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For
the crew of Jersey Clipper, despite our excellent 2nd place, there
was a feeling of slight deflation when we crossed the line a few
minutes after Hong Kong on Monday night.
We
genuinely thought we would be first to finish as the afternoon went
on, so we were inevitably disappointed to see another boat at the
finish appear from what seemed to be nowhere. But fair do's to Hong
Kong.
They
sailed an excellent race, and deserved their win. We'll just have
to be faster next time!
Our mood was quickly lightened when we got ashore and, despite the
late hour, saw the well-wishers on the pontoon.
It
was then off to the 'Skipper Bar' for some celebration of the end
of what had been a terrific experience for us all. When you see
the lovely sunshine here in Cascais, 'the Bay' seems a long time
ago, and yet the 48 hour crossing seemed interminable at the time.
We
were on 3 watches, 2 hours on and 4 hours off, but when you were
on the wheel it was like standing on the film set of The Perfect
Storm - huge waves all around and every other minute someone chucks
two buckets of water at you!
During
the roughest part, Ian 'Stokes' Baird was catapulted out of the
heads backwards and onto Janes bunk after we hit a particularly
big wave - a sight that was really quite hilarious and kept us laughing
for hours.On another occasion Paul Cook ('Cookie') was hit on the
head by a flying turnip, another very comical sight!
The day after race finish, the whole crew turned to and tackled
the boat cleaning, and all the small jobs that needed doing.
Effectively
by Wednesday evening the jobs were all done, and we can now all
have a couple of days off till saturday. A lot of lessons have been
learnt on the boat victualling front, and we hope to get a better
balance of food, veg, fruit etc for the Atlantic.
You
have to remember that for instance, we should only take a few days
worth of choccies, as it will all melt when we reach the warmer
climates. Jersey Clipper is, I'm happy to report, all ready to go.
She
is now clean again, and looks great. Frank our bowman has been hard
at work making spectra strops (3 of them failed during the first
race, so some lessons were needed in strop making!), and Tracey
and Silvia have been 'mapping out' where all the food is stowed
under the various floor boards.The sails have all been washed down
and cleaned and checked for any damage.
And
our oilies, sleeping bags and smelly socks have been washed and
dried out ready for more action.
Today Clipper organised a coach for a sightseeing trip ashore, and
there is the prize giving at 7 pm followed by dinner for all the
crew hosted by the local yacht club.
A good
chance to catch up on the news from the other crews.
So now we look forward to the next race, and the Atlantic. There
is a slight feeling of apprehension amongst the crew. 24 or so days
at sea is a long time, and something no one but the skipper has
done before.
And
it is a race - all the time- so we must trim, trim, trim the sails
constantly, day and night. Then there is the question of race tactics.
When
do we head west, how far south to go etc. All will be revealed in
the next couple of weeks , so watch this space!
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