More than two weeks on the ocean, intermittent sleep, ubiquitous moisture, cold, monotonous nights, slowly ending fruits and vegetables. Life here is tough. Yes, sometimes it's beautiful, and sometimes there's a lot of laughter and amazing sailing, but for every moment like this, there's one where you try to escape with your thoughts to somewhere else.
Need to go to the toilet? First, get out of the dry suit and three layers of clothes, and then overcome the moving obstacle course that is the yacht in the tilt of 45 degrees.
Want to have breakfast? Remember to balance your bowl all the time, because gravity is never where you expect it to be. And be ready for condensing water coming from the ceiling behind the collar.
Do you want to go to sleep? Climb the wall into your bunk, level it, secure a lee cloth, and fasten the seat belt. Maybe you will not fall out when they make a tack.
Objectively looking, we are in a good position. Our strategy was successful and we are currently fighting for the podium. We're about halfway to Seattle and we've managed to avoid freezing weather so far, not everyone in the fleet was so lucky. Now we're going to a head-on collision with a low pressure that came from Hawaii. That means strong winds and low temperatures (it doesn't sound very Hawaiian, does it?). The next week will be intense.
Oh, yeah... there is some good news. Today I changed my base layers for the first time, I feel fresh and fragrant. Two weeks in one set means I have spare clothes if necessary and I'm ready for tougher conditions.