Crew Blog

Time raiders of the lost plot

10 March 2008

Good afternoon folks from the space cadets on board Qingdao. We, I am reliably informed, we will travel through time shortly, when we cross the date line. Upon hearing this discussed I assumed some of the more desperate crew members (and there is plenty of ‘em) had joined a lonely hearts internet chat room, but in fact it is the 24th time zone.

I have no idea what this is about, but it’s something to do with time zones, GMT and all that tosh, where we lose a day in the blink of an eye. This is causing much consternation amongst the troops, with the female of the species anxious about being a day older than they ought, and the guys twisting their beards at the prospect of spending an extra day without beer. Anyhows all hands have their eyes peeled for a Tardis to sail into.

As a mere mortal I am more interested in the fact we have less than 1,400 miles to run, as we are now on day 15, and the porridge, pasta and noodles are starting to turn our thoughts to jumbo prawns, juicy steaks and fresh side salads. We are all a bit miffed that we are still in oilies and thermals when we thought shorts n t-shirts would be out by now.

We continue to make good progress, as the wind gods continue to smile on Lady Qing, and yesterday was a momentous day as we actually fixed something rather than breaking it, with the repairs completed to our midweight spinny.

Our piccie shows yet another sail change in progress, with us being sandwiched between high and lows the wind although plentiful, changes rapidly, no peace for the wicked.

Finally, thanks to all at St Anne’s CE Primary for the goodies box, please forgive us for not waiting until Easter to eat the choccie eggs, and best wishes to friends and family who are greatly missed.

Graham Calvert