Race 13 - Day 3
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry to Liverpool
24 July

Leg 8, Race 13, Day 3 – Dave West (Westy)

As a Round-the-Worlder (well nearly so having missed the Seattle to Panama race) I have been asked to sum up in this blog what the race has meant to me. So here we go.

There have been some very special moments that I will never forget; e.g. the first phosphorescent dolphin; the first breaching whale; the terror of the first serious squall with spinnaker up; the sheer adrenalin rushes when the wind and sea are up and urgent sail changes are needed. However, I can easily say that it is the people I have met that have made the race so special. Sharing those moments of terror, the times of delight and those days of absolute tedium make them all a little bit more special. I wonder how difficult it must be for single-handed yachtsman to have no-one to share these memories with.

My fellow Round-the-Worlders are a great bunch to have shared a year with. It is amazing how well we have all got on despite our very different backgrounds. It has also been quite amazing to see how leggers, even the single-leggers, so quickly and easily assimilated themselves into our boat life and all quickly became friends and reliable crew mates.

It was sad to see some friends having to prematurely curtail their voyages for various reasons. Mick, Toby, Scott, David Loe, Baz, Emma, Jake, Massimo, Angus, Maureen; we missed you all.

It is bound to take some time to re-assimilate into “normal” life when I get home but it is time to do so. I am so looking forward to getting back to conventional family life, particularly with my first grandchild expected in September. I am also very much looking forward to reconnecting with friends and acquaintances back home. Also to catching-up with the local news, plus football, rugby and horse-racing gossip.

I have been lucky to have visited so many parts of the world; some that I don't suppose I would ever have visited had it not been for Clipper. The pleasant surprises were Punta Del Este in Uruguay and more recently Derry in Northern Ireland.

I am sure there will be many Garmin get-togethers in the future when we will be able to relive those special boat moments we shared. I look forward to these.

Before I finish, I just want to say that I really enjoyed our stopover in Derry / Londonderry and take this opportunity to thank the people of the city and vicinity for their genuine friendliness.

Dave