Seattle

Seattle

A fantastic second place for UNICEF which meant we were into Seattle before the official arrival window, but it also meant a two week stay in a beautiful but expensive city. We had a wonderful welcome and everyone was really generous in their congratulations. Prize giving was held at the Aquarium and was an amazing event as we were up on the podium for the first time, accompanied by lots of cheering and raised glasses.

The two weeks in port meant lots of maintenance work was achieved on the boat with my role still being that of 'rope lady'. Lots of help from various crew members as well as the brother of one of the multi leggers. So as ever, a big 'thank you' to everyone. The weather was generally stunning with clear blue skies and temperatures up to the mid 80s and breaking all previous records, even for summer months. The views across Puget Sound were spectacular and Mount Rainier was visible, sitting in splendid isolation, on the horizon.

For various reasons I ended up staying in an apartment on my own which gave me a lot of space that was greatly appreciated. I was going to share but it didn't work out but in retrospect I think it was for the best. I was on the eighth floor overlooking Puget Sound and only about a ten minute walk from the boat, so incredibly convenient. The only slight scare was that another crew member was told the apartments were being sub let illegally so there was a risk of being evicted. Luckily it never happened!

As usual I didn't manage as much sightseeing as perhaps I could have done which has been the same in most of the stopovers - not quite sure what that is all about. I didn't get to the top of the Space Needle but did manage a trip to Tillicum Village, a visit to EMP, the Experience Music Project as well as the Chihuli Glass Museum and a baseball game. All very worthwhile visits, especially the glass museum which was my favourite. To have the vision to create the glass sculptures he did is
incredible and I would have liked to have spent more time there - a second visit was planned but unfortunately never materialised.

The Tillicum visit was a trip put on by the local tourist board for the UNICEF crew. The  weather was wet but it was good to go out to Blake Island and to experience Northwest Native American storytelling, a traditionally-prepared alder fire roasted fish and to have the chance to wander through a lush forest and walk along the beach. We even spotted a bald eagle sitting at the top of a tree.

As ever time sped by and we were back on the boat for Leg 7 and the race down to Panama. We boarded the boats to the sound of a brass band and paraded along the waterfront and around a fire boat spraying water before heading off north through Puget Sound and race start the following day.