Nasdaq spent yesterday fighting hard to make up the miles we had lost during a bad sail change on the previous night. Like the rest of the fleet, we lost count of the number of times we tacked to get around our Race Marks, with the beautifully rugged Donegal coast in the background. It was nice of local hero (and Mr December) Cap'n Conall and HotelPlanner.com to sail in company with us, but sadly we couldn't receive much of his tour guide commentary over the VHF.
Did I mention yesterday how generous and welcoming the Everglades Hotel had been to Nasdaq in Derry-Londonderry? I think so ... anyway, by coincidence their Hotel mascot is a duck - maybe a cousin of Nasduck? As part of our adoption we were given a box of various ducks, and after a couple of "Nasdaiquiri" (Team cocktail inverted by the Everglades staff) we knew exactly what to do with them.
Now a confession: the other ten Clipper 70s and Sir Robin's yacht Sanjula have been "Nasducked"! Whilst in Derry-Londonderry, members of our crew sneaked onboard and hid a "Wally" walled city duck, a "Gentleduck" with top hat, and either a Red port or Green starboard duckling on each boat. We know Unicef and GREAT Britain have each found one of theirs, maybe everyone should check their bilges more closely ...
Happy duck-hunting everyone!
Cheers, Rob