25 July 2010
Now at Latitude 21 degrees south it is positively chilly. My cold has returned with a vengeance. Of course we are in the grip of an Australian winter but the locals tell us it is unusually cold for this time of year. Now where have we heard that before! Climate change marches on. Mackay Yacht Club laid on a barbeque for us, and three members gave the skippers briefing for the next leg to Thursday Island. To cover a coastline of 1600nm is an impossible task so we were grateful that we could draw on our past experiences. Information was also given on anchorages in the Whitsunday Islands, where there was good snorkelling and the best diving sites. I was frankly amazed that there was no mention of the danger of the salt water crocodile. It was clearly spelled out to us four years ago that beyond Lizard Island you just do not go in the water. Now we are told that even down here in Mackay they have a presence.
The prize giving tonight was full of intrigue and speculation. Who was going to be the overall prize winner for Leg 11? The question was on everybody's lips. Suzana had been working on the results all afternoon. Well, after yet another great barbeque held in the Clarion Hotel here in Mackay, Nick confounded us all. He turned the whole prize giving ceremony on its head by awarding "off the wall" funny prizes. Every boat got one. I was surprised and impressed in equal measures. Completely surprised that they broke away from the tradition (and the overall winner is.....) and impressed that they had the courage to even think about it with all these serious racers around. With the prizes for the most part distributed you could almost hear the question being bandied about the room. But what about the race!!!!! What about the race indeed! My goodness I really felt for all those people who had sailed their socks off, pushed themselves and their boats to the absolute limit. David and I quite unexpectedly found ourselves on the winners' podium. Not once, twice, but three times, we were the recipients of a prize. First for "the most appropriate name for the stopover award", Mackay of course, second for being double handed. This we shared with Ciao, Chessie, Jeannius, and ThorVI. Lastly was for our appearance on the local television network along with six other crews. But by far the biggest disappointment of the whole evening for us was the fact that there was no category for the "tatty" WARC flag of which we are serious contenders. It has flown from Voyageur's port crosstrees for over 11000nm now and we are loath to take it down. It symbolises everything about our journey to date. The dirt and grime we picked up in Panama and Fiji. The frayed ends tell a story of strong winds experienced from Fiji onwards to our landfall here in Mackay. Like its crew it may be a tad worn, a little frayed at the edges but its message is clear and still the same. We are here to sail around the world. The spirit and body of the flag lives on.....
Susan Mackay