Hi guys and gals,

I ecently embarked on an amazing challenge - The Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, whos founder and Chairman is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston - the first man to sail solo, non-stop around the world.

I joined the race, which saw the fleet of 10 identical 68ft yachts set sail in September 2009, in San Francisco.  We then raced down the West Coast of U.S.A., through the Panama Canal and on to Jamaica.

CLIPPER ROUND THE WORLD YACHT RACE – 2009/10

 

WENDY’s LOG, LEG 6

 

 

Friday 9^th April.

 

And so it begins.  The sun is shining and little flutters are tickling my stomach as I await the 10.10am express from Paddington Station to Heathrow Airport.  I think of all the training I have done over the last year to get me here.

 

For me, this all started on 17th April 2009 when, after seeing an advert in the Times, I popped up to St. Katharine's Dock, London and met with David Cusworth, Clipper's Recruitment Manager.  Next thing I knew - I had the Clipper's shilling!

At this point I had about 1 hour's sailing experience - not unlike a lot of the other crews taking part.  So, last year I embarked on weeks of training, not just on yachts but in the class room too.  I have now managed a total of 23 days on-board training, which included 33 night hours and a total of 986 nautical miles.  Through my class work, I have achieved passes in the following courses: First Aid; Sea Survival; Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Offshore and Navigation & Meteorology.  But somehow I think the biggest lesson is soon to begin.....

 

Saturday 10^th April.

 

I wandered down to the San Francisco Bay Marina and climbed aboard my yacht, called The Spirit of Australia, for the first time since August 2009.

Or was I aboard The Spirit?  The scene that greeted me brought thoughts of the Marie Celeste to mind.  There was no one on board but evidence of human life was everywhere – food stuffs in the galley and clothes and bedding in the living quarters, but no actual crew.

I’m sure this was very much the same scenario that greeted all the new leggers upon arrival at their new home for the next 2 months or so.  Leg 5’s crew had gone home and the ‘round the worlders’ were off the yachts on a well earned period of R&R after their epic and arduous journey across the North Pacific.

That said, upon The Spirit, a couple of the ‘worlders’ were staying on board, so as they returned from their various trips in land and more new leggers reported for duty, we set about looking after our home.

For Rob Collins, who came onboard the day before, and I, that meant beginning the servicing of all winches.  So, once shown how by ‘worlder’ John Beverage, we set about our task.  I found this to be very therapeutic and also thought of it as a form of bonding with ‘The Spirit’.  I was pleased to be once again reunited with Her.

And so, this was the way of it for over a week.  Giving care and attention to Her and meeting with other leggers from our sister yachts for a stroll up to Chestnut Street for breakfast and again for dinner.  As each new day arrived, such meetings would include a need for up-to-date information on the whereabouts of one of our sister yachts, Team Finland whom, due to repairs, left China 2 weeks after the rest of the fleet.  Competition aside, we have all trained with members of other teams, formed the best of bonds with them and thus care about their progress and safety.

 

Saturday 17^th April.

 

There is a constant watch for Team Finland, whom are yet to arrive but although the sail date (for leg 6) changed from 11^th to 16^th and then 19^th to accommodate their arrival, thereby permitting their sailing with us, the start has now moved to the 20^th because there is Chris Stanmore-Major, skipper of Qingdao and another 4 clipper crew that can’t fly out of England because of the Icelandic Volcano fall-out.  Eventually, the Race sailed without them!

 

 

Tuesday 20^th April.

 

So, Race Day tick-down finally arrives and all crews have a chance for their final shower and comforts ashore.  For me, I had a special leaving present, the smell from the newly mown grass around the marina.  Oh how I enjoyed it!

 

18.30pm; Race underway; position: 37  48  15N  /  122  30  08W; course 220

 

Now finally through the starting gate and on our way, we sail under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific.  However, as soon as we leave sanctuary of the bay we encounter Force 7 winds, rough seas and water crashing over the deck.  With all members up top, I find it quite confusing and tiring trying to fit into this well oiled machine that is Team Spirit.  We are advised of the watch leaders and which watch we are in.  We will split into our watches at 8pm and I must admit that I am desperately hoping that the Starboard watch (mine) are not asked to stay on duty.  And so it was.  So off to bed for some rest before the midnight – 4am shift.

