacial moraine to surprise Yates at their base camp, just hours before Yates was planning to pull out. A truly amazing story, and one in which Simpson and Yates face death with dispassion, courage, and brutal honesty. Can't wait to see the movie (for a taste, download the trailer here)....
Touching The Void: An Epic Story of Courage, Friendship and Confronting Death In the Mountains
"The knife was in my sack...Fumbling at the catches on the rucksack I could feel the snow slowly giving way beneath me. Panic threatened to swamp me. I felt in the sack, desperately searching for the knife. My hand closed round something smooth and I pulled it out...It needed no pressure. The taut rope exploded at the touch of the blade, and I flew backwards into the seat as the pulling strain vanished. I was shaking...I was alive and for the moment that was all I could think about. Where Joe was, or whether he was alive, didn't concern me in the long silence after the cutting. His weight had gone from me. There was only the wind and the avalanches left to me."
And here was what Simpson was thinking at the same moment, as he dangled over a gaping crevasse:
"My torch beam died. The cold had killed the batteries. I saw stars in a dark gap above me. Stars, or lights in my hand...Then, what I had waited for pounced on me. The stars went out, and I fell. Like something come alive, the rope lashed violently against my face and I fell silently, endlessly into nothingness, as if dreaming of falling. I fell fast, faster than thought, and my stomach protested at the swooping speed of it. I swept down, and from above I saw myself falling and felt nothing. No thoughts, and all fears gone away. So this is it!"
Amazingly, Simpson survives a 100-foot fall. As he lies in the crevasse he pulls the rope end to him and sees that it has been cut. He understands. He is not bitter. He took his chances, and knew Yates had made a choice, the right choice. But he doesn't give up. He manages to crawl and climb his way out of the crevasse, and drag himself over six miles or rough ground and glacial moraine to surprise Yates at their base camp, just hours before Yates was planning to pull out. A truly amazing story, and one in which Simpson and Yates face death with dispassion, courage, and brutal honesty. Can't wait to see the movie (for a taste, download the trailer here)....
Touching The Void: An Epic Story of Courage, Friendship and Confronting Death In the Mountains
TWC Quick Hits...:
Angry Hikers in New Zealand Setting Booby Traps For Mountain Bikers: Thumbtacks, plus logs and trenches cunningly placed around blind corners. New Zealand authorities now troubled by spike in landmine importation...
Australian Teenage Schoolgirl Lands 1,000 Pound Shark: Battles monster for 8 hours, talking on cell phone the entire time...
Hiker With Bionic Leg Walking Length of Appalachian Trail: Can hop 20 feet...in slow motion and accompanied by funny sound.
"Sure I like your company, Rex. But if you pee on my leg one more time, you're going home..."
Angry Hikers in New Zealand Setting Booby Traps For Mountain Bikers: Thumbtacks, plus logs and trenches cunningly placed around blind corners. New Zealand authorities now troubled by spike in landmine importation...
Australian Teenage Schoolgirl Lands 1,000 Pound Shark: Battles monster for 8 hours, talking on cell phone the entire time...
Hiker With Bionic Leg Walking Length of Appalachian Trail: Can hop 20 feet...in slow motion and accompanied by funny sound.
"Sure I like your company, Rex. But if you pee on my leg one more time, you're going home..."
JV Jumble--Fashion Police Issue Tickets: Geronimo is back to cruising at 20-plus knots, but is still about a day behind Cheyenne's Southern Ocean pace (though 1275 miles ahead of Orange 2002). Cheyenne has finally busted out of light air jail and is clawing north toward the Trade Winds, and still has a 941 mile lead on Orange. The warming weather has got the crew stripping down from full foul weather cover-up to more individualistic tropical wear. Navigator Adrienne Cahalan is appalled and calls the worst offenders out. Irishman Damian Foxall is top fashion criminal:
"Picture the scene, we are amongst squalls, towering big black thunderstorm clouds full of rain and wind which are associated with the low pressure system to our west. Even though we are in the tropics there is not a ray of the yellow stuff to be seen. The watch on deck calls over the VHF for the standby watch to come and reef the main and change to the storm jib as we start to see upwards of 30kts on the dial. Well you can imagine our surprise when Damian emerges from the hatch in silk paisley boxer shorts and knee high Gill sea boots. That awesome combination together with a tight fitting lycra top and sou'wester hat made me wonder whether he was not about to give us a tuneful rendition of 'YMCA' rather than run the bow for a sail change."
