Andrew arrived at Calatta Lennox, an anchorage on the East side of Isla Lennox at 10 to 3 his time (10 to 7 GMT).

He said, bizarrely as he was coming into the lee of the island, the wind dropped completely away.  Having battled against  gale force 8, 9 and almost 10 with spin-drift just  lifting of the sea, no wind was almost laughable.  The cockpit of Elsi had filled with water many times during the 36 hour stint back to the Beagle Channel.

Andrew is now anchored out of the gales, hopefully avoiding a severe Westerly which is building up and will be in force by midnight tonight.  He knew he couldn’t stay West of the Horn and so the most seaman-like decision was the one he made, to anchor at Isla Lennox.

As we were speaking on the phone, the Coastguard were on the VHF radio wanting to know his onward route; I could hear Andrew saying, “Cape Horn, The Pacific, Torres Straights, Indian Ocean, Cape of Good Hope, Atlantic, Falmouth!”  Simple and quick to say……

Well over 70 messages have been received for Andrew over the last 2 days.  All saying  “Well Done” and “Good Luck”  and from all reaches of the globe.  Thank you to everyone who is following and supporting Andrew.

There are strengthening Westerlies coming in, which is why Andrew has reefed sails right down and why he and Elsi are drifting back towards the Horn.  Andrew has to keep himself and Elsi as safe as possible and so is looking at the best options for the coming 48 hours.  Forecasts change not daily but hourly, which is why he is keeping in touch, via Sat phone, to take account of these subtle but important alterations in the weather.  We have to wait and see what Andrew decides to do; its not easy to  second guess decisions made in the midst of  gales and raging seas at Cape Horn.

Andrew reports that today was very fine days sailing, but as the evening approaches the wind is rising to  a Force 7.  Elsi and Andrew have been making a south westerly course and tonight, are close to the islands of Diego Ramirez (56° 40’S  69° W).  They are now south west of the Horn by about 70 miles.  There are strong winds due from the West on Monday and the winds are entirely uninterrupted by land for hundreds of miles, thus they may arrive more fiercely than anticipated in the forecasts.  Andrew is considering his options at the moment and is very concerned he does not drift back towards the Horn,  he also needs to ensure he does not risk drifting onto a lee shore.

Well, I just went round the Horn with Andrew and Elsi!  He phoned me at 1913 our time, 1313 his; and at 15 minutes past 7 we moved from the Atlantic into the Pacific, the Horn just 9 miles North of Elsi.  Conditions have been really favorable all day with a East Nor-easterly force 5 coming on 6 as they moved from East to West.  As you can imagine, Andrew is delighted never imagining Elsi would be round the Horn.  He went below to pour a dram (as did I and our respective families!), and tipped a tot and raised our glasses to sailors past and present who have been through these exciting, turbulent waters.  A big day for Andrew and Elsi – Well Done!

Andrew came on the phone this evening  exclaiming he has had a very exciting days sailing!  He and Elsi have been getting slowly closer to Cape Horn with still somewhat variable winds until this afternoon.  He said the welcome Southerly winds this afternoon,  drove Elsi as hard as she has ever sailed.  Andrew chose to keep her sails up and take full advantage of the welcome wind direction.

Although frustrated by the light winds and the slow drift backwards at the moment, there have been some delightful moments over the last 24 hours as Elsi and Andrew keep pushing to get round the Horn.  He has been visited by several lone whales, one swimming alongside Elsi and then diving under her hull to come up along the  other side.  In fact, whilst Andrew was giving his latest position over the Sat. phone this evening, a whale was around the boat blowing  but unfortunately it couldn’t be heard over the phone!  Yesterday a lone black dolphin came by, this species have a very distinctive fin and they are apparently not seen very often, although sometimes they swim in schools of four thousand!  They are becoming rarer to see as local fishermen catch them and cut them up for crab bait in their creels.  Once Andrew and Elsi begin to get further north into the pacific, hopefully Andrew will be able to re-establish writing and sending his logs.

3rd February 2014

Conditions have been very mixed over the last few days with either very strong or light headwinds, or even no wind at all.  The wind conditions combined with the current, has meant that Elsi and Andrew have been drifting backwards a bit.  Elsi has a shallow draft and she makes a lot of leeway; she also is not efficient at going to windward, so the mixture of strong and light head winds is the reason for Elsi and Andrew not making much headway.   There have been several cruise ships seen over the last few days, notably the Queen Victoria, who followed Andrew through the Straights de los Estados on her way to Ushuaia  and this evening the Chinese vessel Xue long which could be picked up on the AIS.  She is on her way back from Antarctica. This evening a lone albatross cruised by Elsi only feet away emphasizing the sheer size of these amazing sea birds.

1st February 2014

1215: Andrew just phoned from the Straights de los Estados; he is making 7 knots with the wind and tide in his favour – a large passenger ship behind him, the Queen Victoria , is headed for “Cape Horn” according to the AIS.  Andrew is looking around and marveling that he and Elsi are in such a place!

1800:  Andrew is delighted with his passage through the Straight – it couldn’t have been better.  As he started out this morning, he noticed a hole in the Mainsail, made by rubbing on the spreaderss, so whilst he was moving South he sewed a couple of patches ready to place on the sail.  He is heading for the “Cape of Good Success”! and thought as he came nearer there, it might be a good chance to repair the Mainsail.  However,  before then, near the bottom of the Straight, the wind dropped away and he thought this would be a good chance to make repairs.  So, he dropped the Mainsail and raised the Genoa.  He sewed the patches on the front and back of  the sail.  He then thought he really needed to put some sort of patch on the spreaders to avoid further chaffing….that would mean climbing up the mast.  He thought the calmer seas would be a fine chance to do this job.  He climbed aloft – securing himself to the mast – and made repairs whilst thinking of those who climbed the square riggers to do similar tasks.  Unfortunately, Andrew forgot to take his camera up the mast, and said he was not tempted to go down and retrieve it to go back up take a  snap or two!

Later on, looking at the AIS,  Andrew noted a yacht sailing toward the Straight he had just come out of – he tried calling it up but there was no reply.  Some time later the yacht “Annalouise!  called up Elsi.   The skipper,called Ferdinand, amazingly is a friend of Andrews pal Jan Wit!  What are the chances of that meeting?

When our phone call ended, Andrew said he was about 90 miles from Cape Horn and pleased with the start of his trip around the Horn.