So, the 2nd week of the North Pacific Race begins and we are around 4th or 5th, but difficult to tell at the minute. The front three have managed to miss the light winds and have stormed ahead by nearly 200 miles. It\u2019s going to be a big ask to catch them now, but with over 4,000 miles of sailing to go there\u2019s everything still to play for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also my 61st Birthday today and what a great birthday it\u2019s been so far, Firstly, a rendition of happy birthday before breakfast. One of my favourite breakfasts, bacon and fried egg with a runny yolk. Birthday hugs from all my Clipper family. I opened my cards from home, which brought a tear to my eye, then up on deck for some fresh air. The sun is shinning and still no wind! After an hour or so, I\u2019m on the helm and nobody has tried to hook me off. Normally after 30 minutes, I\u2019m being challenged, but after 60 mins, not a murmur. Two and a half hours later I\u2019m still on the helm. Then I get asked to check helm. I\u2019m thinking they\u2019ve let me stay on the helm for my birthday! Needless to say, it was a conspiracy! Time flies past as I\u2019m sailing with the wind seeker up. I\u2019m not even sure if I\u2019ve helmed with it before, as we\u2019ve only used it 3 or 4 times. Then Gavin comes up on deck and down to the back of the boat, wishes me a happy birthday again and then says probably one of the nicest things anybody has ever said to me, \u201cbirthdays are to remember the birth of special people and you are one of those people\u201d. Puts a lump in my throat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But enough of that! It\u2019s time for lunch and I get forward, eat my lunch and then Gavin is up on deck with his daily briefing. My birthday is mentioned again. Then it becomes obvious why I was on the helm for so long, as a big Cake arrives from down below, with \u201861 candles\u2019 on it, baked by Zoe and Lucy. Lucky our heath and safety manager is off as the cake is chucking out some heat! That\u2019s why I was on the helm for so long. \u2018Buggers\u2019 caught me, but I can\u2019t thank everyone enough for making my Birthday so special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After we finished our lunch, we often have a catch up with Gavin, on where we are in the race, the tactics for the next few days, how we\u2019re feeling individually and any other issues that individuals wish to raise. We\u2019ve agreed a solution for tying the sails down. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the SOP\u2019s do not allow you to tie the sails to the jackstays or stanchions, as a sail could in theory, with a big enough wave, rip the jackstays away or damage the stanchions. So previously we\u2019ve just been tying them with the sail ties which wash down the sail over time and the sail becomes loose on the deck. Our new agreed solution will hopefully reduce the chances of the sail ties becoming loose and the number of times the crew need to go on the foredeck to tie them back down again. So we will now put the 1st sail tie through the deck fitting or tack strop, passing up though the metal cringle on the head of the foresail and tied down tight, so the head of the sail cannot move, before we take up any slack in the relevant halyard. The subsequent sail ties will then be roped together so they cannot move down the sail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up and at helm again and the wind is back, yippee and we\u2019re banging in the miles tonight at between 10 to 13 knots upwind and in the right direction. Seemingly the other watch was visited by a pod of over 100 dolphins, I\u2019ll need to check their photos for proof. Hopefully, they\u2019ll revisit some time soon as we\u2019ve not seen a lot of wildlife in the North Pacific. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another good sailing night in the bag. A constant plus 10 knots shift. With the sea state fairly flat and calm. Let\u2019s hope for the same consistency for the next watch. Although I\u2019d hoped for a bit more excitement from the whole watch, Ryan, Claire and Tony were snoring their heads off in the cockpit like three peas in a pod, whilst Petra and I were helming the boat! And to add insult to injury, Claire decided to show Brad and Matt how to make porridge and put too much salt in. I mean. Why put salt in porridge. Is it a marmite sort of thing? She\u2019s been renamed Salty Claire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re still clicking off the miles and not much to do on the watch. We had a very swift head sail change from our Yankee 3 up to our Yankee 2 as we continue to pump out the miles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it\u2019s April 1st, we\u2019ve played a little joke on our crew mates on Ollie\u2019s watch. We\u2019ve Velcro\u2019d all their follies together, changed the clocks in the Galley and set up breakfast. Wasn\u2019t too sure if they\u2019d fall for it, but to a man, not happy and were a little bit late on deck. You need a bit of fun on board. We\u2019ll need to keep our wits about us as I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be a come back. Ha ha, sure enough, the buggers have taken one of our shoes and chucked it down the other side of the boat. They also zipped up the heads, so when I woke up, I try to put my