Crew Blog

East meets West for the Lady Qing

11 March 2008

Groundhog Monday cometh - we arrived at 180 00 .00 E/W at 0245 last night and greeted the date line with some silly hats/scarves, a tuck box and a bottle of Champers. We also woke up the other watch for good measure and had to explain to Cal what it was all about. So time wise we were ahead of you guys in the UK and now we are behind, just to ‘square that away’ as the ‘Badger’ would put it.

Talking of the Badger, he has had a busy week or so looking after us. He mendeth the water maker and bringeth the water...Do they call him Marcus the ‘Water maker’?  No. He looketh for the breeze and bringeth the wind… Do they call him Marcus the ‘Wind maker’? No. He broaches just one time… no no just kidding… but will he make a cup of tea!?! That is the real question. He is in fact a magician all over the Lady, and fixing everything so we can all have some R&R in Hawaii; even the sextant has come to hand.

The watch ‘Maui’, as we call ourselves, are doing well. Ant “JD” Kiff is having a great leg and is as strong as ever with some good speeds and control on the helm; Christian’s non-stop Qingdao chat keeps us all laughing; Nicole has stolen the show on spinnaker repair and some fantastic helming in difficult times; Pete the new boy has settled in very well and is eager to try everything, but wanting to go into the barrel is taking it a bit far; and Teddy is a joy with the camera and her dance.As on each leg, even when the tough is tough we look after each other and end up smiling. This leg has been a tough one with ongoing ocean racing repairs on the Lady, but everyone is digging deep and really enjoying the diverse conditions and challenges.

I also had the luck of helming whilst we had two whales breaching over the bow and down our port side, just fifteen feet off. The new moon, the stars, the beautiful sunsets and sunrises elevate the enjoyment of this journey to a podium position.

Gary Jessop