Teddy's Blog aboard Qingdao Clipper

Qingdao impressed everyone again with an amazing send off. Thousands of spectators came to the Qingdao Olympic Marina to watch the start of the race to Santa Cruz. I was overwhelmed with emotions saying good buy to family and friends and seeing the city lights disappear in the distance. It almost felt like there was an invisible string connecting me to it. It was harder than I imagined leaving the comforts behind and not knowing what is in store for the next couple of weeks. The uncertainty and fear was soon replaced by the thrill of the adventure ahead and the race. Qingdao has been a home to me for the past 6 years and I am feeing very proud to be representing it on this leg.

We just had our first dinner onboard and soon our very first watch. The Chinese watch names are now replaced by Hawaiian ones. The weather is cold and there is not much wind. Hopefully it will not take us too long to leave the cold waters of the Yellow sea.

Day 2
First night watch. Qingdao surprised us again. This time it wasn’t a very pleasant one. We have been anchored for several hours because of the strong currents. To top it all up it has been snowing for the past 3 hours. The Lady Qing is covered in snow. We managed to make a small snowman and have a snowball fight. I remember one of the Singaporean crew mentioning that he has never seen snow and was hoping to see it for the first time in Qingdao. I guess his wish came true. Hopefully the wind will pick up soon and we will be on our way again. The joys of ocean racing!

Still snowing this morning. It took us hours to get rid of the snow on deck. The good news is we are sailing again. Good bye Qingdao!

Day 3
The snow is finally gone and the sun, even though not so warm, makes everything better. We are sailing at an average speed of 12 knots so hopeful we will make some good progress within the next several days. We are 12 on board, including our skipper, so we have only one person mother watch and today it’s my turn. I am making baked beans and scrambled eggs for lunch; pasta and my Bulgarian salad for dinner. As a mother watch I don’t have to do any sailing so I will get some good night’s sleep and will have some time to reflect on the past several days. I have never felt so close to nature and so dependent on it. What an amazing sensation! I am getting to know everyone on board a bit better. During our watches we discuss books, movies, the oceans, outer space and much more. It’s funny how easy it is t talk to everyone here. We are all so different and yet we have so much in common. Because of the cold weather everyone spends their free time in their bunks. I am sure that when the weather gets a little warmer we will be spending even more time together and there will be more stories to share. Pasta time now.

Day 4

While I was having a night’s rest after mother duty my crew mates have been working hard all night. Several headsail changes and few sail and winch repairs. They were soaking wet and quite tired when I saw them this morning.

I am enjoying being back on deck. It’s been sunny and it already feels warmer. We did several hours of downwind sailing at a speed of 13 knots which was quite enjoyable. We shared more personal stories and each of us talked about the first thing they were going to do when we reached the tropical paradise of Hawaii. Drinks and showers are priorities at the moment.

I’d like to introduce some of the crew, for those of you who don’t know them, at the end of each blog. I will start with another legger, Peter Leung. Peter is 27 years old and his parents are originally from Guangzhou, China. Peter was born and raised in the UK. He speaks Cantonese but no Mandarin Chinese so he was using me as a translator in Qingdao, which a lot of locals found quite amusing. Peter is a civil engineer in London. He likes extreme sports and adventure holidays. That’s why he decided to take part in the Clipper race.

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO HEXAGON METROLOGY PROUD PORT SPONSOR FOR QINGDAO STOPOVER AND FOR TEDDY'S FLIGHT BACK TO QINGDAO.