Rest I didn’t really get, due to the nervousness I felt within.  Sleep – well forget it!  The waves crashing on the hull are so loud that at first, I thought we were holed!  Then there is the constant calling and working of our Port watch: sails being hauled up onto the deck through the forward hatch (which is situated centrally within our bunk area); sheets; halyards and winches all adding to the cacophony that is ocean racing.

 

 

Wednesday 21^st April.

 

And so to my very first watch – from midnight on Tuesday to 4am Wednesday.  Our course is 160 .  The sea state is up so our senior watch members call the order to change sail from yankee 2 to yankee 3.  As we were raising the yankee 3, lots of hanks broke off and she had to be lowered, and taken down below.  We then hauled the yankee 2 back on deck and re-raised her.  The evolutions were coming one straight after another as we worked hard to build up those miles away from San Francisco.

Once yankee 3 had been mended the call to change sails again was given.  However, whilst the yankee 2 was being lowered, we, (Gareth; myself; Nikki and JB) were having difficulty getting hold of the bottom of the sail so Pen, (our bowman) released the first 2 hanks hoping this would bring the foot of the sail nearer to us.  But unfortunately the force of the wind ripped the next hank off and then the next, then the next and so on………then disaster……..the halyard snapped (the halyard is connected to the top of the sail and is used to hoist it up the forestay).  Now the only things keeping 84m2 of heavy wet sail (that weighs 12.5oz/ft2), from completely disappearing under our hull is the tack (connected to the bottom of the forestay) and us, desperately trying to hull it back on board.  With the winds and sea state high it was a desperate fight made more difficult by our own safety lines being tangled as we pass each other to reach out and grab more of the sail.  During this process Brendon, our skipper, upon hearing the commotion, appeared on deck in his blue woollen jumper; white thermal leggings; bare feet and lift jacket - I will never forget the sight!  All hands were called and we got the sail back onboard and safely down the front hatch without her being ripped.  However most of the hanks were broken.

 

Oh yes, this was a baptism of fire.  The weather was a lot worse than seen before in Clipper’s history and our skipper, later advised, that the first 3 days of this leg were the worse first days suffered in any of the ‘legs’ so far.  Mother Nature had certainly thrown it all at us!  This is how a worlder described the first part of it:

 

“With winds gusting up to 50 knots the first night already had it all. At around 3.00 am some of the hanks on the Yankee broke "unzipping" it from the forestay. Almost simultaneously the halyard broke dumping the Yankee in the water. All hands were called on deck to recover the heavy sail. With strong winds and showers the North Pacific was showing its power once again, letting us know that it hadn't finished with us yet. With only 48 hours into the race we had broken a halyard, broken hanks of the Yankee, wrapped the Yankee around the forestay, torn holes in our Yankee 2 and heavyweight spinnaker and snapped a spinnaker guy.”

 

Thursday 22^nd April

 

So far, to be honest, I’ve had no sleep and only great discomfort from my new ‘home’.  Therefore, some of the first two nights’ action is a blur whilst other parts very vivid.  The wake-up call for Starboard’s 4am – 8am watch today saw me spend 20mins getting into my ‘fowlies’.  During this time the yacht was perpetually pitching back and forth and, with no ‘foot holds’ to balance myself whilst dragging a tight-fitting, course, thick and unwelding ‘poncho’ over my head, I felt like retching – something  most of the crew had already done!  Finally on deck, you have to choose whether to have your hood up and not be able to see much and hear even less, or down and risk a wave of cold water crashing over the bow and into your face!  On this shift I was left for over an hour on my own in the snake pit looking after the Vang, which must be kept under tension to keep the boom from rising.  This necessitated having my hood down most of the time and the exhaustion, cold and wet, got to me a bit.  But I finally managed to get some sleep during our 8am - 2pm off watch and after lunch a couple of the ‘worlders’ on my watch started 'talking' to me and lifted my spirits.

 

 

Friday 23^rd April.

 

Well the first few days of unrelenting mishaps seem to be over and we have as of this moment, re-taken the lead from Finland.  These first days were hell!  Getting used to the watch system was pretty hard.  The starboard watch were on from Midnight Tuesday to 4am Wednesday, then, 8am - 2pm; 8pm – midnight; 4am - 8am; 2pm – 8pm then back to the Midnight – 4am shift.  This actually means that you get (if you’re lucky); 3 hours sleep or 4/5 hours sleep each off-watch.  I think also that the fact that I hadn't got any sleep from 7.30am Tuesday until the sleep session on Thursday was quiet a contributing factor to my low morale at that point.  Still, the sun was now shining and we were finally out of our 'fowlies'.

