Day 2 - Race 2 - Madeira to Rio

Madeira is a long way behind us now, as are the Canary Islands. 'Welcome to Yorkshire’ has made excellent progress since our brilliant start from Madeira.

The hard part of crewing a racing yacht is getting used to the Watch System. Fatigue is a common factor, and we combat this in a number of ways; good conversation, littered with very bad jokes! It also helps that our 'champion' victuallers have supplied us with plenty of Haribo and Jelly Babies to ensure a steady series of 'sugar rushes' to get us through the dark hours!

I for one am glad to get back into the Watch System. The land doesn't move in the same way! I'm sure that innocent passers-by in Madeira must have confused some of the Clipper crews as participants in a 'Ministry of Silly Walks' seminar! After a certain amount of time at sea, it is true that you do take on a certain stroll to ensure balance when moving around a boat on a rolling sea!

Food is so important for morale on any boat involved in a long journey. Some of the best dishes have been curry or chilli so far. One thing we have recently had to start doing for ourselves is baking bread. This has proved a challenge for most of us. I do feel that some of the previous baked efforts which have found their way 'over the side' should have been accompanied by a collision warning, radioed to the rest of the fleet about a possible dangerous object floating in their path!

Having said that, optimism is high on today's Mother Watch as Ann had produced some fantastic dough, which is currently baking. Ann has had the foresight to go on a 'French bread baking day' prior to race start with a leading French Baker! I for one cannot wait, and banish the memory of 'cement loaves' to the depths permanently!