As Sea Dragon and the leg 3 crew settle in on the Thames, eXXpedition Round Britain First Mate Holly Vint describes the highlights of the day before, as the crew approached the Thames Estuary:
“Having emerged from the eerie fields of gas and oil rigs just off the Wash, this morning’s 4am watch began with us all wordlessly sipping our coffees in front of the slow-burning sunrise. We’ve had ridiculously amazing weather so far on leg 3, with bright skies, perfect winds and flats seas. After a brief lesson on points of sail, the wind veered and we eased out the sails to zoom across the millpond.
That dawn was hard to beat, but some of today’s other highlights include:
– two manta trawls! Along with the usual plankton trawl, and other varied water and air sampling, and finishing off collecting hair samples for mercury testing
– potato wedges for lunch
– a mayday relay received over the VHF calling for vessels in the area to keep their eyes out for a lost diver. Sadly we did not find the diver, but we did find a couple of discarded helium balloons which we pulled out the sea
– showers!! Gloriously wet, engine-warmed showers
– a chance to chill out on the foredeck and bask in the sunshine before London
Now we’re making our approach into the start of the Thames estuary, spotting hundred of channel markers, wind turbines and ships at anchor. T minis twelve hours for our exciting trip under Tower Bridge tomorrow!!”
