By Anna Wardley On board Hong Kong in the Clipper Race

Wardley: Up for the chop

Later today we'll set sail for Hong Kong and we can't wait to get underway.

For the last three days we've been sitting at anchor alongside Sijiaoshan Island, 100 miles south-east of Shanghai.

Our scheduled stop-off in China was called off at the last minute due to a lack of safe berths in Shanghai for the fleet.

So we're going to race the 750 miles to Hong Kong without landing, showering or washing our socks.

Anna's last Clipper update

After ten days without showers, the boat is starting to hum.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing the less glamorous side of ocean racing as my dirty hair became matted into dreadlocks.

After a week of scratching my salt-encrusted mop, I finally chopped it all off with our sail repair scissors.

He just gave us a bemused look as we pointed at vegetables, chicken and eggs in our illustrated Delia Smith cookbook

All my socks are soaking wet due to the heavy weather we encountered on the race down from Yokohama.

My last ditch attempt to dry them in the oven last night failed and made the boat smell even worse than ever.

We're also setting sail without fresh fruit and veg for the week-long race.

Our attempts to procure provisions from a passing Chinese fisherman were unsuccessful.

He just gave us a bemused look as we pointed at vegetables, chicken and eggs in our illustrated Delia Smith cookbook.

So it looks like it's going to be tinned curry and instant noodles all the way.

Let's hope race eight to Hong Kong is slightly less stressful than the last one down from Yokohama.

When we get to Hong Kong we'll have completed half of our 35,000 round-the-world race

Much of the seven days were spent navigating our way around inconveniently-placed islands and dodging fishing fleets and their poorly-marked nets.

We also had to weave our way through the M25 of the world's shipping lanes.

The constant stream of traffic, including super tankers up to a third of a mile long, kept our fingernails bitten down to the quick.

After our win into Yokohama, we finished race seven in a disappointing sixth place a few hours behind the winning boat, Glasgow.

When we get to Hong Kong we'll have completed half of our 35,000 round-the-world race since leaving Liverpool five months ago.