Halcyon days for Pete Goss - in Melbourne by March

2:01 AM Mon 2 Feb 2009 GMT

'Across the Indian Ocean' .

The hum of the sea and the flight of the Albatross, pancakes on Sunday and a phone call home. Most stories of the sea ignore these halcyon days and nights.

More frequently reported tales from the ocean involve great adventure, tragic mishap or adrenline charged rescues. But life at sea most of the time is just not like that - Pete Goss and his family crew on Spirit of Mystery, heading across the Indian Ocean for Melbourne, are telling it like it is, as these recent exerpts from their messages home exemplify.

Sundays are always nice in that it's Pancake Day and present day which is always special for Eliot for it brings a bit of home in a package, and Trivial Pursuit was one of his presents from a few weeks ago. It's also our day for calling home and we have just had a chat which is such a weekly treat and a milestone that we look forward to.
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My last watch was really pleasant for I spent it sewing the secret weapon which now needs about an hour's more work to be done on it. Albatross were wheeling about and there was the smell of baking bread wafting up through the hatch thanks to Mark's efforts. The good news is that the forecast shows about five days of really good wind coming in overnight so we can enjoy today's make and mend in the knowledge that miles are to be had. It will be really interesting to see where we are when we next get the pancake pans out. A handful of days from today to half way would be nice if we can do it.
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An additional routine to the grand scheme of things is that we call Falcon GT on the hour, every hour during daylight hours. We know they are in the vicinity as they overhaul us and the hope is that we will be able to have a chat or even see each other. I was convinced I saw their mast head light last night and stormed below for the binoculars only to find that it was a star that had just climbed above the horizon. If we do see them they will be the first vessel we will have seen since we cleared the Agulhas Plateau. I guess shipping passes further south as they chase down the great circle route.
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Albatros landing - .. .

Eureka; we have actually hit a mile stone in that we have crossed 50 degrees east which is our quarter way mark on this trip. I have to say it has been a long time coming, certainly a lot longer than we expected for we should have had much more wind and better progress down here than we have.

I guess things will change but at the moment it looks very stable with a day of bright sunshine just keeping the chill off and a steady barometer. It's amazing to think that we actually made better progress during the doldrums so we do need a change or we will be running way over schedule. I have no doubt that it will change but in the meantime we are reviewing whether stopping in St Paul is a realistic option.
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I think the cold is because we have crossed some kind of convergence zone in that the sea is really very cold now. Below it's like living in a garage during the winter and we have noticed a sharp drop in the number of birds today. I have no idea but feel that this may well have some bearing on it.

'Talisker time' tonight, 50 degrees east might not look much on the chart but it has been hard earned and we are going to make the most of it

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Spirit of Mystery in Cape Town - .. .

My sense is that on the final reckoning we will have had a better day than yesterday when we only managed 29NM which is pretty dire when you have 4208NM to go. ...Our last twenty four hours produced 67NM with 4141NM to go.

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Last night saw the sails down for most of the night although we did try just about everything we could think of to keep her moving. The best thing seemed to be just the secret weapon and the mizzen strapped in really tight to try and reduce the rolling. Horrible is the only word I can come up with and of course the final outcome was a huge great tear in our lovely Cornish sail. That's one of the reasons today has been busy as the needle and thread plunged back and forth along a seven foot tear.

The other repair was re-sewing the leather on the main mast hoop which has a tendency to chafe through over time. A nice job when it's not wet although I have to say it was cold, in fact it's become really cold these last couple of days with thermals, hats and gloves being the norm. It took about an hour and with Andy on the helm we were able to have a chat and enjoy watching the bird life going on about us, as ever loads of inquisitive Albatross'. The highlight was a huge sunfish, its giveaway being that classic floppy fin and it was right on the nose. Mark was asleep but Eliot shot up and it was worth it for it was huge, would have weighted about a ton looking at it, very strange shape.

At the moment we are making anything between two to three knots and are hoping that the wind will rise a couple of knots such that it will fill the big lug which has spent the day languishing on deck. Be good to hear a bow wave towards Melbourne again
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About Spirit of Mystery

The 37 ft Mounts Bay lugger, Spirit of Mystery, replica of the original Mystery, is following in the wake of the seven intrepid Cornishmen who sought out a new life in the Australian gold rush. Leaving Newlyn on Saturday 18 November 1854, the Mystery travelled about 11,800 nautical miles in 116 days before arriving in Melbourne on 14 March 1855.
The Spirit of Mystery slipped the lines on 20th October last year, and they expect to arrive Melbourne in March. On board, apart from Pete Goss are his younger brother Andy; Pete's youngest son Eliot (who is 14); and Pete's brother-in-law Mark Maidment. Keep watching Sail-World for information about where and when you can welcome Pete and the crew in Melbourne.