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We are now well
over half way in terms of distance to go to Jersey. As I type this,
our DTG is 1118nm.
I had
a fantastic day yesterday. Firstly, the winds had picked up sufficiently
for us to hoist the genoa and drop the windseeker - always a pleasant
sight to see the windseeker back in its bag and down below!
Halyards
twisted
We were then able
to hoist the lightweight kite. This all happened during the very
early hours. Then just as I was finishing my watch at 8am, I was
told by Howie that my turn had finally come, as he took off the
climbing harness and handed it over to me - I was going up the mast.
I really enjoyed
climbing the mast during training down in Vilamoura over 20 months
ago, and now my turn had finally come to climb it for real. The
spinnaker halyards were twisted at the top, and therefore needed
untwisting.
I'd
by lying if I said I wasn't nervous! Of course I was, but I was
also really excited by it all, to the extent that I couldn't even
tie the halyard with a bowline onto the harness - I had to let Howie
take over!
Fantastic
view
I immediately
felt guilty that maybe I've had one too many chocolate bars as poor
Gareth, who had only just got out of bed, had to pull me up.
Up
I went, and after negotiating the spreaders and other lines, I was
finally at the top. What an absolutely fantastic view. It's strange
looking down - you can see the full length of the boat and I watched
the unmistakable red jackets carrying out their duties.
Huge
grin
First job accomplished
of untwisting the halyards, then I checked for any wear and tear
(none thankfully). Then, after a good look around, I could report
that I could see no other Clippers.
I arrived
back on the deck with a huge grin on my face, and I can't wait to
go up again! As for feeling guilty about too many chocolate bars,
I was told that I was much easier to hoist than Frankie - but everyone
knows he's the biggest chocolate eater, as well as the biggest eater
of biscuits, crisps, crackers, pasta etc!
Strict
orders
Then when I was
back on watch in the afternoon, we had lots and lots of Atlantic
Common dolphins jumping up and playing at the bow. There must have
been at least thirty probably closer to fifty dolphins. You could
see them yards away all honing into TGS Jersey, which was such an
amazing sight.
I have
to admit, I'm normally full of energy on the boat. As a result,
Simon has given everyone strict orders that I am only allowed one
'skippy juice', also known as proper coffee, per day. I adore the
strong percolated coffee we have onboard and can smell it as soon
as someone has taken the lid off, even if I am on the foredeck!
Well, don't tell
Simon, but I managed to get two cups yesterday! So yesterday was
a fantastic day for me!
Life onboard is
still dominated by the scheds to see how we are performing. Winds
are lighter than when I last wrote. We currently have F4 / 5 and
have the lightweight kite up. As usual we are working hard at making
best use of these winds to hopefully get us into Jersey as soon
as possible!
Lots of love
Tracey
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