Race 10 - Day 23
Crew Diary - Race 10 Day 23: Seattle to Panama
23 May
Nasduq's Pacific Peregrinations
As followers of the Race Viewer, you may have been scratching your heads over our meanderings around the Pacific for the last few days. Assigned to tugboat duty as part of the battle fleet around HMS Liverpool, we are as you will have read, accompanying Liverpool 2018 and PSP Logistics to Panama. At least that's the official story. However as you may have deduced, we have secret orders. A bit like Captain Cook when he got to Tahiti and opened the secret envelope given to him by the First Sea Lord, only to discover that the bit about observing the transit of Venus was just a ruse to put the French off the scent and that his real mission was to grab Australia. Well, our secret envelope says that a proper circumnavigation can't include any short cuts and hence we are off around Cape Horn to complete the journey properly.
Well, that's my theory, others on board have different explanations. Some think we are sailing a course to see Nasduq's Giant Tortoise and Blue Footed Booby friends in the Galapagos, which are only 400nm away. The truth though is that before she left, Kate's daughter Zara gave her a Treasure Map. Once the race was over we have been following it carefully, and with a little help from some passing dolphins and guided by our menagerie of Boobies which have taken up residence on the pulpit, we are making great progress in looking for the treasure, which we think must be on an island just off Panama. Still, others hold that as we have some pollywogs on board, King Neptune has ordered Skipper Rob to bring them south to answer for their crimes at the Equator.
Another theory which is gaining ground is that we are going south to look for wind, which we hope will blow us straight to Panama on an easterly course, thus reducing the need to motor and avoiding a refuelling stop in Costa Rica. Although some of the crew were beginning to doubt the existence of this mythical south westerly wind, as we approach 8deg north it has started to kick in and this evening we are travelling along at a tidy clip of 11knots, heeled over on a starboard tack on a bearing straight to Panama. By going south the weather has started to become a bit cooler, with some relief from the overhead sun. In fact some of the crew were seen wearing jackets and even foulies for this evening's midnight watch.
Whichever theory you subscribe to, and at this stage they seem equally plausible, we are now less than 900nm from a beer and a shower at the end of what seems an interminable journey around the Pacific. Nasdaq and the Clipper Race fleet have been sailing this ocean and its attendant seas since rounding the southern tip of Tasmania in December. We've seen it in all it's moods, it's tranquillity, it's tempests, it's squalls, sunshine and starlight, it's infinite shades of blue, grey, green and white, it's immenseness and its incredible array of fauna, from dolphins, whales and marlin to its bioluminescent creatures of the deep, its flying fish and flying squid. Its been an unforgettable experience but I know that many of the crew are starting to look forward to sailing a new ocean after Panama.
As many have mentioned, the wildlife on this leg has been amazing, and it keeps getting better. For the past couple of days we have been treated to dolphin shows, by teams of upwards of 50 at a time performing synchronised acrobatics. It's become commonplace to have 20 or more jumping and jostling for position on the bow, and for them to leap three metres clear of the water, spinning and somersaulting as they flash silver through the air. At the same time the Boobies are back, also in large numbers. Tonight we have 12 of these large brown and white birds with large beaks and pink feet on the pulpit. They are completely unafraid and unintimidated by our activities, protesting loudly when we attempt to change a sail or run a line through the bowsprit. Phil, the birdman of Nascatraz, was even able to video two of them landing on the boathook he was holding. Nasduq thinks its great to have some real company and loves partying with them, singing sea shanties, sharing yarns and listening to tales of their adventures.
Nasduq too has another friend, this time a new boyfriend courtesy of the crew of Liverpool. He's a pink panther and after a brief liaison, which we have termed the sea-duck-ion of Nasduq, and an attempted ab-duck-ion they have become an inseparable crime fighting duo, Nasduqtective and PP, who will no doubt restore law and order to Panama City. More of their adventures in a subsequent blog.
Now back to some headsail changing
Looking forward to seeing everyone in NYC, especially my family
