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From : Sarah Brice
Yacht : Concert
Date : SUNDAY 2ND MARCH, START DAY
So, the party's over. For the time being anyway.
After a long holiday it's time to get back to work. Our
six week break, interrupted by a long weekend on
the water, has finally come to an end. I've bored
you with what fun we had in New Zealand - you'll
be pleased to hear Sydney was a little different.
Pretty hectic, with time clearing up the boat and
preparing for the next leg, and lots of corporate
jollies. But we did fit in a trip to the Opera
House and a day on the beach and in the surf at
Manly. A big prizegiving once again served to
generate and propagate gossip amongst the fleet.
The game of Chinese whispers about who is doing
what to whom and which crew are or are not doing
the next leg and who will replace them kept
everyone amused. The rumours were rife, and all
pretty innocuous. If the start had been a day
later so we could go to the Gay Mardi Gras, the
news may have been different!
It was quite hard to get our heads round the idea
of five weeks in the Southern Ocean again, partly
because we know what it'll be like. Leg 2 and
more. We are assured that the winds are on
average 5 knots stronger and the storms are
bigger and uglier than anything we've
encountered so far. Goodie. You can see why it
was hard getting enthused about this next leg!
But as before, with the countdown ticking away
and the boat nearly ready, personal kit
collected, it all seems like quite a good idea.
Come two days before the start we were keen to
get going. This is the big one - the last leg was
merely the aperitif; the gin and tonic before the
long island ice tea of this leg. Well, whatever!
This morning I was really quite looking forward
to this trip and that's still the case. I should
remind myself of that sentiment in a few weeks
time!
Right now it feels good to be on our way again. A
glorious start - sunshine, the Sydney skyline,
thousands of spectator boats, plus the odd ferry.
We had a flyer, even though the skipper was
apologising for his awful start as we crossed the
line! Second past the fairway buoy and second out
through the heads - we're happy! Looking back at
the fleet we've all popped kites and are
screaming down the coast to Tasmania. A few days
of this, then fun time as we turn right at the
bottom. I'll talk to you from there.
Sarahxx
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