"I had another day which was one of those that will stay with me forever - I can still see it clearly now if I close my eyes. I sailed very close by Campbell Island, which is three hundred and fifty miles from New Zealand. I would think that the island and it's outlying rocks form the last part of the cone of a volcano; the rocks around rise up vertically like tombstones from the sea, I was five miles away but I would say they were a great deal bigger than the Needles, and much more slab sided. Above about one hundred metres everything was completely blanketed by a thick layer of cloud, but it was spectacular and moody non the less, and the first land I had seen since Madeira, but the best part was the albatross. As I bashed upwind past the island in short, shallow seas, there were dozens and dozens of them, in fact just by looking behind (it was too wet to look forward!) I counted nearly forty, and if you consider the number in front and those lost behind waves, there were probably a hundred within my five mile range of visibility, and some of each one of all the species I have seen so far. Do you know, apparently for a long time sailors thought that they had no legs or feet and never landed, and sure enough their feet are difficult to spot, but occasionally they must get stiff or something and so they dangle them down and shake them so they look like they are made of jelly, then they put them away again! It is really quite funny. I have also seen one take off from the water - it requires timing and the help of a few handy waves. It is not the most fitting of manoeuvres for such a graceful bird, but he quickly recovered and tucked his rubber feet away, climbed, banked and turned back over the boat at speed as if to say "See, I can fly in a proper fashion!" 
Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily message
 

"Here we are again, 30 knots of wind, boat surfing to 18 knots under 2nd reef and staysail, so put in 3rd reef to slow the top end speeds to reduce risk, and it really didn't make any difference, the boat still surfs to 18 knots, perhaps more occasionally. Another front coming through tomorrow, then we'll gybe for the New Zealand ice gate. Hopefully we'll be past Auckland Islands for that so we don't gybe into them. Albatross coming closer to the boat now, but not as close as the one that crash landed on the deck. One circles from leeward, comes up heading aft on the windward side, and just hangs there in one position relative to the boat, amazing. When we finally gybe, it will be emotionally positive, as we'll be heading partially north, and then each successive ice gate is further north, so hopefully the weather will be more steady and perhaps a bit less wind."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message
 

"I am slowly closing in on the coast of Tasmania with just over 300 miles to go to reach Hobart. The winds, albeit very strong, have been very helpful in helping me reach land. I am on starboard jibe with the wind from the south west at about 28 knots. It will clock around later today into the north west and decrease further to 15 knots for the week end. As best I can, I am predicting an arrival for Sunday in Hobart.  The mast seems to be stable enough on starboard but I will take it easier on port as that is the damaged side. The time seems to be long as I an anxious to get ashore, see the family and start working on going forward. I am watching the race from the sidelines and starting to miss the action already."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message
 

"I've got no wind! Or very little! To be honest, with my solid little Roxyboat, I'd rather have too much wind than not enough. Roxy's been caught up by another little ridge of high pressure and we're temporarily stuck! I'm doing all I can to squeeze every quarter of a knot out of her to keep wriggling along. It doesn't seem fair that the leaders have managed to run all the way with the depression and we're stuck wallowing out here! In fact it seems just about the worst for me here I have my own little bubble of no wind! Anyway, it should only be for a few hours and we will get going again! Just this morning I was in 25-30 knots of wind and surfing some of the South Pacific's finest waves! It was amazing, as I was preparing the big gennaker on the bow, and on each surf it was like I was flying, as only the back of Roxy was touching the water and I was several meters up in the air as we whizzed off at 20+ knots! I used to be a "bow chick" on fully crewed boats, so I'm used to the tough jobs up forward whilst speeding along, but the difference now is that there is no back-up behind me, and I am no longer trusting a skilled helmsman not to "wipeout" "chinese gybe" or "stuff it" on each wave, but Chuck - my famous autopilot. For us solo sailors, our autopilot is our best friend, but can quickly become our worst enemy if it decides to go wrong."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her her daily message
 

"The New Year has not bought any change in the weather conditions. The visibility may have improved marginally but the drizzle remains and the grey landscape stays unchanged. The weather has not been conducive to mainsail repairs so that job remains on the list, otherwise we push on to the next ice gate some 650 miles away. It is great having these milestones along the way as they help tick off the miles before the big left hand turn at the end of the Pacific. My New Year was spent with weed issues as I looked aft to see a brown stream from my leeward rudder. Upon investigation I saw a large amount of seaweed streaming from the rudder. It was huge and flat and brown. Anyway after bearing away and pulling at it with a boat hook we eventually disentangled ourselves. Sailing on Aviva for over 50 days now has meant that you know every noise and more importantly if there is a new strange noise. A low pitched vibrating noise had started and was intermittent. I checked the keel box, then the transom for the steering gear and the pilot. The noise was louder and only on the windward side but not directly related to anything. Looking over the back of the boat I saw now some more weed, but a different type streaming off the lower edge of the windward rudder. Slowing the boat down did not allow me access to the weed with my boat hook so I tried a different approach and heeled the boat over so the rudder would clear the water in between waves. After a few waves this proved successful, washing the weed from the rudder tip and stopping my vibration. Mission accomplished now back to sailing again."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

You can see for yourself the fine conditions enjoyed by Sam Davies in the southern seas. In her latest video for the New Year, we see Roxy surfing along in pleasant weather. To watch the video just click here.