A large thank you to the people of Derry-Londonderry for their welcome, hospitality and send off. It was well received and a special thank you to the generosity of the owners of the Sandwich Company for their reception they provided the Unicef crew.
I would also like to say hi to the staff of the coffee house for their smiles and hard work! Thanks also to be passed on to Helen, mother of Tom Hogan (Leg 7 and 8), for wonderful baked goods- delicious fruit cake and bread- enjoyed by all.
Final thanks go to friends and family who helped out with victualling in Derry-Londonderry- to Martin and Linda, friends of Kate Whyatt (circumnavigator), and to Sarah Green, wife of Will Green (Leg 1 and 8), who managed to blag her way into a supermarket well before opening hours, for the missing Brie!
The miles are disappearing quickly on this leg and the race is, of course, very close still. Poor visibility overnight meant we were sometimes unable to see boats less than a mile away from us, but the AIS (Automatic Identification System) assured us they were close by. Conditions on deck are damp, to say the least, with rain, some fog and the occasional splashy wave.
We spent most of the night under whites after the medium weight spinnaker was hurriedly dropped after a sheet snapped, just at watch changeover, so it was retrieved and whites hoisted in short order by both watches. Good job.
All crew are well and back in race mode after a long and well lubricated stopover!
All good,
Cloughy