We left Colon, Panama, about 9.45pm to meet up with the final three boats transitting through the canal. Shelter Bay Marina felt like an airport departure lounge where a flight has been delayed and everyone is hanging around waiting for something to happen, quite unsettling! We were eventually sent to the boats to slip lines and head out towards the Caribbean where the race was due to start the following day. A strange feeling as it was, unusually, dark and there was a sense of escaping from somewhere in the dead of night. It is reminded me of the Von Trapp family as they were leaving their house to escape from Austria.
The race eventually started a day late as we tried to find some reasonable wind for the Le Mans start. The fleet then headed north east towards Jamaica and then between Cuba and Haiti with strict instructions to stay clear of territorial waters. This we did though LMax managed to incur a one hour penalty for sailing too close to one of the islands - not sure which.
On board it was hot and humid, unbearably so at times. With little wind the temperatures down below soared and everyone was dripping buckets of sweat by just lying in their bunks, and when the prickly heat rash came back on my legs I found it impossible to get a decent sleep. We all became irritable but managed to continue racing as the winds picked up and the temperatures slowly dropped.
Unfortunately we had problems with the main sail and had to sail inshore to find lighter winds so that Cloughy could go up the mast with a hammer to fix it. This resulted in our position dropping from fourth to ninth, and from which we never recovered. We also had issues with one of the spinnaker halyards breaking as we jostled for position with Great Britain. They shot ahead only to lose their spinnaker in the same way but we were too far behind to catch up at that point. We were lucky this
time in that the sail did not get tangled around the rudder as before and the crew were able to retrieve it without too many problems or too much damage.
Winds picked up as Tropical Storm Colin passed us to the north with winds gusting up to 60 knots. The boat broached at one point and after some quick thinking of those on deck the CV30 righted itself and we were able to continue. Nothing to be worried about as for those of us who had crossed the Pacific on Leg 6 the conditions were not as bad. 'Colin' passed over us and within about eight to nine hours the winds had decreased and the sea state calmed down, on occasion to the point where we were progressing at 2-3 knots. Wind strength and direction regularly changed and Cloughy found it hard at times to decide which sails to hoist - Yankee and stay, code 2 spinnaker, windseeker, back to yankeee but which - 1 or 2? The crew became exhausted with all the raising and lowering of sails and we still didn't make up any position. There were times during all of this when we could see up to six or seven other yachts around us, all tantalising close but just out of reach.
Animal life increased as we headed north and we were often entertained by pods of dolphins as they swam alongside the boat - a wonderful sight. Fishing of the back of the boat was unsuccessful, though at one point the line and lure were taken by something large but unidentified. What I will remember is the sky, sunrises and sunsets and once the sun had gone watching the stars rise and become brighter. As before, and with no light pollution, the sight overhead was stunning as we could track the Milky Way across the heavens and identify many stars and constellations. Mars was brilliant and positioned at the head of Scorpius, a huge constellation that looks like an upside down question mark. I wish I knew more about the stars! Since being in New York I have bought an app for star gazing. Just hoping now that there are clear skies as we travel east to Europe.
We crossed the finishing line just after 0200 in heavy seas and strong winds before motoring around 60 nM into New York. I was on 'mother' watch that morning and we served up bacon and eggs as we rocked and rolled our way northwest. We came a disappointing ninth in this race, partly due to bad luck with halyards and main sail problems but also, perhaps, because some of the tactical decisions maybe could have been different.
As many have seen on Facebook my mother was at the marina to meet the boat. What a wonderful surprise and totally unexpected. She had come over to see me but also to visit her sister, Eve, in Ridgefield, Connecticut. As a result I helped with the deep clean on the first full day then travelled north by train to visit the relatives. I needed a break from the boat, from maintenance and from everyone else. I am now typing this on the train back to New York, hopefully refreshed and ready to get back on the boat. Unfortunately I think I have left my phone in Eve's car - not good!
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