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January 4th, a normal day in this twenty days offshore journey. I was awoken and wondering whether I was dreaming or not, as usual. It was the middle of the day, but it was strangely dark below deck. I soon found out that it is not because of the cloudy weather, but the ash in the air. We were passing through the smoky area created by the forest fires in Sydney. I can feel the burning of the forest simply by the smell. The sky was dark in this sunny day. The sun shined like a red bulb in the sky wanting to show its existence, but few sun rays can pass through the air barrier. Everyone got down from the deck and found their face covered by a layer of ash. The air temperature grows high as all the sunshine is absorbed. By the time I got on deck to start my watch, we finally started leaving the microwave area. The changes came. The temperature started to magnificently drop from about 27 degrees to about 13 degrees. In response to this temperature change, strong wind coming from the north drove us to put a reef in. The sky was cut into two pieces, blue and grey. Seeing this weather phenomenon offshore is quite a surprise for me. Hope all goes well in Sydney.
After the trip in the strange weather system, we were informed by the Skipper that another surprise, wind shift was coming. It’s easy to distinguish the signal of a wind shift. A piece of thick and solid cloud appears from the edge of the sky, which creates a fabulous scene for us. The clouds come towards our boat at an unbelievable speed and the wind suddenly disappears. The only thing we could do was wait in the still of the water and the unforgettable scenes. Just like wiping a table, the thick cloud went through the sky and erased every piece of cloud, which returned to a clear sky for us. A strong wind started coming from every direction like a scared horse then disappearing again when we were ready to catch the wind. It is quite difficult to tack without wind. A scared seabird got on our boat as the compensation for our hard work. I suddenly found that the dark clouds had accumulated, which made the atmosphere depressing. I never thought I would get the chance to see thunder in the race, until I saw the lightning stretched through half of the sky. Shined in this darkness. Thinking that we were the only thing to have some height in this sea area, it is somehow scary. I don’t know what came next as I was soon off watch, but I do know that I slept very well that night with no wind.
It is lucky to see these two unique phenomenons in one day. I hope the luck will maintain in the rest of the race and take care of our Zhuhai team.