Frustration

OK so this is soul destroying.  Just bobbing around.  Soooooo frustrating. I’m not on Mother for another 7 days and we may well still be motoring to Panama at that stage.  Aaagh. There are dolphins, whales, sunsets, blue skies, sun etc etc and ooooh what I’d give for a good storm.  Send me to the foredeck and I’ll stay there and hank and unhank storm sails and the number 3 all day and all night if I have to just please give me some wind.  Please.  Just some. Any. Aaaagh. Oh and just to add insult to injury my sun glasses went over the side today.  

Mexicans came aboard and wanted to see all our passports.  We actually managed to give them gifts of red US tee-shirts and on video they shouted ‘go singapore!’.  Amazing.

Running out of things to say coz nothing happening here. Boo hiss. I was fine till I found out that four boats have finished.

Grumpy.

End In Sight

As far as the race goes, the wind died about a day and a half ago and we spent a day bobbing around and barely making 1kt, hence the drop in positions in the sched.  We are now sailing once again and Clipper have finally decided where the finish line is so we are doing everything we can to make up positions, although we suspect a podium position is out of sight on this occasion.

 Life on board is good.  Despite everyone being bitterly disappointed at the wind situation we are all in high spirits as is usual on Singapore.  In a day or so we will be motoring to the Panama Canal and may even have to tow one of the other Clippers who have insufficient fuel remaining for the inevitable motor to Panama.  I am told one may have a fuel leak but basically we always keep full fuel and full water as a matter of good seamanship, whereas if fuel and water are used the boat would weigh a lot less.  We would all prefer to sail the boat the way we do accepting the extra weight. No-one minds that lighter boats can go faster.  We would rather be safe.

News flash!  Currently being approached by a Mexican warship.  They have made radio contact and want to send a boarding party!

First Place

Today was spent doing everything we could to make the boat move.  When I came on watch the wind had died. We had the wind seeker up but there was literally 1kt of wind.  I spent much of the next four hours at the helm. Gradually we got between 2 and 4.5kts so I managed to make to boat move and even keep moving at a speed not less than 0.5kts below the wind speed.  Very satisfying indeed to get 3.8kts of boat speed from 3.2kts of wind in such a very heavy boat. All day we were assuming that the other boats would have overtaken us as many of them had gone further west to where the better wind was but we kept on it. Hand trimming the main and head sails, hoisting the windseeker then dropping for the no 1 yankee then hoisting the staysail then switching to the light weight spinnaker.Sail change after sail change all day. We are exhausted, especially since it was 91deg today. Then, an hour ago, we discovered that our perseverance and hard work has paid off. We have moved into first place. This news came during the most magnificent sunset. A wonderful end to a wonderful day. Pressure is on now!

Tense Progress

The race is absolutely nail biting.  My hands are raw with trimming the main sail by hand.  We are physically watching and moving every line all the time to ensure best speed.  We have moved into third and have been catching up on the lead boats and pulling away from Qingdao for the last few days.  An hour or so ago the wind died.  Possible disaster, depending upon whether the other boats are suffering the same fate.  Last night was typical in some respects but also very busy.  When we are sailing under spinnaker at night there is a light that is forward facing that we use to illuminate the sail. So there is pitch darkness (because we are waiting for the new moon) except for an 80 foot ghost floating above the boat.  Now that the wind has died we have our windseeker (the lightest into wind sail) up.  We have now to trim continually and try to hold our place until the race finishes sometime over the next few days. Lets wait and see where the moving goal posts are set and whether the other boats have the same wind as us.

Dilemma

No word from me for a few days because we have been absolutely run off our feet.  This race is sooo close.  We have been able to see Qingdao just a mile or two away from us continually for the last few days and yesterday at about 4pm we caught sight if Hull and Humber, the lead boat.  The problem is that this race doesn’t yet have a finish line. We know that we have to make it to Panama by 11th May.  The problem is that due to light winds the race will have to be called short.  Incredibly, Clipper have set not one but two possible finish lines one after the other.  They havent declared yet which it will be. The difficulty is that if we go for the first one we would be committed to going through light winds that would make it very difficult to get to the second one.  If we go for the second one we have to sail away from the first one. The first 6 boats are less than 20 miles apart so we have to make a decision whch finish line to go for. This could mean 7th place or we may just guess right. We have been battling continually since the start so it will be heart breaking if we choose the wrong one out of a stroke of bad luck and throw away a chance of a podium place.  We will go for the second one and wait and see.

