Race 13 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry to Liverpool
23 July

Leg 8 – Race 13 – Day 2 – Sarah Bean

Gosh, well – this will likely be my last Team GREAT crew blog... ever!

Not totally sure I am ready to face up to the reality of what this really means. How did that even happen? It only feels like yesterday that I climbed onboard CV30 in Airlie Beach, Australia, feeling more than a bit apprehensive and slightly in awe of what was to come. And now, seemingly far too close, we are so very nearly done, the Race Finish is imminent and a big chapter of my life is about to draw to an end. For me, that's over half the world travelled... 20,000+ nautical miles clocked up; including two Oceans, an Equator and International Date Line crossings. All with practically no prior sailing experience prior to signing up for Clipper. Some adventure! You can sense an air onboard a mix of feelings across the crew as to how we all feel about this. Some are (more than) ready for this race to be over and to move on; others are not so sure and a whole range of others are somewhere between the two. Words don't really feel adequate to capture the magnitude of what we are going through and have experienced although I am certain a number of us will try in subsequent blogs over the next week of racing as we head to our final destination, Liverpool.

In many ways it feels too soon to reflect upon what we've each individually achieved and what it all 'means'. We really haven't had much of a moment to let that sink in. I have been told that will come later once the dust has settled. We'll see. There have been all manners of experiences onboard, many that are so hard to even try to encapsulate into words or even meaning. We have gone from the sublime – surfing waves post-Phenomenal storms on the North Pacific to the ridiculous – such as finding a Nasdaq duck in our bilges today(!) – to everything in between. It certainly hasn't all been about the sailing. On a personal level – I perhaps don't feel that I have learnt anything hugely 'new' about myself per se and that's no bad thing. There have been no life changing moments so much as a positive reinforcement of the strengths I knew I already had. I think the bottom line for me is that I will walk away from this adventure with a much greater belief in myself. You really can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. Oh, and a rudimentary set of Sail Repair skills, hah! I cannot believe we did enough in Londonderry to get our FrankenKite Code 1 flying again... YES!!

As ever, a massive THANKS to our Team GREAT friends, family and supporters – you really have been the driving power behind keeping us going. If we don't see you in Liverpool, know that we are truly looking forward to catching up with you soon. To all of those Clipper Crew I have had the pleasure of training with, sailing with and pootling about with onshore - THANK YOU for putting up with me and for being an integral part of one of the best times of my life!

Much love, BEANIE xoxo

“To desire nothing beyond what you have is surely happiness.

Aboard a boat, it is frequently possible to achieve just that.

That is why sailing is a way of life, one of the finest of lives.”

- Carleton Mitchell