Jamaica to New York

Before every race we have a briefing about the race start, the sailing instructions, i.e. which route we are allowed to take as well as any hazards on our way.

Today’s briefing was all the more pertinent from our skipper due to the recent tragic loss of the yacht Cheeki Rafiki and her crew. They were sailing in the same waters as we will be doing. And there will be low pressure systems coming off the USA that will indeed give us a good kicking.

Today we covered flood and fire drills on board before moving onto

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Seven

The number 7 is apparently a magical, mysterious number and is associated with the ruler, Neptune. Seven days of the week…

However, the seven I’m talking about right now is the seven weeks until race finish.  SEVEN… That’s it.  In seven whole weeks the (current) adventure of a lifetime will be over – done – finished – at an end.

And then what?!

Don’t try this at home

I’m often asked what it’s like on board and try very hard to describe what it’s actually like on the foredeck.  So this morning, having bumped into Mike Morawa from Team Garmin, we decided to have a go.  Here’s what we came up with to try and describe the ‘fun’ we have on our respective boats on the foredeck.

Take a vehicle with a sun roof, ideally one quite high, like a Landrover, then find some rope, pretty strong stuff

Hair

Hair – especially for you Françoise.

Just before I left on this adventure, I met a fabulous woman, Françoise. She is the epitome of elegance, beauty and quietly effective strength and bravery. I have great admiration for her.  One of our conversations concerning my worries about the trip meandered to girlie issues, as you may have read in an earlier blog, my hair was looming in my mind as a really big issue.

How would I cope with unwashed hair? What would it look like!? What would I look like!?

N’owt as queer as folk…

“N’owt as queer as folk…..” A Yorkshire saying frequently used by my fabulous Grandfather.

On my way to Panama I flew from Geneva to Madrid. Sitting on the plane next to a man who asked for a bottle of Rioja at 0750h and promptly enjoyed his beverage of choice as well as hiding away two further bottles which had been out into airplane waste bags, into his briefcase. Perhaps his body clock was in a different time zone or it was simply “wine o’clock” and perhaps

Routine

I promised myself on board that I would never again complain about cleaning my bathroom or kitchen. After all, the kitchen and bathroom at home have only been used by the family, not 16 or so others. And neither is at an angle of 30+° nor bouncing all over the place.

So what is it about being at home and cleaning up that is, shall I say, err, not quite as “exciting” as doing it on the boat?

Ifs… Buts… and Maybe’s

And I’ll I ever know whether my decision was the right one.

It was a tough one for me, really tough. I embarked upon ‘the challenge of a lifetime’ thinking it would be the sailing; the sea conditions that would test me, not to mention interpersonal relations in such cramped and challenging conditions.

None of that.

Just a decision about me. That was the challenge.