Going, going...

If you can imagine yourself on a boat like this one I am sailing around the world on, what would you think would be one if the most valuable commodities? Water would probably rate the highest. We have a water maker on board to provide fresh water. (The water is wonderfully pure and cold as it comes directly from the 13 degree C sea.) Of course fuel and battery power is very high on the list.

Apart from that it seems that food, but more specifically snacks, cause a lot of bickering, especially when people steal the snacks from the collective storage, or when they take anything from the opposite watch's snack box! Probably not important, but certainly valued.

But today we have now realised that one of the most sought after commodities is toilet paper!!!!

This is a long leg - not as long as leg one, but definitely more challenging in terms of the weather and managing our resources. To stay within our budget we need to plan our food and general usage products well. It seems that we our now fast running out of stuff and have not managed all our needs and usages very well. And yes you guessed it - we realised today that we are very low on toilet paper. Bog paper is now rationed to one toilet roll per person for the rest of the race!!! So today we each got one roll in a plastic bag, and we will have to get by with that one roll until we arrive in Albany. I can just imagine how interesting things are going to become if people start taking other people's rolls - someone apparently already took two today because we were one short when they got divided up. Some have also started negotiating exchanges for Weetbix, which is down to two and a half per person per day.

Tea, Vegemite, sun glasses, sun block and lip balm seem to also rate high on the list of necessary commodities according to a quick little survey I just did. So is milk and the Skipper's cigarettes!

Watch this space on how the rations are going to go for the next few days. People are getting creative and the jokes are reaching really low and basic levels!

I am currently offering 10 Australian Dollars for a piece of chocolate! Haven't had any offers yet. I am going to buy myself a huge block of dark chocolate as soon as we get to shore!

To all our PSP supporters - keep your faith because as you can see we are slowly but surely catching up on our competitors. We still have a third of this race to complete and anything can happen. We are determined to get a high position.

Sending you all my love and miss my friends and family incredibly!