Leg 5 - Race 7 -,Day 5
Woke at 7 to hear them making pancakes but stayed in my bunk dozing til 9.30 then got up and had coffee and cereal. Went up on deck at 11 for my shift. It was so hot we cooled each other down by throwing buckets of sea water over each other but also had to avoid setting off our life jackets ! Carl was trimming for a while whilst I grind then we swapped. Hot work !
We still had the code 2 spinnaker up but towards the end of my shift we noticed lmax gaining on us and had their code one up. We had been consistently trimming the boat and watching the wind but as the wind dropped we decided to do a peel. This is where we put up the code 1 spinnaker and take the code 2 down. So as the watch system changed over we did this and all went smoothly without losing any speed. I then came onto standby watch and helped to wool the spinnaker down below. You lay out the spinnaker and roll it up into sections and tie it with wool ready for it to be used again. Went up on deck to see lmax along side !!!
We remained along side for a while then then headed further up. Helped sophie make dinner fish with brown rice and veg : I made a white sauce and added herbs and white wine vinegar just to jazz it up a bit.
Came off shift went to bed 7-11 so hot still dripping with sweat never known heat like it !
Didn't sleep a lot too hot. Back on 11pm lmax had overtaken us and were 4.4 miles ahead we managed to close this down to 3.3 by the time the shift finished. Not a lot of wind! So now I know what the doldrums are like.
It's odd sailing at night when I have done It in the past been nervous and worried. But out here it's so relaxing and pleasant. Mind you probably because the sea is so calm. Also it's nice being on deck at night as so much cooler and no sun. Just the moonlight.
I noticed the reflection of lights from the boat jumping around in the water which made It look like fish swimming with lights on! Made me think of my granddaughter Freya and if she was here I would tell her they are magic fish that only come out at night. X
I have noticed how your body soon gets into a pattern on the shifts. It's odd to think of being on shift from 11-3 and you imagine you will be so tired but you get used to it and have a chat and laugh with my fellow crew members Matt the watch leader Caroline sophie and of course my lovely hubby Carl. It's so lovely we are sharing this experience together.
Off shift at 3am and into the hotness of the boat. The generator was going so fans on and port holes open as sea so flat so getting a little air down below.
Miles covered 152 ; speed 0 -10