Race 10 - Day 33
Crew Diary - Kitty Phillips Day 33
21 April

Day 33, so we have now finished our day bags of food and are officially onto the Emergency food supply. As victualler, I am now wishing I had spent more time on the menu, and I'm hoping the crew are still talking to me at the end of the week! To be fair they might be happy with a change of menu having had the same meals on an eight day rotation for the last four weeks. Every day is now a surprise!

It's been interesting trying to work out the food for 15 people for 4 weeks, I have learnt that you can never have enough, Milo, Marmite, Nutella, cake or snacks in general. We have had carrot cake made with apples and raisins as the carrots had to be eaten early before they went off, and despite the menu being the same every eight days the meals never taste the same as everyone adds their own little touch of magic.

The last few weeks have been a challenge. It has gone from 31 to 0 degrees. We have had everything from sunburn through to hail. As the days and nights got colder everything became either damp or soaking wet! We spent a lot of time at 45 degrees making everyday tasks take forever whether it's climbing the walls to get into the top bunk on the high side, drinking a cup of tea or working in the galley, not to mention the actual sailing! Sails have been wrestled with on the foredeck, squalls battled on the helm, big waves surfed and numerous salt water showers had by all (there is no safe place to avoid them!).

Conversations have gone from how many miles we have done, through to how many to go, what the top speed of the day was, what's for dinner, to what are you most looking forward to when we get to Seattle. Clean clothes, showers and a large drink seem to be the top of the list at the moment.

It has been amazing experience sailing across the North Pacific. As we count down the last few hundred miles to the finish line, I am looking forward to a few days on dry land before jumping back on board for Leg 7 and warmer climes as we head down to Panama.

Kitty Phillips - London, UK