An Ozzy Xmas

Morning all! I hope that everybody has had a fabulous christmas and not regreting that extra helping of pudding we all had! As part of our stay in Geraldton is was arranged that a few of the local families would adopted stray clipper crew on christmas day and treat them to a christmas 'ozzy-style'. Lindsey and I were adopted by David and Joanne Shea and we couldn't have had asked for a nicer or more welcoming family. On Christmas eve they took us and Jonny G to their daughter's house where family and friends had gathered to see their christmas lights. Every year there is a competition for the bst decorated house and this year Marika and Scott won first prize. Loads of cars drive past to see the lights which are all choreographed to different Chrsitmas songs, and the kids hand out 'lollies' to the drivers.

When David arranged to pick us up from the boat he said that we would know his car when we saw it as it was the only one of its kind. He wasn't wrong! The car is used to raise money for a children's charity called Variety which provides funds for children's needs.

On Christmas day the whole family was round at their (massive) house and everybody has presents to open - even me and Lindsey had a package to open. Christmas dinner was very traditional with meat and
veg but the crayfish and prawns were slightly less tradition but even more yummy! I can now peel and eat any part of a crayfish or prawn! Joanne loves christmas and the inside of the house is just covered in decorations, its hard to know which way to look because their are father christmases, snowmen, reindeer, bells, and all sorts of christmassy things hidden in every corner and every surface! Like a real Christmas grotto!

We stayed over on Christmas day and john joined us on boxing day morning after spending Christmas with his own adopted family. We then borrowed one of David and Joanne's cars and went down the coast towards Dongera to see a bit of the countryside, the highlight for John was when he over took a road train on its way to the docks at Geraldton! We borrowed the car again yesterday and went North this time towards Kalbarri and the nature reserve up there. On the way we stopped at Port Gregory where their is a lagoon on the beach and a pink lagoon/salt pan just inland. the colours are just incredible adn the pictures don't do them or the size any justice!

The Pink Lagoon

Kalbarri

Cliffs at Kalbarri National Park

Today is a lazy day recovering from Christmas and making sure the boat is nice and tidy - a tricky job as the engine is in pieces again!

G'day from down-under!

Hi Guys! Finally amanaged to get a chance to write an up-date for you all after arriving in Oz! After the initial partying was over on the first night - with free drinks and barbecue - its been hard work on the boat for the last few days! Jobs done include teh deep clean, deck services, safety checks, life jacket checks, repairs to the spinnaker, the boat being lifted for the scrub and anti-fowl and a million and one other little chores! The anti-fowl was the longest job for me as I helped to move the boat to the crane which is about a mile, then helped with the scrubbing and painting, and then helped move it back and again. The anti-foul is like a thick blue paint and when you're painting the underneath of the boat which is now above you its a messy job! 2 days and multiple showers later and I still slightly resemble a smurf! and not just because I'm little! Managed to get a quick look round Geraldton yesterday and everybody is really friendly. They recognise you of the boats and they all have something good to say whether its 'well done' or 'you must be mad'! I have to appologise for the lack of photos but unfortuanetely I can't send them back from the boat, but I see Dad has been doing a great job with the ones off the wedsite!I've atempted to up-load pics onto facebook but with out success so here are couple fo the best from SA and the Southern Ocean! Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year and lots of love you all! Can't wait to get home and share it all with you first hand! xxxxxxx

ElephantsZebras

Minstrels as we arrived in the V and A

  Leaving Cape Town

  Me and Lindsey all wrapped up!

  Replacing hanks on the head sails

  Sunset

  Helming!

 Gorgeous day!

 Shazza and me excited to be in Oz!

  JLB out of the water!

 Skip with his favourite two girls!

Team JLB at prize giving - 3rd PLace!!!Very proud of our pennent!! :D

Lily has landed!

Geraldton, Western Australia - The crowds turn out to welcome the boats in

The crew of CV2 Jamaica Lightning Bolt pose for a team photo as they dock in Geraldton

Dear Bloggers

Lily asked me to post a brief note on her blog to let everyone know that she and Jamaica Lightning Bolt crossed the finishing line off Geraldton, Western Australia this morning at 07:05hrs UTC (15:05hrs local time Australia). The really good news is that they got their podium place by finishing 3rd behind Team Finland and Spirit of Australia.

Lily says sorry she hasn't been able to write about the finish just yet but she's too busy drinking champagne at the barbie ashore which looks set to last for at least 24hrs. She will be posting blogs and pics soon though.

Regards to all from a very proud and jealous Daddy

Almost there!

Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 11:09 PM

Position:
33degs 06.90' S
104degs 38.55' E
Boat time: 03.30hrs

Three days to go and we're almost there! Less than 600 miles and counting. As we get nearer to the finish we are reminded that we are still racing and there is everything to go for with Edinburgh on our port beam (though rapidly dropping aft!) and Cape Breton just about visible on the starboard beam. With the light conditions and warm weather lulling us into a sleepy state of mind, having the other boats visible has woken us up and got us all back into race mode.

As we left the Roaring Forties a few days ago we were surrounded by fog. Almost as if the Southern Ocean was trying to stop us leaving. Some people were convinced that it was snowing but I'm not so sure! The difference in weather in just two days is amazing, just a few nights ago it was every layer possible plus hats, scarves and gloves and everyone huddled in the cockpit. Tonight theres not a fouly to be seen and we are all spread out in various comfy poistions along the leeward rail.

Progress is painfully slow at the moment with such a short distance to go and so little wind. The sound of the light-wieght kite collapsing as the wind does another weird little shift is all to familar. Keen as I am to get to Oz, I almost don't want this leg to end. The sailing has been amazing but I'm not looking forwad to the heat as we head up to Singapore!

