WEATHER FORECAST FOR NEXT FEW DAYS from shore based weather router, Meeno Schrader : "The guys will get some stronger north westerlies over the weekend - perhaps 30-34 knots from a new low that is coming their way. Longer term another big low may catch this smaller low early next week and help rebuild the gradiant. Importantly, this will help push the high sitting south of Australia further east which will give KINGFISHER2 a good chance to reach the SW Australian coast by next weekend." Of course, if the low is not strong enough to push the high eastwards, then there is a risk that Ellen and the crew will get slowed by a zone of light air blocking their route.

MORALE ON BOARD IS MEASURED BY ANDREW’S NEW MORALEOMETER...(read his full account below). The mood on board is starting to lighten as Ellen and the crew recover from the enormity of losing the rig and coming to terms with the loss of their Jules Verne record Record #sailingrecord bid. Andrew Preece has invented "the Moraleometer" to monitor the crew’s status using a scale from 1 to 10 - 1 being "suicidal" (no one is marked at 1 !) and 10 "ecstatic". The crew are also coming up with many inventive ways of keeping themselves occupied from fishing to playing backgammon or human chess involving the whole crew and using the trampoline as a chess board...

LATEST NEWS FROM ANDREW PREECE - THE MORALEOMETER SWINGS INTO ACTION...

It’s amazing to witness the human condition in action. Three days ago we all threw ourselves into the challenge of getting ourselves to Australia as quickly as possible. The intellectual might of the KINGFISHER2 crew was focussed on designing as elegant and efficient jury rig as possible. The talk was all about "refocusing goals != and working towards new ends". Thoughts of the Jules Verne challenge were - if not forgotten - suppressed as we began to talk and dream about the delights of Fremantle where most of us have spent enjoyable times at one stage or another.

Now that the rig is up and pulling at anywhere between 3.9 and 14 knots (a difference on the ’Time To Go’ window of 22 days and six), and that people are beginning to tire of 16 hours sleep a day, there has been a rush to provide ourselves with stimulus for the brain. Three of the five computers on the boat have either Solitaire or Pinball permanently awake on their screens and Hendo combines his time between telling me he is the undisputed Pinball champion and devising crosswords that we are going to put into an Excel file and beam to everyone on their Sony Clies. Neal and Ellen are trying to decide whether the chess set should be real-life, full-size played on deck and involving all the crew or constructed from something smaller that can be played indoors (we are still at 48 South and the water temperature is still only six degrees) ; Guillermo assures us that he knows of a legal opening gambit that involves bringing out both knights in the same move ! Unless he can prove it he will not be using that ploy in the KINGFISHER2 chess league. Nigel is learning some exotic splices and is determined to use the time fruitfully as is Damian who is planning to improve his tactical navigation, map out the next two years of his life and perhaps even do an Open University course. There is a lot of reading and watching films going on among the French : Hervé has a book two inches thick (that a week ago would have been coveted enthusiastically during our toilet paper crisis) and there is a rumour that Ronny is book critic for the Concarneau maritime book festival back in France and has five to complete before we get to Australia ; his head torch can be seen glowing from his bunk at all hours of the night (Ellen’s book Taking on the World is one of the six short listed entries). Ellen is still running the boat and plotting our course spending much time on the phone to Meeno our weather router in Germany trying to find our fastest way to salvation. Youngster has withdrawn into his shell.

When I noticed the different levels of reaction to our plight a few days ago I started a survey - the Moraleometer - which I have used to maintain a watchful eye on the mental condition of my crew mates. Initially it was an instrument of amusement but more recently I have begun to feel it could have a practical application as an early warning device of anything ranging from an emotional outburst to a stealing of chocolate or sleeping bags (we only have six) to something more serious such as a stabbing or a jumping ship. The Moraleometer involves a personal rating of happiness on a scale of one to ten (one being suicidal, ten being ecstatic). These are my findings so far :

Hervé 8
 "We are going along, nobody is dead, why should we be unhappy ?" (Hervé always answers a question with a question.)

Ronny 7
 "Not a 10 anymore but we are steel ’ere, we steel as ze ambience, we are going to Australie-" (Ronny is still smiling. But then he would be - he already holds the Jules Verne record Record #sailingrecord with Orange !)

Kevin 7
 "I have never been on a boat with such a talented delivery crew before" (Kev just loves it here)

Damian 6
 "We’re all here, we’re all safe and we’re sailing towards Australia" (this man is in denial - I’m going to watch him !)

Bruno 6
 "There is no point in worrying about what you cannot change. Being unhappy will not get the boat there any faster" (Bruno has been on an even keel since we left. He continues to live meticulously and continues to be happy to be out here.)

Benoit 6
 "Is not so bad ; we ’ave food, ze boat is in one piece and we can sleep" (BB is a cool customer, takes everything in his stride. But, like Ronny and Hervé, he does already hold the Jules Verne record so it’s easy to be pragmatic when you’re sitting on the trophy)

Neal 5
 "I’m not unhappy. In fact it makes me more happy to see all these other people getting miserable !=" (Neal thrives on extreme prospects - whether it be going into bigger winds, venturing into colder latitudes or spending a month crabbing 2000 miles to civilisation)

Guillermo 5
 "We are ’ere. What are we going to do about it ?" (Guillermo looks permanently unhappy but frequently turns out to be fine. He controls the food and now we have started using the heaters occasionally, his life is getting back to normal)

Ellen 5
 "I just want us all to get back safely" (Ellen shoulders an additional level of responsibility that is clear to see in her face and her general demeanour)

Hendo 4
 "Sailing as a sport rarely gives me more than an 8 so I can’t see why anyone would be happy at having to do this" (Hendo is permanently jovial. He’s not happy to be here but, like the rest of us, is sitting this one out and waiting for that moment when we hit land)

Andrew 4
 "No one said sailing around the world would be easy. But they didn’t tell me that NOT sailing around the world wouldn’t be easy..." (Ten years ago I would have been climbing the walls with impatience. Now, there is no one that wants to get to Fremantle quicker than me but I have the depression management skills to deal with it.)

Jason 4
 "I don’t know why all these people are so happy. Now that the purpose is gone I just want to get out of here," (Jason is a man of few words but when he speaks he speaks his mind ; quite often in the manner of "I don’t know much about such and such but...")

Nigel 3
 "These last three weeks were probably the best three weeks sailing of my life but now that’s gone I just want to get it over" (Nigel, like me, Jason and Hendo, is enduring what we are in now, rather than enjoying the challenge of sailing 2000 miles under jury rig)

Youngster 2
 "Get me out of here !" (The Prince of Darkness)

It is interesting to see how we have all reacted to our plight and to the potential duration of our suffering. Neal is determined not to be optimistic and keeps talking about "being out here for three or four weeks" != in order that he will be pleasantly surprised. He refuses to let us throw the cod stew bags over the side despite the fact we have food for another 40 days saying he would be very upset to be sitting on the polar icecap with no food knowing we had discarded some. Hervé is quite the opposite. "You’ll see, we’ll be there in a couple of weeks," he said a few days ago.

Whatever, we seem to now have settled into a new routine that involves a massive amount of sleep punctuated by an hour or so on deck steering, some occasional sail trimming to ensure we are maximising our progress north east and voracious game playing. I have been toying with the idea of conducting a real life ’Weakest Link’ but I fear it might have unfortunate consequences. I think I’ll stick to playing pinball.

Andrew. Media & Comms

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