Race 8 - Day 4
Crew Diary - Race 8 Day 4
06 March
As with every other day for our stay in Ha Long Bay, the crew of Our Isles and Oceans awoke on race start day to an overcast sky and chill breeze. We made our way down to the boats for 9 am to store our gear, along the way spending the last of our Vietnamese Dong on little luxuries and treats (well I was anyway.)
After crew photos, we all made our way up to the departure ceremony that was being held on the cruise terminal quay. We were treated to traditional dancing lions and of course dragons, it was a mesmerising performance. Suitably emboldened for the coming race we returned to our boats and cast off lines for the parade of sail. From the sky, we were treated to a display of microlights/paragliders towing clipper banners. It was enchanting to leave the port and sail back through the islands of the ‘descending dragon’, contemplating the stories we had learned on our trip about their creation after dragons had responded to the Thai people's request for help to repel an invading nation.
Our Isles and Oceans had been selected to run the ‘Le Mans’ start, and this went ahead without a hitch (or favour) and we all raced South, out into the Bay of Tonkin for our 4-day trip to Zhuhai. The route then takes us East, past the Chinese island of Hainan Dao with its plethora of fishing vessels (just to keep us awake). At times the AIS display (showing other boats in the area) looked more akin to a Christmas Tree there were so many lights on it. More than once we heard CV skippers ‘negotiating’ with a vessel, with varying degrees of luck, depending on the English skills of the fishing vessel's skipper. Once past the island we headed North, and broke out the spinnakers for a drag race up to Zhuhai.
So far the weather has been kind, aside from one very frustrating wind hole where the fleet languished for a few hours. It's fair to say there were some winners and losers in that hole. The temperatures have been climbing again and shorts and sun tan cream have been dug out from storage. Evening times though do still cool off, and last night in particular was a bit wet with water coming over the bow.
As I write, we have just received the latest 24-hour weather report. We have around 150 miles to go until the finish line, and a deadline to meet if we are to make the prize giving event. Typically though the weather has other ideas and we are expecting to finish the race within another wind hole. Who will win out this time?