Back home now, and after a couple weeks of enjoying the company of family and friends for Thanksgiving and my birthday I finally had the chance to upload photos from Race 3, as well as a few from earlier in the race.

Drenched in a squall near the equator – being constantly wet is tough on the hands and feet.

Leaving Rio at the start

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20315461@N00/4161411375/in/set-72157622839531109/
Ahead of the pack after a good start

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20315461@N00/4162175714/in/set-72157622839531109/
Whales, likely mother and calf, flapping their fins on the water.

It's difficult to convey what the conditions are like out there in photos or even videos.  Everything appears flatter than it is in real life.  For much of the leg we had waves from our aft starboard quarter.

Dolphins and rainbows before the storm.

Endless Following Waves

More Waves

The night the wheel fell off

Helming without a wheel

Me at the helm. I spent a lot of time in this position yelling out port! hold! starboard! hold!

Yelling out commands every second for hours on end was mind-numbing and voice-hoarsening.  Our solution: sign cards.

Tailing the port sheet in the cold.  We would switch off every 30 minutes to reduce the boredom and to get a chance to warm up.

Breakfast after the 5-8 am watch.

A video showing the speed and conditions on the final day into Cape Town.

Blasting through waves during the last day.

See more in the Race 3 set as well as more photos from my time in South Africa.

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I’m in the Dubai airport now – next stop San Francisco and home!

I decided during race 3 that Cape Town would be the end of my race due to the ongoing seasickness that I had been experiencing. I simply couldn’t know for certain that I would be able to contribute in the way I wanted to when we would turn upwind or when the weather got nasty. Ocean racing is a tough endurance challenge as is without the additional burden of being seasick. I’m disappointed at not getting to complete the entire race – and in particular miss the chance to sail with friends I’ve met along the way. But happy to be heading home and quite content with the variety of experiences from the first two legs and crossing the Atlantic twice.

On top of that, I got to have an absolutely amazing time staying with my friends Richard and Monique at their house and farm during my stay in Cape Town. It was a fantastic experience that I would have missed if I hadn’t been heading home. It was a great lesson that You never know what life has waiting just around the next headland, but I’m excited for it.

I’ll post more after I get home to fill in some of the adventures (good and bad). After turkey, of course.

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No time to write more at the moment even though I have so many things I want to say.  We have a super quick turnaround, and after getting all the work done on the boat really only have half a day to check out the sites before getting ready for the race start tomorrow.

Photos for La Rochelle to Rio are up… will upload vids later.

As always, more photos on the flickr site

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