Good morning, good afternoon, good night,
What is it where you are? It is difficult to know how to address you, the globally diverse long suffering supporters of Team Unicef and readers of this blog. Thom is tuning in from Vancouver, Canada and Kiwi Keith Williams from New Zealand, which covers most bases, and we have had really generous donations to Unicef on our behalf from all points of the compass as well. And suffer you certainly have, enduring every discomfort, storm and windhole with us. Judging from all the emails of support we have received, as well as the helpful tactical advice (thanks Mum!!), corned beef recipes and innovative therapies for the dreaded 'yottie bottie'. You have particularly suffered with us this race, as we have seemed to stumble from wind hole to wind hole. Every time we have found some breeze and started to make up some ground, it has quickly disappeared and left us floundering around at the back of the fleet. It must be as annoying and frustrating for you as it is for us here on board.
But we are looking at the green shoots of a possible comeback. We had a good Dell Latitude Rugged Ocean Sprint, making great miles in fantastic sailing conditions, and this afternoon (morning/evening?) Finds us down to leeward of our nearest rivals, Dare To Lead and Zhuhai. With luck that will translate into good gains on them as we all push downwind towards the turning mark at the top of Luzon Island. And there is a huge windhole facing the leaders stretching most of the length of the West Coast of Luzon and the last 300 miles of the Race. Without wanting to wish too much misfortune on our fellow racers, it would be great if they got snarled up in it, allowing the good ship Unicef to sweep past to a long odds victory. Bish, Bash, Bosh!!
It could happen! You never know. And, if sheer will power were enough to make it happen, the determination and hunger of the crew, who leap at every sail change with vim and gusto, it certainly will.
Away from the racing, I would like to give a huge shout out to the greengrocers of Airlie Beach and North Queensland. The oranges you delivered to the boat just prior to our departure were absolutely amazing. Not only have they survived searing heat and humidity on board to remain fresh, juicy and tasty more than three weeks into our trip, they also seem to be multiplying. All our other supplies, particularly marmalade and peanut butter seem to show the ill-effects of our epic journey and are running out, but not these oranges. Twice a day, a huge bowl of orange slices appears on deck to douse the crew in Vitamin C.
Which brings me on to a rumour doing the rounds on board that our resident frenchwoman, Sandra Marichal, is not actually French after all. Not only could she not remember the french word for orange slice this morning, but she also added Asian fusion flavours to the French Onion soup she served up to us this lunch time. Much to the resigned amusement of Steve Watson, her fellow mother, who, it seems, is much more hidebound when it comes to traditional french cooking. He is also a demon at crosswords, which is an incredibly valuable skill to have on a Clipper 70.
And, speaking of shout outs, we haven't given one for a while to super supporter Chrissie Jackson and her fight against cancer. She, like us, is making memories and spreading sunshine. That said, it is still very pleasant that we are spreading just a little bit less sunshine this week than last here on the boat, and the temperature below decks has dropped from that faced by this new European solar probe to that of a middling lava flow.
Anyway, onwards to Subic bay, and those many cooling San Miguel beers that will be awaiting our arrival on the dockside.
Here we go
Ian and Mike