On behalf of myself and all the crew: Hello Mum - Happy Mother’s Day!
Having listened carefully to Race Director Mark Light's
warnings in the pre-race brief and Course Instructions, and taken heed of
Clipper Race recidivists' (Hi Wendo, Matt and Bob) horror stories about
how gnarly the seas can get off the east coast of Taiwan... we find ourselves
drifting gently along in another wind hole!
Lucky that fearsome Kuro Shio (aka: Japanese) current is here, otherwise we
would hardly be moving. The sea is flat, the sun is out, and the crew are
wondering whether to feel exceptionally fortunate, or just short-changed. I'll
go with the former.
Foulies and thermals have once again (albeit briefly) been replaced by shorts
and T-shirts. There is however a slight chill to the sunshine this time, rather
like a Bank Holiday in Whitley Bay but without the drunken brawling.
Nasdaq seems to have made relatively good progress as the wind decreased overnight. We finally managed to break the 4nm length of bungee cord that had been keeping us and Dare To Lead together for the last day or so when we chose different tacking strategies around the 'Comms Team' Race Marks. We also made up some miles on Garmin, the next boat ahead.
So, having caught up on some sleep now that the sea is not throwing them violently around in their bunks, the Nasdaq crew have been finding other means to pass the time. Some little maintenance tasks have been ticked off the list, hoisting and lowering the Staysail as the wind strength varies has proved popular, as has closer attention to the nav screens by those previously prevented by the Green Monster. They have spotted some great names around here: we passed a ship called Sha Ging Volition just off Shi Ti Point. Honestly…as the kids say, LMFAO.
Cheers,
Rob