crocs on to go straight for a wee. So couldn\u2019t find one croc, gave up looking and scuttled off to the heads in my socks only to arrive at a queue! I nearly wet myself. However, by the time everyone had found out what had happened, we were 15mins late on deck. So, sort of burnt them more than us. But glad that\u2019s all over, as it could have escalated way out of control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve had another fast watch with good winds, but lots of spray over the boat. It is time to break out the dry suit, so will need to prep a bit before I go to bed so that I\u2019m ready for the next watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always thought that albatrosses were only found in the Southern Ocean. How wrong was I! We\u2019ve been followed by at least two pairs for some time now. I keep saying that I need to invest in some sort of reference book for wildlife at sea, not even sure if one book would cover it, but, as a boat we could do better. Maybe one of the new leggers could bring something for us to read?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clipper continues to be a race of attrition. UNICEF have had a medivac, Punta are on their way for a medivac, Warrant has a broken main track on their mast and now Tongyeong have a broken rudder. With still over 3,500 miles to go, all fingers crossed and really hope those guys who\u2019ve been medivaced are okay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been a strong 24 hours, bashing out over 300 miles. Top speed by both watches was 23 knots. I topped 20.5 knots and such a great effort by the whole team has pushed us up into fourth spot for the time being. Let\u2019s catch 3rd spot now, who were over 200 miles ahead at one point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s been a weird day, we\u2019ve had good wind and put up the code 3. The other watch has been great with their work rate. On our big watch the kite was a bit difficult to fly, the sea conditions and wind angle didn\u2019t help. Ryan spent 15mins on the helm then gave up as he was struggling to keep the kite full and I jumped on and was just settling in when Gavin came up on deck and asked me to sail deeper and at the same time told Claire to ease the sheet. I on the other hand was more concerned about flogging the Code 3 and damaging our only workhorse spinnaker, as we don\u2019t have the Code 2 after it was damaged last week when the sheet snapped. So, I was purposely over sheeted, until I got comfortable. As Gavin was shouting out instructions, I repeatedly said \u201cI know, I know\u201d I don\u2019t think Gavin took too kindly to that, but he didn\u2019t give me time to explain myself. Anyway, after about an hour of helming, I jumped off and Tony took over, Gavin had already gone down below, and the working sheet on the spinnaker snapped again! 1st time we\u2019ve had a spinnaker failure on our watch and ironically, we where only discussing the process to cope with such a thing a couple of hours earlier in the day. So, the tack was blown more or less immediately and then it was just a matter of pulling the kite down, which took us a bit longer than anticipated. More importantly, we got it down without damaging the sail. The off watch, re-wooled it, packed it away and ready to hoist again. A few running repairs were completed on the boat and rig before the code 3 was hoisted again. A really busy watch but there seemed to be a bit of tension in the air and we couldn\u2019t understand why. Was it me pushing back on Gavin, had we as a watch done something wrong, couldn\u2019t figure it out and as is often the case, there is never really a good time to discuss these things as a team and then the moment has gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the rest of the day and night, the spinnaker has been behaving itself and with the sea state being a lot flatter, we\u2019ve made some good ground. The theme continues for another 10 hours, 080 degrees COG and we just keep going the wind has shifted a couple of degrees either way but not much to talk about over watch changes. With Qingdao in stealth mode, we\u2019re in 3rd spot for the time being. We\u2019re not too sure of their reasoning, maybe to make us think they\u2019re going for the scoring gate? So, all we can do is just keep going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh bugger, all hands on deck again! The spinnaker tack had wrapped around the bow sprit and trapped both the trip line and lazy spinnaker sheet in the process. In their endeavours to unwrap the tack line, they\u2019ve managed to wrap the spinnaker around the inner forestay! We\u2019ve managed to pull the spinnaker down through the forward sail locker hatch without too much damage. There were a couple of small holes. So, after running the lines of the spinnaker and wooling as much of the kite as we could, Petra got out her sewing machine and repaired the holes as the rest of our watch got back to bed to try and get some sleep. Thankfully, the code was ready to go again in the morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The schedules are out again and Qingdao haven\u2019t deviated from their previous course and are now 5 miles behind us. What a cracking effort from the team, so even with some of the kite issues and Qingdao being so far in front, we are still going fast and officially