Race 2 - Day 28
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 28
13 October
Farewell, Leg One Sailors
Author : Jim Feldkamp
With Punta del Este, Uruguay, only days away, thoughts now return to reconnecting to the real world, which means that several of our crew will be departing from this adventure and head home to love ones and share their experiences of a lifetime with friends and family. So, we would be remiss not to mention these stout sailors as they depart Dare to Lead to reconnect with their landlubber lives and regal their exploits (or bald-faced lies) to the lay people ashore.
To those who have not had the pleasure to meet our departing friends here is a quick biography of each.
Ellen: Affectionately known as Dory (i.e. ‘Finding Nemo’), she could always be counted on to provide high entertainment and a positive disposition even after coming out of the English Channel, where we were tossed around like a cork in the ocean. Departing in Portimão, Portugal, she continues to help provide fundraising opportunities for the Clipper Race and UNICEF.
Stephen: Our man from Cornwall. With him, we had a brilliant helm on deck, who was always keen to steer in any conditions. He flew gliders, and launched his career in NASA, but was indecisive when it came to coffee (or tea). Never able to settle on what type of drink he would like at any given time, he just took what passed in front of him, much to the chagrin of the original owner of that hot drink.
Louise (aka Lou): My ‘bunky’ and the one of the Bad Mom’s for the boat - ‘You’ll eat what you're given or else!’ She is our resident psychologist, who is doing seminal work on why sailors, both grown men and women break into hysteria, crying and uncontrollable shaking at the mere mention of the statement ‘raise the Code 2’! She will be world-renowned by this dissertation.
Trish – Our ‘High Gate Sophisticate,’ who would do any menial job beneath her station as long as there was a cup of tea at the end of the ordeal. Initially, she studied to be a teacher, until she realised kids (i.e inmates) were a bore. She soon found her calling in high fashion and now runs her own art studio in London. No doubt she will be having an exhibit on the Clipper Race 2019-20, featuring the superior sailors on Dare to Lead.
David (aka Dr. Darling): Our Cambridge educated doctor. Who, without his vast medical knowledge, we would not know that the ‘hip bone is connected to the leg bone’. While he provided needed emergency medical advice for burns, infections, scurvy and other maladies, both natural and man-made, his greatest strength, as our pseudo-vegan, was his ability to wax eloquently and proselytize on deaf ears the advantages of couscous and other vegetarian food stuffs, that would make any sane omnivore beg for mercy.
Stephanie (aka Steph): From Liverpool, our Liverpudlian (if that’s a word?), is the second doctor on the boat, and is leaving as well. Do they know something we do not? A constant source of entertainment, she got engaged prior to shipping out (like so many sailors of lore). Honest to the core, with an uncanny ability to provide input and opinions on every facet of conversation throughout the boat, she was our clarion call for everything from watch change, log entry, breakfast, lunch and dinner time, sunset, sunrise, well, you get the idea.
John (aka Searsie): Our only trained economist! Hailing from Australia, he is affectionately known as one of only two like marsupials on the boat. Because of his liberal application of zinc oxide to his delicate Australian features, he appears to be a lemur emerging from the den to meet the new day. But without him, many of us would not have enjoyed the experience of Vegemite for the first time, and I know I’ll never forgive him!
Of course, the past month will provide memories for a lifetime and as we step off the boat in Punta del Este we say goodbye to our new friends, we wish them well, and until we meet again ‘Fair Winds and Following Seas.’