Race 3 - Day 25
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 25: Cape Town to Fremantle
25 November

We're getting closer to the end of our journey during this race. We finally saw our first vessel in twenty plus days. Surprisingly it was another Clipper Race boat heading towards the finish line. When the race starts we become separated not just from the rest of the world but also from the rest of the fleet. The boat is then further divided into watches meaning that you see half the people on your boat for less than an hour a day sometimes. It'll be nice break these degrees of isolation and to return to the real world.

I will miss my Starboard Watch crew mates who were a real pleasure to sail with. We have worked hard to support each other and sail the boat in the right direction … most of the time. Our watches are usually spent concocting new ways to spend time. Most notably has been the great toast game and producing Rick Werkheiser's ''Porridge Whack'' music video. I will be sad to see some of them depart the boat. We still have Andy's birthday to look forward to tomorrow and I'm sure we can give him an extra birthday stint on the helm.

The Southern Ocean has been a challenging experience for all of us. The conditions test you mentally and physically. This was evident on our first day of sailing down wind after a week of upwind sailing. One minute we were slamming into waves and the next minute we were calmly surfing down waves. The level of fatigue was visible when the off watch was asleep within five minutes of laying on their bunks. They didn't wake up until the next watch change which is very hard to do.

The race is starting to heat up with our boat heading towards the finish line with several other Clipper boats within our reach. Today the wind has been blowing at a calm 11 to 15 knots making spinnaker helming quite pleasant. The waves have eased off and the boat glides over the surface of the water. It was lovely to be on deck soaking in the sunlight after weeks of grey skies. We must be getting closer to Fremantle.