in 3rd position. We\u2019re travelling at a decent rate and still not deviated too much from our original course. The wind has made it a bit more difficult to fly the kite, but we\u2019re still trying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually the wind and seas state is getting too much and we\u2019re woken to help drop the kite again. Not too early, only about half an hour so not too bad. As we\u2019re in the middle of watch change, everyone chips in to keep the boat sailing and re-wool the kite and get it back in its bag and ready to fly when required. With our Code 2 spinnaker being out of action, we\u2019re having to keep an eye out for our Code 3 and so it goes on. The wind is gradually building and we pull the kite down again. We seem to be getting the hang of this now, touching wood very quickly! Have we made the right call? Have we made the call too early? The wind is supposed to be building but nothings happened yet. Gavin is on deck constantly checking the windex to confirm he has made the correct decision, and slowly the wind starts building. Gavin is relieved and we\u2019ve now had to put a couple of reefs in the main, which is fairly dramatic when going down wind. The wind has now got a North Pacific feel to it, bitterly cold. Condensation has arrived on the boat with a vengeance. Drops of water fall from the roof like rain, which is a real pain when you don\u2019t have any hair. It is like Chinese water torture. The cubbies are starting to fill with condensation water, which, if not cleaned regularly, will develop into mould. We had this on leg 3 and everyone on the boat developed a \u201cboat cough\u201d. They didn\u2019t put that in the brochure! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is all fairly close stuff with not much change in the fleet order as we move into Easter. Hard to believe so much time has passed already since leaving Portsmouth over 7 months ago as the crew discuss what they would normally do this time of year. Unfortunately, we don\u2019t have any eggs left. It has been a problem this leg with much of our fresh produce going off or getting completely battered during the 1st week with storms. Michelle has been busying herself with cleaning again, she never really stops. With such a long leg, food is really important and when our fresh stuff runs out, or in this leg gets battered, it will be all tinned and dried stuff for the rest of the race. We have a vast amount of treats on board, but it\u2019s becoming an issue with numerous bags being opened and not finished. With the condensation in the cubbies, the opened bags get spoiled and then chucked out and I\u2019m staggered at the amount of open bags that Michelle has pulled from the treats cubby. It\u2019s not like we can nip to the shops to replenish, once it\u2019s gone it\u2019s gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a confined space with so many people on board, cleanliness is really important and I\u2019ve now come down with a tummy upset. No idea what\u2019s caused it, but it has put me in bed. It\u2019s not easy using the heads when it\u2019s flat calm, let alone bouncing around in 30 knots of wind. I\u2019ve not eaten for 24 hours and feeling a bit weak. I\u2019ve had some porridge this morning with a cup of sweet tea and hope to be back on deck later today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Probably the biggest challenge with the Clipper race is staying fit for the duration of the race. I\u2019ve got aches and pains all over. You can\u2019t help knocking into things as you get thrown about, elbows, shins, knees. I keep banging my head on the bulkhead doors. I did it twice yesterday, in the same spot and got a bit of a bump on my head. I did swear just a little bit. My fingers hurt from all the manual rope and sail work. I\u2019ve got callouses on my palms from helming. I\u2019ve got some back pain, and an old injury that has flared up again, but you\u2019ve just got to suck it up and get on with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst I\u2019ve been recovering from my tummy upset, we\u2019ve only gone and crossed the international date line, IDL. This in essence means we start Sunday again. I\u2019m not really sure how to explain it but if your on the west of the IDL, your the 1st to see the sunrise. If your just east of the IDL, your the last to see the sunrise. In essence 24 hours apart on the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, we\u2019re rerunning Sunday! I\u2019m back on deck for the 1st time in 24 hours and it\u2019s a bit chilly. Gloves on and dry suit on and rotating the watch on deck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It looks like we\u2019ve dropped a place back to 4th to UNICEF. But not by much and still a lot to play for, the fleet are remarkably close to each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, there we have it our 2nd week (and a day!) completed. No Sunday Sundown, too cold I was told! Let\u2019s see what next week brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, the 2nd week of the North Pacific Race begins and we are around 4th or 5th, but difficult to tell at the minute. The front three have managed to miss the light winds and have stormed ahead by nearly 200 miles. It\u2019s going to be a big ask to catch them now, but with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n