Steve waves at the start

Since the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, vessels can now avoid what many seafarers simply refer to as the ‘sailors graveyard’ but for the competitors in the Vendee Globe this route was not an option.  Even Steve White, who has demonstrated his ability to laugh-off every set-back and challenge encountered so far, was feeling the tension. “I am sitting here "clock watching", or watching the time to the waypoint on the electronic chart to be more accurate - not something I ever do when at sea except for when I'm doing corporate sailing days. Ninety four miles to the Horn!"
 
He continues, “The sea state here is pretty grim, the depth goes from over four thousand metres to two hundred in around thirty miles, but just a bit further round the shelf it is even steeper and makes the same transition in twelve miles - that would be quite a hill if it was on dry land! All the uninterrupted might of the Southern Ocean, its winds and current, banks up here and gives an odd "heaped" sea state. The wind is gusting from twenty two to thirty four knots, with shifts in the gusts. On top of it all, seawater has just got into the pilot remote controls on the tillers, making the autopilot continually change course of its own accord, only in one degree increments, but pretty rapidly, which is really very alarming! At this moment the BBC called for an interview – boy can they pick their moments - I had to phone back and explain myself afterwards, I was talking pretty quickly like some sort of gabbling cartoon character whilst still nervously watching the pilot!”

‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’ The Ancient Mariner

In previous blogs we have concentrated mostly on Steve’s exotic diet of golden syrup and porridge, but where does he get his fresh drinking water from I hear you ask. Well, he makes his own but sometimes he gets more than he bargained for. We let Steve explain, “When I bought the boat, it had a water maker fitted, but due to lack of use it had been left with seawater in it, they are supposed to be stored with a biocide and cleaner to keep them in good condition, however twenty four hours before the start of the race, it was still untouched. One of our other sponsors SpecDepot, came to the rescue, serviced the unit and ‘bingo’ it was working. What I didn’t realise was that I had a working water maker but some very unclean pipes! I was sick all the way down the Atlantic until finally my wife Kim asked, "Are you boiling your water?" - I told her I didn't need to as water maker water was pure.... Doh! A mass sterilisation ensued, and several billion algae and bacteria were evicted - they came out in lumps, yuck!”

A taste of the Doldrums

Steve managed to negotiate Cape Horn without any further issues, but as with every step on this race, it was a case of coping with one extreme and then another. Whereas the Southern Ocean presented Steve with one set of problems, the next weather pattern created an altogether different challenge, he explains, “It is eerily quiet on the boat as I write. It is never silent at sea, there is always the wind, the waves lapping and the buzz of the autopilot, but now, when the pilot stops for a few seconds or if you stand at the front where you are too far away to hear it there is only deafening silence..........there is not even any swell to slat the sails back and forth. The sea is like glass, and the sun is so bright you can't look to the horizon because of the glare.”
 
Homeward bound

At the time of writing Steve had moved up to 8th position with only 3,200 miles to go – and he’s on schedule to be back in Les Sable d’Olonne on the 20th February so he will have to put that romantic St. Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife Kim on hold for just a few more days! Watch this space as we describe Steve’s final push for home….