Race 7 - Day 3
Skipper Report
26 February
Doing well? Are we up to speed, making good decisions this “Would you believe it Wednesday”?
So, the declarations for the Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprints are out. Who’s sprinting north and who’s sprinting south? Well would you ‘Adam and Eve’ it, nine have declared they are sprinting north and only two for going south, so those teams are going to get at least two points.
Yes, you have guessed correctly, one of those boats is not Seattle! Hey ho it's all part of the excitement of the race. Now, I did try and win a point, by immediately replying to the Race Office once the declarations were announced, by saying on Seattle we always spell south, n-o-r-t-h, but it fell on deaf ears.
It's a very different environment we are racing in today. The boat is on the heel and I am wedged into an unnatural position trying to write this blog. Thank goodness for Bluetooth keyboards, which certainly make life slightly more comfortable.
The weather kicked in not long after supper yesterday evening, as we approached Virtual Mark Massey, breaking free of the lee of Luzon and coming into the influence of the Luzon Strait.
The two watches came together as one unit to drop the Yankee 1 and switch to Yankee 3 and put two reefs in the Mainsail as the apparent wind rose to 32 knots. The whole experience was received with mixed emotions across the crew, with the Planet Adrenalin junkies, grinning from ear to ear, while some others, turning a little green and when asked if they would like to go on the helm, replied, in the most upbeat mood they could muster, “No thanks, I’ll just sit in the cockpit for a while.”
At the moment, we have added some more canvas, as the wind has dropped, the sea state settled and we are beating in the company of Zhuhai, Visit Sanya, China and WTC Logistics, who pop up on AIS occasionally (well done Mr Gould for being one of the two sprinting south!).
The sky is nearly cloudless and is Fizz Day Friday, sailing on a Wednesday. The only downside is the noticeable return of the long line fishing net AIS beacons beginning to fill the screen on the navigational computer.
Well, I’m going to have to cut it short, as am already overdue with my blog. The potential highlight of the day is coming later, when we have apple crumble and custard (of course Ms Tricks) made by Lyndsay aka “Number1” who decided to use up all the on the edge apples. I wouldn’t mention the fact she spilt a whole pan of water over the galley, to the delight of the Mothers (Alec and Queenie), who in fairness didn’t say anything, they didn’t need to, the look said it all.
Why were the two blue cheeses identical? They were from the same mold!
That's all for now,
Dave & “Number 1”