The Mississauga News is reporting "Several boats capsized in Lake Ontario near the Port Credit Yacht Club this afternoon, sending 17 children into the water scrambling for help."

I have been sailing since I was seven, but I've never sailed in anything like that. There were 80 km/hour gusts of wind and I was pretty, ridiculously scared. I almost drowned at one point. A wave flung me out of my boat and I had to swim back and I couldn't because of the waves. I was really scared.

Since 1996 the Spirit of Canada team has been putting the names of those individuals who have supported Spirit of Canada on the hulls of both Spirit of Canada open sailboats. These crew members have either contributed financial or in-kind support or their valuable time. The first Spirit of Canada was an Open 40, built by volunteers for the Around Alone 2002 and carried over 3000 names around the world on her hull. This grassroots fundraising campaign became known as AroundTogether. From 2003 to the start of the Vendee Globe in November 2008, another 5700 crew member names were placed on the hull of the Open 60 Spirit of Canada; this time in reflective safety tape to provide improved visibility at night.

Hello from Spirit of Canada

Well, where do I start. The last six months has been the most difficult period in the entire 13 years of the Spirit of Canada campaign. I have delayed this status report numerous times in order to be able to report something positive as we have worked our way through a very difficult period.

Back in January and after seven difficult weeks in Hobart, Australia without finding the budget to ship Spirit of Canada back home, I left Hobart on the Open 60 with the idea of heading back to France on my own hoping that the repairs to the mast and electronics were complete. It very quickly became apparent that we had not completely gotten the bugs out of the autopilots. Facing a cold and hard slog around the Horn late in the season and without proper autopilots, I made the difficult decision to head for New Zealand where I knew qualified people were waiting to help.

Hello from Algimouss Spirit of Canada

Hobart, Tasmania

It's been six weeks since arriving in Hobart with Algimouss Spirit of Canada. During this time we have been slowly getting the boat back to sailing configuration. The remaining Vendee Globe competitors have been racing to the finish in Les Sables and it has been fantastic following the race from the sidelines but I must admit to a twinge of "unfinished business" for us as I watch and read about them going up the "channel" in Les Sables. It's pure magic and it makes my resolve even stronger to be a part of the race again in four years time. The team has a lot of hurdles to overcome and they won't be easy but that is why the Vendee Globe is the hardest race in the world.

The new rigging from Navtec has arrived and the two spreaders for the mast are slated to arrive early on Monday the 16th February and with some luck with the weather, the mast will be back up Monday evening. I've decided to sail the boat back and it will take about 3 days to prepare for departure. The auction for a co-skipper has not been productive and shipping the boat back has now been ruled out due to the costs. I am really anxious to get the boat home so that we can move forward with the campaign and start preparing for the future.

I plan on doing regular updates along the way and will provide as much commentary and pictures as possible. The route from Hobart will take us across the Tasman Sea, south of New Zealand, across the South Pacific, around Cape Horn and north to the North Atlantic. I won't be alone on the course though as two other races are currently doing the same route. The Volvo Ocean Race and the Portimao Global Ocean Race fleets will be sailing the same waters and rounding the infamous set of rocks at Cape Horn at about the same.

More news on the departure from Hobart in about four day's time

Take Care

Derek