Close Encounter

9am. Blue sky. 9 kts true wind. Speed 5 kts. Lightweight spinnaker. I’m at the helm, completely engrossed in trying to keep the kite flying and the boat moving. It’s peaceful and calm & everyone is relaxed and happy. There’s a bank of fog all around although we are not yet in it – much to our disappointment as we think there is more wind in there. The atmosphere is eerie because although we are in a pool of sunlight we can see no further than about 1000m. Suddenly there is a sound that we don’t immediately recognize. In fact, not everyone hears it. Everyone hears it the second time, though, including the off watch. Heads appear from the companionway. It is unmistakably the sound of a foghorn .We know that it is likely to be a very large vessel travelling much faster than us. Mark tries to make contact but they don’t reply. We know it’s close but we can’t see it. There is a frenzy of impressively calm activity as we prepare the boat to gybe – just in case. Finally we see the vessel on the radar off our starboard bow some 3 miles away. There’s a sigh of relief as we realise we don’t need to take immediate avoiding action (there’s nothing immediate about manoeuvring a boat travelling at 5 kts). The vessel crosses our bow safely and then appears from the fog 2 miles away.  An enormous tanker. We relax. Life is good!

Racing Again

My arrival at San Francisco was reminiscent of an episode from the 80s TV programme ‘The Streets of San Francisco’.  In fact I am not at all sure that I wasn’t an extra in a car chase scene involving an airport transfer minibus flying down the steep descents and then almost getting airborne as it crossed each crossroads and set off on the next descent.  Consequently, my plan to do a video diary starting from the airport was scuppered as I used every ounce of strength and every limb to cling in to the bus for dear life! Since then life has been calmer.  I managed to make it to Santa Cruz and catch a ride on the committee boat which motored out to greet Singapore as she crossed the finish line for her first podium position and first win of the race so far. An amazing monent.

After a lovely week in the warm hospitality of the members of the Santa Cruz yacht club we set off on Thursday on the next leg to Jamaica – my fourth ocean crossing.  This is a downwind leg so we have had a spinnaker up for almost the entire race so far.  We expect that to continue at least until we get much further south.  The boat is flat and helming is a challenge but all-in-all it’s easy to slot back into life on board.  I notice the circumnavigators seem to have gelled together much more closely, which is lovely to see.  It’s 2:30am and I am up in three hours so more later.  M

More video footage from the Southern ocean

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJxW3cbMQo]

 

Just in case you thought it was a fluke….here is further footage of the Southern Ocean.  This was taken just after the previous video, but this time from the starboard backstay, hence the slightly different angle.

Video of us beating in the Southern Ocean

OK, so the photos dont really tell the real picture.  This is a 2 minute video which shows what life was really like for almost the entirety of the leg from Durban to Australia.  I took it myself with my Olympus waterproof camera and it was very difficult indeed to hold on whilst catching the best of it.  Notice the crew member trying to tip some food waste overboard.  This shows how long everything takes.  Every move on the boat takes enormous effort.  The water here is very cold and just existing on the boat is enormously draining.  Sail changes require Herculean effort.  I’m doing this race for charity.  Please sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/roundtheworldrace

Photos from the first three legs

The crew of Liverpool enjoying life at an angle

With Equator crossing #1 complete we head for Salvador

En route to Durban with Salvador five days behind us; we start to experience the South Atlantic rollers that would produce the most testing conditions of the race so far.

With Durban behind us the South Atlantic really starts to show what it is made of.  We spent most of the journey to Australia with the wind forward of the beam.  This is typical of the conditions we experienced for the entire voyage to Australia from Durban.

 

The sea temperature drops and crew begin to use dry suits.  Fall overboard here and the chance of surviving is minimal

 

Finally, we reach the Southern Ocean and conditions are about as far from the downwind sleigh ride we expected as is possible.  Everyone is using two clips when moving around the boat.  Noone is ever unclipped.  I find this the most enjoyable leg so far.  There is something quite solitary about being on deck.  Even when there is a crew mate sitting beside you, it is almost impossible to hold a conversation due to the wind and the waves.  It’s hard to photograph the waves because if I choose to hold the camera whilst a wave is crashing over the boat there is a real risk of being washed across the deck.  

 

The skies begin to brighten as we approach Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth.

Christmas Day on Cottesloe Beach, Perth!  I arrive in Australia and spend three wonderful weeks relaxing and enjoying the fantastic weather.  Now its home to Blighty for three months before I head out to San Francisco.  Only as I lie on the beach is it possible to begin to comprehend the fact that it has taken 13,500 miles of hard sailing and three months to reach Australia. It will take 18 hours to get home!