Oceanracing - Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race

Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race
www.clipper-ventures.com - Übersicht

Saturday, 10th June 2006
Clipper HQ Media Team Newsletter
Countdown to Panama
QINGDAO DIARY 9TH JUNE 2006

Having finished the race in 9th place shortly after 7am on May 31st, we treated ourselves to a celebratory bottle of Cava, kindly provided to us by Nick Banks, who almost became part of our crew in Victoria. It was a very hot day and to cool down we paddled off the back of the boat and filled the snake pit with water for a Jacuzzi, which quickly lost its appeal when shower gel was introduced and it became a bath.

That evening we had a party, the girls wore dresses and looked great, the boys fashioned ties for themselves from whatever they could find and looked, well, erm, interesting! Danny made a buffet and it was all set against the backdrop of a beautiful Mexican sunset.

It soon became far less civilised as we hit a tropical low. This consisted of piercing horizontal rain that stabbed through oilies. It was very difficult to see as the rain drove into your face and one-eyed helming became a fine art. On top of this it was crucial that we kept a good look out, because visibility was poor and the radar showed nothing but cloud. We had the engine on but were travelling against a very strong wind and not getting anywhere very quickly. Luckily the huge waves hitting us over the bow were a toasty 30 degrees.

The weather since then has been a mixture of sunshine, squalls and electrical storms. We can see the squalls appearing on the horizon. It all got a bit too exciting when in those squalls we saw water spouts develop. These are tornadoes which build from the clouds and twist down to the sea creating a lot of disturbance and the surface. In all we saw about five and managed to avoid them all.

We were running low on diesel and met up with WA on the 4th to pass 3 jerry cans over to them for an imminent fuel transfer. It was great to see another boat and other humans (well, I believe most of them are human). At 3am the next morning the transfer had to take place as we were down to our last quarter of a tank. WA pulled up just behind us and skillful helming from both boats and expert chucking meant the manoeuvre was carried out quickly and safely and we could motor or sail to Huatulco where we would refuel.

The approach to the port in Huatulco was very welcoming and the weather was glorious. It has a small lighthouse with a blowhole, there were a couple of small boats ferrying waving passengers around, the water was clear and the beach looked very inviting. We also had the privilege of being escorted in by quite a large group of dolphins who played on our bow, it was idyllic.

The pontoon had been built for cruise liners and it was quite a climb to get off the boat. However, we were all keen to get onto land and once we’d devised a rota to make sure Qingers was looked after we clambered ashore.
We were greeted by Shane the current camera man on Glasgow who immediately gave us a cold beer each. It might have been the best drink I’d ever had.
We then went to the supermarket to collect some essentials. The local people are very friendly and the businesses are used to dealing with large influxes of people. We were soon wishing we had more than a few hours to spend there. To make the most of it though, we ran to the beach for a swim and had freshly caught Groupa which was delicious.

We said goodbye to our two Canadians Don and Kyle and set off again shortly after Glasgow.

There’s been an abundance of wildlife and we’ve been treated to some rare sights. We saw a bit of a feeding frenzy one night when the water surface became active with waterspouts as dolphins chased tuna and birds mopped up the mess. Nicky was feeling left out as most of us had seen the odd turtle at some point. However, this was more than compensated for as she was amongst those who witnessed two turtles mating. The effect of the Love Boat is far reaching indeed! Three orcas were spotted a couple of days ago and they broke the surface of the water to check us out. We’ve had a few passengers as birds hitch rides. One pigeon stayed with us for a couple of days. Dolphins play with the boat every now and again and they seem to be getting bigger. Brian has just popped his head down the companion way to tell me that they’ve just seen another large Ray. They leap out of the water and perform impressive summersaults. We’ve found squid on deck, which if discovered early enough usually end up in Roy’s breakfast. We spotted something floating in the water and as we’re not racing went to check it out. Nicky and I were amazed by the discovery and shouted ‘it’s a floating rock!’, at which point we were politely informed that it was a bit of old polystyrene.

We’re currently sailing along the coast of Costa Rica passed the Golfa de Nicoya. We’re looking forward to Panama and are enjoying and appreciating sailing when the wind is strong enough. Big Love to all our families and friends, enjoy the World Cup and bye for now.
C’MON ENGLAND!!