Race 3 - Day 14
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 14: Cape Town to Fremantle
14 November

Guess what, another grey day beating into the wind trying to make best course for Fremantle. Groundhog Day all over again!

Almost two weeks since we left Cape Town and it seems as though we have had grey cloudy skies every day and night since. I miss the sun and particularly the stars so we are all hoping for sunshine when we arrive in Fremantle. The routine helps and it amazes me how 4 hour watch by 4 hour watch, the miles and the days get eaten up as we make our way across the ocean.

And then there are the little challenges to keep us busy. The latest was simply to get the chicken out of the freezer for tomorrow night's supper. Easy, right? Half an hour later, having borrowed screw drivers and spanners from the engineering tool box, JW and I finally return with said chicken in hand. I thought I had come below decks to allow my hands to warm up, but struggling to prize apart frozen blocks of meat seemingly glued into the freezer makes me appreciate the joys of life on deck.

The positive news is that the wind has finally veered to the south west. Having been promised for the last week that this wind change was just over a day away, it has finally arrived! The benefits are many, we are sailing much more peacefully, the boat is generally flat so easier to move around on, there is no more hammering into the waves so the ride is more comfortable and most importantly, sleep is much easier without all the crashing and bashing.

So now our bodies are able to relax a bit and take stock. This morning I have woken up with so many aches, pains and bruises that I have been completely unaware of, as though my body feels it is now safe enough to remind me about its state, saying 'yes, I am still here, I am alive but you have been abusing me for far too long.' Elbows, wrists, shoulders, calves, hips… pains everywhere. Odd how we have all managed to live for days in blissful ignorance of all these complaints and now, once we can relax, they all come out to play.

Despite all, we are all in pretty good shape on the boat. We have been lucky and escaped any significant injury so far which is to be very thankful for. The Pink Panther is continuing to look after us well and we are trying our best to return the compliment, running repairs being done where practical, not over-stretching things. As they say, look after your boat and she will look after you.

Think Pink and thank you for reading our blogs.

John Vearncombe