Entry to Whitehaven
Slipstream Web Diary
Bill Cuthbert
Tue 28 Jun 2011 10:34
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As the skipper mailed the last blog entry, having
lamented the lack of wind, all of a sudden a gust picked up. This
delighted the crew members as they
each in turn woke up to take their watch.
George and Chris, exhausted from the previous day's
achievements slept very soundly and for a long time.
 The summit of Snowden.
Monday's sailing went pretty smoothly as we made
our way north, practising the various regional accents as we passed. The
day passed uneventfully, if a little coolly until we passed St Bee's Head,
shortly after which we were allowed to turn on the engine (and charge the mobile
phones!).
 At this juncture we had to calculate at what time
there would be sufficient tide to allow us over the bar to get into Whitehaven
harbour (amid much muttering about why they couldn't just bloody dredge
it). We sent Paul down below with the tide tables to calculate, whilst we
sat on deck with a rather nifty app on Bill's iphone which worked it out in
seconds! We concurred that we had about an hour to wait, which we did
dutifully (despite Julie's protestations that she was ' a bit chilly'!).
Crossing the bar, some aggressive driving from our skipper saw 'Predator', a
race leader be forced onto the sandbank whilst leaving the harbour. We
later discovered she had suffered some damage and was limping back to
Anglesea.....!
After a fun 'trip' in the lock, we dropped off our
two spritely athletes to start their epic adventure of 26miles cycling and 26
miles running up the highest point in England. Our fabulous support team
of Julie and Sarah greeted them with food, drinks and bicycles.
The rest of the crew breathed a sigh of relief as
we found a berth in Whitehaven Marina. Though a littleshort, it provided a
much appreciated steady bed for the night.
The younger crew got to work 'de-gerkhining' the
fridge (not an entirely successful activity) whilst the support team fussed over
us and Bill scrubbed the decks of Nick's gastric contents. With Slipstream
looking much more ship shape, the crew along with the support team found a pub
where we gorged ourselves on various pies and phamaceuticals, all helping us
slip into a deep, restful sleep.
On Tuesday morning the crew awoke ready to greet
our wearisome runners. Having spent 13.5 hours cycling and running they
returned in surprisingly high spirits.
 We left the harbour, waving goodbye to our beloved
support team, and despite our best efforts didnt manage to 'take out' any other
racing crews.
 The runners enjoyed a hearty breakfast washed down
with recovery drinks and budweiser...
They repaired to bed as the skipper and younger
crew members played around with the smaller spinnaker in the glorious
sunshine. Sails set, we sat down to a cup of tea and the
Sun....
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