Jimmy Sails World
 
Things have been quite tough here, strong winds and tricky seas to helm in but the advantage is that we have made such good time. Too good I fear! As I sit here our current eta is late 31st early 1st! not good for My Dad and Aunt for seeing me cross the line (or anyone as it will be dark!) we have under 1000 nm to go now and all talk is of food, showers warm beds loved ones! its nice but its not here yet and although we have been doing around 250 nm days as you know things can change quickly and we still have around 1000nm for them to do just that. So who knows. I want to get there and get on dry land but would so love for my Dad and Aunt to be there first! If they do, apparently after we cross the line  (the bridge) we have a 2 hour motor to the marina so they should have plenty of time to see us at the bridge and get to the marina by BART or taxi or something!

The bright side to all this is that most of the boat stuff should be done within a few days of arrival, I hope (maybe a few training sails) so we should have plenty of time in SF to enjoy, Alcatraz, wine tours, all sorts to do!


As you can tell by the lengh of the blog that it is mother watch today and the boat is a bit flatter than it has been  Della from the tv company decided she would invade our galley and cook pancakes for breakfast. well the gas is so poor at heating at the moment that she started at 6 am and we served them with lunch at 2! 3 hours to do the initial cooking of 16 pankakes! it was a joke. and she found a new sport of singing the first line of the black eyed peas song (I got a feeling ....) to which I dont seem to be able to stop myself from singing the next line (.... WOOO HOO) sad eh!

Well time to go cook tea. Chilli with corned beef yum yum!!!!!! real food soon please!!!
 
This mothers day was a strange day, with not having the usual reminders in every shop. But James R was cool and we supported each other through, as the 20th was the date his dad died so it was a tough few days on that front but good memories too and thats part of why we are both here anyway!
The gremlins are definitely causing grief only out here we know them as
Honey Badgers! no idea why though!!! We have a broken pulpit (front of the boat) and little leaks everywhere are causing lots of water in the boat and therefore lots of bucketing it out!! Joy!! oh and now our instruments wind, speed, direction are not working as often as they Should! tricky!! Also My boots...They now have a hole in the toe (as do Sam Lloyds) absolute rubbish and Dubarry told Sam Normal wear and tear! Although some good news is that my choc supply has survived, i never really envisaged any water damage but i suppose dry bags are not always waterproof!! However no major sweet loss, so no disaster!!
We are close to getting to the 2000 mile to go mark (10 days to 2 weeks)
its a long slog! cant wait for san fran! 
Well its Chilli and a special apple crumble for dinner no weight loss for
me then!!
 
Mother watch is at an end again and so five minutes to write to you before sleep gets the better of me and I crawl into my damp, mildew riddled sleeping bag after climbing to my top bunk on the high side of the boat and drift off for 7 hours glorious sleep! I can really sell it cant I!!
Well today 21st we crossed the international date line and sailed back into the western hemisphere, and if i did not know
what day of the week it ws before I certainly dont know now! All I know is,  we really are on our way home now! it seems silly as I have been home recently but it still feels good to be making progress to home. to celebrate this I cracked open the Ferrero Rocher which went down a treat, then we cooked 3 great meals. including the best porridge of the trip for Terry (odd as  when we mothered together we hated each others porridge, mine too thick his too runny (compromise eh!) I also baked a celebratory cake! Now neither you or Rachael Allen have anything to worry about but it went down well, even if the decorating (assisted by Della from North One) was a little dodgy! photos to come!
Speaking of North One, it seems to be a competition between James Dave and me for air time. Dave plays it down and says I
  get grumpy if I have not had my daily camera time, but he is every bit as bad as me but in denial!!!
Not much else happening a bit of general medic work, nothing serious and lots of wind, we are trying to remain in the top
flight and still cling on to the hope of a podium but i think this one will be close, despite over 2.6 thousand miles to go!
Well sleep and trying to type at a ridiculous angle are getting the better of me so for now I will say night night!
 
Well this is just a short hi, mother in 2 days so will reply better then. Nearly half way! yay!!!! and the date line is coming up. We get to have a groundhog day!! Also we have now left the east on our charts and have America instead, its going to be nice to be in the western hemisphere again!!! Anyway time to wake the other watch then bed!
 
Currently we are sitting if 4th and in hot pursuit of Singapore and then New York (both of which we have put behind us in the past so we know we can do it) Its a long race though and with more than 2/3 still to go no one is getting too excited yet. Life at speed has been fun if hard. Super concentration (especially at the helm) is the order of the day and has ment long spells helming for the experienced guys as the new crew learn the craft (on a tough steep curve!) It's been cold too, bitter! and you really feel it when you are going fast. we have had the old girl at 20 plus knts through the water which equated to around 25 knts over the ground (sea floor, actual distance!) so our super 24 hour runs were racking up the miles! long may it last, although we are in less wind  (good for a bit of rest and mother watch (today me!)) and wind holes are forcast so lets see what we can do! long and short, for now our dragon is roaring!!
 
The storm which we've been in for 2 days is finally abating but it has left its battle scars, Cath fell and hit her head! she is ok though. And half the boat has been down with Qingdao belly!!! not good at all! I have been fine (touch wood!) just cold and wet! Oh the Joy!
 
Sorry this is not a long blog one, but its been a chaotic mother watch yesterday and by the time I had finished  it was most certainly bedtime!! Just come down from a load of deck work as we got caught in a little squall. So much fun! and it was all filmed by North one so some cool TV footage I hope!
My back is good, if anything its feeling stronger, so taking care of it and keep using it and hopefully it should be ok! The crew are all good, the newbies are all nice and good fun too! in general its good to be back and im loving the sailing!!!!
We've just been interrupted by a us warship going to do a live fire exercise right in our area!!!!  luckily only small arms and a bit away from us! did not want to be shot at!
 
Today at 02:35 GMT, race 9 got underway after a 'Le Mans' Start.
Race 9 should have begun yesterday, however due to harsh weather conditions which reduced visibility down to less than 1/2 a mile, the start was postponed. The fleet made their way to a meeting point approximately 25nm off shore where they were held for 24 hours. They under went a Le Mans Start, here the 10 yachts line up with their mainsails hoisted and the headsails hanked on all ready to go. The Crew wait just aft of the 'coffee grinder' for the start signal, once the signal is given the crew race forward to hoist the headsails and trim them as quickly as possible.

They have a 5,680 mile race, through some of the most treacherous conditions to Oakland, San Francisco. Good luck guys and stay safe.

    Author


    Its like Jim Kirk but without the star dates and I'm not the captain!

     Well here is where you can get to find out a little more about how I'm getting on in my quest for adventure.

    I aim to keep you posted on my training (both how I cope with learning to sail and how I am getting into shape for the race), How I am doing with regards to funding and how much money I have raised for good causes.

    I intend on this to be a journal of everything connected to this epic adventure, so at times it may be funny, sometimes full of grumbles and sometimes down right crazy! but I hope at all times it will reflect my experiences and feelings at the time.

    So watch this space!!!

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