Safe Journey for Green Dragon, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Qingdao to Rio de Janeiro. Image copyright Guo Chan/Green Dragon/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Ian Walker (skipper)
There has been plenty of excitement on the Green Dragon in the last couple of days, not least a close call with a huge whale first thing this morning. The whale breached the surface about three boat lengths to windward of us when we were charging along at 17 knots. It does make you wonder what the impact would be like if you hit one of these fantastic creatures flat out - it's probably best not to think about it too much.
There has been plenty of good news too. First of all Damian (Damian Foxall/IRL) heard the news via a phone call that he has been awarded the prestigious Irish Sailor of the Year Award and then overnight came news that Neal (Neal McDonald/GBR) had became an uncle. Congratulations all round!
Spirits are also high as it seems our easterly route seems to be paying some dividends. We have had a very easy doldrums passage so far, with only one cloud bringing us even close to stopping. The leaders’ margin has been more than halved although some of this is natural compression as the fleet slows. We have done well recently against Telefónica Blue to the west and we are still over 100 miles east of where the leaders passed. This could mean more big gains or possibly losses if things go against us. Wouter (Wouter Verbraak/NED) and I are still comfortable with our position for now, but only time will tell.
The Equator is now only 140 miles away and our new crew member Chris Main is right to be concerned about his first crossing. He has had a baptism of fire and is doing a great job, but King Neptune and Queen Codfish do not take kindly to lone crew members seeking to cross the Equator for the first time - Chris will be very outnumbered!
The only bad news to report is the increasing hold the lurgy has on our crew. Freddie Shanks is the last one to go down and he has commandeered Guo's (Guo Chuan MCM) bunk as a sick bay for now. Over half the crew have suffered so far with a queue for the head (toilet) not uncommon.
Today we spent an hour sterilising all the cups, bowls and spoons as best we can but the reality of life on these boats is that if one person gets ill, it is a fair assumption that everyone will. This means I am probably next in line and funnily enough I can feel a sore throat coming on. I'm off to find the vitamin pills.
Volvo Ocean Race
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