Wet, cold, unpleasant bashing

So, the front came through, the wind went around from Northerly to
Southerly in a very short space, within an hour we were reaching in 30-35
knots of wind in a very very confused sea state, absolutely horrible, boat
thrown left to right, surfing, then bashing into a wave, then knocked
sideways, waves of frozen water crashing over the cockpit making even the
shortest trip to trim a sail extremely uncomfortable.

I run the heater for the first time, the exhaust pipe had come undone from
the unit resulting in all the smoke invading the cabin, very unpleasant, I
couldnt open any of the hatches due to the waves and just waited a long
while for the air to clear. Even after reattaching the pipe i’m not sure
it’s working properly, but I will try later, it’s very cold right now,
thermometer says 14C, but outisde with the windchill and the 80% humidity
it feels like London in winter.

As predicted the leaders are still ahead of this front clocking up the
miles, impressive runs from BSL and Cessna but i dont envy the position
they are in, under constant pressure it must be very tiring, like the last
week of leg one when we battled it against Cessna, it drained all my
energies, to have to push so hard from the start and so early in the leg
will be extremely challenging to sustain. I am impressed.

I cant deny dreaming of a hot shower, a nice dinner and spending some time
with my lovely girlfriend Ella, being apart is proving tough, especially
when you look at the drastic contrast of being in the warm embrace of your
loved one or this evil washing machine in the middle of nowhere, what was
i thinking?!!! Luckily i’ll get to see her as soon as i arrive in
Wellington, we’re trying to arrive there on the same day and making
preditions is somewhat easier for her flight than our passage, unless of
course she flew BA and they were on strike. We are both grateful for the
support we receive from Ventana Group who’s taking care of all the flights
and making it possible for her to be at every stopover.

I received an email from a friend asking financial advice given all is
happening to the eurozone, it’s true that i worked in banking but it’s
also true i havent even read a newspaper since august, not sure if it’s
too bad to admit, but partially this was the whole idea, all i can say is
that form down here it does not seem that important, life will go on one
way or another, the albatrosses dont seem too concerned

Posted by: firstclass