 

 

Saturday 24^th April.

 

It is now Saturday 9.30am here.  I've been up since 3am to stand the first part of my 4am-8am watch prior to starting my Mother duties at 6.30am.  So far, my fellow mother and I have provided breakfast for the 2 watches, those going on watch first, then those coming off watch.  We’ve cleaned the heads and galley and now got some time off before making bread along with pea and ham soup.

There are two mothers each day, one from each watch, who feed and clean from 6am until after serving dinner at 7pm-8pm and clearing away.  Both mothers have the rest of the evening and night off, before rejoining their own watch for the 8am change over.  If you’re lucky your watch is just coming off duty so you get to stay in your bunk longer.  If not then you go on watch with them.  I always got the latter!

 

Daily Drills

 

As for life onboard, there is a constant 24hour turnaround.  Beginning at 8am in the cycle, the on-going watch, say Starboard, are served breakfast prior to Watch Change Over and the watch coming off duty receiving theirs after WCO.  Then Port watch will either go straight to bed or chill out for 30 minutes or so prior to doing so.

The Mother Watch for the day will wash up; clean the galley; then sanitise the heads and all surfaces.  Then preparation is under way for lunch, served at 2pm at the end of this 6 hour watch.  Port watch will be woken between 1pm and 1.30pm, depending on the weather conditions and therefore the number of layers of clothes required.  Again, the on-going watch is served first but, during lunchtime we hold our daily meeting.  Therefore, the off-coming watch will have theirs on deck prior the meeting and resting, then bed.

During this meeting Brendan will advise us of the latest fleet positions, up-coming weather and the evolutions we will be embracing in order to get the best we can from the situation.

So, Port watch now begin their 6 hour shift whilst the Starboard watch try to sleep until woken between 7pm-7.30pm for dinner prior to their first of two 4 hour watches that night (8pm – midnight & 4am – 8am), and so it goes on.  Each watch works for 10 hours out of 24hours then 14 hours out of 24hours.

 

There are other duties to also be performed by each ‘on’ watch:

·        Engine and Water Checks:         We have 4 water tanks and it is important to use each one in turn and monitor its level.  We are allowed to run the generator for 1 hour out of every 24 and when required, we use this to run the water maker (not to mention recharging our cameras and iPods).

·        Bilges:            Every hour, day and night, we are asked to go down below and pull up various ‘floor boards’ to pump the sea water that has found its way in, into a bucket.  Then carry the bucket through the yacht (trying not to slosh its oily and smelly contents over yourself and the interior), to throw it over board.  Weight is everything in ocean racing.

·        The Log Book:         Again, each hour a record must be made in this.  We note the weather conditions; wind strength and direction; sea state and our course bearing.  We also note any evolutions and ‘happenings’ since the last log.

 

 

The ‘Off’ Watch

 

As to ‘home comforts’ whilst off duty, well there aren’t any.  The bunks are rock-hard and my old bones are desperately in need of a good Jacuzzi.  You can't sleep without your head-phones on and playing loud music to drown (oops!) out the noise around you.  I’m in bunk 3 which is the top most forward bunk on the starboard side.  The only thing between any of us and the hull is a cloth zipped enclosure where we store our clothes.  From within this space oozes a most disgusting smell that I can only describe as very old and established mildew, mixed with stale body odour, foul feet and bilge oil.  However, I managed to mask the smell permeating into my ‘personal space’ by placing a ‘mulled wine’ scented air wick ‘crystal air’ within.  The general smell within the bunk area, a.k.a. Business Class although to be frank, I think cattle class would outshine this place!  Now that we are further south, once we get below deck we are desperate for fresh air, and with the temperatures mounting, it gets steadily worse.

As everything on board gets damp, I took the precaution of using dry bags of varying sizes to store my clothes.  Our ‘fowlies’ are all stored together in the wet locker – as if anywhere on board stays dry!!!

