Race 3 - Day 20
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 20: Cape Town to Fremantle
20 November
Hello Pink Panther fans, Elvis here again.
Today/Tomorrow marks the 3 month mark of our journey as Team Liverpool 2018.
Today is a sad day for all involved in the race with the sad news about Simon. Our thoughts are with Simon's family and friends at this time. We can not begin to imagine how Andy and his crew on GREAT Britain must be feeling and getting to Fremantle as a fleet sooner is all the more important now. Not for points or prizes, but to help comfort Andy and our friends.
As we left Liverpool on the 20th August 2017 none of us really knew what to expect from our journey on board. How would we all get on? Would we be able to sail this yacht together? What is it like not seeing land for a month? Do we have any decent cooks on board? So many questions... I am sure we all had our own personal questions to answer before we sett off and knew it would be a personal journey of discovery for all of us together.
I, so far, have changed quite a lot as a person and not only less legs and more arm muscle, I have also answered a few of my personal questions. I also now know what it feels like to not see land for a month (over 3 weeks on Leg 3 now as well).
To answer this question, it's not as strange as you might think, as you seem to concentrate on sailing the boat and rarely look around 360 degrees to check you can't see land!
Also unfortunately, we have worked out that we do not have any Michelin star chefs onboard yet but we all improve every time we are on Mother Duty and my cake and custard seems to go down ok with the skipper (on to a winner I think!).
Needless to say we will all continue to learn everyday on board, whether this is how to cook a chicken curry at 45 degrees (with no chicken), how to fly a Spinnaker without breaking it in rolling seas or knowing how important it is to remain safe and look after each other in these remote seas we sail on.
For now I will keep this short as today is a day of reflection for all of us and I am sure all of you at home.
We sail on to Fremantle and hope to arrive in a few days.
Written By Neil “Elvis” Stafford