Race 8 - Day 9
Skipper Report
13 March

Hello Team,

How are we this “awakening” Tuesday, slipping back into the routine of the new week? This end it's a bright sunny morning, with a slight sea state, and we are slowly making our way towards the next mark, Virtual Mark “Kasmarik”.

So, did you miss us as we played hide and seek over the last 24 hours? We found the Scoring Gate, and like Captain Scott found someone else had got there before us, well done Chris and the Qingdao crew. Now we are back in the light again. This morning it's a gentle sail, and we could do with some more breeze to aid us on our way to Qingdao. We are currently flying the Code 2 (mediumweight spinnaker) and are on a broad reach. What should be a beautiful morning sailing is spoilt with what is clearly routine in this part of the world: trawling operations on a vast scale.

I have mentioned in blogs before, as have the other Skippers in theirs, is the sheer volume of the fishing fleets. I have given up trying to count the number of fishing vessels via their AIS indicators and we have found out that there is probably another 15% in amongst those vessels that are not displaying AIS. We are no longer taking screenshots of the miles of AIS signals sweeping across the TIMEZERO display. The initial awe of what we were seeing has been replaced with shock, with the realisation of the extent of these operations. It is a credit to the reproduction ability of marine life, that there are still fish stocks to take from these waters.

The talk on deck has developed to predominantly about the fishing activities we have come across. Initially it was about the inconvenience about navigating around them, and the unpredictability of their movement or net deployments. Now its about the amount of stocks they must be extracting, vacuuming up from the sea. The mood is somewhat sombre as we look on. We passed a few vessels at anchor this morning, potentially resting up during the day before continuing operations over night, the crews throwing us a cheery wave as they sunned themselves in the spring sun. It would have been rude not to wave back, even if we are potentially in the middle of an environmental disaster. On a positive note, the spinnaker gybing skills of the crew have improved, even if the collision avoidance has given me some more grey hair, if that is possible.

On a brighter note, yesterday morning started with a unexpected surprise. Steak and eggs, fried eggs, with just a little crispness on the edges and runny yokes, dished up by Luise, awesome stuff. The fact it was a surprise made it doubly tasty. She then went on to do a great rice stir fry for lunch, wraps have been very so last race since leaving Sanya :-) In the afternoon she made some lovely bread which was served up for breakfast today. While singing Luise's praises, she has just popped her head into the Nav Station and told me she has repaired the broken filter on the water maker; is there no end to her talents (you see there are no pink and blue jobs on the Great boat).

So as we continue to weave our way through the intense traffic towards Qingdao, here are some facts for you to take with your coffee break. Best recorded speed to date for this race on the GREAT Britain boat is 14 knots

Oh did you know; Windmills in Ireland turn in a clockwise direction whereas windmills in the rest of the world turn anti-clockwise. (team members awaiting to join the boat, don't forget winches get loaded clockwise wherever you are in the world.!) Also herrings break wind to communicate and keep the school together.

Standing by this channel – out.

Dave