Friday 20 February 2009

VOR: ERICSSON 4 LEG FIVE DAY 6 QFB: RECEIVED 19.02.09 0927 GMT

by Brad Jackson (Watch Captain)

Into day six already and, apart from the first two days, it has been very steady conditions and the boys are getting a bit bored of the same conditions. The good thing is we are ticking off the miles at a good rate, while taking care off the boat, or trying to.

On the 17th it was my eldest son Liam's 10th birthday and, apart from making me feel old, it also made me feel a bit guilty of never being around for a lot of the family moments. I think I have been around for maybe four of his birthdays and less for the other two kids, so I'm not a good candidate for Father of the Year, but I think they enjoy this lifestyle and understand it is my job.

Still, it feels selfish on my part sometimes as I am doing what I want to do, and they have to fit around me. Hopefully I can repay them when we settle down at home for a while after the race and have a normal life. Until I take off on another project to pay for the normal life. I hope they know how much I appreciate what they sacrifice for me.

We are now far from the cold and moving into the wet, hot and manky conditions where all sorts of strange rashes and growths start appearing. I luckily don't suffer from these, but I am not looking forward to what Ryno (Ryan Godfrey), Nipper (Guy Salter) or Blood (Phil Jameson) start coming out with and, over the length of this leg, there could be some new varieties, Dave (Dave Endean) also needs to take care of the vineyard in the coming weeks.

Looks like we have another week on this tack which is nice to not have to stack all the time. It will be quite routine and a little monotonous, but hopefully we can keep the foot down and work our way forward mile by mile. Anything can and will happen in this leg so we are not counting on anything until we reach Rio and tied up to the dock.

All for now and Liam I hope you had a great birthday and I'll try and be at the next one, Love Dad

Volvo Ocean Race

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