We’ve only gone and crossed the Equator…

S/Y Pelerin
Colin Speedie & Louise Johnson
Sat 29 Dec 2012 18:15
Well, we’ve made it.

We are now sailors in the Southern Hemisphere. On reaching 0 degrees 0
minutes South (at just over 28 deg W) at about 1900 yesterday, firstly we
jumped around a bit and offered our thanks to Neptune by dribbling both he
and the good ship Pelerin a little of our champagne, then thirstily drank
the rest ourselves.

What a momentous thing to do! And crossing the mid-Atlantic Ridge all in the same day... phew.

We’re all a bit shell-shocked I suppose… as a geographer and a sailor it’s
nice to take little time for reflection, on where we’ve been and where we’re
going onto – and most importantly, with the large ocean swells we’re
getting, you get a real sense of your smallness out here in a vast expanse of salty
sea. When you're on the top of a 5-6m swell, it feels like the horizon is so very far away. Strange, we're not missing land at all - well, Ronnie wants to go for a walk, but we've told him he'll just have to wait. It's not a boring seascape in the slightest, and the sun shining most of the time, that does help admittedly.

We’ve set course for Salvador in the state of Bahia, Brazil. So with the
winds we’ve got and those we’re forecast, should be a good sail across to
land taking about another 6-7 days all being well.

Thanks to those who’ve sent us emails and messages of support – it’s always
lovely to know that people are wishing us on, and interested in our
progress. So a big thank you, and please do continue to keep in touch!

A huge wave from Lou, Colin & Ronnie xx