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BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
2 Aug
by Colin de Mowbray
Leg four is now well underway as these reports show.
Ariel 1030 GMT 1 August
Jim Thom (Skipper)
Good morning all!
The new crew arrived safely after good night in Reykjavik sampling local cuisine, namely Guillemot! A very small 'plane slid past the mountain onto the gravel strip where Charlie was there to meet everyone. He was in a hurry to leave the exposed anchorage and return to the safety of Ammasalik before the ice got thicker. The temperature is 5 deg and we all had a bracing half hour walk to yachts.
Once underway Antiope took the lead to teach me some new tricks. The air is very still, the mountains are reflected in sea and the ever present ice forms incredible shapes and has wondrous colours. We had lots of manoeuvring through tight leads before arriving at Ammasalik. On arrival Charlie says that the ice is very thin and easy!
The crew will be walking on Saturday and Sunday, led by Matt. The aim is to leave AM on Monday and start out passage out to the open sea.
Cheers, Jim.
Antiope 1857 GMT 1 August
At Ammasalik (East Greenland)
From Charlie Osborne (Skipper)
The new crews have settled in. Matt is now tiring them out with a massive trek. Unfortunately the weather is presently lousy - overcast and very wet. Our ice report looks good so hope to make open sea on Monday and sail to Vestermann Islands.
Regards to all. Charlie
by Colin de Mowbray
The Vestermann islands (Vestmannaeyjar) are a group of very small islands about 15 miles off the south coast of Iceland - about 75 miles SE of Reykjavik.
Ariel 0003 GMT 2 August
Alex Thompson (Mate)
At Ammasalik (East Greenland)
It is a day of rain today and most of the crew went walking with Matt. It has been a good chance for Jim and I to catch up with the jobs on the boat and prepare for the voyage ahead. A Westerly 38 attempted to leave today but the ice foiled their attempts. Makes a mockery of the ice chart Jim brought allegedly from the internet. The ice reports we have got here from the Danish Met office shows the ice to 6 to 8 tenths but we are confident of a withdrawal from Greenland on Monday. Special `ICE` safety briefs will begin tomorrow and we expect if we get out that it will take all day.
Jim has been practising his technique and is already like a veteran! Tonight we have entertained the Anderson family who are continuing a five week holiday finishing on the 8th August They have been coming here for 20 years! Jim is off to sample the local delights at the only bar. There will be more walking tomorrow but more rain is forecast. Maybe the weather in UK is better this time!
Best Wishes from everyone. Alex
by Colin de Mowbray
The ice map Alex is critical of was indeed from the internet (cheeky pup!). Len Grigg rang from Reykjavik on his way out and asked me to fax the latest one from NOAA and I was able to get it to him 15 minutes later. If you want to see these charts the address is
http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/East_Arctic/Greenland_Sea/Greenland_Sea_South
BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
The log entries are produced from messages sent by both Clipper yachts via their InmarsatC using BT satellite services. They are compiled either by Colin de Mowbray or David Cullen and the intention is to have them published by 1000BST daily (but they are sometimes late!)
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Should you wish to communicate with either of the Clippers please refer to the article 'Satcoms made easy' (Yes, it's a lie) is a news items dated 11 June 98 on the Clipper Ventures' Home page
BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
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