Since departing Cape Verde, we have seen it all.
Squalls, downwind sailing, upwind sailing with a following swell, a pilot whale belly flop, rain, blazing sun and some banana bread.
Manoeuvres are becoming slicker by the second, six minute kite changes, 40 second staysail hoists. The days of 40 minute evolutions are long gone.
The speed of learning has been phenomenal, and now we have the doldrums to reset and get ready for what looks to be some rather spicy sailing as we head south.
We have been sailing now for around 12 hours without any wind instruments, which is deepening everyone’s wind intuition and understanding, a skill which we hope will bring dividends as the race continues, or a good ROI as our financially inclined crew members would say.
Last night, we were blessed with another epic, and humbling show of roaring thunder and lightning.
Moments before, we had been in blazing sun and flat calm seas, and seconds later in pouring rain thunder and lightning, very typical squally weather.
Out here, we are so susceptible to these weather changes. A sail drop too late can cause great damage to our beloved sails, and a hatch open too long can make our sauna down below even more humid.
Time paradoxically becomes of little importance to our daily lives, but immense importance in making decisions early and fast. Most of us cannot remember what day it is, or what time zone we are in. Our own concept of time is based on our watch system and mealtimes.
Today, a crewmember noted they have; "lived more in the past six days than they have in the last six years". Quite a testament to the peculiar pace of life we have onboard, where time itself becomes less significant, but each moment matters more than before.
As I write, we are just 300 meters from our friends Zhuhai. The moon is shining bright, illuminating our path ahead.
They are close enough that we can see crew moving around the deck. It feels lovely to be back with our friends, for so long we have been eagerly awaiting our six hourly position updates to see where everyone is, so, to finally have a boat to race alongside feels great.
Tactically, going west has played off well for us, and to be mid fleet is more than we could have hoped for.
Sending love to our supporters, and reminder that as we question our purpose, sailing, wind, flying fish, philosophy, and the many other topics, we debate daily, we have a greater and special purpose as the big blue clipper boat: to raise vital funds for UNICEF.
If you are reading and would be able to donate or share our link, please click on it below and share far and wide!
Rumour has it, if we reach big figures, the crew are dying their hair blue. Guess we will have to wait and see.
Dan, Laura and the UNICEF crew