Good Morning,
Towards the end of every first-aid course there is always that time where you are asked to step out of the room. Inevitably, when you are summoned back in a few minutes later, all hell has broken loose. People are screaming, someone is bleeding, and there is half a plastic mannequin that needs singing to. As I awoke this morning there was no drama thankfully, but in a similar manner, there was, and shall always be, an element of anticipation. No matter how orderly things were a few hours ago, you just never know. I like it. The boat is lively, our environment is dynamic, it is exciting, and people are beautifully unpredictable. I enjoy the imaginative solutions and lateral thinking. It would be boring if we were all the same. I am not exactly sure what had been going on last night, but the scene I was greeted to in the galley reminded me of bubble bath being put in a public water fountain or a foam-party disco from 1999. Bubbles everywhere. Mountains of bubbles erupting from the galley bilges, crew covered in bubbles. Buckets of bubbles blowing across the deck. It was very creative.
If we have had an uneventful 24hrs I will often ask for blog suggestions from the crew. My ears pricked up when I heard about a flogging competition. But it turned out that each watch was competing to see who could look after our delicate Spinnakers the best. Progress!!! I also heard that there had been a sighting of a Puffin. Puffins in the Western Pacific? Surely not. It turned out that there had been some whales puffing off in the distance.
At our current speed, we are 4hrs behind Dare to Lead, with Zhuhai now to the north. With 20-25knots of wind on the beam we are powering towards the Luzon strait, Thankfully the Nav. warning for the hazardous operation of a rocket has now concluded and we were able to enjoy Sunday fun day. Possibly our last for this race. There were sugary refreshments and lots of laughs as we tried to mime the Race Office team members, skippers and fellow crew.
Here we go,
Ian and Mike