Into week 41 on the water and our thoughts are starting to think of home and what we will do when this is all finished. How do we assimilate ourselves back into a “normal” environment. Discussions around things you can say on a boat that you might not say at home. I’m sure there’s a book or two on that.
I’ve been that tired that my first long sleep was great, out like a light! Feeling a bit more refreshed, hopefully I’m back in my rhythm. We’re through the mandatory gate and our next choice is which of the next gates we go through, the East or the West. We have a team discussion on deck. We’ve been sailing hard and still in 6th spot. Gosh, Punta and Washington look like they’re heading for the west mandatory gate. We have decided to go for the easterly gate as it also gives us the opportunity to go for the scoring gate if the weather permits. Gavin and Zoe believe the wind will fill in from the Northeast which will help us. It looks like Seattle, Warrant and Punta are heading for the scoring gate. However, whilst we could go for the gate we’ve decided to cover Scotland over Seattle to ensure we get past Scotland into the overall leader board. We have protested Washington for going inside the 3-mile exclusion zone. Seemingly they were heading for a reef! Their AIS ironically failed to operate for the short period that they were inside the exclusion zone. We’ve seemingly got evidence to show that they had infringed and if so it will be a minimum of a 6-hour penalty. But that’s for the race committee to decide. We’ve also heard that Scotland have protested Seattle for having members of the crew in front of the grinders after the 4-minute gun on the Le Mans start, which is a basic break of the rules. I doubt if anything will be done on the start, as nobody has been challenged yet on any of the Le Mans starts.
As we go through the easterly gate, we have Seattle in front and Scotland behind us. Seattle have decided not to go for the scoring gate and are probably covering Scotland and us! This is going down to the wire and concentration is key, flying the kite in these light wind conditions where the dark arts of apparent wind come into play. It’s something that is tricky to master and something that I’d like to know more about. We continue to hit wind holes and work really hard to get away from the fleet, then hit a wind hole and everyone closes up. In our last wind hole, Gavin chose to go up the mast to replace one of the spreader covers and also took the opportunity to do his Skipper boat report. Watch it on instagram. Back down below and I’m off for a sleep, but it’s extremely hot. Phew!
Battling in the windholes
We’re about 3rd, but Scotland, Qingdao and UNICEF are within sight but we’re all in a wind hole again. We’ve had a slight wind angle change and decided to put up the wind seeker. The Code 1 has a few small holes in it anyway, so kill two birds with one stone and repair it. It’s very cat and mouse in these wind conditions, loose concentration for a second and you can lose miles. With the Wind seeker up, we can sail a much higher wind angle and we’ve overtaken Scotland, cut across her bow, picking up speed and starting to move away. We’ve then had a wind shift and we’ve had to tack the wind seeker, by walking it round the main forestay. There is always a bigger danger of wrapping it in such light winds as we did off Cape Town, but we’re getting so much better as a crew and successfully done and on we go.
I’m down below, helping Petra and Will wool the code 1 after it’s had the repairs done. We’ve just finished as there is a watch change and Ollie’s team gets it into its bag and back in the sail locker as the rest of us go to bed. Ollie’s team are then very busy through the night as they’ve pulled down the wind seeker due to another wind shift, wooled it, put it away and raised the Yankee 1. We are now on a starboard tack chasing Washington DC and Seattle. We’ve managed to catch up with Washington before the wind drops. Washington, Qingdao and Seattle are all going higher (more East) than us. We’re approx 80 miles from the start of the sprint and waiting for stronger winds to arrive.
Kerry and I have served breakfast and are just getting lunch started, a chicken Poke bowl, by getting the rice on, boiled and cooled and ready to go. I wouldn’t say it was my best day in the galley, but everyone has eaten well. To finish off, we’d managed to squeeze some tins of fruit in the fridge and offered up to finish off dinner. A quick wash and tidy up, one last round of coffees and hit the sack. I’ve got the short sleep this rotation so up at 06.00.
It’s flat calm, another bloody wind hole. Will this never end, with the fleet caught up in it over 100’s of miles. It looks like we’ll see no wind for the duration of our watch. But we’ve taken the code 1 down and put the wind seeker back up again, in the hope we’ll catch a breeze from some where!
