Race 10 - Day 13
Crew Diary - Race 10 - Day 13
01 April
Two years on and I'm back aboard the good ship Zhuhai. We have a fresh team (amongst a handful of familiar faces), and other than that, everything is exactly how I remember it. We're a number of days into Race 10, and almost 2 weeks into boat life. Long gone are our shorts and tees, now replaced by foulies and ever-growing talk of which layer to add next, and to protect from the wet. Even wetter when your watch 'shakes a reef' and I happen to be stood underneath the unfolding mainsail, only to become the recipient of the water that was caught in the sail. I call this a reef shower! It would have been a welcome fresh water shower, had I known it was coming, especially after all of the sea water (wave) showers I've also been underneath.
As I'm sure you can imagine, in order to perform at the highest level, we're constantly thinking of ways to stay sharper than the competition. Split between two watches and named after respective sightings on each, both PANDA and PENGUIN watches have come up with a couple of games that we are using to hone and refine our skills.
TETHER TWISTER - designed with safety in mind. The goal is to get un-tangled using a 3-point tether and always remain attached in as few clips as possible. After either a deliberate or accidental tether tangle, you must move your body under - past - through whoever might be in your way of becoming fully untangled. I think this would make a great summer garden game...
WORD CONUNDRUM - designed to keep our minds sharp. For this game you pick any sponsor logo and rearrange the letters to form another word - using as many letters as possible. Latest top words for "AST Enabling Global Connectivity" using the word "enabling" are "leaning" and "bangline" Penguin Watch have submitted a protest on this one)?! For the word "connectivity" a suggestion of "convectity". Again, submitted to the dubious goals committee. Now if only we had Google to referee. "Tectonic" seems to be the best actual answer.
When we're not honing our minds and safety skills, there's a lot to keep us busy both on deck and below. There have also been some great wildlife sightings. I've just returned to mother watch after spending a few minutes mesmerised by all of the dolphins currently surrounding us. Watch this space to see if the sharp minds, focus on safety, and a bit of good fortune pays off as we leave the Japanese islands, dodge some forecasted strong tides and winds, and approach the North Pacific.
A shoutout to my favourite junior Zhuhai supporters: Jaydon, Euan, Austin, Todd, Reuben, Jasmine, Jamie, Lilly-Rose, Oakley, Bella, Emilia, and Daisy!
Happy APRIL FOOLS from all of the crew! See you in Seattle very soon.
TC (Penguin Watch), out!