Notes from land...

It's unbelievable how time passes bye... We ended up on the Saturday night at a blink.

Not many complaints though, great times passed by.

 

We finished the race sailing upwind against an unsteady wind gusting upto 40 knots, very tough on the wheel, and lots of trimming were the names of the game. Some tough highlights during the race:

holding the spinnaker under 30knots of wind (the force on the sheets were basically unbelievable)

then gybing the spinnaker under such wind

finally dropping the spinnaker, when the boat and the wind so did not want to let it go

 

There were several times when the whole crew got pretty wet, exhausted and tired of the adrenalin rush.

 

Experiencing once again the immense power on these sails demanded and emphasized once again the importance of being alert all the time. And basing the decisions on achieving a position in the race, taking calculated risks and pushing the limits at times, proved the fact that we were up for a BIG game. Once you're out there, the ocean, the wind, the tides and waves treat every level of experience equally. And once you're racing, with boats that are not made for leisure, and with intentions of speed, it becomes pretty demanding very quickly

 

Yet, the challange, and the impressive power of nature, the impression of eternity and infinity ocean beholds is more than a fascination. This feeling exceeds my mind, it is a feeling beyond any words I can possibly express in any language. It uplifts the soul beyond all the daily worries we are exposed to, and honors it with what it deserves: the feeling of integrity with the whole universe...

 

OK, that's enough sipuratualism, coming back to the race:

We gave a finish at about 4pm on Wednesday, followed by Jamaica and Singapore... We missed the timing for the lock to the marina (this is a huge door that locks the entrqnce to the marina, and keeps the water level at bay during tidal changes; very useful as the boats do not end up on land twice a day:), however keeps the boats locked in or out during low tides), which meant hard work: we anchored at the bay, Jamaica and Singapore being tied up to Cape Breton. Dropping the anchor was not a huge deal, however once it started dragging, we had to pullit up and anchor again, bonus work...

 

It's hard to believe how much there is to do on a boat to maintain it, and prepare it. To save some of the hassle at port, we made use of the anchorage time to start with the repairs and packing the sails. Got quite a few settled before a delicious dinner which definetly was a treat with a diversity of freshly made vegetables topping pasta:) A bit of rest until 2am, when we lifted the anchor and motored to the marina. Although it was a pretty short sailing (and fast one, we reached the destination 2 days earlier than intended), it was still a good feeling to take berth, to be greeted with cans of beer, and the welcoming faces of the Clipper Team.

 

The next two days simply flied out with a buzzing preparation:

deep cleaning the boat, and I mean it. We literally clean every little corner on-board, remove whatever we can out, wash whatever we can, pick & choose the fresh stuff, repack everything.

then make the maintenances, mend the ropes, check the equipment, check the rigging, repair any broken pieces (ie: leakages)...

and further prepare for the crossing: make the final touches to have a more comfortqble journey

 

And we had such good afternoons: the crew really mended together, we had a team dinner worthy of the royalty, then a boat dinner, cooked by John (one of the crew members) which challenged the previous dinner! Lots of chats, a bit of social drinking, definetly a boost of morale before setting to 4 weeks of no land & people

 

Today was finally a freeish day, and had the opportunity to go around La Rochell a bit. A cute city which still feels medivial, and definetly has a Meditarrenian city. Also serving GREAT MUSSLES, god I could eqt those until being hospitalised...

 

Tomorrow will be a busy day for Cape Breton, as we'll have a ceramony of blessings for the boat, than a sponsor dinner.

Monday, more preparations, including the shopping

Already looking forward to Tuesday morning to set sails again

 

I will keep on updating later; keep an eye on me:)

Hande