Eventually, we’ve got wind! Not a lot but it’s definitely wind. I’m not sure how, but Qingdao have snuck off in front of us and as the sun sets for the day, we’re only getting 5.5 to 6 knots of speed but we’re moving which is great and we’re catching Qingdao.
Stargazing and Green Flashes
There has been a discussion on the boat for a number of weeks, led by Matt, over an observation of a green flash as the sun sets below the horizon of the sea. Myth or legend? The phenomenon has allegedly come from the surfing world. We’ve watched countless sun sets and no signs of a green flash. Today! I videoed the sunset and as the sun disappeared, I definitely witnessed a green dot, which was also witnessed by Michelle. I’ve looked back through the video and no signs, I’m suspecting it’s caused by the human eye looking at the sun for too long, but I’ve now seen it, so no longer a myth!
The wind is still with us as we start our 02.00 watch. We’re in 3rd spot with, yip you’ve guessed it GOSH in 1st, Qingdao in 2nd and CV25 holding 3rd. With the wind strengthening from the Southeast it’s a great opportunity to chase down Qingdao, and as we start the watch, they are but a tiny spec of light in the distance. We’re sailing at a wind angle of around 90 degrees heading due North. The wind is moving about but chasing the wind angle is keeping our speed up. We can tell that Qingdao are sailing a course as there’s no change, so we should have an advantage and we’re starting to gain on them. Behind us, Punta are going great guns, obviously, getting the better wind before us. Scotland and UNICEF are fighting with Punta for 4th spot, so we need to keep one eye on them. From just a dot on the horizon, we can now see their spinnaker outline lit up by their steaming light and by daybreak, we’re right on them. Watch change at 06.00 and we go down for breakfast and we’ve just changed our wind angle, thrown up the stay sail and we fly past Qingdao into hopefully 2nd spot. It’s also hopefully good news on the sprint, but with everyone parked up for such a long time it’s difficult to call, but it would be a nice surprise. Poor Warrant, the only boat to go for the scoring gate, have driven straight into a wind hole and from being in a fairly strong position have now dropped back. Seattle who had a good lead on us, sailed West and have also dropped back. The next schedule will be interesting to see how everyone shakes out. Well, it looks like we’re in third spot but the fleet is fairly congested. We have spent the last 6 hours battling with Scotland from 0.6 miles to 2 miles, back to 0.6 miles and now back to 2. Wind holes are such a pain and very frustrating for the team. We will see what night brings.
What a night that was! Arrived on deck for our 22.00 watch and the wind is around 15 knots and we’re heeled over flying our code 1 we can see the lights of 5 clippers behind us, knowing they’re all trying to chase us down. The closest is now Qingdao with Scotland falling away. For the very 1st time on my journey, the night sky is clear enough to steer directly at the North Star. The “big dipper” or “plough” is just off our port bow, following the end up in the sky to the North Star. We can visibly helm to the North Star, absolutely stunning. It’s not the easiest of wind angels so a little bit of pressure on the helm, but everyone had a go and everything went well. We extended our lead over the group and I went to bed really proud of the watch’s performance. We will see what happens after breakfast.
Into the Storms Again and Again
As suspected, over night the wind has increased, and we had to step over the code 1 which had been laid out for wooling after being dropped in preference for the code 2. We’re heeled over a lot more than our previous watch, so a bit of care was needed to get into the galley. Michelle had made us bacon sandwiches, which can never fail on a boat. Ollie’s watch are now wooling the code 1. Gavin is helming, as we get up on deck to start our watch. It’s a bit more tricky with the wind angle and strength of the wind, so a bit more restricted. Gavin has completed a big stint followed by Tony, then David, then me. We’ve each completed an hour. As we get to the end of my helming stint a very unfriendly weather front is building in front of us. Dark and angry with a dark grey horizon, which normally means rain and a big squall. Gavin is informed, but by the time he’s made his way to the helm, the damage is done. As we’d approached the front, the wind is veering and with the kite up, there’s not much I can do but follow the wind round. I’m bearing away, bearing away by over 180 degrees, so I’m now heading in the opposite direction. The boat is in danger of crash gybing. I’m looking for help and see Gavin coming under the traveller. By this point I’m hove too! With the spinnaker being blown against the rigging. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this one, but Gavin takes the helm and we go about trying to get ourselves out of a sticky spot. We centre the main and fairly quickly, drop the code 2 and get the Yankee 1 flying, which was already on deck. The majority of our watch are already down below, making a start of running the lines and wooling the kite. Unfortunately, I’m pulled back to help sort the boat in case we need to drop more sail, just as the heavens opened. I thought the last storm was big, this is biblical! Gallons of rain are being dumped on the boat. The sea is frothing and the thunder and lightning is rattling me and everything on the boat. It’s cracking right over our heads. We’re right in the middle of it and I’m not really dressed for it. I’ve got a small vest and light sailing shorts which are now soaked through. After about 30 mins of this storm, the wind picks up, bringing a chill to the air and my hands have now turned blue and I’ve started to shiver. I’m sent below to warm up. After a few minutes, I’m back up on deck in full wet gear. Then in no time, the wind abates, the code 2 is requested and we’re back sailing again in the right direction. We don’t know the damage to our placing yet, but I’m sure we’ve dropped places with some of the chasing pack and our chances of a podium surely blown.
