ENZA New Zealand was struggling in the so-called Horse Latitudes today.
“The Horse Latitude can be more trouble than the Doldrums”, reported Blake. “They got their name in days gone by when military ships carrying horses got badly bogged down hereabouts ran out of food and had to dump the horses over the side. We’ve got our own water makers on board, so we won’t have to resort to anything as drastic as that. However, some of us must have smelt like our four legged friends before today, when we got our first chance to bathe and shave in nearly 40 days.” Blake was referring to the dramatic improvement in climatic conditions – wind excepted – as ENZAtied the knot, crossing her otward path, in sea water tempreatures that had jumped from 3°C to 22°C in just two days.
“We’ve encircled the globe in 39 days, 5 hours, 51 minutes”, Blake said.