 

Personal Hygiene

 

There is a crew allowance of 3 baby wipes per person per day - don't worry, I took extra stock for my own use!  Cleaning your teeth is done with salt water which you spit out into the toilet.  You are allowed a shower every 8 days.  A shower consists of quickly wetting your body, stop water, wash, and then start water for quick rinse off.  All this is done in a small cubicle the size of a phone box whilst being thrown around as the yacht pitches back and forth.  You then have to pump the water out of the shower tray into the grey tanks.  Once this is done, you are sweating just as much as when you entered the shower!

Now that we are further south the weather is hot and T-shirts and shorts are the order of the day.  However glad we all are to be out of our unyielding ‘fowlies’, this freedom is replaced by constant sweating.  Once below deck and resting on my bunk (having already cleansed with my 3 baby wipes), I strip down to my bra and pants and have a ‘bed bath’.  The bunks have what are called ‘loin cloths’ that you raise to give you some degree of privacy.  Being in a top bunk gives you a bit more thankfully.  However, despite lying on my micro towel, using more wipes from my private stash and lifting my limbs off the bunk where possible to give them an all-round airing, it is still impossible to get dry.  In these conditions everyone is constantly sweating.

 

Hot bunking!  This is when everyone is on the same side of the boat, whether up top on watch or down below in a bunk.  This meant that each off watch would go either to their bunk or to the one opposite theirs, depending on whether we wanted the weight on the high side or the low side of the yacht.  And that bunk would be the bunk that a member of the other watch had just got out of.  The reason being that with all weight on one side we would move through the ocean more efficiently.  As in all things, some people try harder than others and so it was now.  One ‘worlder’ had a pillow (no pillow case), that had black spots on it with growth forming!  Another only wore 2 pairs of shorts, one on watch and one off watch, for the whole leg.  I didn’t notice any of the men on my watch putting washed clothes out to dry on the aft rails!!

 

 

Sunday 25^th April

 

02.00am; position: 23  58  04N  /  113  38  01W;         course 115

 

We go through the scoring gate first.  I was asleep after my mother watch but had asked my watch, whom were on duty at the time, to wake me when we got near.  Brendon, a couple of the new crew and I squashed into the Navigation station to watch the boat shape upon the screen, that logged our position, edge forward.  Sandra, our video tech recorded the moment we crossed the ‘line’ and then Pen our quartermaster brought forth a big bar of chocolate for us all to celebrate.  What a luxury.  After the mini celebration ended, I made myself a hot mocha drink (3 spoons of chocholate and 1 of coffee), dropped in a couple of chunks of chocolate bar and spirited it off to my bunk.  I then slept through the next 6 hours and got up for the 8am Sunday watch.

 

Wednesday 28^th April

 

4am – 8am watch.  We sail through the 1,700 miles mark which is over half way.  There had been plans to have a small party at the 2pm meeting to celebrate but Brendan informs us that the spreadsheet he and Bob have designed that shows gains and losses over our competitors, is showing red across the page.  This means that every yacht has gained on us in the last 24 hours.  Party cancelled and stern words said.

We have the lightweight spinnaker up due to the low winds and are only managing speeds of 3.7kn to 5.5kn when lucky.  Members of the watch not engaged in a chore are sat on the low side of the yacht, reading books.

 

 

Thursday 29^th April

 

Midnight to 4am watch.  I’m quietly concentrating on trimming the sail.  Thanks to Pen and Gareth but mostly Bob, I’ve got the action and application 80% there.  The wind, when we get it, is behind us so our watch has taken the form of an ½ hour on, ½ hour off rota of either taking the helm (mostly done by one of the 3 dedicated helms) or, trimming the sails; manning the grinder; on suicide watch or sitting on the low side reading/day dreaming/sleeping.  The suicide watch was called such because it involves sitting right up on the bow to make sure none of the sails get caught on the yacht and get ripped.  We have given our spinnakers names: Rocky is the heavyweight; Matilda the middleweight and Marilyn the lightweight.  And Marilyn is a bitch!  I was up there at the end of our 8am – 2pm watch when, as not relieved by the on-coming watch, I stayed there throughout the 2pm meeting.  When I was finally relieved from my duty, I was told that Brendon had praised my style and effort in making sure the sails stayed intact.  Something he wanted the rest to duplicate.  There had also been good news from our 6am schedules (skeds), because despite our almost becalmed state, this time it is us who has taken miles off everyone.  Our toughest competitor Team Finland, are now 3^rd with an average speed of 3.7kn and Qingdao are up to 2^nd, and we are all pleased for their temporary skipper.