Another frustrating day, the spinnakers are up then down as we hit squalls or little wind/wind holes. More thunder and lightning and more rain. It’s becoming a bit of a theme. Turned the last virtual mark and on our way to the finish line. I’m not sure where we are in the race as I’ve not seen any schedules, but it could be 5th. It’s just down to the weather and current now. You know when you’re getting closer to the finish when there are more commercial shipping about and in this instance more navel vessels. There is an international boat festival, celebrating 250 years of American independence. The festival is being held at the naval port, Norfolk at the opening of Chesapeake bay, which we will pass by as we travel up the the bay on our way to Washington DC. Navy ships from all over the world are attending and today we got called up by a Mexican Navy ship warning us that their current course would run over our “deck” The Captain just called us, on the radio, “sailing ship of our bow” with no reply as we had no idea who or why he would be talking to us, he eventually radioed us calling us Sailing ship “London” which he’s obviously read of our main sail. Does he not have AIS? He basically wanted to know which direction we where travelling and we carried on in the same course we where travelling.
Up for hopefully our last watch of the race. It’s a tight run thing with most of the fleet within a few hours of each other. The challenge for us is to ensure we don’t cock up but still be in the hunt versus the other boats but with only 40 miles to the finish line, there’s not much we can do to improve our position, unless someone drops a clanger or breaks somethin. Like-wise for us, a code rap at this late stage would be a disaster. The wind is steady and strong. We are sailing along at 11 knots, but so is everyone else and whilst we can see all the boats around us, we’re all far enough apart so as not to be caught by the boat behind. As we get to the finish line we need to put in a gybe. Gavin has given the helm honours to Matt, one of 4 Americans on board. No pressure then! As we get closer and closer to the line, we can see 4 boats dropping their sails. Gosh are 1st, Seattle 2nd subject to Scotlands protest, Tongyeong an incredible 3rd, UNICEF in 4th and we’ve crossed the line in 5th spot. Punta in 6th, Qingdao in 7th, Washington DC in 8th, Scotland in 9th and poor Warrant in 10th who will have to come into Washington on their own.
A disappointing result after all the great work but a great effort nonetheless from Gavin, Zoe and the team. We’re so unfortunate with all the wind holes and squalls. We sailed well but again, didn’t get the breaks.
We now have to wait around the finish line, some 50 miles offshore until Scotland and Washington finish in about 4 hours, we will then move into Chesapeake Bay, motor sail up Potomac River, then through the Woodrow Wilson bridge! They will stop the traffic and lift the bridge at 4am and then a short motor in a line of sail into The Wharf Marina in Washington DC, for breakfast and would it be too early for a beer?
We’re done, all finished and tied up. Another frustrating race, poor start, great middle and an average finish. The protest on Seattle has been upheld and they’ve received a 2-hour penalty point, a surprising bonus for us and moves us to 4th spot but more importantly moves Seattle down to 6th and brought us all so much closer together on the overall leader board. GOSH can’t be caught now and top the table by a considerable distance, so well done to them. It’s now down to the last leg, we’re the last to play our joker so in a great position to push for 2nd place overall. It’s also moving me to the end of my journey. I’m still not to sure how I feel about it yet. But I’m looking forward to Oban.