And….Slow Guy Check-In: With all the fast sailing going on, let’s not forget our old friend “Wrong Way” Jean Luc Van Den Heede. He’s sailing hard for home in the Atlantic, and should arrive early next week sometime. That would put him up to 28 days–28 DAYS–ahead of the current record for sailing, solo, non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds. VDH has now been alone at sea for 118 days, and he’s awestruck at the big chunk he’s going to take out of the record, but nervous it somehow won’t happen:

“4 whole weeks, I couldn’t have dreamt of anything better… but I haven’t done it yet. I still remain very, very cautious. Last night, my SIMRAD radar, which is always left on, as I don’t have any electrical supply problems, warned me there was a cargo ship passing 2 miles away from us. So I need to keep an eye open!”

Getting run down by a ship in the final days would be the definition of a sea-going tragedy, so VDH will have to stay hyper-alert. Which isn’t the easiest thing to when the most exciting thing VDH has done in the past week is catch a fish….



118 Days Alone: “I can’t decide whether to eat it or offer it coffee….”