Race 1 - Day 26
Crew Diary - London, UK to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
26 September

The Equatorial celebrations were momentarily split on PSP Logistics as some crew celebrated in the Nav station for the obligatory selfie with the instruments showing 00 00.000, while the rest of the crew were up on deck.

As we all came together, spirits were high (both varieties) and we set up for the traditional graduation from Pollywogs to Shellbacks. King Neptune (AKA Bob/Ruth-Lee) was looking very dapper sporting a grey beard, sun glasses and crown adorned with jewels. Accompanying him for the ceremony was Queen Neptune (AKA PSP Logistics crew member Sue Ball - our only shellback) and the Royal Baby Penelope (our resident fender). With the court waiting to be entertained, the first act up was Jason and the Cargo-knots. The recently assembled band, featuring crew members Jason (vocals and Ukulele), Henrik (vocals and drum/bucket) and Vicki, Tanja, John and Nicola (all vocals) performing a rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. Followed by a poem written by Moses, a magic trick by Alan, Cremation of Sam McGee by Sean, an acrobatic performance by Pav and Jason, poems by Anu, Martin, Terry and Eileen, and a traditional New Zealand Haka performed by Brett and Jaz. Pierre Luigi shared a bottle of home made Lemoncello which was a real hit with the crew. Queen Neptune then announced the charges being brought against us individually.

The Royal court was most impressed with the performances and Queen Neptune proceeded to welcome all the new shellbacks to the Southern Hemisphere and wished them a safe and swift passage to Rio.

What happened next was in keeping with tradition but also total madness... The crew took turns in being covered in baked beans and crushed weetabix. I think the real reason we all agreed to this craziness was the fact that we got hosed down afterwards with the fire hose, a great excuse to bring out the shower gel and shampoo!

Crew will be issued certificates of passage on arriving in Rio. It was a great day and a great way to break the monotony of having sailed for 23 days straight, having not sighted land in over 12 days, another Clipper Race yacht for about 20 days and our only other company being shared with flying fish, a variety of seabirds, dolphins and a couple of turtles.

We really are being exposed to the vastness of this great ocean and all that Mother Nature is offering us. What a privileged bunch we are!

Written by Nicola Edwards