Nick Leggatt runs a close second:
"Yesterday in another sail change and just after being freshly washed, Nick strolled up on deck in a collared shirt, neat 'ironed' pleated shorts and docksiders. He looked like he was either heading straight on to the golf course or out for a day race from Cape Town Yacht Club. Very peculiar. When questioned about how he achieved that look after the clothes he was now wearing had been squashed in a bag for almost 50 days he commented: "Its a miracle: even though there has been no laying of hands". Well a wave later came and finished him off but he continues to wear the same gear sopping wet and will do so for the next week. This is the same person who took off his foul weather gear on Day 9 at the equator and still had his jeans on from when we left the dock."
At least crew morale is high....
Fashionista Foxall: "Oh man, wait 'til they see what I've got on underneath all this gear...Back home in Ireland I'd be arrested for indecency."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
"Picture the scene, we are amongst squalls, towering big black thunderstorm clouds full of rain and wind which are associated with the low pressure system to our west. Even though we are in the tropics there is not a ray of the yellow stuff to be seen. The watch on deck calls over the VHF for the standby watch to come and reef the main and change to the storm jib as we start to see upwards of 30kts on the dial. Well you can imagine our surprise when Damian emerges from the hatch in silk paisley boxer shorts and knee high Gill sea boots. That awesome combination together with a tight fitting lycra top and sou'wester hat made me wonder whether he was not about to give us a tuneful rendition of 'YMCA' rather than run the bow for a sail change."
Nick Leggatt runs a close second:
"Yesterday in another sail change and just after being freshly washed, Nick strolled up on deck in a collared shirt, neat 'ironed' pleated shorts and docksiders. He looked like he was either heading straight on to the golf course or out for a day race from Cape Town Yacht Club. Very peculiar. When questioned about how he achieved that look after the clothes he was now wearing had been squashed in a bag for almost 50 days he commented: "Its a miracle: even though there has been no laying of hands". Well a wave later came and finished him off but he continues to wear the same gear sopping wet and will do so for the next week. This is the same person who took off his foul weather gear on Day 9 at the equator and still had his jeans on from when we left the dock."
At least crew morale is high....
Fashionista Foxall: "Oh man, wait 'til they see what I've got on underneath all this gear...Back home in Ireland I'd be arrested for indecency."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Wetass Video of the Week...: Speaking of toothy denizens of the deep, check out this sharking (sorry, couldn't help myself) video of a surfer getting attacked by not one, but two (two!), great whites. Don't worry, the sharks spat the lucky son-of-a-gun out...
"Blech. This kid must have eaten a lot of garlic last night...Plus, I just hate the gnarly taste of wetsuit."
"Blech. This kid must have eaten a lot of garlic last night...Plus, I just hate the gnarly taste of wetsuit."
Annals of Personal Irresponsibility--Shark Justice...Almost: So here's the scene. Two New Zealand divers go spear fishing in shark infested waters. They nail some fish and then, without much thought, spear a 10-foot shark to keep it from going after their haul. They're pretty proud of themselves. But what should they do with the carcass? There's blood in the water. Better drag the dead beast up onto a nearby jumble of rocks. And better do it fast because other sharks are starting to arrive on the scene and seem to be getting a little..bit..frenzied. So up they go, like seals, dragging the dead shark with them. But now what? They are 200 meters from shore, lots and lots of other sharks are circling the rock, and...ooops...the tide is coming up and looks set to cover their safe perch in a few hours. They're doomed.
Well, it's quite a picture, a cautionary tale about thinking ahead and piscine justice. But luckily--very luckily--these two hunters-turned-hunted happen to get the attention of some people on shore with wild, panicked gesticulations. The beachgoers think the shark carcass is a human in trouble and call in the emergency services. A helicopter is dispatched and arrives just in time to avert a nasty final act. "We could see [the sharks] from the air. Their fins were going round (the rock). It was like something out of a horror movie," reports one of the helicopter crew. Rescue ensues. Lesson learned? Who knows, the two divers made themselves "unavailable for comment." I guess that's better than the sharks making them unavailable for comment. But it's another case of stupidity in the wild without consequence. Imagine how differently we would venture into nature if there was no prospect of being bailed out when we make mistakes. Read the full story here and judge for yourself....