Look out for pictures specials when I land in Oz.

Half way whales

Sent: 8/12/09

Boat time: 01:30hrs

Position:

40deg 09.14' S

81deg 38.75' E

Well over half way now and starting to get excited about reaching Australia. With only a week to go before we get there, it's a popular conversation topic. What's the first thing you'll do? Where are you staying? What are you doing whilst there? Answers are wide and varied from taking a shower to hiring a motorbike! One thing is agreed though, and that is the shorts and t-shitrs will be ready waiting!

Tonight I'm definitely looking forward to the shorts and t-shirts more than normal as sitting on deck as we struggle upwind with the yankee 3 and second reef is not warm work - especially as all we can do is ride it out! Despite a beautiful sunny and mild afternoon the nights are still cold and layers are on!

We saw whales again the other day but this time they decided to stay around for a while and kept pace with us off the starboard beam for about half an hour. Every few minutes there were blows and as both wales surfaced and we even saw quite a lot of their bodies. Our resident 'expert' Jonny G reckons they were over 30ft long.

I had my first proper shower for 13 days yesterday after my mother watch duties. Although it was cold and i washed my hair in salt water, it felt great! However a day spent in thermals and foulies soon gets you back to feeling 'normal' - a slightly grubby, slightly smelly state of being, but everybody is the same so no-one notices.

After speaking to Mum, Dad and Hannah on the satellite phone the other night I've been feeling a bit homesick, especially as tempers have been a little frayed recently, but a fabulous days sailing seems to have sorted eveybody out and we're back on track to reaching Oz as fast as possible!

Hopefully, I will get some photos sorted out for the Blog when we get to Oz.

Don't forget you can follow the race on: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

Lily :)

Be brave! Take the next wave

Sent: 03 December 2009

Boat time: 03:25hrs

Position:

40deg 09.178' S

63deg 11.422' E

Well what an exciting couple of days its been, if exciting is the right word! Just as we came on watch yesterday lunch time with a full mainsail, medium-weight kite and skipper on the helm, we were caught by a massive gust of wind which caused us to broach out! Luckily, it wasn't too bad and only the toe-rail and a bit of the deck were in the water, but the call for 'all hands ondeck' was made as we needed to drop the kite, and fast. Port watch abandoned their lunches and joined us just as another gust hit us, but no worse than the first one.

It was a fight to get the kite down. With everybody on deck and lots of people shouting it was hard to tell what happened, but the spinnaker pole ended up too far forwards and bent itself in half round the forestay putting the guy out of reach to free the spinnaker. With the halyards already coming down and the lazy guy through the letter box, the only thing to do was let all the ropes run and ditch the kite in the water. To do this we had to cut one of the halyards and the working guy was shredded in the process. With the kite in the water and the full crew on deck we were then able to recover it and send it down the the hatch. Unortunately, it is ripped right across its full width and possibly in othe rplaces too. Both the pole and the spinnaker will have to wait until Oz to be repaired!

Ironically, after this had happened we had one of the nicest afternoon's sailing so far on this leg. Clear skies and a decent breeze to keep us moving. Needless to say though, few people slept well last night! Luckily, the worst injury was Elaine's twisted ankle but she's fine this morning and crew morale has not suffered to badly. We're a bit disappointed as we are sure to pick up penalty for the damage! However, 12000 miles and this the first serious break is a good sign that crew and skipper are working well to stay safe. Although it was a sharp reminder that we are in the Southern Ocean and that it has its reputation for a reason.

Read more about the broach in Race News at: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

Whales and Albatrosses

                    The Albatross           

Sent: 30 Novemeber 2009

Boat time: 6:45pm

Position:
40degs 38'.753 S
48degs 45'.825 E

As we came on watch at lunch yesterday the cry of "Whales" was heard from Anna, to which everybody said "Yeah, right!" But then it showed again about 100m off the port side. We didn't see very much but there were two blowing through their air holes and showing a bit of their backs.

It made a nice change to air-borne wildlife. So far we have seen nothing in the sea, just millions of birds! Its quite amazing how many birds we actually see! Everyday there are loads of Cape Petrels, Giant Petrels and Albatross. I was under the impression that the Albatross was quite a rare bird and that sightings were very special, but at one point we had 4 following us and circling round the boat for hours, and you are almost guaranteed at least a few sightings every watch. They also get really close to the boat and one almost took out Johnny G the other day as he stood by the shrouds!

Poled-out Lily!

This morning's watch was a slow start with little wind. The other watch had prepared the medium-weight spinnaker for us. But as the wind dropped, it was put on hold and soon abandoned as, although the wind was building, the sea was too bouncy for it to keep its shape. So it was poled-out number 2, poled-out staysail and with a full main we were plodding along at a steady 10 knots. Forecast is for the wind to build and the sea (which is flatter than the English Channel just now!) with it so should be surfing tonight!

We're just about a 3rd of the way to Oz now and tomorrow we get to start our Advent calendars! A kind of surreal feeling on the boat, but its definitely cold enough to be getting ready for Christmas! We're chasing hard for the scoring gate (an imaginary line between two points on our route across the Southern Ocean that we have to cross to score extra points) and are desperate to get more points than Singapore who are only a couple of points behind us overall.

Almost teatime now and I am starving! Good news is, its Angel Delight for pudding. My favourite! Thanks to my Dad who is posting on the Blog for me while I'm at sea. I e-mail him by satellite from the boat and he goes on the Blog and sets it all up for me - who says you can't teach an old dog (especially salty ones) new tricks! x

Don't forget you can follow the race at: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/