A new record. A Swim! And A Little Horticulture.

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Sorry for not posting yesterday. Those watching closely will know that
most of the fleet have been dealing with some pretty rough conditions. I
took a dive South the night before last to line up for a quicker passage
through the two major fronts standing in the way of nice conditions
again.

That dive made my overall standing look terrible, and it was very
demoralising to see the placings drop, but I'm confident it will pay
back in the long run. I'm already back up to third in class, and have a
lot of leverage on the two others reported as being in front me in terms
of
distance to finish.

Dinah's new top speed is officially 17.5knts, seen during the night last
night in pitch black, huge seas, and driving rain. She was handling like
she was on train tracks and surfed effortlessly along three waves,
accelerating all the time, with me grinning like a cheshire cat.

Then earlier this morning I saw a monster wave approaching, completely
out of synch with the main run. I even managed to shout "WAVE!" at
Britney, but she didn't react quickly enugh for some reason. Britney is
my autopilot by the way (Britney Steers). The wave picked up the whole
boat and flung it I don't know how far, flat onto its side. It ripped
one of the rope bags clean
off the side of the coachroof never to be seen again, and left me
swimming looking at the now vertical cockpit next to me. Before I had a
chance to do anything Dinah righted herself again scooping me up nicely.
I was tethered to the boat anyway, but I'm glad I didn't have to deal
with trying to climb in over the back.

And lastly, this afternoon, I was hand steeering again, and noticed
something in the water in front. Believe it or not, there was a whole
tree bobbing along merrily on its way to wherever. Amazing. I'm sure it
must have weighed at least a few ton, and I shudder to think what would
have happened if we hit it at full speed, for example if we happened to
be passing it by night. Good collision avoidance practise for the
icebergs next week anyway I guess!

I'd best get back on deck as the breeze seems to have shifted again, so
I'll have to deal with confused seas for a while. This has been such a
great race so far, but I must say I'mm looking forward to getting out of
this rough stuff in another 24hrs or so. Then it'll be time for dry
clothes, and some more regular rest.

Thanks again for all the good wishes. Enjoy month-end at work. Well done
the Lions! Fingers crossed for another notch in tonights position report
again.

B

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