Mile ( and chocolate ) Munching

Tracking steadily north west in beautiful conditions with good speed in the right direction. How lucky we are … endless blue seas, glorious conditions, light clouds, occasionally grey with some warm rain, but not often enough to make the addition of soap worth the risk that it stops mid way through nature’s shower. And by night we have the Southern Cross kite still visible as a backdrop to our own kite propelling us across the ocean. Exhilarating helming with our massive sail plan.

Conditions down below are basic, continuing extraordinarily sticky. Compounded one evening by having to cook sausages, mash and beans, although much appreciated by the crew, working over a hot stove is an endurance test requiring much humour to help preserve ones sanity.

Happily I gave up on any semblance of sanity many moons ago… evidence abounds including signing up for a leg which promised the extremes of heat and cold and much more along the way!

Food and the ritual of meal times becomes super important… with creativity required to make very basic ingredients, tasty…with corn beef, spam, cheese wraps again for lunch, I am very grateful to one of our round the worlders, Andy who has just shared some of his Lindt dark chocolate orange intense … His wife brought kilos of this delicious treat to the Sydney stop over all the way from their home in Switzerland. Kindness and chocolate = bliss?

This is surely an experience of sensory extremes: compact racing boat showing no signs of cooling down; 20 people bunk sharing, or napping in the forepeak on salty damp sails, pressed into anywhere with a vaguely flat surface; short bursts of intense physical activity; hours of concentration and focus on instruments, or the luff of a sail, and endless trimming; reviewing forecast and competition activity; searing sunshine and heat and the respite and gift of night time with an infinite starry landscape. And for sure there is more variety to come. Sanya our first Chinese destination is now 1800 miles to go.

Thank you to family, friends and all supporters, with especially big hugs to Charlotte and Nick whose birthdays I have missed this month – smiles. Susan.