When reality bites

“We decided to sail the boat to China and do this leg no matter what. This is THE leg for us Volvo rookies on Ericsson 3 and no one wanted to miss it.”

Day 11 dawned and there was something of the morning-after-the-night-before to the mood on Green Dragon. First the Oscars after-party – then the hangover.

Having scooped all the awards for best direction on the approach to the Doldrums, today Ian Walker’s men found themselves hitting the same road blocks as the rest (that’s enough Oscar metaphors – Ed).

Navigator Wouter Verbraak described the journey back to reality. A promising highway south three days ago, he said, had become “a dirt track with some very nasty potholes”.