Race 9 - Day 16
Crew Diary - Qingdao, China to Seattle, USA
05 April

Day 16 or is it 17, they all seem to merge into an endless cycle of watch and sleep and food. After an unusually warm start, the weather has turned.

It is now incredibly cold, we are all wearing practically all of our clothes, with so many layers I feel like I’m in a sumo suit. It’s so cold that we can only spend an hour on deck (half manning the main sheet and half on helm) before turning into icicles at which point we struggle downstairs so we can regain feeling into our fingers and toes.

Most of my kit, despite my best efforts, is damp or wet through - I have saved one spare pair of gloves for the last week (a little thing to look forward to) and when I put my books on, I feel like I'm slipping my feet into freezing cold mud, for this reason we wear not one but two bin liners on each foot to try to keep our socks dry (this works to some extent). We also wear disposable plastic gloves under our sodden gloves to try and keep our hands dry and warm (this also works to some extent).

The cold makes everything harder- a simple task of clipping yourself onto a jack stay turns itself into a task- almost like trying to eat with boxing gloves on- partly due to the massive gloves and partly due to your fingers being so cold they don't seem to work. You find yourself willing your hands to move the lever but find yourself fumbling. Just walking/crawling around deck can be like an ultimate version on total wipe out, crawling under the traveller wedging yourself in so you can double clip only to be dislodged by a wave and go flying only you be stopped short by your tether. The next obstacle is to navigate through the spider’s webs for crossed halyards and reefing lines. The foredeck is similar to a bouncy castle or the big red balls but the landing is quite a lot harder. It’s safe to say underneath all these layers- I have quite a few bruises.

There have been some incredible and mind blowing moments as well. The stars at night, dolphins surrounding the boat at dawn and the phosphorescence lighting up the waves in the dark. Magical moments that remind me how lucky I am to have this experience. One of the definite highlights this week was being trusted to helm the boat in fairly bad weather - I feel like I am really making progress and getting better at helming in more difficult conditions.

We are more than halfway there now and although there are times where I really just want to get to Seattle, to dry land - those times are usually when I'm shivering after a long shift at the helm or when I'm exhausted or missing home, most of the time I really want this experience to last as long as it can. I can remember writing my application form like it was only yesterday, imagining what life would be like on the high seas - that was over a year ago now and I have changed so much. I can't wait to see what adventures this experience will bring me in the future.

Thanks, H x