Race 11 - Day 15
Crew Diary - Helm to Jupiter
14 May
“Point the bow of the boat between Jupiter and Mars” says watch leader Kaz, as she passes me the helm at 3.30am. Not a sentence I thought I’d hear as I steer our 70ft racing beast towards a landmark of planets. Last night, we had the most spectacular views of Venus, Jupiter and Mars all lined up in front of the bow of the boat, with Jupiter shining like the brightest candle amongst a bed of little stars to help guide us on the right course. A far cry from the skies of my home in London.
The weather has taken a turn for hot hot heat. What we thought might be quite a gradual warming as we headed further south, felt like someone suddenly flicked the sweltering switch. Within 48 hours the talk turned from how many layers to wear under our foulies to who has the highest factor sun cream. With Dan making daily reminders to keep up our hydration and handing out rehydration sachets like he’s dealing on the black market. There’s been more talk about the weather on this boat then an office full of Brits standing around a water cooler.
Other than the sea and the sky there’s been nothing else in sight for over a week. With the exception of two things: a boat called Chardonnay that came up on our satellite system. We briefly contemplated a detour in the hope of a nice cold glass, but apparently it’ll have to wait. Back to the filtered sea water.
The second is a lot of birds. Flocks circling the boat each evening looking for a place to rest. Just to be fiercely warded off by Ineke and TJ flailing sticks in the air like musical conductors. If only we had some popcorn to accompany our evenings entertainment, who needs Netflix. We did let one stowaway join us for a day, named Jeffrey, who we grew very fond of. His movements made it into several log book entries but eventually he departed us, hopefully in search of wind to bring back to us.
Whilst I talk about the wonderful things we’re seeing on this race, there’s also some not so nice things. Like a flying fish that made a giant leap for fishkind over the boat’s guardrail, down through the aft hatch leaving a trail of fish scales on the nav station and landing itself right into a sleeping Ineke’s bunk. Luckily Dan identified the culprit before making accusations about personal hygiene and a deep clean ensued. Then there’s bilge-tuna-gate but that’s a story for another day. Maybe over that glass of Chardonnay.
On the sailing front, with this weather often comes a lack of wind and some tough conditions for helming and making any significant progress. We’re hoisting and dropping our light wind sails through the day and night and trimming to every inch. At times it’s a bit like watching a snail do a marathon but we’re hoping the patience and attention to detail pays off.
Aside from that, the galley is churning out good food. We’re getting inventive with our remaining 100+ apples before they go off so there’s a lot of apple themed cuisine being concocted by our daily mothers. The speakers are churning out good tunes with a playlist to suit each bracket of boat speed. We’re hoping the ‘under 5 knots playlist’ doesn’t get to grace our ears too often. The banter is on point (except when aimed at me and my sunhat which has been a topic of much amusement for Paul and David H. They’re clearly just jealous).
Thanks to all our supporters that are wishing us well and love to everyone back home.
From a hot, hydrated and happy WTC Logistics.
P.S. Happy birthday Daisy and Nola x