The race start was a bit a miseray for everyone; the whole fleet was
drifting more than sailing. What would have been a lovely autumn day
with bright sun shining on the sky, and its warmth pomping positivity,
turned out to be a bit of a struggle for us, because there absolutely
was no wind. No wind is hard work: we had to change sails several times,
keep on the consentration despite the demotivation of no movement and
the heat driving the body to "standby" mode. We will be having more of
these at the doldrums, crossing the equator. I can't say that I'm
looking forward to it.
Fortunately the condition did not last, and we had a nice 10-12 knot
breeze filling our sails in the evening. We trimmed trimmed trimmed our
sails continuously, and had some real concentration at the helm, winning
us two positions over the night
The high-lights from the day: helming for more than 2 hours. Getting a
few critical trimming decisions through, which paid back with good boat
speed.
Low-points from the day: no wind at the start, and falling behind in
picking up the wind when it arrived:(:(
Well, so much for the sailing news, let me introduce you a bit to boat
life:
Life on-board is a disciplined one, there are two watches to run the
boat. AS you may already have guessed, we sail through day and night,
and have to keep the speed building for 24 hours. So each watch is on
and off for 4 hours twice a day, and 2 hours once a day. When we're on
watch, we concentrate on sail trim (making the sails work according to
the wind)and helming, as well as navigation. The biggest effort is in
keeping the motivation and concentration going; it's very easy to get
lazy and let the trim go, or loose concentration and let the helm off
course. Off-watch is free time, which includes all preparation for
sailing(we need to dress up a bit, particularly when it's cold. Trying
to wear two salopeds (mid layer and foul weather gear, which have many
sticking plastic all around it for water-proofness, when boat is rocking
around, does take some effort and time) eating, sleeping, personal
hygene and anything else you may want to do (ie: writing a blog). As the
hours off watch are quite limited, most of this time is spent sleeping
by most o fthe crew.
Which I now want to join in to do as well... I will be back on watch at
14:00., and have 2hours 15 minutes to sleep, before waking up to get
ready & have lunch
I'll try to tell more about boat life as the opportunity arises. Until
then, take care and keep an eye on me:):)
Hande
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