Race 3 - Day 15
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 15: Cape Town to Fremantle
15 November
Today is one of my least favourite days of each leg... galley duty. However, I have decided to be a positive Polly and embrace it.
I am going big – 4 loaves (2 for lunch, 2 for breakfast tomorrow) and an upside down (due to the Southern hemisphere) peach cake. I was also going to attempt custard but given our angle, that has gone out the window. The crew don't need to know that I was going to do custard, so keep it quiet please! We have the spinnaker up and the sleigh ride is here, we are surfing those waves like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately the spinnaker brings out the best and worst in people. The alpha males get on the helm and heat things up, keeping us down below with our hearts in our mouths. Bang, crack goes the sheet and we wonder if we are going to blow the kite. All I'm saying is that these boys on the helm are clearly making up for something – the testosterone is flowing in full force.
Hugh just gave me an excellent one liner. As I was telling the boys to calm down and Karen was yelling up that they are like bloody teenagers, Hugh shouted back, “This is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!”. Brilliant. As I typed this, we broached, which means that momentarily the boat went completely flat on its side. Everything flew around (I nearly got beheaded by a chopping board and Jon Milne got covered in peach juice), the cake in the oven is definitely now an exploded cake in the oven, I daren't open the door. I'm also not going to go in the engine room where my loaves are proving, if they aren't covered in diesel it will be a miracle. We all knew that broach was going to happen and now we have a yankee up instead, the fun is over for now. It reminds me of small children being punished, if you're not going to play with it properly then you can't play with it at all!
It feels so good to be moving quickly and in the right direction, it also feels good to know that we are doing quite well in the fleet. It is definitely all to play for and concentration is key to the next week or so. If we have any Captain Cock Ups then that is going to slow us down and we can't afford that.
I can happily report that it is also a lot warmer now (well, I'm down to 3 layers instead of 5 and have stopped wearing a wooly hat in bed). We are waiting for the cold to return, but for now we are embracing the new temperature! We have been very surprised at how long the fruit and veg has lasted on this leg, until it dawned on us that so far we have been living in a tin can the temperature of a fridge.
Talking about cock ups, I hold my hands up. As I eagerly decorated the galley last night with balloons and birthday banners for Tess's birthday, I thought I was being a very good crew mate with the card signed and the present wrapped. Finally I was organised in the birthday department. Tess came into the galley with a confused look on her face, “is it my birthday today?!”, “Yes!” we all exclaimed, all gathered together to sing happy birthday, only to discover that her birthday is in fact tomorrow. Oh well, it's a good dress rehearsal! It also brightens up the galley. Until the spinnaker got wrapped around the bunting and the balloons started popping, I guess I'll be blowing some more up tonight!
Better go and feed my hungry crew now. Time to check the oven and the engine room. Wish me luck!
Lots of love from a moving, warmer Pip and Team GREAT Britain xxx