Race 10 - Day 6
Crew Diary - The race is back on with a bouncy start
25 March
It’s strange sitting back in this spot, on the port side of the galley, after two years away.
Some things are the same, some will never be the same. Paul is still Mr Fix-It, Ben with his German sense of humour still tells terrible jokes, Rachel leading the watch and running around as medic, Kaz keeping everyone in line with her military style, Sophie with her cockpit OCD where she can’t handle seeing a snake-pit of lines after an evolution and me the odd one out that doesn't quite fit.
Thankfully it's the low side and much less bouncy than yesterday, Race Start day. Beating upwind into a moderate sea state that threw the odd rogue wave at us was quite the wake up call to both new and old crew. The race was finally back on after a Le Mans Start unlike the previous ones. With the Yankee 3 and two reefs we were still heeled further over than we had been throughout training.
The poor mothers on the day, Dave ‘DW’ and Ana, trying to cook noodles while both were feeling seasick. Bryan was loving it on the bow, he stood there for hours getting engulfed in the massive waves. Everyone else hung on tight trying to watch the fleet altogether for the last time until we reunite in Seattle.
There wasn't much dinner eaten that evening, with the bouncy sea state continuing. I managed just a few mouthfuls of dry rice after an hour or so on deck. The race really is the most expensive diet plan in the world.
Manu and myself have been on mother watch today, whipping up some tuna wraps and a veggie casserole which again wasn't eaten by a few, but hopefully in a few days everyone will get their appetites back, especially as things are likely to get much worse in the next couple of weeks.
I’m already finding it hard to keep things dry and am dreading the wet and cold of the North Pacific. Subic Bay though was hot and humid to another level so it will be a relief to be somewhere cooler, especially as its 35C+ on deck and even hotter down below.
Well, I better head off to bed, thank god for the mini fan to try and keep me as cool as possible to allow some sleep.
To Lexi Lu, Tobes, Mum, Dad, Paul, Nikki, Matt and all my UK and NZ family and friends, I miss you all but the adventure must be finished however hard it gets.
Susie