Leg 4 - Race 6 - Singapore to Qingdao

It is now over 5 months since I departed Walnut Creek to take on this adventure and this last race to Qingdao has been by far the most challenging. We left a hot and humid Singapore on January 27 and were informed at the start that this was going to be an upwind race. How true that turned out to be as we were close hauled all the way and actually sailed about 4,200 miles with all the tacking and had we been able to take the direct route it was only about 2,300 miles. The downside of upwind sailing is that we were always at an angle.

The first week was still very hot both on deck and even more so down below. Since the seas were fairly rough we were not able to open the hatches to get any fresh air down below. I dreaded my days of preparing meals in those conditions as not only were we at an angle but it just got so hot in the galley. I not only lost all the weight I had gained in Indonesia a Singapore but lost even more.

This photo is taken of the boats in the Kepple Bay Marina with the new bridge behind that links mainland Singapore to the small island.



As we turned left past Taiwan the conditions changed significantly. We were still sailing into the winds and now had to deal with a series of cold fronts that descended upon us from the north. Theses fronts brought gale force winds, rain and sleet and huge seas. Our boat was very fortunate with minimal injuries with only a few bumps and bruises compared to broken bones on some of the other boats. We had to deal with continual breakages during the storms and snapped 4 yankee sheets, broke a yankee halyard and broke a shackle on one of the staysail halyards. Races are won and lost depending on how quickly one can recover from these misshaps.

This is me at the helm trying to figure which direction to Qingdao.....



This is Ricky at the helm in some very testy conditions.



Here I am being a bundle of joy whilst on watch.



Amazingly after almost 3 weeks of sailing one morning we woke up with Glasgow just behind. They passed us later on and then just before the finish we were on diffent tacks and managed to overtake them again.



Even the flying fish were trying to escape the wild seas......



Well it all ended and the last day the winds abated and my shorts were not really approriate as it was still very cold on deck.



Here we are having just crossed the finish line.



Coming in second is a remarkable achievement as we were in 7th position at one point during the race. The welcome in Qingdao has been amazing and we are being treated like celebrities. It is still very cold but the sun has been shining since we arrived and of course the heating in my room has been turned up to maximum.

Next stop Hawaii and then home in California.