Race 6 - Day 16
Crew Diary - Good day / Bad day
06 February
I used to play that game with an old colleague; it's a simple one where you pick out something that's gone well and follow up with some that hasn't, or vice-versa depending on your inclination. Today would have been perfect for it.
I'm currently rushing to finish this blog as it's somewhat passed its due date (sorry Tim!), but I've been putting it off all day. Firstly, because one of the reasons I'm here is to get away from a laptop and 9-5 office life. Having been a social and content manager for five years, writing a blog has a distinct 'work' feel to it. Though this office is a bit more wobbly underfoot and is 'open air', meaning I'm writing this with Uranus shining brightly off the bow, Orion's Belt directly above us and the whole boat lit up by an almost full moon (Sorry Phoebe, I'll remember some of your post-pub astronomy lessons one day!).
The other reason I was putting off writing this blog is because I wasn't sure whether I was having a good day or not. Something good seemed to be quickly followed by something that sends me back into a low, but then a small bit of kindness picks me up again. For example, Bernine bought out her own personal supply of Popcorn kernels for everyone for lunch today: Good Day.
On a high from lunch, I realised someone had not only unplugged my power pack from the charger, but had then taken my cable to charge up their own. This meant no fan for my sweltering six hours mid-afternoon off-watch and Lyndsay and Dawn had to talk me down from the edge of a full-blown emotional breakdown: Bad Day.
There was leftover popcorn, so I took a supply to have with a cheeky can of Coke during today's Sail Locker Book Club; Good Day. No power pack meant no music to cover the flogging sails, the teeth clenching roaring from the grinders on deck and 'dying dinosaur' whelps from easing the sheets (ropes): Bad Day.
Music choices from the Galley and on-watch to help cover the general boat noises did away with the normal Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga and replaced with Thievery Corporation and Sylvian Esso; Good Day.
As I tossed and turned in the heat, I noticed my bunk buddy Alex enacting the 'port hole' pact - making sure to push all the heavy rope to the side of the hatch while on deck, to allow the breeze through to the bunk below while the other tries to sleep: Good Day.
So on balance a good day. The problem with that game though is that you get lost in the small things. We're currently averaging 12kts (speedy for this race!) and have caught the trade winds, hopefully until the end. We also now have a destination and almost only 1500nm until we get there. We're creeping up on the lead pack and pulling away ever so slowly but definitely from those behind. We've also now set a Sounder's record of dropping down a sail and a hoisting up a new one all within in 9 minutes.
By our estimations we should be in Subic Bay by this time a week tomorrow. That's only 8 days left of helming under the Milky Way or a never-ending horizon, 8 sunsets and sunrises and means I'm running out of watches to learn the dark art of sail trim. Equally, it's still 8 days of damp clothes, sweaty shins, loo roll rations and a continued daily hunt for that extra pair of fresh pants I'm sure I packed.