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93 days 22 hours 52 minutes

SpiritHu – The Argos was dropped off at 13:37 UTC – taking water samples …

Hi all, The Argos was dropped off at 23 Degrees 59.191 S 29 Degrees 23.750 West @ 13:37 UTC.
All tests were positive and it appeared to be working as it should be.

Today we took off our sticky sailing gear and put on scientific lab coats, figuratively speaking of course! The BWR fleet were loaded with measurement bouys just before the start of the race and charged with dropping them in the water at a point in the ocean that are difficult to access by normal means. This is more the case for the boats further south than for us, as we are still in relatively travelled waters although we have not seen a ship or any other sign of life for over a week.

The bouy will plunge to over 2000 meters in depth, taking water samples to test for temperature, salinity and other indicators that will be fed into the meteorological models for short term forecasting and modelling the changes in the global climate. Every two days or so for the next two years, this instrument will yoyo through the water table, transmitting data when it touches the surface.

As sailors we are naturally hugely affected by the changes in the weather so it feels great to be able to contribute to its greater understanding during our race.

Otherwise, conditions are as you can see in the photo. Clear blue skies, pure royal blue sea and not much wind! We gybed recently in order to head a little SE to avoid the ridge from the South Atlantic high that is extending a tongue out towards us.

We are forced to sail a few more miles than our previous routings had indicated but we should keep wind the whole time and make a faster, relatively speaking, transition to the south. Fingers crossed for us please, we are melting!

SpiritHu Log by Conrad Colman co-skipper

BWR articals: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/science