Drakeonian Explorer's

Drakeonian Explorer's

You cant help but wonder how early explorers from the late 1700's through until early 1900's coped with the hard ship of the frozen south, I think of them often, like now mid way across the Drake Passage.

Even today with all the modern equipment on board and incredible protective HL wet weather gear with goretex layers, you cant for a moment wonder what those poor sods felt like and that they even had any fingers or toes left after a voyage to the "Freezer" as we often call it, remarkable endurance and fortitude.

For the team on Xplore heading south for our special project its important that I give thanks and acknowledgment to them all, at the start and I am sure at the finish.

Crew:

Meghann Jones, Australian (culinary whiz)

Debbi Smith, Scotland (trooper with a sandy wit)

Hydrography

Fernando Landeta, hydrography technician,Chilean (cant help but smile)

Yoann Boulaire, hydrographer Shom, France (so hydro, he was probably born on  the sea floor)

Observers.

Alesia Ramanenka, Belaurus (quietly knowing)

Ugo Angelelli, Italy (Mr history with gizzmo's)

John Clark, Australia (Irish and infectious)

Thanks team, so no matter what or how much we acheive, the journey and experience is what truly counts, because we are out here doing it.

Stephen Wilkins, skipper and expedition leader, Australian (where there's a Wilkins, there's a way)

 

Ready Test Go

Xplore has maybe been silent from news in the last two months, but we have certainly not be dormant.

Late in October just prior to leaving Valdivia in Chile I happened by chance to meet a commercial diver who visited Xplore as he was an interested sailor and wanting to buy some parts that we had no more use for.

In conversation as we drove into town, I asked what type of work he did, diving on industry pipe lines, inspections and.............. hydrographic surveys there in Chile.

Within the short 15 minute drive I couldn't stop asking him questions about the type of gear that they were using and his experience, like a kid in a lolly shop stuffing his face full of sweets, I couldn't get enough information or ask the questions fast enough.

We ended the drive in town, and I had explained what I had been trying to organize for over 3 years, but which was a dream and a plan that I had carried for more than 10 years, and that was to mount a private hydrographic survey in Antarctica.

Since late October we have been busy, too much so, but with good reason, we have just departed Ushuaia in Argentina, and we are heading for Antarctica. On board Xplore we have 8 people and some very special equipment, and we are going to go to Antarctica to survey.

The project is an initial test to see if a little old sailing boat called Xplore can do what the big boys of the hydrographic industry do, and that is to data collect and produce an accurate survey of the ocean sea floor using the latest in modern hydrographic survey equipment. This is a world first, not just in Antarctica, but truly in the world, because no one has ever hung $280,000 dollars worth of high tech equipment off the bow of a sailing yacht and been treated with credibility.

We have with us some very clever people, Fernando who is the Chilean hydrographic company who we have teamed up with, but also Yoann who is from France is is a certified naval hydrographer who has been loaned to us to from Shom (France's hydrographic agency) who will qualify and certify that the survey work that we will do meets the highest of international standards in hydrography as set down by the IHO.

We have carried out sea trials and calibration testing whilst here in Ushuaia and everything seems to all go, the support of many countries within the hydrographic community has been great, Shom there in France, NZ,

Australia and UK, along with some great help from a good captain and friend on National Geographic Explorer we feel that we as prepared as ever we will be.

We are all excited, and just a little bit nervous about the project, we all want to do something very special here, and to prove that it is possible, because survey work in Antarctica is needed, only 2 % of the Antarctic coast line is currently surveyed.

To have a dream that you see through to fruition is going to be for me very sweet and satisfying, even though over the last 3 years many many doors have been closed and I have been told so many times that it is ridiculous to think that a small sailing yacht can do what the navy's and commercial hydrographic ship of the world get employed to do.

Time will tell ?

Stephen

Along came......

Along came.........

At 5am am on Sunday morning we docked at the commercial pier in Punta Arenas in Chile, along side one of the huge ocean going commercial tugs that service the shipping that goes through the Straits of Magellan and the southern waters, nothing too fancy but quiet and stopped.

But 6am I was at the newly build reception rooms of the public hospital of Punta Arenas, there was only an old man sleeping in a line of chairs that could seat 100 people, a nice warm place as even in November Punta Arenas can be bitterly cold when it chooses.

By 6.15am and some interrogation by a young intern, I hear him talk to the medical staff that he had a gringo who had a bit of a problem, laughter and chatter in Spanish as to whom was going to see the victim made it very apparent that it had been a long, slow and boring night.

By 6.20am it was quite clear to the doctor at hand, an experienced naval surgeon that this was not a laughing matter.

He told me that the local anaesthetic was going to hurt, but the first sting of the needle made me cringed but as he slid the needle deeper and deeper into my skin and flesh I screamed, bloody hell ! what's the rest of this going to be like I wondered.

