Race 2 - Day 1
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 1
16 September
Hi Family & Friends!
All is well here aboard CV29! We’re off the coast of Morocco right now and while some of us debated taking a detour for some delicious local food, we ultimately decided to head for the scoring gate instead. Note that it took less than 24 hours for conversation onboard to quickly start revolving around food again. In terms of the race, we are happy with our position as one of the eastern most yachts. We expect to pick up stronger winds as we get closer to the Canaries and race for the gate.
After a great race start yesterday, followed by a difficult first 12 hours out of Portimão in upwind conditions, we’ve finally flattened out and are doing our best to keep the boat moving in fickle 5 knot winds. In between spinnaker trimming and focused helming, we’ve also managed to nurse a tiny stowaway bird who seemed very out of place in the middle of the ocean. So far he’s the only animal we’ve seen, although Afshin thinks he saw a swordfish jump out of the water, but Rick is doubtful based on the fish in this part of the world. We’re also exploring a theory that Afshin is merely calling out random fish sightings as a way of distracting us from his non-stop Pringle pilfering. In addition to looking for wildlife and trimming our kite, the backgammon board has finally made an appearance. I think there are about four of us who know how to play, but by the time we get to Punta del Este, I expect a full tournament will be in effect. I’m eager for a way to hand off the steering gear check task I volunteered for today. It basically involves climbing down into the laz every day and checking the rudders. Today was fine because the boat was flat and we only had one bag of garbage down there, but two weeks from now will be a different story...
Speaking of two weeks from now, do any of you remember your family member or friend telling you that this was more of a downwind leg and that the trying times of upwind sailing were behind us in the English Channel? Well, I’m sorry to report that’s not true. During yesterday’s upwind sailing, Seumas casually mentioned that after the equator we will have about a solid week of upwind sailing on a steep hell, I mean heel. Thankfully, we should be on a port tack which means the heads work properly and no need for doggie poop bags! If we all have our sea legs by then, it will be an extra bonus! On the health front, so far so good on Race 2 and everyone seems to be in fine spirits. The only real casualty has been our slop bucket for throwing food scraps overboard. We thought we had solved the problem after losing our first slop bucket on Race 1, but apparently not. Our bilge bucket is doing double duty and so far it’s working.
Fred, Vad and I are on dinner duty for Race 2 and tonight we’re having Cottage Pie with ground beef (comes in a can, but still good), potatoes, carrots and onions, plus a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and homemade salad dressing. The galley smells great! Time to get back to dinner!
Big hugs to everyone! Thanks for your support and we hope you’re all enjoying the race!
Mary