Having said this, the Southern Oceans are completely inhospitable - they are without question 'the boss' and we are guests. The barometer would fall like a stone. We saw it fall from 1026 to 974 in 12 hours. The you knew you were going to be hit by something big - the anticipation of this makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. On deck this means that its incredibly hard work, the weather deteriorates so quickly that you can be constantly changing to smaller sails to try and keep up with conditions.

On the bow you experience 'air time' - the boat falls off the back of a wave into mid-air, you stay suspended leaving the decks and them come crashing down with the boat - real bone jarring stuff, really wearing. You come off watch battered and bruised, incredibly hungry and exhausted.

Mentally, the Southern Oceans are very draining. You are constantly faced with potentially hazardous situations, yet progress seems so slow because of the large distances involved. Far down South the ocean is slate grey along with the skies, albatross don't bother to come down here, so there's no company. There are no charts with anything meaningful on, so its just numbers, miles completed in an hour, watch, 24 hours run etc. You can be on the same tack for 3 or 4 days, waiting for the wind swings associated with another depression coming through.