Race 4 - Day 6
Crew Diary - Race 4 Day 6: Fremantle to Sydney
08 December

Well, hello there. Here we are in the Southern Ocean, South of Australia and nearly South of Home. I am seeing familiar place names on the chart plotter. Not too long and we will turn the corner around Tassie and will be headed towards Sydney.

I am wondering what you, our followers, want to hear about today. I have decided that I'll just chat a bit about what I've been up to.

Tamsin and I named our family of Velociraptors (that's the 3 spinnakers). Maybe with names they will be less frightening when they come out to play. Possibly because we have not really had that much quality time with them, we, well I, have a larger portion of fear than working respect for these sails. They mean lots more stress, so much can go horribly wrong when they fly. I do believe they are worth the trials, just wish that we were better at using them. I guess with time we will get better, as with everything else on this journey. Anyway, back to the names. The biggest, our Code 1 is Dave, the middle is Mable and the baby, our Code 3, is Cuthbert. When Mable went up for the first time this leg we noticed a tiny hole. It was small enough not to cause an issue, but needing a patch. I asked that I be woken up when she came down so that I could make the patch before she was packed into the bag. I was still awake when the other watch was packing and made the fix quickly and went back to bed. This morning Cuthbert had a tiny hole as well, I noticed it on our morning watch. He came down just as I was waking up to get ready for lunch and my afternoon watch. All fixed now with a little kiss to make it all better.

I am trying to get more time behind the wheel this leg. Today we have 20+ knots behind us with gusts up to 40. The seas aren't too rough and I just had a go. Learning to surf and steer a straight line with waves and wind trying to push you anything but straight. Getting better. Got up to 18.7 knots, unfortunately it was at a point when I had gone a bit too high and in the wrong direction. The goal is to get more of the 12-14 in the right direction. Feeling good though, our watch leader said it's looking like I am getting a feel for it. More practice I say.

We have had frequent whale sightings this leg, but fewer birds. The Albatross are here but not in the same numbers as we had going into Fremantle. Two nights ago, in the near full moon, we saw a “Moonbow”. Is this possible? Just like a rainbow at the base of a rainstorm, but a very light grey/white in colour, not the whole spectrum. I'll have to Google it from Sydney.

I have come down off watch to write this. Tony has just made a round of hot drinks and with my recent success with sail repair and steering, I am feeling all is good with the world. It is pretty cold and grey up there so I am taking advantage of this time to get myself a little warmer before heading out for the second half of the watch.

That's it for me. Be well all, thanks for your support. Missing home and can't wait to sail in through Sydney Harbour.

Cheerio – Catherine