At dawn this morning, Graham Dalton and his Open 50, A Southern Man - AGD, standing fifth out of the six still competing in the Velux 5 Oceans single-handed round the world race, were five miles east of desolate Gough Island in the middle of the South Atlantic.
This beach-less strip of rock measuring 7 miles long by 3.5 miles wide has no safe anchorage and presents a wall of sheer cliffs between 500-1,000 feet high. For the isolated Kiwi solo sailor, the sight of land after so long at sea had a profound effect.
Dalton described the scene: "I'm looking at an island called Gough. This morning it was cold - I won't describe how cold - but the island was very stark, a very primeval sort of place."
But it had a surprise in store: "The sun came up and I looked over the stern and there was a seal staring at me, then there were seals all round the boat."
Although there has been no commercial sealing or whaling on Gough Island for two hundred years, Dalton noticed the seals were jumpy. "Then the dolphins turned up and there must be bad feeling between dolphins and seals as when they arrived, the seals did a bloody runner!"
After 39 days alone at sea, he found this temporary companionship captivating: "I've been by myself for a while, now, and they put on a show for me," the 54-year-old skipper explained: "The little ones playing around like kids do in front of an audience and the adults just looking on."
Dalton's progress is hampered by damage to his Solent furling headsail: "I can't fix it as it's lashed up the mast, so you've just got to live with it. All the blokes will be suffering now," he said, "and we've certainly got some problems, but you don't talk about it as it can become the start of building an excuse for your lack of performance."
With typical Kiwi pragmatism, Dalton signed off: "You've just got to do the best you can and take it on the chin."
For more information visit www.velux5oceans.com
