Michael Pammenter during a sail change onboard Telefonica Blue, on leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Image copyright Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race.
by Simon Fisher (strategist/helmsman)
When someone shook me awake this morning I was suddenly filled with optimism that we may have a sunny day ahead of us, however, by the time I had pulled my wet weather gear on, dragged all the stack forward downstairs to compensate for the ever- lightening wind and forced down some breakfast, the sun had once again disappeared and the light was flat and grey once again.
This has been the story for the last few days, grey, overcast with little life around us. Every now and then we see a ship in the distance and this morning we sighted the first bird for several days. Even the flying fish seem to be scarce in this part of the Pacific.
With so much sailing on the same angle in similar conditions you could easily think it's Groundhog Day! This is the way it looks to continue for the next few days at least. Reaching, reaching, reaching.... The wind will steadily head us and we will slowly curve down to the south to pick up the trades to take us south.
Despite a slight feeling of monotony amongst the crew, everything onboard is going well. The cuisine is as good as ever, with Spanish jambon, Italian parmesan and even a few fresh oranges are a treat to the palette with while stocks last! Conditions are now also much warmer so the thermal clothing is slowly being peeled away. The only bad things we have to deal with at the moment are a few people’s smelly feet! So bad in fact that Jono (Jonathan Swain/RSA) was moving around downstairs wearing a ski mask on his face! The worry is, if the smell is this bad now, what are we going to do in 30 days!!
For me now it's lunch time, then sleep and the owners of the smelly feet are on deck so I best get to sleep before they return!!
Volvo Ocean Race
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