So, yesterday was exciting. Some fantastic sailing under the Code 3 in up to 40 knots of breeze and a long rolling swell with some roaring surfs. This was brought to a close as with the few helms we have becoming increasingly fatigued and the onset of darkness it was time to get it down. Dropping the heavyweight Spinnaker is always a bit spicy, the drop went well however personally I had a bit of a mare, managing to punch myself very hard in the face after the retrieval line flogged. I was then violently fishhooked by our volutere crew Mary as we pulled it in (not convinced she's on our side to be honest).
Under white sails we still thundered along with Wendy finally retaining the title of being the fastest person on the boat (must be a Skipper thing). It was about two in the morning where we encountered one of the more unusual problems I’ve seen on this race so far. As we came up to gybe round Virtual Mark Massy it became apparent that the leeward running backstay had, in a remarkable feat of seamanship, managed to get ground into reef 1. We were, to put it politely for the readers, in a bit of a pickle. After much salty language and after nearly getting the boat hook stuck in there as well, the problem was solved and the whole thing was put down as a 'learning experience.' The rest of the evolution went smoothly and we began our southern descent back down towards Subic Bay with Punta del Este, Dare To Lead and Imagine your Korea all around us.
Today has been relatively uneventful, so far we've had what has been termed 'the great mango fiasco', the snacks ran out a day or so ago, I produced a packet of dried mango which nearly sparked a riot on deck! The last of the mango was shared but that was going to happen anyway, just for the record. So yeah, cool story.
In other news, Chris Ball has requested that it be called 'Daddy watch' rather than Mother, not an issue, Kevin is a very progressive boat however, there is something kinda odd about getting fed by ‘The Daddy'. So its all to play for with everybody bunching up again in the final driftathon back, fingers crossed all that windhole training we've been doing these passed two legs pays off!
Best wishes from Wendy, myself and Kevin and crew!