Race 7 - Day 4

Hi all,

Here is the first joint blog from Cath Johnson and Antonio Palacio.

We are on Day 4 of our race, a round trip from and to Subic Bay in the Philippines. We are racing hard and with that comes very hard work. I will try and describe some of the challenges we have faced during the last few days.

Windholes!

Do I need to say any more? Hit them as soon as we left Subic Bay. We just had to be patient and work our way through them.Couple of days on my watch about 0200 the spinnaker sheet snapped. This is the controlling line of the spinnaker. I was holding it at that time and thought someone had been shot because the crack was so loud and sudden. For a moment there was stillness then a flurry of activity as Ryan rigged a replacement line at super fast speed. Disaster averted for the moment but a shock for those on deck.The next night we headed into strong winds in the Luzon Strait and boy were they strong?! We took down the spinnaker and put up the foresail and staysail, which went surprisingly well for the weather and the fact that we were keeled over at 40 degrees. Nevertheless with the help of the full crew we managed all the evolutions and dropped the spinnaker below deck.This meant that whilst dinner was served, the floor was covered with the spinnaker making movement a tad difficult.

We had already set up a safety rope around the galley which helped keep us all safe.Antonio and I were the mothers on this day, so could hear all the commotion on deck and helped bring down the spinnaker. The danger with the spinnaker is that it reinflates and blows off the boat and becomes a danger to the crew. Neither happened as we are quite experienced in the process.Antonio made a rice pudding with coconut milk and also a lovely rice dish. All disappeared rather quickly. I was aide for the day and for my trouble I was hit with a good splash of water as the hatch above was not completely shut. A very wet and steamy person I was!The crew was splashed with the sauce as they sat having their dinner. The sauce bottle was leaking in a cubby hole above the galley and found its way out through little holes that had line of sight straight over the seated crew members. We emptied the cubby hole and sorted out the pooled sauce. Not easy at 40 degrees and stood on the galley cupboard.

Racing wise we are in second place and preparing for another stormy night. Spirits are very high and we are all racing for first place.Thank you to all my family and supporters who are sending messages and are living the race with me. This is going to be an exciting one so keep on watching.We are all clipping on and staying safe.

VAMOS Cath and Antonio.