Update day 47: Merry Christmas
It's Christmas season and I'm sure you are all rushing around and sometimes lose track of which way is up. Sadly my boat has the same problem as it keeps falling over! Conditions are pretty reasonable with wind varying between 25 and 30, with gusts a little more, on a broad reach with one reef and the small J1 reaching sail.
However, one gust came in and the rudders lost grip and the boat spun around with the bow to the wind, the sails flapping wildly. I was inside and was putting my boots on to go into the cockpit to ease the sails set us back on the right course but surprisingly the rudders caught again and the pilot had the helm all the way over and kept it there as the boat spun through a raging U turn to wipe out the other way in a chines gybe with the wind on the back of the sails and the ballast and keel pulling the boat down. Since the first wipeout this way after the fire, this was the fourth episode like this so far in this race and while I'm sick of picking the boat up after it loses its mind I am starting to become quite adept at dealing with what is normally classified as an emergency situation! I got away without any sail damage but sadly my shock-proof, water-proof camera finally proved to be neither so I will be using only Pentax action cameras from here on out. I hope you like the look of the world through a fisheye lens!
Wishing you all the very best for a happy Christmas. Enjoy friends and family, a walk on the beach under the Pohutukawas if you are in New Zealand or a wander through the snowy winter wonderland if you are in the North. Even though I don't have a chimney, or a heater (!), Santa still found me as Christmas came early on the 6th of November this year. It's great to be out here!
