Leg 4 update, 7th August 2009 at Largs

It has been a refreshing two days. Hot showers, solid ground and fresh food
including meat that was cut less than a year ago. For Thursday's dinner we
had two delicious legs of lamb and all the normal trimmings that usually go
with a Rona Sailing Project roast dinner. It's been a completely alien
experience stepping onto solid ground. Everyday experiences such as visiting
the local super market or having an ice cream are such novelties that we
found ourselves thoroughly enjoying pretty much anything that was involved
in normal life. The weather has been great and we have all enjoyed our time
in Ballycastle and appreciated the hospitality that they have shown us.

We set sail at 8.00 am this morning and red watch served a delicious
breakfast at nine consisting of fried eggs, bacon, sausages and beans. To
our disappointment when we got out of the shelter of the harbour there was
no wind at all and we ended up motoring for a lot of the way although we did
have the spinnaker up for a while. Matt O'Connell managed to haggle another
ride up the mast while we were actually sailing to get some aerial shots of
Rona ll while she was under way. Despite this quiet days of sailing the crew
has enjoyed the down time and many have been either splicing rope to prevent
fraying or other minor repairs. The No.1 Genoa, our largest head sail will
soon be back to 100% thanks to Stevie "G" Jackson who has been patching a
small hole near the tack.

As I am writing this we are sailing into Largs harbour in Scotland and
coming alongside Challenger 4 who is making her way up to Greenock for the
small ships race that starts on Saturday. I hope you enjoy the photos of
Rona from the mast and perhaps tomorrow we may have more to report.

Written by

Matt O'Connell