Having battled long and hard for 20 hours straight (not to mention the 3 days racing and all the stress of the last stop!) we approached the marina competly knackered. Dad has had a lot less sleep than me and looks like shite! (I am sure he would agree!) We have heard about the Shetland hospitality and desperatly need it! As we rafted up with another boat the wind in the harbour increased 25 kts, the wind pinned us to the boat we sat alongside and as we looked around many if not all the other boats were taking damage. The swell ran directly into the marina and was causing boats to slam into each other so it was a big job to make sure we are well secured - we don't need any more damage than we already have!!! We crawled into bed at 04:30 and Dad was snoring within minutes, maybe seconds! I lay awake listening to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds of peoples hard earned (in some cases!) money slamming into each other and them laying helpless (and unaware) in a kind person's house that has taken them in for the night (the famous hospitality....)
Shetland folk take in competators, feed them, wash their clothes and give them a bed) At 6 we were both back up again making sure we were suffering no damage. So much for rest........
Today at some point I hope the wind will drop off and give us some respite. I hope we manage to get the sail fixed so we can still be competitive in this damn hard race and most of all I hope that all those that are still out there racing are safe. It's absolute mayhem in here but I think we are the lucky ones......
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