Race 12 - Day 12
Crew Diary - Race 12, Day 12: New York to Derry-Londonderry
08 July

Getting very British, by Iain Coke

Land ahoy! We've just had our first sighting of British soil after over ten months. The island of Aran off Northern Ireland. We're nearly home. And, almost imperceptibly, it seems we are reverting to British habits, even some of the North Americans.

Firstly, our hot drinks orders used to be a real mixture. In a watch of ten people, you could have nine different drink choices in a round: black coffee, white coffee, hot chocolate, mocha, peppermint tea, lemon and ginger, white tea, black tea, some with sugar and some without. Now, it is almost all white teas, with the occasional black tea thrown in.

An even bigger change has been in how much we have been talking about the weather. Especially a couple of days ago when we had no satellite reception, so no internet, no emails and neither an updated weather forecast nor position reports. So we were studying the clouds and tracking the barometer, looking for any changes and indications that we might be about to hit the ridge between the high and low pressure systems that would bring wind changes.

One time Nikki came on deck and asked me if it had been raining since we got on watch. I said yes, as the conditions hadn't really changed, but thought to myself, in Scotland, we don't call this rain. 'Is it dreich?' asked a crewmate. Nowhere near that, just a smur of rain – a very light fine mist coming down that you can hardly notice. In Scotland, we have about 547 words to describe rain and bad weather, all with specific meanings (some of which we make up), but only about four to describe good weather – sunny, warm, hot and I can't think of the fourth for now.

The grey skies and potential for quick changes in weather does make it feel like we are getting close to home. And, they really matter too for us. Trying to stay ahead, desperately hoping to keep in decent winds that will continue to drive us to the finish line, and avoid any late wind holes.

It's still too soon to process what it will mean to step again on British soil. Although it is not quite back to Liverpool, with one last race to go, it will be still feel like we have made it around the world and back again. But, what emotions we will go through when we are ashore, with so many friends and family there to greet us, none of us yet know. But not long until we find out.