Having had three days of down-wind sailing with the
spinnaker up, we are now upwind with the white sails. The spinnaker run was
great sailing but somewhat frustrating, as the helming was limited to certain
people. It was deemed to be "difficult" because of the rolling waves.
I guess there was a certain amount of twitching going on about it, because a
mistake would blow our good position, second in the race. For me, it meant
going stir crazy after three days of just trimming and grinding. I now have a
return of painful swollen hands from gripping the ropes.
I was just delighted when first mate Will asked me to do
some rope work. This involved learning a new knot: a blood knot, which is used
to connect a shackle to the guy line or any other line for that matter.
Shortly afterwards my day further improved with more
activity, as the kite came down. I then was allowed on the helm again and
really enjoyed an hour of reaching with the Yankey #1 up, surfing down the
waves at about 10 knots. Bliss.
We had a brief dry spell, then the usual weather of this
race returned: fog, drizzle and rain. Overnight it was cold and raining, but
the “rail meat” kept ourselves entertained with games of 20 questions and
"I went to market". This morning we looked over at the landscape and
discussed the pallet of the various shades of grey. We are all so in need of
some sunshine. Can't moan though, because this almost constant fog has been the
price for the constantly good winds in the right direction for us to have a
stonking run up from the Azores and make lots of miles on our competitors.
We should arrive in Derry tomorrow if the wind doesn't
die on us. I am so looking forward to a hot bath and Irish hospitality. I'm on
mother watch tomorrow so also looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight.
All good.
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