Race 2 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 2
17 September

It is wonderful to be at sea again. My happy place. Portugal was lovely. The locals are very friendly, the food and coastal scenery excellent. But, I was so ready to head off and I think many of my crew mates felt the same.

The sea has taken on that beautiful deep blue. We have mild conditions, a gentle sea state and a light breeze. We could do with a little more of the latter. Yesterday, our first full day at sea on this part of the leg, we spent constantly adjusting our sails - trim, trim, trim, to get the best possible speed. At the helm we all worked on being more and more accurate, everybody getting plenty of opportunity to hone their skills. We changed up from the Code 2 spinnaker early, to the Code 1 which is bigger and lighter, the trimmer sitting in the new bean bag we got from Hyde Sails, calling the shots.

We're all getting our bodies back into the watch system again. Getting used to the three hour sleeps. It usually takes a day or two and we'll be in the swing. It is hard to keep track of which day it is though when you get up three times each day! Not that it really matters except when you are navigator and writing up the log and the media crew sending off these blogs.

During our time in Portugal, Jim Day, Laurence and I rearranged the menus and restocked the boat with food. It was quite a task but so far the meals have been met with approval and those on mother duty are happy with the system. Fingers crossed it stays that way. One thing I'm sure of, no one will go hungry on this boat!

This morning I set up the sprouts to grow again in specially built trays above the stove. The first lot was a bit of a disaster as people forgot they were there and put stuff on top of them and also the conditions were such that sprouts were the last thing on anyones' mind. We will have perfect conditions over the next few days so hopefully some fresh greens on the menu along with the lovely fresh bread rolls the crew has made each day. The smell of them cooking is wonderful even though it means having the oven on and it has been quite warm these last couple of days. Everyone has tested out their fans in their bunks and we have other cooling strategies in place as we head towards even warmer climes.

Happy days,

Jacqui Webb