After a short while to let the drugs kick in he then started then started to cut, it felt like someone tearing at the top of a can of vegetables with a pull ring that needs a final grand tug to get it open, shit I screamed again

even though I was already feeling wimpish from my first yelp.

Ah Stephen, this is not what you think, this is one of the most impressive cases of this that I have seen the doctor tells me. At this stage, all of his team of nurses and students are lined up around me sharing thoughts of medical knowledge and others having a quiet chuckle about how they would hate to have this problem themselves, how embarrassing !

The surgeon then continued to cut, he went in with a circular motion to take a large tubular core out of me, this I definitely didn't expect, as my own diagnosis on board had visions quite different.

He proudly showed me the core of flesh which he cut, black, dead and lifeless, hmm what can you say, but thanks.

By 7.15 am I was loaded up with enough drugs, anti-imflamatories and antibiotics to kill a horse.

The problem had started after a day and a half after leaving Valdivia to head south to Tierra del Fuego, I noticed that on my left buttocks that there was the start to an annoyingly large pimple. After a day or so more and regular tea tree oil, the problem was getting much worse.

I have never had a boil or abscess on my buttocks, salt water boils in arms and the neck but this was really talking it to extremes. The days wore on and the pain and size of the abyss was unbelievable. The crew saw me cringe with pain as we sailed the boat or sat down, the boat movement wouldn't allow me to sleep, every wave woke the partial sleep that I was meant to be enjoying.

After four days of pain I had to share the problem, Meghann offered to have a look as she had had a bad infection before on her leg. Well the look on her face was not of joy when she saw what was on my ass, but she managed it well and agreed that it was bad, Nic in hearing the talk ducked around the corner to peak and in a good old Kiwi way, said "Struth mate that must hurt".

I searched through all our medical books and check the stocks of all the different antibiotics on board and came up with a choice of a strong penicillin based antibiotic to heal and rid my poor ass of this infernal

infection.

The days went on and the size grew and grew, with your hand fully stretched out it would only just reach the sides of this massive raised infection that was so hot and painful and hard. I of course tried to push and squeeze a bit, even knowing that this was not the approved way to deal with a boil or abscess , but the agony and pain was relentless, never stopping, never easing and each movement on board made it worse.

A strange sick side of me wanted to know more about it so we took a photo, it was scary, it looked more like a badly swollen breast of a nursing mother who's 2 year old teething son had been gnawing at her nipple (not that I have seen one of these)

We arrived in port and you know the rest, but what the surgeon told me was that it wasn't an abscess at all, other wise there would have been a lot of rubbish and waste exit when he opened me up. But it was a perfect case of a Chilean Spider, called an Arana del Rincon, Corner spider or scientifically Loxosceles Laeta, in Chile they only have two animals that are venomous and both are spiders, and this was one.

Even though they are at their worst or most venomous during spring (yes now in November) they can be lethal if they bit close to a vital organ, glad that they liked my ass ! so who was a lucky boy.

After 2 weeks of 4mg of antibiotics each day and the other drugs it seems to be on the mend, so I chuckle a bit when I remember the nursery rhyme of little Miss Muffet who sat on her tuffet.

NBL Final Scores South Pacific Series

The National Boat Landing scores for the South Pacific are as follows.

Tasmnaia to Nelson New Zealand 7 days 1348 nautical miles average speed 8.02 knots
Nelson New Zealand to Gisbourne New Zealand 2 days 449 nautical miles average speed 9.35 knots
New Zealand to Pitcairn Island 16 days 2,958 nautical miles average speed 7.46 knots
Pitcairn to Gambier Island 1.5 days 340 nautical miles average speed 9.44 knots
Gambier Islands to Easter Island 8 days 1,468 nautical miles average speed 7.6 knots
Easter Island to Valdivia Chile 11 days 2,301 nautical miles average speed 8.71 knots

South Pacific grand final totals = 8,864 nautical miles 45.5 days average speed 8.11 knots

Stephen, The Fat English Girl, Alexis and Cris

Wilma took the fat English girl for a spin

Every once in a while some things just need a bit of explanation, and for Xplore there are many characters that make up this boat. There of course is the actual people who are on Xplore, and there are the others who are a part of Xplore.
Yes yes, I know your probably saying, right, Stephen needs his head read, but the reality is (or imagination is probably a better word) is that there are so many components to Xplore as a boat, and which are so important to the ongoing running of the boat, so that each major part deserves a little pet name, just like the nick names that people give to their cars. So that when its playing up, misbehaving or broken, then we can talk to this item and try to ascertain what their little problem is, make it all better, and then life continues as normal. Sounds pretty logical, now doesn't it.

