Waiting for winds
We're sweating it out in the middle of the South China Sea, with nary a breath of wind in sight. Frustrating times indeed and, despite a round of sea water showers for the whole crew, below deck it feels, and smells, more unpleasant by the hour.
But Quest is still in the race. According to reports we received by radio yesterday morning we're near the middle of the China Sea Race fleet, with about 250 nautical miles left to go.
Frank Pong's Boracay is leading the race, with Jelik in second place. The yacht Soko had people worried on Friday when its emergency beacon went off, but after checks by the marine department and race office it proved to be a false alarm. Jaywalker has retired from the race, leaving 25 yachts in the competition.
The wind died yesterday morning after a spectacular night of sailing under a bright silver moon, with Quest steadily eating up the miles between her and Subic Bay. The shifty wind conditions have meant repeated sail changes as we try to find a combination and angle that maximises the limited breeze. We finally switched back to our spinnaker yesterday morning.
Skipper Patrick Slesinger has been trying to keep Quest as far east as possible while we have wind so that we can sail a wider angle down the coast of Luzon, where we hope to catch some fresh breezes off the land.
Quest's crew life has slipped into a pattern revolving around food, sleep, and helming shifts. We've been eating our only hot meal of the day at lunch to keep the cabin cooler for sleeping at night. There are regular bleary greetings during watch change in the middle of the night, with perhaps a shared cup of coffee before half the crew is again trying to get some sleep.
