Race 3 - Day 11
Crew Diary - Race 3 Day 11: Cape Town to Fremantle
11 November

At the 11th hour of the 11th Month they shall be remembered - and they were, as Team PSP Logistics stood down from sail trimming for a few moments to honour those that fought and fell in the Great War. Poppies in place, tributes read by NH and CP, and the Last Post rung out across the waves.

A sombre closing to an otherwise loud morning watch. An early roar rang out from an animated crew around the 0800 watch change, as the countdown of longitudinal seconds rang down, and PSP Logistics sailed smoothly across the Race 3: Dell Latitude Rugged Race Scoring Gate, in second place by our estimate. Two bonus points won as deserved reward for efforts to date on this challenging Leg, and a great morale booster for the 2800 nautical miles still to sail to Fremantle

Later in the watch, a more muffled roar of delight from the depths of the starboard forward bilges, where under guise of a volunteer work party to deep clean the bulk storage areas, a stray box of Ouma's Rusks was successfully located, and immediately moved to a safe hiding place in the Starboard Watch snack locker. These legendary South African dry-biscuits have a storied history on PSP Logistics - originally smuggled into the provisions by the lone South African on board, dismissed as non-food material by the wider crew, until tasted by our resident Italian culinary master who immediately declared their true virtue. The entire multi-box stock on board was then consumed in a single watch's meal sitting to the dismayed horror of all true Ouma converts - Ouma Rusks being dunked in tomato soup ???

Aside from our coveted final box of Ouma's, the crew are thriving on the South African provisions menu, with Tastic Rice, Mrs Balls Chutney, Nik Naks, Eet-Sum-Mors and Jungle Oats all in prominence, and Bar-One dominating the chocolate hampers. But the big Biltong mystery remains unsolved - we can smell it, sense it, almost taste it, but never see it. Even the following pack of Shearwaters know we have it, and want it. It is rumoured that BA carries a bag hidden in the nethers of his dry suit, and that MG added a healthy dose in secret to his latest pasta maestro, and that TS has a stock of Reindeer biltong woven into the layers of his Norwegian jerseys, and that DW has some hidden in his toolbox underneath the screwdrivers.

Perhaps a small offering of prized biltong to Neptune might convince him to send those Southerly winds to us ...