Race 6 - Day 23
Skipper Report
14 February

Oh hello everyone it’s James here!

Another short blog today as there really isn't much to talk about to be honest. Not massively sure who has won this leg, but to those of you who have done well, and I think you know who you are, well done.

This morning we were sending it, with Kevin doing a mighty 9 knots, which feels like light speed when you've been stuck in a windhole for 12 thrilling hours. As the sun rose we became aware that we were finally having a drag race, not with the other clipper boats, but with at least five fishermen. They might have been fishermen or some sort of badly coordinated motorboat display team as they proceeded to weave in and out of each others and our way. Avoiding them was exciting, as we tried to figure out how we could communicate to them that we'd like to buy some cigarettes and whether they would accept euros. Knowing no Filipinos was an instant problem and the best we could manage was Spanish which got us nowhere as the man simply waved a large fish in the air as his little skiff lept around wildly in the choppy sea state.

Kevin then came to another grinding halt, the crew passed the time by playing 'What’s that floater?' This simply involves spotting some of the, many pieces, of rubbish which sadly seem to inhabit the sea here and then taking bets as to what it was, the best one was the ray which turned out to be a large rubble bag.

Right now however its all go as we have just spotted Seattle on the AIS and have started trying to reel them in a race that could be compared to a snail hunting a lettuce. It would be fun to catch them, the crew really do deserve it, they have been fantastic on what has been a difficult and frustrating leg where luck has definitely not been on Kevins’ side. However though the result may not be massively impressive, we as a crew have developed hugely and it's been a lot of fun. Should be in Subic soon so hopefully this is the last blog for a while as we enter into the most dangerous part of the Clipper Race for an AQP, the stopover.

Best wishes from Wendy, myself and from all those who ride inside Kevin!