Message From GARYJESSOP

Sunday 24th .sitting in the marina waiting to go..Qingdao ..what a welcome ..the people a joy ..we were made to feel bigger than robbie ... all fantastic...now ready for the off. Thanks to all those that helped with the deep clean and a shame to few that didn't really bother.
We are ready ;
Teams are Me, christian,ant,nicole,teddy,pete
Chris,oscar,cal,emma,neil
watch names to come .... only one mother at a time so the meals could get intersting ..Will Ant build on his open 'sarny'&Calon his porridge!
We are lean and ready for this trip, it will mean some of us will not get a full off watch dueto sail changes as we are low on numbers .. but I beleive we have a great team and with no sickness drama's we can concentrate on sailing the Lady Qing to a podium... Enjoy the race inte warmth.
36 03.3 N 120 23.4 E

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Message From GARYJESSOP

Its back to moon lit nights joined by the stars coming to keep us company through the chill/bloody cold ,the last two nights have been beautiful up the coast past Shanghai and onwards to Qingdao in the yellow sea.I have never seen so many fishng boats with their lanterns lit up ,it makes it quite difficult navigating around them as they do not have running lights(port/starboard)
However it creates a real romantic setting being in China.
We will enter Qingadoa at 8.30 am local time on Sunday 17th
34 30.4 N 121 33.3 E 13.15 16/2/08 COLD

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Message From GARYJESSOP

First we had the heat ,the unbearable heat.. now we have the cold ..-5 and wind chill factor.. we had the calm seas then the high seas now we have the flat seas...we had the lack of wind and then too much wind ..now very little wind..we had huge angry sea with waves pounding now we have a still pond like ripple.This race has been about extremes, emotions high and low ,energy highs and digging deep for more.
Sitting here now feeling safe is a good feeling, just 200miles to go till port.

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Message From GARYJESSOP

14 / 2/08 in theEast China sea, at 0800 the race came to a colse for this leg , we came10th and with it the weather broke, the sun came thewaves calmed down,what timing..So a couple of photo's taken for the website and the engine is on.we have 500 miles to go to port ,so still a long way to go even under motor ..today is thursday hopefully we get there by sunday.
Now it has come to an end of high winds,big sea,no sleep,repairs,sail changes,and everything else one could throw at us one can get a good four hour sleep rather than being woken in the middle.Just working on adrenalin and the body in over drivethe body needs its rest,funny thing is ..I'm too tired to sleep.But this give me time to reflect on life for now and the future..have a great Valentines,I hope you all get the flowers and chocs you deserve.Back to watch.

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Message From GARYJESSOP

So what next.........
more wind ..45kts gusting 50kts...what sails to use .. stay sail down storm or yankee 3 , we need speed & control or else we get bashed about .. 3 reefs in main.the sea is angry ,waves are pounding us day and night , and the temp. is dropping.
Not much sleep.. starting to feel the burn of a non stop work out onthe fore deckand trying tokeep my balance. last night the sat. dome came loose..so a quick fix.
everyone tired,want a bath x

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Message From GARYJESSOP

Oh for a Foyles War episode and a cossy night in with a take away or in the middle of the Bashi Channel with 40kts of wind and the Big sea spewing its massive waves over our bow.Gone are the days of hot weather sailing in shorts,it's full kit and getting ready for the -5 in Qingdao,I have my layers at the ready for the cold & when we get around the top of Taiwan the cold will hit us,I dread to think of the wind chill factor on route.
Things happen in 3's and herethey are so far this trip:
*Chinese lady sailor from Qingdoa has been ill since leaving Singapore, we had to head to Manila just incaswe had to get her off( that may explain our route) ,so our race was a little bit turned upside down.She seemed to get better and is still on the Lady Qing but has yet to go on to the deck , she looks quite positivly green.
*Pirate Steve Pang got stuck up the mast while trying to retrieve a halyard.
*Carlo decided to try his wet suite when he went over the side on the bow,we called a MOB and we had him back on deck within seonds.A drill we had spoken about if it happens and we all did a great job,both watch's were working together.
What next......

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Message From GARYJESSOP

Romance and Reality
Reality:Hot Sweaty,hard to sleep,sweating litres when trying to sleep,foul air in the sleeping quaters(in desperate need of fresh air),living on the angle as we have been heeled over from the start beating into the wind,waves breaking over the bow,the bow slamming up and down as the Lady Qing trys to jump her way through, frustrated she can not point as well as others,so like a knight on a chess board we tack our way forward,We are lying 10th..and I/we don't beleive we deserve that -our evolutions have been so slick...and its only day 8 we have at least another 10 to go and haven't even reached the cold.And I can't sit down due to sweat rash.This will get tough, endurance with the living conditions
Romance; on the helm, with yankee3 up,2 reefs in the main,27 nts app wind,no clouds just stars ..it's 11pm and I'm maintining 10.5knts .On the right of me I have the Southern Cross,on the left the North Star,next door the plough(dipper) and to left of the plough Cassiopei.Looking down on me I have my guard of honour Orion.A wave crashes over the deck, the air is fresh on my face,my eyes are wide with anticpiation and alertness,my heart pounds with the shudder,I feel like nothing is going t stop me..YES I feel alive & YES the Romance out weighs the dread of the next 4hrs below.

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Message From GARYJESSOP

07 32.3 N 110 22.3E 1/2/08
It's like a game of chess and the pieces are knights,we have to keep tacking into the N.E wind.So the position board is all over the place.Yesterday we were 5th today we are back to 9th.Yesterday we had Nova Scotia,Liverpool,Durban, Glasgow all around us .. today they are in front of us .Jamacia are having a good run 50nm ahead,We are taking our hits East before we make our making tack North.. so as the Lady Qing tacks her way through the South China Sea we wil sea how the game of chess maps out in due course.

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