Race 12 - Day 14
Crew Diary - New York to Derry-Londonderry
10 July

Elvis's Blog Day

Good day pink panther fans, friends and family.

So here we are Leg 8 of 8, 11 months, over 40,000nm sailed and now only a short distance from Northern Ireland. With only a few days sailing left after our stopover till arrival back in Liverpool at the end of the month. I look back at where I was 11 months ago and how life has changed.

To quote my very first blog on day 3 of Leg one.

“As I write this I still think about how different life was just a few months ago sitting behind a desk that did not move from one 40 degree angle to another. Things did not fall off randomly and there was no real physical exercise involved in my days apart from walking to the office coffee machine”

How life has changed, as now sitting behind a desk and being flat all the time and drinking coffee from a machine seems the abnormal.

Over the last 12 months the crews have been lucky enough to get to experience things that not many people get to see or experience. I mean on this race alone we have had clear star filled skys at night, the moon rising from the sea in the early hours of the morning like a red orb breaking through the ocean, numerous whales and dolphins playing along side the boat, birds landing beside you on the deck for a rest. We also, due to our unfortunate diversion to drop of Dom, got to sail in iceberg areas having to perform iceberg watches on the foredeck. We sailed close to the resting place of the titanic and crossed the grand banks of Newfoundland to arrive in Newfoundland. We are now a few hundred miles away from finishing our final ocean crossing of the North Atlantic. I mean how many people get to do this?

As for this race I could not of asked to spend the last couple of weeks with a better group of people, The race has been full of ups and downs, having to divert obviously was disappointing as we were sailing so well at the time but everyone got on with getting there as fast as possible and on leaving Newfoundland the work that has been put in by everyone to push and race the boat as quick as possible knowing we were at the back and hundreds of miles behind the rest of the fleet as been incredible. We have won an ocean sprint and caught up hundreds of miles on the fleet. The teamwork has been amazing and for me made a little more special as I have been a watch leader for this race and everyone on my watch have made my job very easy and enjoyable.

I am both looking forward to and nervous about arrival back in Liverpool. Catching up with family and friends will be amazing but equally will be back to reality and “normal life”. Maybe this I why I have agreed to deliver the boat back to the south coast a week after we get to Liverpool to keep this experience going.

I am now also starting to realise how far I have come since stepping on a boat for the first time in April last year (about 45,000 nm) from none sailor to watch leader running a watch of 8 people currently guiding them though sailing evolutions, training on the Helm and knowing somewhat what I am talking about! It's safe to say I have bundles more self confidence.

Many people have asked over the last year why I decided to sail round the world, the honest answer is I have no idea what the driving force was that lead me here but I am so glad it did as this has been one of the best decisions I have ever made and has given me more than I ever thought it could..........( I mean I know how to make a pretty good loaf of bread from scratch now) oh and load of leadership and life experience.

If your around in Liverpool at race finish come and say hi, I will be the one on the BIG Pink boat wearing pink and probably with hair that's to long and a beard that needs a trim.

Elvis AKA Neil (probably only to my mother now as this nickname really has stuck since I was 18)

P.s Many thanks for Max, Callum and Phoebe for coming out to see me in NewYork is was great to see you all and I had a great time catching up.