 

The Starboard Watch

 

Although Clipper claimed the race was sold out and we have 3 crew members transferred from the Cork yacht that ran aground, we are still one crew member short for this leg.

On our watch we have Gareth, the watch leader; Bob, his deputy and also our engineer; Pen our bowman; John, the safety officer; and Sandra, our video tech, all of whom are sailing round the world.  Then there is Sarah, who is on her last leg of 3; then Nikki and I who are both new arrivals.  Both Sarah and Nikki are from the Cork crew.  All apart from Bob are novice sailors.  Bob has sailed around the world before and if you really want to know how to do something or why we need to do something, you should ask him.

 

Food on Board

 

Clipper gave each yacht’s quartermaster just £3.50 per day per crew member for food.  This amount didn’t change whether you were in an expensive country or a cheap one.  Pen, our quartermaster as well as our bowman, offered to undertake this mammoth task because the list of what she can not eat is quite extensive.  She studied information from other sailing events like the Volvo Challenge and came up with a fantastic 8 day food cycle.

 

Today's menu is:

Breakfast:     Muesli and fruit.

Elevenses:    Muesli bars; sweets; biscuits and drinks.

Lunch:           Pea and Ham Soup with Bread.

Basically, tinned vegetable stock, with fresh onions; tinned peas; tinned ham and pasta.  The bread is real and made from scratch.

Tea:                Same as for elevenses.

Dinner:          Curry & Rice.

Onions; garlic; curry powder; tinned toms; tinned chicken (that actually looks like flaked tuna); tomato puree; tinned vegetables; rice.

 

All foods are cooked and prepared as much from scratch as 5 weeks storage can allow.  We have fruit at the moment but once that is gone then it’s dried fruits.  We have lots of pasta etc and don't waste foods - you never know if you are going to be out here longer than expected. 

(If you ever want to do something unusual for breakfast, try Pear Crumble.  It was fantastic.)

 

Thursday 6^th May.

 

Midnight to 4am shift.  We had thunder and lightening in the distance 1-5 miles all the time, winds were low and temperatures were hot.  We had been advised the night before that we could have squalls, where the temperature would suddenly drop and we would then get high winds all within seconds.  Well, I took over tailing the wind seaker at 2.30am when 10mins later I had difficulty holding it.  The call came out "drop the wind seaker" and in moments the rain was pelting down and the wind was up to approx. 30 knots.  Pen, Nikki, JB and I were up on the bow grabbing handfuls of sail which, although it is a lighter weight sail at only 2.2oz / ft2, it is a massive 140m2 in size.  It was important to get this sail down and the yankee 2 up as quickly as possible so that we could harness the wind as soon as possible.

With the other heavier sails, their own weight will keep them on deck and only a couple of sail ties are required.  However with this light material it was difficult to keep it down and on deck without it billowing out again.  In the end we managed to get ties around the 3 corners (!) of it and Pen stayed up on the bow burrowed within the belly of it to keep it down but I think she also used it for warmth, as in the end with only her black hair was showing to prove she was still on board.

We didn't get off duty until around 4.45am and we were completely soaked to the skin.  The thunder storm was right over us thrashing down.  I went below and yelled with joy.  My adrenalin was flowing; I’d been involved up on the bow and I felt I was truly sailing against/through nature for the first time since we had set sail some 16 days ago.  I was thoroughly happy and totally enjoyed myself.  That watch turned out to be my best time on-board.

  

 

Well, I could go on but I think it best to stop here.  The Spirit went on to win this leg and to win the race over all.  In fact we had won it by the time we reached Ireland, with one ‘leg’ to spare.  We also won it with the biggest margin ever managed in Clipper history.

 

Overall Results:

1 Spirit of Australia, 128 points
2 Team Finland, 105.3 points
3 Cape Breton Island, 104 points
4 Hull & Humber, 98 points
5 Jamaica Lightning Bolt, 98 points
6 Uniquely Singapore, 76 points
7 Qingdao, 74 points
8 Cork, 56.8 points
9 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, 53 points
10 California, 42 points

 

Thank you for your kind support

 

 

Wendy O’Donnell