Last entry, I mentioned having small sails up to get a bit of a rest. Never
happened. Instead, the conditions livened up further to pretty much justify
the sail choice, with wind averaging 35-40 knots, gusting to 55, and swells
of 5-6m. It decreased a bit today, but not much. The upside is we're
continuing to make good speed. I set a new personal best of 22.8 knots,
hitting that twice during the last watch. Pretty good for Yankee 3 and two
reefs! We now have Yankee 2 and full main, and shortly after putting that
up, Han did over 25 knots.
The other reason we didn't get much of a rest is that the people who did
most of the work sorting out the wrap are the same ones who do most of the
work sailing the boat. We didn't do much other than helm, but it fell on
few shoulders, as now is really not the time or conditions to get untested
people up to speed. (I am now one of "those who can helm", which is good.
More on that another time.) Justin is getting particularly shafted on
sleep, as the the generator has stopped working and he spent his entire
off-watch trying to fix it. After getting as little sleep as anyone. And
he's insisted on going up to work his next watch.
We have some new SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures -- have to love a good
TLA, i.e. Three Letter Acronym) to try prevent a repeat occurrence, mainly
around always having a spotter for the helm and ensuring more experience
on deck, which is all good, but means even more responsibility landing on
key people. Opinion seems to be that everything started with a crash gybe,
so we're aiming to prevent that from happening. What's a crash gybe? I'll
do a separate post on that.
I was talking to one of the other crew about the whole experience. She
asked if I'd been afraid. She had been, a bit, as it had felt like we were
out of control. Honestly, I wasn't. First, I have a lot of trust in Matt's
ability to untangle these situations. He's seen a lot, and he's already
taken one of these boats around the world. Second, I trust the boat. I've
probably said this before, but these things are built like tanks. Yes, it's
dangerous, but I continue to think it's dangerous like playing rugby is
dangerous. It may be a stupid thing to do, but it's not something to scare
me.
So what was I feeling through it all? Annoyed. Frustrated. Exasperated. I
just hated the fact that we had messed up. A small bit of pride in being
among those in the thick of fixing it, but just a small bit. Mostly, I felt
tired, which I know isn't an emotion, but which pretty much dominated the
experience.
*******************************************************
Whie helming today, I was enjoying a bit of dark chocolate when a wave
crashed over the deck. Et voila, small-batch, all natural, artisinal Sea
Salt Dark Chocolate!
(This moment dedicated to Johnny Skate, my formal colleague who could never
understand why anyone would put salt in chocolate and who would
occasionally give me his sea salt chocolate bar when he accidentally bought
the wrong one. And while I'm at it, thanks to him and my other ExCo former
colleagues for the sailing shorts they gave me as a parting gift. I have
been using them... intensively... for the past two months, and they've been
great. Hope all is good back at the ranch.)
******************************************************
I think today is Superbowl Sunday. Never mind the fact that I'm missing the
game for the first time in I don't know how long, but I have no idea who's
even playing. I'm sure it's not the Niners. Are the Patriots out? Carolina
were doing great last I saw.
*****************************************************
Finally, we're now actually south of Da Nang. And while we're a fair way
east, we're less than twelve hours from completing the originally set
distance. It would be great if that were the home stretch. But of course,
it isn't. Instead, the course has now been extended again. The plan is to
basically have us zig-zag around the South China Sea. Then, in ten days,
they'll declare the race over, positions based on how far each boat has
gone, and have us all sail in. This isn't a round-the-world race. It's
stupid. Just stupid.
Goddamn Clipper organisers. Goddamn City of Da Nang.
(Yes, I said I'd be more stoic about all this. Trust me, this is the stoic
version.)
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