Race 13 - Day 10
Crew Diary - Crew Diary: Race 13 Day 9
12 July

We’ve been sailing through a whale zone recently. The previous day we’ve seen four whales in two hours. While one came pretty close, accompanying us with its giant presence, I liked the one that did not mind us and continued swimming to its direction, squirting water periodically, at least forsix times until it disappeared. It looked like it was whistling a tune, I wondered whether it was a happy song.

There is a different type of wilderness in the ocean, once you are in tune with the sounds and sights, you immediatelyrecognise a dolphin through an unusual splash, and whales have a distinctive humming sound as they get closer, it gets super louder. One of my favourites is the plankton (noctiluca), they make one think that there is a party going underneath the ocean with their firefly like appearances. Hence midnight helm watching easily became an activity I enjoyed, especially seeing more and moreplankton coming through the back of the boat as we crash waves, as if our boat was pooping fireflies, or perhaps a different meaning to a party pooper.

Clouds are also fascinating to watch, so giant that they give you an understanding of the vastness of the ocean, while decorating lovely sunsets and moon rises for us. The other morning, I saw a little chick like my mum used to make from mashed potatoes, nesting over shredded carrots and lettuce, trying to make me the little fussy eater have an interest in salad. Then I immediatelysaw Mavi, my mischievous cat, it was so vivid, looking at me with his curious eyes, ready to play. Some clouds are big and soft looking like cotton candy, and some are like buffalo mozzarella, I often thought how it would feel biting them, especially before lunch time. Then there are days where so many of them look alike, giving a perspective of depth and distance, reminding me of the toys we made with my grandad, ages ago. I never thought clouds could bring so many memories.

Meanwhile, on our very fast floating island or boat, there has been a quiz saga. It all started when Clipper Race Office sent us some abbreviations to find meanings, my bunk mate Andy, then created his own maritime quiz for a competition to the two watches. Most recently he was collecting questions from us to be submitted to Hannah and Ella. We’ve included questions about boat life, I wonder which one of them can identify the members of the Barbershop Quartet. In parallel, there is an ongoing bake-off madness. I’ve never eaten so many cakes, cinnamon rolls, and freshly baked focaccia and other types of bread in my whole life. In fact, I guess the last person who baked them for me was my grandma, so it must be 20 years ago when I had freshly baked cakes, feels amazing.

As I’m about to finish typing my delayed blog, I’d like to wish one of my best and long-term friends, Mehves, who is having a big birthday today. I’ll surely have a toast with a glass of sanitised ocean water for you, and think about the days we’ll have a celebration together.