December 9, 2009
Mon 30th
Today we would be moving back onto our beloved H&H. Hoorah! We were all packed and ready to go by 9am and piled into taxis and cars.
The boat was in a state of chaos but the main thing was that, where there had been a gaping hole in her hull, there was now a new shiny, apparently stronger than ever, bit of fibre glass. Other than the missing branding she was looking almost as before. The final bits of woodwork were going into place along with the new block, the stanchions and the guard rail. Our job was to do the biggest clean-up job, getting rid of every bit of fibre glass dust and strand and getting all the living quarters back in place. We worked like Trojans all morning but as final fixings were still underway and the surveyor was yet to arrive to give his final ok, we knew that it was looking doubtful for an evening departure. As the afternoon went on into evening and the wind whipped itself up into a frenzy, confirmation came that we were set for a departure early next morning and listening to the violent clanking of the halyards, we decided might just be a blessing in disguise. Although we were all desperate to be off, having now had a substantial break away from sailing the thought of heading off at night, straight into a force 8 gale was not the most appealing. A few hours overnight would make little difference to our arrival time in Oz but at least might help to ensure we get there in one piece!
Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Sat 28th & Sun 29th
The weekend passed slowly – a mixture of anticipation for the off and a final relax before we were. On Saturday morning we all gathered in one of the apartments for an update from Piers. We were hoping that we could start doing some prep-work on the boat but Piers told us that we couldn't get access until Sunday late afternoon at the earliest, so a few of us agreed to reconvene then, ready to go and work – through the night if necessary – so that we could set sail ...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Fri 27th
The waiting game gave way to another game today. Knowing that we'd be here all week, some of the guys bought a load of tickets to see one of the one-day cricket internationals between England and South Africa. Charles and I volunteered to shop first thing for a big crew picnic and at midday we set off for Newlands cricket ground with enough food to feed a small army.
The ground was pretty packed but we were pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount of St George Cross flags being wave...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Thurs 26th
Cork left for Oz today. We found out early on that they were going to be ready to leave by early evening. A few of us went to wave them off and with them, two of our H&H crew members, Charlie and Vic. It was hard to see them leave on an another boat and know that they wouldn't be sailing the Southern Ocean with us. It had been an even harder decision for them to make, to leave on Cork but both had big personal commitments in Australia, which meant they couldn't afford to wait a...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Weds 25th
Today I made the most of being in the apartment - so much so that I didn't even get properly dressed until about 4pm! A happy day vegetating in my new domestic surroundings and spent mainly on my laptop trying to sort through all the photos I'd taken so far to get them uploaded onto the internet for friends an family to see back home. At 5pm Katy, Kirsten and I left for the yacht club as it was their race night and they had extended an invitation to the Hull & Humber crew to sail w...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
We were told we had to be up and clear of the boat by 9am so the repairs could start early. We were all packed up like refugees and then had a frustrating morning of hanging around while we waited to be told where our new accommodation was. Late morning Joff got us together to tell us where we were being put up. He also informed us that Cork would be leaving that Friday as their repairs were easier and already coming along well. He was still hopeful that we'd be away in a week’s time – h...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Today I made the most of being in the apartment - so much so that I didn't even get properly dressed until about 4pm! A happy day vegetating in my new domestic surroundings and spent mainly on my laptop trying to sort through all the photos I'd taken so far to get them uploaded onto the internet for friends an family to see back home. At 5pm Katy, Kirsten and I left for the yacht club as it was their race night and they had extended an invitation to the Hull & Humber crew to sail with them....
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
The morning arrived – bright and sunny with rock solid Table Mountain still there in the background. However there was a very definite black cloud still hanging over us. Various contractors arrived bright and early to asses the damage and rumours banded around of a delay of anything between 5 days (which we knew in our hearts was unrealistic) and 3 weeks – which would mean the end of the race for several of the leggers and would also mean we'd be at sea for Christmas and (even worse in ...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 9, 2009
Today was a big day for all kinds of reasons. It was the start of Leg 3 – the next part of our adventure and the crossing, which would take in the Southern Ocean. It was also my birthday, (happy birthday to me, Happy Birthday to Me...!) but both of those things were to be overshadowed by the events of the day.
It started off bright and sunny and a few of us strolled down to the waterfront and a local hotel that did a fabulous buffet breakfast for a very reasonable price. Kirsten went to get...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
December 5, 2009
Today was spent doing final preparations for the off. Final checks, a crew briefing from Piers and yet again another talk through the MOB and evacuation procedures for the boat. It seemed along time ago when we did that at the start of leg 2 and within a week or so were putting into practice those same procedures for real. I realised how far we'd come since then as sailors and more importantly as a crew – a team that was working really well together and was also now bonded more strongly thr...
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Posted by Della Parsons.
