On Saturday we spent most of the day getting the boat ready to sail the following day. Then we went to the crew briefing for the next race to Den Helder and I was also told that I would be be a Watch Leader on this leg with Claire as my assistant. We will be racing with the minimum number of crew, so I thought it would be a good idea to go and buy lots of chewing gum and mints to bribe my team with to get the best performance out of them! I then went to bed early for once in the week.
Wow! What an amazing send off from Derry-Londonderry. Early on Saturday morning I went down to the docks to stow my bags for sea, all crews then went off for a bacon bap and drink (tea and coffee!) before we set off on our parade of sail along The Foyle. Thousands of people lined the riverside to see us off. It was great weather and a great way to end a great week, but there was still more to come. After motoring towards the mouth of the River Foyle we reached an area close to Greencastle. With all boats lined up and in formation we watched an amazing display by the Red Arrows for about half an hour, let's just say their formations were a lot smarter than ours! Straight after they had finished we started the race.
 |
| The parade of sail along the Foyle |
 |
| In tight formation! |
For the past 48 hours we have been sailing in light winds, but are now off Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and the Orkney's which is a 5 mile wide passage. We must make the tidal gate in time otherwise we could be stuck for hours, the tide will help us massively, the first boat through will most likely be the one to arrive into Holland first!
No comments:
Post a Comment