Race 13 - Day 3
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland to Den Helder, Netherlands
20 July

Janine Rubie
Janine Rubie
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Derry-Londonderry promised us a party.

Derry-Londonderry delivered.

The locals welcomed us with open arms. The question, “Are you on the boats?” was invariably followed by, “You must be very brave.” They were engaged and engaging with many wanting to know what life is like on board.

It is easy to explain the dynamics of eating and sleeping in rotation with the opposite watch. It is easy to explain how the jobs rota works and how we all do everything that needs to be done to make the boat an efficient and effective racing vessel. It is difficult however to really truly convey what life at sea is like.

How can anyone who has never been at sea in one of these racing yachts understand what it is to be heeled over at 40 degrees, to wake up with your face pressed against a wall because the boat was tacked while you were in your bunk, or to cook for 17 other people in a galley where chopping vegetables is a Herculean task.

I heard one woman say, “It's a very small space for 20 people to live” and I heard a young girl say that the galley and saloon area was bigger than her living room. Perspective clearly is everything. For us the perspective is that this is life. The day job. What we do. Yes we dream of massages and pedicures and hot showers when we get to port, but for the most part our thoughts are concentrated on the job at hand, the job of racing hard, and hopefully winning.