Race 4 – Australian Leg

Hello kids!

Despite my best intentions, I did not get to send you my blog from Fremantle! It has been an incredibly busy week. Not only did we arrive 3 days late thanks to the battering we got on Leg 3, the amount of maintenance and sail repair required to get us back up and running was extensive. Poor Neil didn’t get a single day away from his sewing machine despite the number of folk who turned up to help!

Let’s not even talk about laundry and personal admin…

On the upside, I did manage to get a few hours to visit with some friends. First up was my host family from when o lived out here in 1995…which, incidentally, was when I first set foot on a sail boat and fell in love with being out on the sea under your own power. It was so lovely to catch up with Pam and Mike and their family! And later that evening, they took me back to Attadale Rotary club who hosted me all those years ago. What a blast from the past! I got to catch up with Jim and Jenny as well as Mike and Jacqui…all people who welcomed me into their homes and hearts just when I needed it.

You see, when I first came to Aussie, I was ill. I had suffered my first major bout with depression and was bulimic. The Rotary clubs had thought long and hard about whether or not they should send me at all but I thank the heavens every day that they gave me the thumbs up.

Coming to Australia was a coming of age. A realisation that I had worth and opportunity. That acceptance was normal. I went from being the kid who wouldn’t say boo to a goose to being a girl who went raging (in a good way) through life grabbing everything with both hands.

That sense of adventure has never left me. I think it was there… latent… but being here brought it out of me and I am forever grateful.

I also got to catch up with my girl Suzie…one of those forever friends that you see after 10 years and it’s like you never parted. Plus I got to have cuddles with her pooch Luis the Havanese (he has his own instagram, you should check it out). Was so nice to have some puppy love though it did remind me how much i miss my furbaby. *sob*

Anyway…a very short, very busy stopover and yesterday we set off again!

This next bit will be much shorter (we hope) at around 12-14 days. It will, however, take us deeper into the southern ocean than we were on Leg 3. Fingers crossed we get those downwind swells this time!

Our race start was good…much better than CT’s kite nightmare. We were off in second for a bit but lost some ground on the downwind section. I think we’re in 4th right now (check the race viewer!) and clawing our way back. Going for podium on this race!

As a final note…I have been writing the odd crew blog on the Clipper site and Stormhoek Wines Ambassador blogs too. May be worth a read if you like what you see here 🙂

• RACE 3 – DAY 16 CREW DIARY – RACE 3 DAY 16: CAPE TOWN TO FREMANTLE Diary
• Dare To Lead Crew Diaries

Right…back to making lasagne. Well… I say making. I should say reheating! There are some advantages to being mother on the first day out! Pre-prepared meals and no baking of bread. Whoop! May even watch a flick in a bit. Decadence!

Love to you all
Sx