So a basic rundown of my day for those interested....I was picked up by fellow crew members David and Anita at approximately 12 pm, after which we headed over to the marina. Our boat, Henri Lloyd was still sailing towards race finish at the northern tip of Moreton island, which is approximately 75 km off of Brisbane. The boat had some issues in Hobart and so was retired from this last race, bringing up the rear by quite a bit. The last boat prior to HL to get into the marina was at about 10 am. So when we showed up at noon, we knew there would be some waiting. Fortunately, there weren't quite as many people milling abou as I had anticipated, a serious relief to my antisocial tendencies. Most crew had already joined their already debriefed boats and were getting started with the days work. We, on the other hand, did absolutely nothing for most of the day. David took off to return his rental car. Anita and I did an errand for a crew member on board. And the rest of our new crew was nowhere to be found.
Finally 530 rolled around, and literally out of nowhere, HL appeared. She was greeted by all the boats with a big applause- not unusual, except for the fact that, as I overheard a crew member from another boat say, "they must not be used to so many people here to welcome them in!" Without bragging, our boat has held out a number 1 position in the race since the very beginning, a fact I just became privy to recently. We are, to put it frankly, the contending boat amongst the fleet. I'll be honest... I'm okay with that. Unfortunately though, this past SNAFU with the rudder bearing has knocked us down to number 2 on the leaderboard meaning we have ALOT of work to do to regain our glory!
6 pm saw a brief race meeting with all the new crew and some ice, cold beers. I saw a few friendly faces from my training. Still though, I was overwhelmed by the crowd. I don't know where I picked up such an apprehension towards meeting new people, but this race is certainly going to put me to the test! Sharing the most intimate moments over the next three months with a group of people, most of whom barely know my name, is going to be interesting to say the least...
I won't regale you with the semi-horror story of getting my bag to the correct kl weight, but there are two large boxes on their way home to NYC on a cargo ship. Not sure how I grossly miscalculated that one!
Tomorrow is an 8 am muster. Eric (our skipper) is serious about getting our boat in top shape. Rumor is we are the smelly boat. That's fine as long as we keep winning. I have some socks I will happily add to that reputation.
Until tomorrow!
H
PS New Zealand was amazing. Go.
