Sailing Magazine
by Matthew Thomas
Still battling in the light stuff, Pips had the following to say:
“In the grey ocean beside the boat up pops a dolphin for air. The dolphin takes a breath and ducks down under the water again. You can see them under the water. Spotted dolphins screaming away at you. Yesterday, and this morning at sunrise, they spent several hour’s entertaining us. Some of them had pink bellies, I guess they are pregnant? Lots of little ones showing off and jumping around the boat. It is at times like this that I treasure being at sea. If you can’t go fast then enjoy the scenery.
“Yesterday was warm and the first day we were in shorts. It has been great to escape the layers of clothing. It is so much easier to do things now we don’t have 5 layers on. Today is overcast and grey. It is still lovely and warm. We are just trying to keep ‘Concise 2′ moving under the clouds. It is gusty and tricky. We have big debates about which sail to have up, on sail trim and were the stack should be. It has been difficult to rest with the slamming of the sails. We continue to try and rest and eat. I have been eating a lot, but my food bag still feels full so maybe I should try to eat more!
“While we still struggle with the high pressure we continue to squeeze every knot out of ‘Concise 2′. It is very frustrating watching the other boats pick up speed and sail away, but we still have some 3500nm to go until the finish in Brazil. So we are not giving up”.
