Race 12 - Day 14
Crew Diary - Race 12, Day 14: New York to Derry-Londonderry
09 July
We've been racing for two weeks now and the most exciting thing about today is that should we need it, (fingers crossed we won't), we are within rescue range of the UK Coastguard Helicopters. Even if we are more likely to have an Irish one sent out to us this side of Ireland the fact that we are within range of the UK ones really does start to hit home that we are ever so close to our finish date in Liverpool. The next milestone for me to get excited about, other than departing Derry, will be when I hear the VHF crackle into life with the UK Coastguard on the other end! It really is the small things in life.
Talking of helicopters, you've probably heard of our surprise visit from a US Navy Helicopter which was out on a flight from a carrier and just as surprised to come across us in the bleak grey fog as we were to hear their rotas, here's hoping they managed to take a few great aerial pictures for us. It's a good job that we were not in stealth as after giving us a fly by they popped across to see Sanya Serenity to have a chat as well as inform them of the range between us, perhaps this was a ploy that had been prearranged by the crew of Sanya to give them an advantage?! Too bad we were present on AIS at the time so they gained no insider knowledge.
Other exciting news from on board, naturally it involves food, the other night our mothers had the privilege of serving up steak and to top it all off they even went as far as serving strawberry meringue tart for pudding! It certainly put a smile on everyone's face except perhaps the faces of the mothers who were on duty the next day who were wondering how on earth they could better such a meal, especially when they knew they were due to serve jacket potatoes with cheese and beans minus the potatoes since we had used the last of them for our steak dinner!
Yesterday was Rosie's birthday, she was treated to a very pink and glittery cake. It was not just Rosie who had been looking forward to the day, but all of starboard watch as we had been promised mint M&Ms. Our afternoon watch was filled with snacks and quiz questions which were mainly answered by Alex but its safe to say that we all felt a little queasy after all that sugar.
Many crew across the fleet come to clipper with no sailing experience, some leave with no intention of sailing again but some get a taste for it and can be found going for little jaunts now and then. One person in particular who was adamant that she would not be sailing again was our team coordinator (and my fellow Sea Hag) from Legs 1- 4 Lou, too bad she met Paul on the race. Somehow he has managed to get her back out on the water and they took part in Round the Island race this weekend just gone alongside a few clipper companions. They walked away with a first in class!! I'm hoping when I see them in Derry that their good luck will rub off on DtL and we might just score a few extra points in the final sprint down the River Mersey.
On that note, we are fast approaching Derry our last ever stopover which by the looks of it is filled with many events to keep us entertained so hopefully you will next hear from us upon our arrival.
See you on Facebook Live!
Charlie