10:16 PM Mon 26 Sep 2011 GMT
|
|
'Very wet and cold - Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2011-12'
Clipper Ventures
|
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 11-12 update from crew member Lisa Blair representing Queensland on Gold Coast Australia.
After days on end of cold, wet and rough conditions the wear on the crew of Gold Coast Australia was starting to show as we raced from Rio De Janeiro to Cape Town in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
The evening of the seventh day at sea found me helming with four to five meter swell, beating upwind with driving winds of 40-50 knots throwing spray in your face making it very hard to see anything as we flew a sail plan of three Reefs in the Main Sail, Yankee 3 and Stay Sail.
The concentration required to predict the waves on a dark night is exhaustive but add to this weather so cold that you are wearing all the layers you own and are so puffed up that it becomes hard just to move around the deck or to simply raise your arm. Your fingers are frozen even through the thickest and toughest of gloves, so much so that they ache and send shooting pain up your arm when you move them.
We are sailing at 35 degrees South following the strongest winds to help rocket us to Cape Town so far the plan is working as we are in first place with a 30 nautical mile lead and increasing.
The wear is not only on the crew but also the boat as we lost the Raymarine wind instrument from the top of the rig as we flew off a wave, now we are sailing blind just guessing at the wind by the way the boat feels and how many white cap's we can see. By the end of day eight the strong winds had reduced allowing us to catch our breath for a moment as we shake out reef after reef until we are sailing with the full Main once again and the Yankee 2.
Unfortunately when the watch shook out the last reef they did not hold the other reefing pennants secure causing the leach of the Main Sail to flog so violently that it snapped a batten in half. Once again I was called to go up the rig and retrieve it as we did not want to lose anything else overboard however this time it was not a very fun experience.
It was a routine procedure to be carried out at night, requiring me to hold the leach of the Main Sail as I was hoisted up, laying against the windward side of the sail. I was attached by a safety line around Reefing Pennant 3 so that should I fall off the main I would not swing out to the blue yonder.
Unfortunately once I was level with the broken batten it became evident that the batten had snapped in such a way that there was now a lethal weapon jutting out from the back of the sail formed of sharp fibreglass spikes that were not going to be removed.
As I was making this assessment the boat lurched below me as it fell off a wave flinging me first towards the bow along the Main Sail until my safety line stopped me short and then towards the back of the boat until I fell right off the back of the Main Sail into the inky blackness of the darkness beyond.
I am now getting flung around like a rag doll completely out of control where all I can do is try to grab the batten to stop it taking out my eye. I felt it scratch my face and then slice my hand as I flew from one side of the main to the other, shouting to be lowered.
The boat kept on crashing through a series of waves and I kept getting tossed around so hard that it felt like my arms were going to tear off, a few choice words later and I was finally being lowered away from that dreadful batten. Once I was safely on the deck I told Skipper Richard Hewson what a stupid idea that was, to his credit he agreed.
Later that evening after I had removed all the fibreglass splinters from my hand and taken some time to calm down I was once again on-deck for watch. The primary focus at the moment is trim as we strive to increase our lead on the rest of the fleet, recently we had hoisted the Yankee 1 and it was yet to be fine tuned so Andrew Ryan, my watch leader, asked for me to adjust the trim to suit. After a quick inspection I decided that the car position on the Yankee 1 needed to be moved Aft as the foot of the sail was slack. Using the chain strop and working with Rob Chester we manoeuvred the car back into position and began to grind on the Yankee sheet again.
I was standing down on the leeward side next to the sheet when all of a sudden the car flew aft smashing into and sheering the pin that locks it into place freeing up the track so that it could travel to the end of the track. This resulted in the Yankee Sheet flying up and striking me hard in the face. At the last second I moved my head just a little so that it was not a full blow but it was enough of a strike to turn me 180 degrees. One second I was facing in-board and the next I was laying over the guard wires looking at the black ocean rushing below me wondering what just happened. If I was not tethered to the boat with my safety line I could have easily gone overboard in that second.
In complete shock I was taken below to be checked with my hands shaking and tears running freely I was told that there was no broken skin just some light swelling on my left cheek, enough to make eating uncomfortable for the next few days, not even a bruise to show for it but what a shock.
Later Andrew came down and said that he was shaking for at least half an hour later because he saw the whole thing and thought that I had major injuries simply because of how hard I was flung around. Not wishing to chance a third incident for the night I decided I had better get some sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
The next day I was feeling a lot better after some rest and a surprise visit from some active whales. There were two of them and they were so close to the boat that I needed to keep bearing away so that I didn't hit one of them as they surged through the water effortlessly over-taking us only to dive and come back up behind us ready to do it again. They were playing with us just showing us who really rules the oceans and there was really no competition once you saw the power of them when they thrust through the ocean with spray flying off in all directions as they carve ahead. But whales aside Gold Coast Australia increased our lead to 50 nautical miles with the nearest boat being Visit Finland.
The South Atlantic high is to the south of us at the moment and is proving to be just as unpredictable as always. Stretching more than 700 nautical miles wide this is one stretch of ocean that we did not wish to sail into as it would be filled with little or no wind. Unfortunately for us the High was tracking north looking like it would settle directly above us however on day 10 when things were looking dire there was a little section that broke away creating two highs allowing us to ride the very narrow wind belt through and out of the danger zone, other boats were not so lucky.
The boat takes on a rhythm and the days roll into one. We sleep, go on standby, eat, go on watch, complete some maintenance, eat, sleep and complete the cycle all over again.
With less than two days until we arrive in Cape Town, Gold Coast Australia is a hive of activity as we ready her for port by conducting a very extensive spring clean. This evolves all the food bags to be removed, washed and audited, all the lockers wiped and disinfected, all the bunk cushions aired on the deck, all the top sides polished and including the stainless steel and any other maintenance tasks completed. This is great because the more that we can get completed now the less that we need to complete in port.
We have now crossed three time zones and sailed over 2,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean testing our limits and endurance levels but also having a lot of fun. On day 13 Rich decided that it would be a great idea to start the Gold Coast Australia Choir with choir practice at lunch time during the happy hour meeting. This is a real laugh because there is not one person on-board who can carry a tune but it always brings a smile to our faces as we belt out the tune 'Africa' by Toto.
Just visualise it for a second, you have lawyers, teachers, sailors, accounts, diplomats and a whole big mixture of different people all singing their hearts out in the South Atlantic Ocean where profession or social status holds no meaning. We as a team have come far together, laughed and cried together. I can see no better way to cross an ocean than with a group of strangers who have become your family.
Finland is still 60 nautical miles behind with the last boat over 500 nautical miles back as Gold Coast Australia closes the gap to Cape Town with the full main and medium weight spinnaker to aid her to her podium position.
Lisa Blair blog
Clipper Round the World website
by Lisa Blair
|
Gabo Island, VIC
Foiling - Components (Wings,Masts,etc)
Windsurfing - Boards
Foiling - Prone/Surf Foilboards
Stand Up Paddle - Wave & Cruising Boards