Position 40 00.001 S 55 20.543 E.
We're HERE...in the southern ocean!!! I just got off watch 45 minutes ago at 8:00 p.m. but refrained from going to bed, knowing that we'd drop below the 40th parallel within the hour. Above me on deck, people are lifting a few cheers and back slapping before getting back to the business of sailing this boat in high winds.
That unusually warm weather I wrote about a few days ago? Gone. Long gone. It's cold enough that when I go back on watch at midnight, I'll have three layers on my legs and five layers on my body and two layers on my head...but no gloves. You just require too complete a state of dexterity in your hands to limit them with gloves. You keep your hands in your pockets and pull them out bare when you need them.
I'm off to bed. It will be cold up there tonight in the 20+ knot winds we're experiencing so I'm going to savor my sleeping bag while I can.