Frustrated Finner: "F*cking helicopter. We had those two plonkers SO dead to rights..."
Well, it's quite a picture, a cautionary tale about thinking ahead and piscine justice. But luckily--very luckily--these two hunters-turned-hunted happen to get the attention of some people on shore with wild, panicked gesticulations. The beachgoers think the shark carcass is a human in trouble and call in the emergency services. A helicopter is dispatched and arrives just in time to avert a nasty final act. "We could see [the sharks] from the air. Their fins were going round (the rock). It was like something out of a horror movie," reports one of the helicopter crew. Rescue ensues. Lesson learned? Who knows, the two divers made themselves "unavailable for comment." I guess that's better than the sharks making them unavailable for comment. But it's another case of stupidity in the wild without consequence. Imagine how differently we would venture into nature if there was no prospect of being bailed out when we make mistakes. Read the full story here and judge for yourself....
Frustrated Finner: "F*cking helicopter. We had those two plonkers SO dead to rights..."
Jules Verne Role Reversal--Today...Geronimo Fast, Cheyenne Slow: Not much action out there. Geronimo is back in the wind underneath Australia, but about a day behind Cheyenne's pace through the Southern Ocean. And Cheyenne has been going oh-so-slowly (just 234 miles over the past 24 hours) off the coast of Brazil as she desperately tries to find the southeast trade winds. Her lead over Orange 2002 is down to about 800 miles. Yup, sometimes sailing even the fastest boats on the planet can be, well, a bit boring...
"Yawn...Is this thing almost over?"
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
"Yawn...Is this thing almost over?"
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Annals of Adventure--Blue Nile From Source To Sea: Here's a good one. A Wetass named Pasquale "PV" Scaturro, who is better known for guiding a blind climber up Everest and Ama Dablam, is leading a rafting expedition from the headwaters of the world's most famous river to the Mediterranean Sea. What's so hard about that? Well, how about: deadly crocodiles and hippos, class V to VI river rapids, aggressive local militiamen, bandits (shifta), temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, and the political upheaval of war zones run by rebel factions.
PV and his team are 72 days into the 3,250 mile trip, and still alive. They are now battling massive sand storms. Check out their web site, with its expedition reports and photo gallery (featuring everything from snoozing pythons to flashing tribesmen), here.
PV Scaturro: "Nobody f*cks with me..."
PV and his team are 72 days into the 3,250 mile trip, and still alive. They are now battling massive sand storms. Check out their web site, with its expedition reports and photo gallery (featuring everything from snoozing pythons to flashing tribesmen), here.
PV Scaturro: "Nobody f*cks with me..."
TWC Quick Hits...:
Seal Head Found In Luggage At Logan Airport: Confiscated by security screeners, along with toe nail clippers...
Australian Researchers Discover Bizarre Fishy Sex Rituals and Vampirism 20,000 Leagues Under Tasman Sea: "He drinks her blood, in return for giving her sperm." Pay-Per-View special and book deal on spicing up the bedroom in works...
Guinness Record Holder For Hangin' With Snakes Bitten By Cobra...And Dies: Snake apparently bored of hearing same stories over and over...
"Uh-oh, the cobra is looking at me funny again...I've really got to get a normal job."
(Photo: Reuters)
Seal Head Found In Luggage At Logan Airport: Confiscated by security screeners, along with toe nail clippers...
Australian Researchers Discover Bizarre Fishy Sex Rituals and Vampirism 20,000 Leagues Under Tasman Sea: "He drinks her blood, in return for giving her sperm." Pay-Per-View special and book deal on spicing up the bedroom in works...
Guinness Record Holder For Hangin' With Snakes Bitten By Cobra...And Dies: Snake apparently bored of hearing same stories over and over...
"Uh-oh, the cobra is looking at me funny again...I've really got to get a normal job."
(Photo: Reuters)
JV Jumble--Cheyenne Fast, Geronimo Slow: What's going on with the world's weather? Geronimo, in the windy Southern Ocean, has been limping along in a miasma of light airs and racked up only 350 miles. Cheyenne, supposedly in the difficult South Atlantic, skated along to a 539 mile day. That puts them more than 1000 miles ahead of Orange 2002 again, and has to have De Kersauson hurling Gallic epithets at Neptune. Worse, Geronimo's slow 48 hours put her almost a day behind Cheyenne's record time from the English Channel to Cape Leeuwin (now we'll see whether De Kersauson stoops to target Fossett's semi-invented Indian Ocean record).
