Yesterday was an idyllic day on the ocean waves. The sun was shining, I was off-watch and reclining on our bagged headsail on the deck when whammo – a tricky wave forced us into a near broach. I and the FH headsail graciously slid to starboard, saved by the lifelines (I suppose I would have heard the warning from Andrew if I didn’t have my disc-man headphones on).

From the cockpit it wasn’t apparent whether I went overboard so I stuck a foot out to let everyone know all was well. The only casualty was a towel, with book, CDs and senses of humour remaining intact. I am not sure whether Andrew was thinking of whether to gybe the kite at the time or later when he gave Anita her dose of Aussie slang to learn for the day: “Harder to pick than a broken nose”!. Eventually we did gybe and it’s fair to say that Anita, Maria, Travis and I are all getting a crash course from our experienced watch leaders in steering the boat during night and day with the kite up.

We’ve been racking up 200-mile days and the skipper is happy with the way our beautiful boat is sailing. There was almost a mutiny when it appeared that the freezer/fridge was having a tantrum, warm beers on an Aussie boat is a situation too horrifying to contemplate but quick use of a hairdryer seems to have fixed the problem.

Life on X-To-Sea is hard to take!