It was a somewhat earlier morning than usual, since the Swedish Ship Götheborg was to be in the roads as starting ship for the Ironman contest already at 0700. That meant that the morning call was set at 0500 and that we left the quay at 0530.
 
So the Ironman contest was the big event of the day. The participants were to compete in swimming (first event), bicycle riding and running. At precisely 0700 our broadside with the port battery gave the signal. We certainly succeeded in waking also everyone in Port Elizabeth who had decided to sleep instead of watching the contest.
 
This contest was not the only item on our agenda today. Our intention was also to compensate our magnetic compasses to minimize deviation before the journey to Australia. This however was more easily said than done, with all the “ironmen" swimming around the ship. But once they were back on land again, running for the horizon, we succeeded in getting our compasses adjusted. And in the evening we were back at our moorings in Port Elizabeth.