Onboard Cheyenne, morale is high though a very slow day crossing a ridge of light air is upon them. After that it looks like they'll have a fast passage to the Equator. The big worry is the huge high pressure system dominating the North Atlantic for the moment. This is the sort of weather barrier that killed Geronimo's record attempt last year, after she had led Orange 2002 all the way around the world. There is still time for the North Atlantic weather picture to improve, though, so the crew is focused on more mundane issues, according to Dave Scully:
"In the absence of cooking gas, the cold frappucino has become the refreshment of choice on board, and they are quite tasty, though requiring a deft hand at stirring. The Mars bars have disappointingly disappeared from the daily ration packs, in deference to the increasing heat, and we are starting to look hungrily at the flying fish, though our garlic supply has long since sprouted green shoots. Young men's minds are turning to thoughts of washing, and the foredeck is turning into a bucket bath venue. Beards off, shorts on, and may we find a way through the less windy bits for a fast passage home."
What, no major repairs?
It's amazing what a resourceful crew can produce at sea...
Onboard Cheyenne, morale is high though a very slow day crossing a ridge of light air is upon them. After that it looks like they'll have a fast passage to the Equator. The big worry is the huge high pressure system dominating the North Atlantic for the moment. This is the sort of weather barrier that killed Geronimo's record attempt last year, after she had led Orange 2002 all the way around the world. There is still time for the North Atlantic weather picture to improve, though, so the crew is focused on more mundane issues, according to Dave Scully:
"In the absence of cooking gas, the cold frappucino has become the refreshment of choice on board, and they are quite tasty, though requiring a deft hand at stirring. The Mars bars have disappointingly disappeared from the daily ration packs, in deference to the increasing heat, and we are starting to look hungrily at the flying fish, though our garlic supply has long since sprouted green shoots. Young men's minds are turning to thoughts of washing, and the foredeck is turning into a bucket bath venue. Beards off, shorts on, and may we find a way through the less windy bits for a fast passage home."
What, no major repairs?
It's amazing what a resourceful crew can produce at sea...
Monday, March 22, 2004
Worst Job In The World Follow-Up...: After Friday's "sewer-diver" story, reader Paul Jones passed on some other worthy candidates:
Bad Job: "Sheesh. Would it really be too much for those cheapskates in management to buy us some bigger bags?"
Very Bad Job: ""Oh man, the lieutenant's got ZERO sense of humor. It was just a wedgie, for Mao's sake..."
Bad Job: "Sheesh. Would it really be too much for those cheapskates in management to buy us some bigger bags?"
Very Bad Job: ""Oh man, the lieutenant's got ZERO sense of humor. It was just a wedgie, for Mao's sake..."
Arctic Update--Dominick Still Missing, Ben And Wave Inching (And I Mean Inching) North: The helicopter search for Dominick found no sign of a living, breathing French-born Finnish Arctic explorer. There's not much else to do, except hope she miraculously turns up. Here's a measure of how hard things are on the ice. Ben Saunders has been at it more than two weeks, and he has covered just 65.6 nautical miles. And he needs to trek a total of--wait for it--842 to get to Canada. By my estimate he should be there by, oh, next Christmas. Wave Vidmar isn't doing any better, except for the fact that he's only going halfway, which is to say he's stopping at the North Pole. Meanwhile, want to know what keeps Ben fueled up and crawling six miles a day? Here's his description:
"On a practical note, apparently a few people have asked what I'm eating. Lots is the short answer. Just under 6,000 calories per day, which I'm sure would normally be enough to sustain a champion sumo wrestler. Up here, I'm still losing weight.
Breakfast is my own secret recipe high-calorie muesli (a bit too sweet, actually) washed down with a protein shake, a handful of vitamin pills and half a litre of energy drink.
I don't have lunch, but eat/drink every hour I'm on the move - hot energy drink and some custom made energy bars from Science in Sport (they even say 'Ben's bars' on the wrapper!)
In the evening, some Green & Black's chocolate as a bit of a treat and then the highlight of the day - one of my Norwegian freeze-dried evening meals (courtesy of Expeditionfoods.com). Cod and potato casserole is my current favourite, but I'm slightly worries the fishy aroma wafting from my tent will have the bears' mouths watering!!"
Cod and potato casserole? Well, there's no doubt these guys are a bit different...
