Race 11 - Day 22
Crew Diary - The Hazards of Perspiration
21 May

Hello to all our loyal readers. Thank you as always for your support in following our journey. Hard to believe we are starting our fourth week of Leg 7. I hope the Race Viewer has not been too painful for you, watching us fight to keep at the front of the fleet as we cross each potential finish line. It has certainly been exhilarating this end: 3000 + miles and we battle it out in the last 1 mile, sometimes able to actually see our competition. Not all have gone exactly as we hoped but we have given it everything we possibly could and will continue to do so until the finish is finally called. We remain very upbeat as we move towards the fourth Finish Gate in the leading pack.

I am sure you will have gathered from various blogs across the fleet that the main conclusion about this Leg is that Mexico is very long! It has taken three weeks to sail down it and in less than 24 hours we have ticked off Guatemala and El Salvador and are making rapid progress towards Honduras and Nicaragua. As I write this we can actually see the mountains of El Salvador. It is always a thrill to see land after so many weeks of nothing but sea.

Another significant conclusion about this leg is that it is hot, damn hot. And with that heat comes sweat! I know it is not a particularly pleasant subject to talk about but the reality is, it is relentless. Only by living in it for such a sustained period can you fully appreciate the challenges it presents. Almost everybody is walking about with white splodges on their faces; it is impossible to rub in sun-cream as it becomes a slime when mixed with so much sweat. Writing the hourly log with a biro on waterproof paper is challenging. The sweat continually drips onto the paper making it illegible– clearly not sweat proof paper. And, even when the boat is flat in downwind conditions, going to the toilet becomes a hazard. As soon as you take your seat you immediately slide off due to yours or possibly someone else's sweat on the ceramic. Not to mention the places where people now have a sweat rash! I could go on but I am sure you get the picture.

Eating and sleeping is hard in such hot conditions which does take its toll on the crew. But we are all well and the traditional high morale remains on board Black Betty as we enjoy the experience that only a venture such as this can offer.

Anyway, I am just off watch and we are about 40 miles from Finish Gate 4. We are now upwind sailing with our Yankee 1 leading the charge. We keep doing a wind dance and rubbing the backstays in the hope of more wind as we are not as fast as we want to be. We know GoToBermuda is close by so it is going to be another fight to secure victory.

Lots of love to my Dad, Brother, Nephew, Cousins and of course my amazing friends.

Best wishes to all our fantastic supporters. Hopefully we will catch up with you all within the week as we hope to be in Panama by then!