This year the holidays seem to be a little more vivid for me than usual. It might be the amazingly white Christmas we are going to have. It could be the smell of baking at home or the gifts under the tree. It could be that Alison and I are planning to have all of our family over to our house for Christmas day for the first time ever. Whatever it is, there is something different this year.

If there is one thing that single handed sailing teaches you, it is the value of human contact. Whether departing or arriving, people are what you think about even more than good food and a stable bed. I’m headed off to sea again soon, and I am already thinking about solitude and loneliness, a stark contrast with the holidays here on the hard. So I have resolved myself to enjoy people this season. To enjoy cheerful conversation with friends. To appreciate the bustle of people in the streets, rushing to find last minute things for the big day. And to make sure that my co-workers, friends and team mates know just how special they are.

The generosity of the season always pulls on my heartstrings as well. Last week my team mates sent out an email to friends of the sailing team to request help for this qualification trip. It’s no secret that I have been barely holding it together financially, and the donations that came in following this email were enough to make sure that I am going to be able to leave. I want to thank the team for making that appeal, and all of you that were able to donate toward the campaign at this critical time. We have enough money to leave now, and that is a big deal in the grand scheme of things. (Now all we have to do is figure out how to get home…)

As we get older it is easy to become jaded about big crowds and the commercialism that comes with this season. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Once the gifts are bought and the turkey is in the oven, take a moment to just sit and look at the lights, your family and appreciate the laughter and good will of the season. It is a special time no matter how old you are. Whether you are the giver or the receiver. There is so much joy to be found in the people around us and I am so happy to have you all in my life.

So I just wanted to tell you, all of you, that I am so touched by your generosity and help over the past two years. I get all chocked up thinking of the little and big things that folks have done to help make all of these dreams come true.

So to all of you, I wish you a very happy holiday. Enjoy your families and make sure to drink a toast and send warm thoughts to those that are alone over the holiday. They are certainly thinking of you.

Warm Regards and best wishes,

n

On Friday the Classe Mini released the first version of the Transat 6.50 entry list, and I was releived to see my name under the DCQ entrants.

There are seven foreigners competing for DCQ spots and two compeitors have already qualified. So now it’s a race for the remaining compeitors to get all of their qualificaitons out of the way. (For foreigners, the first to fufil all of the qualification obligations, goes to the top of the list.)

We have a lot of work to do, but we are trucking along, right on schedule.

Next up: 1000nm Qualification sail. More on that in a bit.

“I had memories of the light and shade. It’s what I referred to at the time as the land of shadows, as you see virtually no sunshine. Here, everything is grey. Following on from that you play in the grey nuances: it’s a little grey, very grey, or rather a grey white fog… Now, you are in this atmosphere, your experience of it is black and white”. The air temperature is 8°C, and the water temperature is virtually identical. This morning, I was in the cockpit and I saw a strange thing in the water… A big eddy…. I looked at it again and I saw a black back coming towards me. The creature was 30 metres from me, heading straight towards the aft of the boat. I said to myself, that’s it: it’s going to break my rudder! And then hup, it plunged beneath the water and I never saw it again. It didn’t just measure a few metres in length, it was a big 15/ 20 metre creature… Enormous… !”

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) talking to his shore team today

Shhhh. Don’t tell Alison!

I love sailing! I love the competition, I love being close to nature, and I love working on these beautiful machines that we take across oceans.

Every once in a while you will see a painting, hear a piece of music or see some video that totally captures why we bother with all of this craziness to get to the start line.

So with that…

Transat 6,50 Marintime de Bahia (aka the mini transat…) NOR was posted yesterday as was the entry application. This means we finally have the dates for the MT:

Skippers must be in La Rochelle by September 3
Race Start: September 13
Second Leg: Start on Oct 3
Expected arrival in Brazil:– Oct 21
Awards in Paris on Dec 2009

Link the the documents (PDF) is here.

Very exciting times for me as we see things coming together for our time in Europe. More on this in a bit.