Almost five months after we last finished a race we have just crossed
the finish line of the race from San Francisco to Panama. The last days
have been a true thriller with us losing out to the third place by only
15 minutes. And that has been more luck than lack of hard work. We
started in San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge with very strong
breeze and finished 17 days later 120 miles off the coast of Costa Rica
in only a tiny puff of wind.
Since we finished in Australia in December 2009 this has been our first
proper race with a start and a finish. We all longed for a podium place
but unfortunately it looks like we just missed out. The celebrations
aren't any less because of it. We are now motoring down the finish line,
preparing for a swim in the ocean, which will be one of my highlights.
We have enjoyed the most gorgeous waves and surfs, the best breeze
ever, amazing sunsets, amazing sun downs, treacherous squalls and
thunderstorms with mind boggling wind shifts, wonderful and challenging
sailing and beautiful and bewildering wildlife. The dolphins kept
visiting us at night. We could hear them puffing for air and their
fluorescent tracks in the water looked like torpedo attacks. We saw
marlin and tuna jump out of the water. We saw many turtles trekking
north or south and we had a cormorant type bird living on our yankee one
as it was on deck, right underneath the spinnaker pole.
Had my swim earlier since I wrote the above. Sheer bliss! We took swings
on a halyard from the bow and then let go somewhere near the back of the
boat. We also tested at what speed my bikini bottoms dropped to my knees
as I was being dragged through the water behind the boat. 4.4 knots is the
maximum speed for o'neill bikini bottoms. The top was still in place.
After that we swam to one of the other boats that just crossed the finish
line. We had waited for them while enjoying a warm beer. It was good to
see them since we hadn't had time for that before.
Later today I spent sun down in the top of the mast acting a scarecrow and
also enjoying the flat calm sea and the absolutely beautiful sight of the
two cormorants that I had just chased off our mast circling around the
boat, just below me. A nice and relaxing visit to the top of the mast for
a change.
Now we have started to fix the heavy weight spinnaker. It will be quite a
job. Especially since they put the second panel on the wrong
side...sigh... At least it is cool at night and we have plenty of light on
the foredeck.
