Day 11 - The halfway mark

Last night was tough. The wind had died, and we were trying desperately to get Ciao Bella going in the little wind that we had. The constantly shifting of positions in the top five shows just how close the racing is. Yesterday (Monday) we moved up to third, and today (Tuesday) we’ve slipped to fifth. The wind remains very flukey, and whether we catch the larger yachts will be very dependent on how the weather plays out.

The organisers have a great tracker system where you can see how each of the boats are proceeding. It’s available on the official Cape to Rio website. You will see that Maserati is approaching Rio (expected given their size and how fast they can go), whilst we are just over half way. The winners are, however, not decided on who arrives in Rio first, but the times are adjusted by a handicap system, to reflect corrected times. Once Maserati finishes, we will have a better idea of how long we must finish in to beat her on corrected time.

Life on board is good. Our pancake princess (Michaela Mae) made us another set of scrumptious crumpets this morning. These were enjoyed by all, while Bren read out the day’s emails. Yesterday was overcast, but today looks to be a scorcher. Thanks Sue and Jess Rawly for the litres of sunscreen you brought us from Australia – such a treat. Ryan did come down with another bite of sickness. It was, unfortunately, the night that Kathryn cooked dinner. No one has the courage to draw lines between the two events, but let’s just say there have been far more volunteers in an attempt to stop another situation like this taking place.

We have renamed the port aft bunk ‘The San’. Shower Hour has become a far more pleasant experience as we’ve moved west and away from the cold benguela current. It’s a relatively simplistic process that involves you, a bucket and a bottle of Colgate classic egg shampoo. Let’s put on record that Colgate shampoo isn’t what you’d find on the same shelf as the Redken range. It’s a fraction on the cost, and a hairdresser’s worst nightmare. But it is the only stuff that foams in salt water, and thus it is a crucial part of the showering process.

We are extremely pleased to know that the geographical spread of our following has grown to now include Stellenbosch. Our emails thus far have come from SA, Aus, Canada, UK, USA and the Republic of Cape Town. There were rumours about some followers following from Champoussin, Switzerland, but we are yet to know for sure.

More oggend (Woensdag) en Vrydag moet julle probeer inskakel na RSG tussen 07h30 en 08h00. Oom Cobus gaan saam met Mike oor die wedvaart praat. In English: Tjoen into RSG to hear dad chat to Cobus.

Hold thumbs that the breeze holds through the night.