Day 34 – Beers on the horizon
Today’s guest blog is written by Brucey – Skipper of the 2020 Cockleshell Endeavour crew
Dagger are making sterling progress, consistently pulling over 65nm per day and with Cockleshell approaching the 1000Nm to go milestone, it becomes all too easy to watch the clock. Once the miles remaining dip into three figures there is a palpable change in atmosphere aboard; the trade winds conveyor belt becomes stronger and more reliable, while each shift seems to matter more now, the cold pint tantalisingly close and dry land almost in sight.
Although by now, considerably fatigued after an already staggering effort, the last thing the crews know they can allow themselves is complacency. With potentially weeks still to go, the last thing they they must do is count their chickens prematurely. At sea, anything is still possible.
I painfully recall just over this time last year, with just over 300nm to go, we got caught in an un-forecast back eddy, going from over 9nm/shift to fighting to make 3. It was a soul crushing moment, but fortunately lasted only 48 hours.
Brucey – Cockleshell Endeavour crew 2020