A calm day on the Drake

A calm day on the Drake. In the morning Sarah talks about the race tothe South Pole, and in the afternoon Belen tells us about the biology ofmarine mammals. There is some splicing going on, and grommets are made.It is not sunny, but remarkably warm compared to the Antarctic. TheDrake is smooth and there is only a little seasickness left.Just after lunch the calm is suddenly interrupted by a good amount oforange smoke out in the open ocean. The Man-Over-Board bells ring andeveryone immediately shifts into his emergency role. Safety nets areremoved, Drysuits are put on, lines are prepared, the stretcher appearson deck together with medical supplies. The Europa makes a 360 degreesturn – returning to the MOB point with backed sails. Backed sails bringthe leeward deck closer to the water, which will make it easier toretrieve our man. As we arrive next to the orange smoke, Adam jumpsoverboard, now acting as the victim. Filémon immediately jumps in aswell, acting as the savior. He will adjust the straps around Adams kneesand arms, after which he can safely be pulled back on deck. Once on deckhe is strapped on the stretcher and transported to the library. Allgood. The out of date orange beacon we used for the exercise isretrieved as well.During the afternoon we set almost all square sails again, and theengine is switched off. The royals and courses are set during the evening.At our 8 O´clocky we have sailed a 141 nm, which leaves us 345 to CapeHorn. Every time we get a new weather forecast it seems to be a littlebetter. The latest one even starts to look good – if we keep sailing tothe West as we do now – we will probably be able to sail on the strongwesterly winds that are predicted.As the wind dies out late at night we switch the engine on once more andtake the square sails away. For the first time since we left we see themoon – almost full, low over the horizon.Sarah