Race 10 - Day 23
Crew Diary - Race 10 Day 23: Seattle to Panama
23 May

The end of the sailing race did not mean the end of our low speeds. We are literally taken over by the many turtles that are bathing in these waters.

Initially, we were alternatively towing or being towed by Sanya Serenity Coast, meaning that every other day was what I imagine Hell feels, sounds and smells like: a mix of burning heat, relentless raging noise and foul odours from diesel and unwashed sweaty bodies. Everyone was trying to escape the heat with bodies laying in any shaded part of the deck, making a trip from helm to bow an interesting slaloming exercise. I slept on deck the first 4 nights on sails or sail bags. Very comfy, also I suspect a couple of flying fishes met their tragic end near or on them, given the distinctive smell lingering around them.

Now the ironic good news is that we ran out of fuel: we are back to sailing. We keep a bit of fuel for when we really need it, like getting into a marina for refuelling, which is likely to take place tomorrow. This is THE event of the race, more expected by the crew than the Royal Wedding that took place last week, because it will mean we can resume... SHOWERS. As usual in case of low fuel, we are restricting usage of generator/batteries/watermaker. Since I have been alternating layers of sweat with layers of sunscreen, I feel like I would probably need a scrub with sandpaper mounted on a polishing drill to feel clean again, despite the numerous wipes and cottons that I have tried on.

We have also stopped support watch, the watch on deck doing its own support, which means two things.

First, no-one is preparing my coffee for me when I wake up. Helen and Keith were the best at putting in my mug enough coffee powder to wake up a dead horse but also enough milk to satisfy a new born dog puppy, and they would hand it to me without a word when I would be staggering in the galley, with my eyes still half-closed. I would grab it, disappear in the nav station to contemplate the numbers in a happy silence and that would be the least painful way of waking up. Now I have to mobilise enough brain power to make my own coffee, 5 minutes after waking up. Jeez, the difficulty of life...

Second consequence, we have 16 hours of time off per day. I have rarely been that bored in my life. I have read the Count of Monte Cristo in 3 days and the life of William the Conqueror in 2 hours (the latest was qualified as a “brief” history to be fair - typical British understatement). I am now reading in parallel “Sapiens”, basically the history of mankind, and an encyclopaedia of wine. The swap from one to another is the highlight of my day. I think it is high time we reach Panama....