We have digressed, so let's back to Wilma and the fat English girl, well Wilma is the wheel that we steer Xplore with, well actually Xplore is fondly referred to as the Fat English girl, and that is because when "she" (in English we refer to boats as being She's) was designed 22 years ago, she was quite radical, in that her beam (width of the boat) is quite wide and that width is carried well aft (back towards the rear of the boat) giving her a quite wide stern or transom ( that's the fat ass bit) then not only was she designed by an English man of repute, but she was also built at the royal dock yards in Plymouth, so now you can put together the whole thing, Fat and English (no slight at all on English women)

So as you know we have been travelling back across the South Pacific to Chile, "We" I mean the crew, myself, Alexis and Cris, Australian, Corsican and Argentinean (now that would make a story in itself)

Since leaving Gambier islands we have had excellent sailing, and some pretty fast going if I do say so myself, even now in the last 7 days we have averaged 210 nautical miles every day since leaving Easter Island. And in boat talk that's pretty fast, as a comparison for land folk, that would be like driving a solar powered car at 140 kilometres per hour continuously for a week, and to do that with the Fat English girl you need quite a bit of wind as she is 38 tons ! (external wind as opposed to internal wind)

So there we are zooming across the Pacific, alls fine and dandy and then in Easter Island "It" happened. Well it's really is about "Who" happened.

We charge our house batteries (Boris and his 5 other mates) once or twice a day, and this is done with the alternator (Allan) which is driven by the generator (Mrs Perkins, she's a good girl but getting on a bit, went through menopause the other year so we took her to the doctor and had her all sorted out, much happier now) or from Mr Perkins (main engine, very stoic and strong, reliable and very English) when there is low, or no wind.

Well, as we have left the warmth of the sub-tropics and have been heading a little further south, Boris and his mates have been playing up and are just not having this cooler temperature, it's like they have gone into winter hibernation, or a union meeting, anyone would think they are bears, but they just want to play ball and won't hold a charge for long at all (right little buggers, because they are only 3 years old and are meant to be the best)

What that means is that we have been having to run Mrs Perkins much more to charge Boris and his mates, and that also means that Allan has a lot more work to do. So in Easter Islands whilst on anchor, Allan spits the dummy and just stops, had enough. I scratch my head and go "dam" have to get Allan's twin brother out (Alex) before we leave the next day.

So at first light, we change Allan for Alex and off we go, problem is that even though Alex is meant to be identical twins to Allan, he's actually not half the match (must have come out of the factory late in the day on a Friday) as he is only putting out half the power that his twin brother does when he's working.

Now how does this all effect us and fit in with Wilma and the Fat English girl ? So here we are, we have 1940 nautical miles to travel to Chile and we have crap batteries (Boris and his mates) and Alex isn't putting out. We have calculated how much fuel we are going to need in normal circumstances,
but this new development may just leave us a bit short.

So that means that me and the crew (Alexis and Cris) will have to hand steer a lot so as not to use too much power, and that is where Wilma comes in.

Let me tell you a little bit about Wilma, she's a round and robust sort of a girl (quite a size) but she loves being played with, ( I recon she must be a reincarnation of a 1970's gypsy surfy chick that took too many drugs, but always dreamt of travelling the world) she can also be turned around by Arnie (that's short for Arnold Schwarzenegger our auto pilot, who is very big and strong) but she doesn't like that so much as he's a bit too mechanical and German like, you know left, right, left right, never stops, but has no real feeling. Wilma prefers the soft, but firm human touch.

Power, well electricity consumption is the bain of every sailing yacht, we need power for so many things on board, the navigation electronics, the lights, stereo for a bit of music and of course for Freida ( she's the reincarnated ex girl friend of a mate of mine called Simon, he gave her to us because he thought she would be of better use to us than to him, she's a cold bitch, quite pretty, uses a bit of energy and is only good for sticking your meat in her, yep she's the freezer)

For the last 7 days we have been hand steering for 90% of the time some great days and great miles, and all in all, life on board has been very good. But yesterday was the zenith of the weather system that was driving us and we knew that there was going to be some fairly windy conditions.

The sails that we had out weren't much, Baz and Max (the boom and main sail) were all put to bed, we didn't need the extra power as we were consistently doing 8.5 to 10 knots and Max is getting a bit tired these days after a long but eventful life, that only left Yuri and Stan out (Yankee headsail and
Staysail) and even then with Yuri poled out we only had 80% of it flying, great sailing.

