Mark maakt nog steeds een kans om 1ste te worden zolang de boel heel blijft.
Hij moet +/- 1,2 knoop sneller varen dan VDH.
Op het moment lukt dat uitstekend maar zal sterk van het weer afhangen of dat zo blijft, VDH moet aan de wind wat rustiger aan doen met zijn gekeusde mast.
Als je Mark zijn laatste verslag leest heeft zijn boot ook wel een refit nodig na aankomst.
VOICE UPDATE MARK #15
Hey, here's a message from me. A small update on how things are going on board. I thought it might be fun between Christmas and New Year. Everything goes well on board. Sailing close hauled for 14 days in a row had a huge impact on the boat. The suspension bracket of the wind vane completely torn off, he thick-walled steel pipe, it’s not completely torn but for 60% torn, so it suddenly came off almost completely. I have repaired the whole thing with some wooden doors. I made a whole new suspension system. Funny, because I did not stop sailing at all. While the wind vane was steering, I started to make the repairs. As Don said earlier this week it’s a 'Flinstones repair' but it is stronger than ever. I have been working from 16:00 pm until 3:00 am to fix it and to make sure it is really good. I used all the screws I had on board, so that's nice also. Now it’s really super solid, I used half a tube of sikaflex and off we go. I have now reached the tradewinds. For the next 4-5 days it’s all easy. When I reach the equator it will be close hauled again. Right now It’s so hot on board. It is not normal. When I go outside, most if the time it’s all wet and I'm still not healed on my buttocks from the Atlantic rowing. Those spots immediately reappear when my butt is wet for too long. So that’s the situation right now. So I really hurt my * & ^%, it’s really annoying. It feels like there are some kind of marbles in my buttocks. I cleaned my buttocks completely yesterday. Ah well nice story again. So I have completely cleaned it. Now I got wipes on it, it is better. After keeping it dry for a day, it feels better immediately. But when I have to get on the deck it is just soaking wet again so I’m wearing my sailing gear again. Outside it’s forty degrees Celsius and I'm in a full Southern Ocean suit to change my sails. It is what it is! I am working on it all,. It all goes well. My gas stove has fallen apart this week. I heard a bang at night and the whole stove was on the floor. But I managed to repair the stove so it’s back in business again. The last days it was just jumping out of the waves and then folding down. The mast foot has also broken. I could fix it also with wood I had on board. The fact is that sailing close hauled has more impact than the wind in the Southern Ocean can tell you. Because in general, in the Southern Ocean, there hasn’t been much of a problem. There often was a lot of wind, but if you do it right, it is all perfect. Oh please, this is very important, really the most important thing when I arrive … then you really have to bring me ‘Zaanse Mayonnaise’. You know those tubes. I really need that mayonnaise. You can’t buy it in France and when I have to stay in Les Sables d’Olonne for a week or two ... I’ll really enjoy eating good food. It will be nice to eat eggs with the mayonnaise. That would be very nice. So whether you can take 4 or 5 of those tubes with me so that I can enjoy them just as well!