Bart?: "Oh man, I'm hallucinating. Stay away from me, kid, unless you've got a case of Duff beer stashed somewhere."
(Image: ExplorersWeb)
"On a practical note, apparently a few people have asked what I'm eating. Lots is the short answer. Just under 6,000 calories per day, which I'm sure would normally be enough to sustain a champion sumo wrestler. Up here, I'm still losing weight.
Breakfast is my own secret recipe high-calorie muesli (a bit too sweet, actually) washed down with a protein shake, a handful of vitamin pills and half a litre of energy drink.
I don't have lunch, but eat/drink every hour I'm on the move - hot energy drink and some custom made energy bars from Science in Sport (they even say 'Ben's bars' on the wrapper!)
In the evening, some Green & Black's chocolate as a bit of a treat and then the highlight of the day - one of my Norwegian freeze-dried evening meals (courtesy of Expeditionfoods.com). Cod and potato casserole is my current favourite, but I'm slightly worries the fishy aroma wafting from my tent will have the bears' mouths watering!!"
Cod and potato casserole? Well, there's no doubt these guys are a bit different...
Bart?: "Oh man, I'm hallucinating. Stay away from me, kid, unless you've got a case of Duff beer stashed somewhere."
(Image: ExplorersWeb)
Weekend Update--Cheyenne Flying North: After a day of torture, which just topped 200 miles through the water, Steve Fossett's 125-foot cat has found the wind again and ripped off a 500-plus mile day straight down the course. The slow day had one major benefit--the 5 guys who had to spend 10 hours up the mast repairing the mast track didn't get to flayed to bits at the tip of a whippy 143-foot pole. Cheyenne still holds a lead of more than 700 miles over Orange 2002, which on this part of the course (with its lighter, trickier winds) is still about 2 days. There is still plenty to worry about, though, with non-stop repair work. Here's Dave Scully:
"No sooner did we have the last bolt in place [on the mast track] when our instrument system decided to respond to the balmy weather by going on holiday. Driving this monster at night with no electronic support is hard work, so we immediately set out to fix it. Nic, Adrienne, and your correspondent went at it for 24 hours, and thankfully were able to get the little numbers winking again. This instrument package is known as the Hydra system, which is very appropriate, as like the many headed monster of legend, as you solve one problem, another crops up in its place!"
Even if Cheyenne makes it home under sail power, and even if she takes the record, this baby is going to be a wreck. Fossett, particularly if he breaks the record, will be moving on to his round-the-world solo, non-stop flight and Cheyenne will probably be up for sale. Anyone in the market for a clapped-out world record holder that needs work...lots and lots of work?
Last Southern Ocean Albatross: "What's that? You want me to go crap all over some boat with three hulls that's following behind you?"
(Photo Nick Leggatt)
"No sooner did we have the last bolt in place [on the mast track] when our instrument system decided to respond to the balmy weather by going on holiday. Driving this monster at night with no electronic support is hard work, so we immediately set out to fix it. Nic, Adrienne, and your correspondent went at it for 24 hours, and thankfully were able to get the little numbers winking again. This instrument package is known as the Hydra system, which is very appropriate, as like the many headed monster of legend, as you solve one problem, another crops up in its place!"
Even if Cheyenne makes it home under sail power, and even if she takes the record, this baby is going to be a wreck. Fossett, particularly if he breaks the record, will be moving on to his round-the-world solo, non-stop flight and Cheyenne will probably be up for sale. Anyone in the market for a clapped-out world record holder that needs work...lots and lots of work?
Last Southern Ocean Albatross: "What's that? You want me to go crap all over some boat with three hulls that's following behind you?"
(Photo Nick Leggatt)
Weekend Update I--Geronimo Flying East...Sort Of: An ocean and a half in Cheyenne's wake, Olivier De Kersauson and Geronimo have finally hit a little weather divot, in the form of a ridge of light air. D'oh. That's put a little crimp in De Kersauson's plans to get to Cape Leeuwin faster than Fossett. The Great Cape is about 200 miles away, so it's going to be close (though TWC gives Cheyenne the edge unless De Kersauson is fiddling his position reports)....
"Zut. How can we be slower than that sailing junk yard with two hulls?"
"Zut. How can we be slower than that sailing junk yard with two hulls?"
![[Valid Atom]](http://www.wetasschronicles.com/artwork/valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom feed"){kind=small}