As the watches have been broken into two, myself on one watch and Alexis and Cris on the other we have only been having short conversations between us at the change over times, but we all have agreed that the boat is going well even with the larger seas which are now around the 5 to 7 meter mark.
I was doing the early morning "dog" watch in blustery running conditions, 3 to 7am is a traditional watch where the crew tend to get very sleepy about half way through just before the dawn light starts to creep in, and there was no exception this morning, even with the stonky conditions we were having (fast speeds and strong winds)

So I was a bit dozy and not probably watching things closely enough, because all of a sudden Wilma gives a little wiggle and points the fat English girl straight down this wave face ! she had obviously been looking out of the corner of her eye and spotted this one coming in from the rear, and with her
reincarnated "Surfy Chick" previous life she just couldn't resist.

Well off we went like a bat out of hell, it was like sitting at the top of a hill and someone puts a skate board under your ass. What was a normal 8 to 9 knots suddenly became 9 to 10, then 11's, 12 and I couldn't believe it when we hit 13.1 knots, it just sat there surfing away for what seemed like ages
and then at the end we peaked with grand total of 13.2 knots. There were rooster tails of water squirting off the bow as we plunged head first down into the dark wave chasm, poor old Larry must have taken a right old fright seeing all those tons of water rush past his head (Larry's the anchor winch up on the bow)

The feeling of getting a heavy displacement yacht up to surfing speed would be in comparison to a Bungee jumper tying extra concrete blocks to your legs so as to increase the adrenalin rush with extra velocity when you first step off the platform to plunge hundreds of feet down.

And this is not the first time that Wilma has gone off surfing before, once in the Falkland islands her and Arnie collaborated, and when we all went down below decks as we were sailing along, she picked up a small wave assisted by a nice gust of wind and took off as well, bloody hit 17.5 knots
that time. And even the watch before I came on, Cris had mentioned also that she was looking for some waves as she had done a similar thing to him. Dam cheeky wench she is, but you have to love her spirit.

As you can see we have been having a right old time for many reasons, and overall we have had some superb sailing, and there is not much left to go as we are only 659 nautical miles from Valdivia on the Chilean coast.

But I do think it is important that all of you readers do get familiar with the "gang" which makes up Xplore, because when you next come sailing you will feel right at home, and know everyone that we have been talking about, but most importantly you won't be confused when you hear myself and the crew talking.

Can you just imagine standing down below decks when you hear me say "Oh I'll give Alexis a break, best I take over and turn Arnie on" now anyone not knowing what I was saying would think that we are all gay boys shagging this bloke called Arnie.

Stephen

Boats are for birds

Sailing boats at sea and birds are definitely there for each other. We marvel at how they fly with grace, speed and agility. They wonder about how we use our vertical wings, but never leave the water.

The ocean birds of the sea, the Wandering albatross, the Gannets, the Giant petrels, the Boobies, Sheer waters, Cape petrels and the S\torm petrels are just a few of those birds of a feather, so to speak.

They know when its time to fly, they are travelers like us, and cover thousands of miles as the transit the globe from nesting grounds to breeding grounds.

For them they use the winds like we as well, over 15 knots and they get lift and speed, over 35 knots they know its getting a bit too tough and its time to pack it in for the day, like sailors, there is a time and a place to have fun.

But in their quest to travel, they also have a need for amusement, and for that there is nothing better than a sail boat. Like a 10 year old in Disney land, its all fun, fun fun with boats.

They come in real close when they know its OK, they fly to the mast head and try to touch the mechanical bird perched at the top (our wind direction indicator) even try to bit and attack it, they roll off the wind drafts that the sails create and give them turbulence that hones their maneuvering skills.

It doesn't always go that well for birds and boats though, in recent years we have seen some funny, yet alarming sights. One bird in a venture to do aerobatics on the leeward side of our boat, was caught in a mid upside down barrel roll, and half way through the turn was hit by the back draft from the sails which catapulted him with no grace at all into the sea. Shell shocked we saw him recover from the swim.

On route from New Zealand this year we had a Petrel of medium size who obviously need glasses fly directly into the center of the main sail as we were choofing along at about 9 or 10 knots on a beam reach. The poor little bugger hit the sail and then bounced off onto the aft quarter deck of the
boat, up side down and stunned, he flipped and flapped and then rolled off the edge of the boat into the water, hard to tell if he was all right, but he was floating with a bit of a strange demeanor.

Our South Pacific crossing is nearing and end, with 1400 nautical miles left to travel to Valdivia, Chile we should hopefully be there in 8 or 9 days time.

Stephen

Breathe

Breathe

You hardly feel like you're doing it

Breathe

Because its comes so naturally
Breathe

As your pulse quickens, you feel the instant response

Breathe

With pain, it comes in sharp gasp's

Breathe

On your pillow, it whispers softly in your ears

Breathe

It's a matter life of death

Breathe

Real deep, then you will smell the roses

Breathe

As the stress and strain increases, breathe for relief

Breathe

It never asks for too much, it's always there

Breathe

Every day of our life, we live and let breathe