Captain Birdseye

It was an amazing sight racing out of Rio de Janeiro and even more incredible when I was hoisted to the top of the mast and had a birds eye view of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and all of Rio. After a great sailing start it became clear that conditions for leg 2 were going to be very different from those on Leg 1. The first evening we were sailing close to the wind with quite large waves, wind speeds have been higher than before with it sometimes getting to over 30 knots. All of this has made it hard for the crew who have just joined us, out of the nine people on my watch only myself and one other have not been seasick, which makes things difficult when we need to put reefs in etc. The ill crew have helped out as much as they can, even though I am sure they only want to sleep and recover, but over the next 24 hours they will start to get their sea legs! 

This race will be very exciting for me as I have been given the role of assistant watch leader, this involves assisting Neil our watch leader through sail changes, reefing, making sure we are steering the best course and generally racing the boat while Matt is not on deck, it's going to be a huge learning curve for me as I have never had to lead a group of people before (except at pony club camp)!  It is a task I am really looking forward to. 

What also makes this leg different is that while I am learning, we are teaching the new crew members how the boat runs and how to race her well, there is a new atmosphere on board and we seem to be starting a new cycle again of getting to know each other, which makes the long watches more interesting. It's also now that I realise how much I miss those crew who have left and that Leg 1 was a fantastic experience where I have made some great friends. 

Now we are in 7th place and conditions are still testing, we are getting an average speed of 11 knots, which is good and soon we shall be sailing down wind where we can go even faster and life below deck will be a lot easier on that point of sail.

When at sea I only have access to emails that come about 4 times a day via a special satellite system,  so when I was in Rio it was great to catch up with all the messages on my other email, twitter and facebook accounts, thank you! 

Thanks also to: Roy and Joyce. Jeannie. Christopher and Jill. Sue, Daniel and Family. Robert. Colin, Jane, Tom and Olivia. Jack and Jo. Susie and Priscilla. Kirsty. Paul. Wendy. Helen, Dan, Ben, Josh and Eva. A Gokhan, who have donated to The Contented Dementia Trust, along with help from Ripon Racecourse and special mention to John of Upminster, for the great comments on my Blogs!

Finally, I have set up SeaPupPost, here fellow crew member Rob sends a big hello to Pat Carruthers! and if you think we didn't have any free time in Rio; Here is a picture of us enjoying the view from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain!

Al, Me and Rob