Race 13 - Day 5
Crew Diary - Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland to Den Helder, Netherlands
22 July

Alex Laline
Alex Laline
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Hello Friends, Families and Supporters!

So looks like we are still in the North Sea even if the weather is quite similar to the one we had on the Caribbean Sea... Not exactly how I imagined this place but I'm happy with it as I'm not famous for my skills in cold weather.

The wind has also been all over the place and, with an exception of an exciting moment yesterday with a squall with over 40 knots of wind with the Yankee 1 up that took a few of us to take it down, it's been basically boring. We are trying to get any bit of boat speed and there's a cheer on deck every time the boat speed goes from 0.5 to 1 knot...

I was gonna thanks the maintenance guys for fixing our AIS as before we would never be able to see anyone if they were not in range of 5 miles from us, but now we can see what guys 10-20 miles away are doing and is actually more frustrating than ever, so a tip for future crew members out there:

never tell them that your AIS is not working, you will have a much enjoyable time and the Skipper will never get too stressed neither!

Yesterday on Orca watch, we had the pleasure of a private show from a British Euro Fighter jet who came and said hello to us waving her wings and then went straight up in circles, it was amazing to see one of those so close in the middle of the Sea!

So this day the main topic onboard (except for the heads) has been the Henri Lloyd Seamanship Award and first of all, I wanna thank everybody out there who nominated myself and the boat, it's amazing and we are really honoured to be on the final eight nominees. I wanna ask everybody out there who has been following us to vote for our team, I know I am one of the nominees as an individual, but that's the thing, I would have never been able to grow up as a sailor and as person without the whole team. We've grown up as a family, taking care of each other and making sure everybody would stay safe the whole time while the more experienced sailors would teach the non-experienced sailors to the point that we would have a fully competent crew and we've demonstrate that with the last three podiums. When I look back and see how much we've grown up, I have to say that I am really proud to be on this boat and that the WHOLE team deserves the award.

Woop, looks like we've made up to 2 knots now! I'm gonna try and work on my tan now as Ryan “Glass Anckles” Finlay is already ahead of me!!

Love you all

Alex

Shout Outs:

From Alex: Sarah! Hope everything is going fine and that you've enjoyed your free days around Northern Ireland. Everything good here keeping Han under-control (well, trying). Missing you lots.

From Neil W: Happy Birthday Tristan, love Daddy xx Thanks for everything Linda, can't wait to see you. Love, Neil x. Thanks for helping out Granny x

From Ryan: To all my aunties back in Canada... I have missed you and hope to catch up and share some stories about the past year over the Xmas holidays.. Also Congratulations to my parents on 53 years together!!! Thinking of you guys often and missing all that fine food, wine and home made cheese bread. Oh and to Julie.... Is your house a little bigger yet??? Quit dragging your feet girl:-)

From Han: Gina!!! See you in a few days