Still waters run deep

In length, we are now on the opposite side of the globe from our home port. Normally it is not wise to sail a ship upside down, but viewed upon from the North Sea it is exactly what we are doing. Sailing upside down does have its limitations though. Our rigging ends 48 meters above water, so upside down the Clipper would have a draught of 48 meters for which the North Sea is to shallow. Although we do not have any ambition to roll the Clipper, but we may note that in our current position we wouldn’t end with our rigging stuck in the mud if we did. Most of the Pacific on our route is about 6 kilometers deep, but tomorrow we will cross the Kermadec Trench with a depth of 10 kilometers. This trench is situated on the Easterly part of the continental shelf, on which both Australia and New Zealand are located as well. Although this trench is deeper then any water in the Atlantic it is not deep enough for a world record. In the Northern part of the Pacific, East of the Philippines, the Mariana Trench shows a record depth of almost 11 kilometers, 211 clipper ships stacked upon each other, either straight or upside down! One shouldn’t consider such matters for too long…
 
Richard Slootweg
Captain Clipper Stad Amsterdam