Race 1 - Day 29
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 29: Liverpool to Punta del Este
18 September

Catherine Foster
Catherine Foster
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So today marks four weeks at sea and as such I am in the mood for a rather reflective blog.

When I signed up for this adventure I didn’t quite know what to expect, and if truth be told, when stepping onboard in Liverpool still didn’t really. And what I have found is a challenge testing the body and the mind, but that has reaped huge rewards. Physically I have managed fine (I am thankfully stronger than I realised!) but the relentless nature of living onboard and the 'eat sleep sail repeat' doesn’t half wear you down after a while. And for this reason, as a single ‘legger’ I take my hat off to all crew doing Round the World!

You simply cannot sail these yachts without teamwork and we have been incredibly lucky onboard the good ship GREAT with our crew. I have rarely had the pleasure of sharing such a confined space (and I mean a confined space) with such an incredible bunch of people. We have personalities spanning the entire spectrum and our little dysfunctional family, as we like to call it, has been exactly that. A family, in lieu of our own, and I will miss each and every one of them when I leave after Leg 1. We have shared an experience which we will never forget. We have also had some of the most inane chat ('would you rather'... 'If you had to be a kitchen utensil what would it be'), sang a multitude of Disney songs, in amongst sharing some deep and meaningful discussions about our hopes and dreams.

And lastly, Andy. What a GREAT skipper and all round top bloke. He has led us brilliantly, coaching, pushing and making us smile all the way across the Atlantic. Although I won’t miss waking up to see his Golden Labrador latex head loitering around!

Things I have learnt...

  1. despite popular belief your hair does not self clean after 2 weeks
  2. human beings are generally below par with lack of sleep
  3. don’t ever take fresh fruit for granted
  4. crying is ok!
  5. there are an incredible amount of songs that can be sung about grinding

See you all in Punta for a glass of Sauvignon!

Lots of love,

Catherine :)