Race 2 - Day 6
Skipper Report
10 October
With a day of light winds followed by a day of steadily increasing breeze on the Rhumb line towards Cape Town it has been a fantastic few days sailing. Plenty of sunshine, wildlife and well rested crew. I'm not quite sure they are ready for the onslaught of breeze from the North that is going to hit us over the next few days.
Like a couple of boats, we noticed a broken batten in our main and took the chance during the lighter airs to drop everything, replace the batten and re-hoist all within the space of an hour, almost like a mini pit stop. It was really nice during this time to hear from Wendo. She was just off our starboard beam and was concerned about our drop-in boat speed. I was also concerned about our boat speed as she cruised past us. We just kept saying to ourselves a stitch in time saves nine. In all seriousness, thanks Wendo for being a good neighbour.
Life onboard keeps us all entertained as we start to pick up on others quirky ways and adapt to a hostel-like lifestyle with each other. You soon get used to walking down either the port or starboard corridor greeting different crew members as they stir from their sleep or lay in a gaze listening to music. Imagine waking up in your bed at home and having two or more of your colleagues in soaking wet clothing sat at the end of your bed or even resting on the corner of it chatting about the previous day… just such a weird concept.
I must give a special mention today to Tessa Hicks and Luise Birgelen, our galley duty girls, who broke into the hot dogs when it wasn't hot dog day just to pacify me! I missed eating 10 fake sausages in a tortilla with mustard and ketchup on Leg 1 because no one else liked them. Unfortunately, they are a bit more of a hit with this Leg 2 bunch, so I had to share.
John Buckman has managed to lose the majority of his warm clothing since joining the boat, which is a pretty difficult feat in just 70ft of boat. He assures me the American way is to just pick up the nearest hat and gloves in the vicinity and go with it until somebody complains. He is now wearing three hats just in case.
Outside of the boat, I heard today my brother Ed has been voted one of the sexiest men in Lincolnshire (If there was a crying with laughter emoji on here I would be all over it). Big up yourself Ed but in all seriousness, who were the voters?
We are setting up for a stormy few days here on GREAT Britain so the blogs may get a little short. I don't have the talk and type facility on this machine.
Finally, a shout out to Bob and team Unicef. I read your blog and it can so easily happen to any one of us. We were very nearly caught in the exact same situation the other day. Well done for getting it sorted.
And to team PSP Logistics, I hope you make up the miles and enjoy the sail across
From GREAT Britain with Love,
Andy and the Team