Leg 3 Day 10 – 10th December

December 15, 2009
Leg 3 Day 10 – 10th December

We arrived on deck at 1.45am to a dark, dark night - not a glimmer of the moon or stars –  and we were running with the spinnaker overnight for the first time this leg. For the single leggers this was pretty daunting and for the rest of us, still a tall order as we had had first hand experience of wraps and knew how easily they could happen – especially when you can't see the sail! It's a bit like trying to pin the tail on the donkey except you don't have a blindfold and the donkey is alive, in the dark and in a field in front of you somewhere!  The pressure was on me as a watch leader to keep an eye on all the dials looking at wind speed, true wind angle, apparent wind angle and course.  We were expecting the wind to shift and when it did we would need to gybe (turn the boat through the wind and fly the spinnaker on the opposite side of the boat). It was a bit like waiting for a number 9 bus in the middle of the arctic (that's how cold it felt); you keep thinking you see one coming in the distance and just when you're sure it's approaching the stop, it either turns down another road or is the wrong number after all.  The wind teases in exactly the same way, so it was a long, light, toe-numbing night watch! I tried a few exercises while standing by my post near the helm - mainly to get the circulation going but also because I'd noticed that there were large amounts of me where there previously hadn't been bits before.  I really ought to start thinking about a bikini diet before we hit Oz! And so the night watch passed contemplating the key issues of the world such as frequency of buses and fighting the flab (while grazing through the contents of the starboard watch tuck box – of course!)
Just as the mother's below started making promising breakfast noises, the wind changed properly, the number 9 arrived and having woken Piers to inform him, he declared it time for putting a reef in immediately followed by a gybe – both of which I'd never led before!

The great thing about P's lack of notice about this kind of thing is that you don't have any time to panic about the fact you haven't got a clue what you're doing. So I drew on my 40 plus years of bluffing my way through life and made a very passable stab at a spinnaker gybe!  A 'well done' from the Skipper afterwards confirmed my belief that if I'd ever gone to University, a degree in Bullshit would have been the course for me!

After a much needed nap (all this standing around telling people what to do is exhausting!) the afternoon watch passed delightfully under a clear blue sunny sky, a slightly warmer wind, a tea-time feast from Albert – who as chief victualler knew where all the really fab goodies were stashed – and the arrival of a new Wandering Albatross who I named Wilfred – after my Grandad.

 

Leg 3, Day 9 - 9th December

December 15, 2009
Leg 3, Day 9 - 9th December

We switched watches yesterday evening. I was on Port watch and am now on Starboard watch, which means that when I was going to bed at 2am, I'm now getting up at 1.30am to be on deck for the start of night watch at 2! In these temperatures the challenge of a lifetime is just to get out of your “oh-so-warm” sleeping bag, but I had responsibility on my shoulders which helped motivate me to get up and into my now 7 layers of clothes! The night watch was my first as ...
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Leg 3, Day 8 - 8th December

December 15, 2009
Leg 3, Day 8 - 8th December

Last night was a pleasure.  My sleeping bag, now rebuilt, was not only warm but the extra layer provided extra cushioning and I was a snuggly as a snuggly thing can be! It did take an hour or two for my feet to thaw out but they did eventually. The hardest thing now is prizing myself out of it ready for my next watch!

We had quite a busy day today, dropping headsails, reefing and putting up the heavyweight spinnaker. I took the opportunity to film some action with th...
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Leg 3 Day 7 - 7th December

December 9, 2009
Leg 3 Day 7 - 7th December

I had a full night's sleep last night – part of the perk of doing mother watch – although I didn't sleep all the night as I was too chuffing cold!  I had gone to bed with the thought that I would reattach the third layer to my Ocean Sleepwear Sleeping bag (they are truly marvelous) but having looked everywhere in my locker space by head-torch I couldn't find where I had stashed it – so had to go to bed and think warm thoughts.  It was only as I readjusted my pi...
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Leg 3 Day 6 - 6th December

December 9, 2009
Leg 3 Day 6 - 6th December

It was mother watch for me today. Rob and I were teamed up to cook up a storm in the galley. Well, actually what we were cooking up was soup and sarnies for lunch and pasta Bolognese for supper.  However it's not necessarily what you do but how you do it that makes the difference on mother watch, so the very basic fare we turfed out of a moderately bouncing galley, was dressed up with a large side-order of humour, enthusiasm and a large dollop of back-chat!  It's als...
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Leg 3 Day 5 – December 5th

December 9, 2009
Leg 3 Day 5 – December 5th

Today is John's Birthday, so after much secret squirreling during the night to organise card, decorations and cake, (Mike B had managed to find some egg substitute in Cape Town so we had high hopes for the result of the cake mix) John woke to find birthday banners and balloons and a semi-celebratory breakfast with card and present (tiny bottle of South African scotch).  The sun came along to celebrate, as did a magnificent Royal Albatross (not to be confused with t...
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Leg 3 Day 4 – December 4th

December 9, 2009
Leg 3 Day 4 – December 4th

Night watch last night promised to be a long chilly one with the prospect of staying on starboard tack and the wind direction set, there was potentially little else to do other than helm and keep an eye on the trim. However, we were kept on our toes all night as we periodically hit wind-holes for 5 or 10 minutes at a time, would run round trimming the sheets to try and keep the boat moving and then the next minute we'd be doing 11 and 12 knots again – so then re-...
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Leg 3 Day 3 – December 3rd

December 9, 2009
Leg 3 Day 3 – December 3rd

Night watch last night was cold. Extra layers were added – to the point where it took me twice as long and most of my patience to get my Foulie jacket on and off over the top of it all.  We were by no means at our coldest point of the race, so how I would cope in 10 – 15 degrees less I don't know! I may have to buy a jacket 2 sizes bigger!

The wind dropped again during the day and the yankee 1 – the biggest and heaviest of the foresails went up. We learnt how ...
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Leg 3, Day 2 - 2nd December

December 9, 2009
Leg 3, Day 2 - 2nd December

Still feeling shaky I did feel well enough to have toast and marmalade for breakfast – which immediately made me feel better still and I knew I was over the worst!  There were still quite a number being ill but each hour complexions were changing back from green to normal and the smiles were making a return to faces.  The wind had settled overnight and we'd also moved off the Agulhus Shelf, which had contributed to the short choppy waves that had been our downfall...
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Leg 3, (Race 4), Day 1 - 1st December

December 9, 2009
1st December

We finally left after much scrambling around and final checks from the surveyor to give us the all clear.

The last tools were all stowed, a quick final tidy up, a fill up with water and a wave off from the Clipper Team, the surveyor and all the local 'yachties' who had been watching our story with interest.
As we left, the Club rang their bell and bade us a good luck and a special farewell over the tannoy system.

It’s great to finally be heading out again – 9 days after most of t...
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