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October 21 2008

Dead calm

Kosatka entered the doldrums on Sunday night and has been jostling for position and advantage ever since.  Yesterday it was like a Monday morning traffic jam, with no idea when they would reach the finish.

Messages from the boat have a few common themes; the still oily calm of the water, the passion for pants onboard and strange smells lingering in the corners of the boat! With little breeze, it sounds pretty bad but at least some big clouds pass by to give them an occasion shower.

The entire fleet is getting slower but the temperature is rising and that has a huge impact on the smell. The first couple of days there was reports of stinking cheese feet but now in every corner there seems to be a different stink.

Ahead the weather is very dynamic. Not because of the breeze, it is the fast changing situations that makes life hard. The weather forecast is telling us that they will be stuck for some days in the doldrums at the east of the fleet.  They are still sailing on A4 VMG with 12 to 16 kn. Tomorrow the fleet will become even slower. The weather models are extremely changeable and there is no clear strategy. Therefore they have decided to be satisfied and not go any further west.