From sunshine to showers!

Jamaica leads the fleet out of Cape Town

Sent: 27/112009 14:03hrs                   Position: 41deg 19' S 38deg 00' E

It strikes me as ironic that whilst back from Rhos to Old Colwyn in full-on heavy soaking drizzle recently, one of the last things my sister, Kate, said to me was 'At least you won't get weather like this at sea!' For the last couple of days this is what we have had almost constantly! Meaning that full foul weather kit has been essential. The temperature has dropped rapidly and the night watches have become a contest to see who can last the longest before diving into the saloon for a warm-up and, oddly, more people are volunteering as night mothers!

During one of my sick moments early in the week I managed to be on deck long enough to get sun burnt on my face. This was really really sore and has just started to peel! From my scalp to lips, my face is coming off in man-sized flakes! Luckily, I won't be on the pull for a while!

Had my first taste of Mother Watch from Lunch time yesterday to lunchtime today. Christine and I, who I also share a bunk with, did the watch together. Tasks involve: cleaning up from lunch and preparing tea; cleaning the galley and saloon area; cleaning both heads; getting up early to have breakfast ready; more cleaning and; preparing lunch. Meal times can be a little hectic as the watches eat separately and you often have to do a quick wash of pots in between. Our watch was particularly succesful as I managed to make 2 banana cakes with the (not quite) mouldy bananas left from Cape Town. We had them with tea, just, and they were rather yummy - if I'm allowed to say so for myself!

Time for bed now. A quick 3 hours before back on watch at midnight - the COLD watch! My mid-layers got tested for the 1st time today and they are fably warm! Might need to re-think China though!

Follow the race at: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

T-shirts and shorts in the Southern Ocean!

Jamaica Lightning Bolt - wet & wild off Cape Town!

Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 9:31 PM:

Position:
24degs 26'E
40degs 05'S - The Roaring Forties!!! My Dad craves to sail down here!

Noon - boat time!

The start was very, very hectic with lots going on! Hull and Humber and Cork are both out of the race and still in Cape Town under going extensive repairs after a collision on the start line. Apparently, Hull & Humber were on starboard but trying to give Cork room anyway, but Cork got caught by a gust and were headed up into the side of Hull & Humber. Cork we're clearly overpowered and one of the few boats without a reef in the mainsail. It seems that repairs will take up to two weeks and the boats might have to meet us in Singapore - a massive dissapointment for their crews, and an uncertain outlook for the skippers.

Unfortunately, soon after the excitment on the start I was sent to bed by my watch leader Mike because the wallowing under the Cape Town 'shadow' was making me ill - probably with a mix of nerves and anxiety as well! During the night the winds picked up and it was almost impossible to sleep as every wave felt like the whole boat was lifting out of the water and then slamming back down into the next wave, after leaving you behind to be re-united with your bunk as the boat rose on the next wave! Not enjoyable! Needless to say I was out of the watch system during the night.

I made it back on deck for our next watch at noon yesterday but it was too soon and I was sent back to bed after lunch repeated again. I had the whole night in bed again last night but I'm feeling much more refreshed and looking forward to some lunch especially as the only things staying down since the start have been mini-chedders and choclate buttons!

As I write various members of the off watch keep appearing to shed layers as the sun keeps shining and the relatively calm weather continues - a bit of a rarity in the southern ocean, especially as we are now well into the Roaring Forties!

Congratulations to my big sister, Hannah, who has just had a baby boy, Maurice John! I'm so excited for you and can't wait to see him! I expect him to be walking, talking, and tap dancing by the time I get back!

Almost time for lunch now and then I'l be back on the watch system so going to get one last nap in before getting seriously down to business!

Look out for more posts and pics in the coming days! x

The last taste of dry land!

What am amazing week. Cape is a fantastic place and the culture is amazing! We arrived on Monday morning after a 10 and a half hour flight - pure hell! But managed to doze if not sleep through most it but suffered my first bit of travel sickness on landing! Much to Ron's distaste! Settled into our appartment and got our bearings around town with the Yacht Club and the V+A etc. Went in the cable car up table mountain, been in a million and twelve taxis and went an the most fab Safari ever! We saw Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Buffalo, Elephant, Giraffes, Zebras, Springboks, Warthog, Hippos, Crocodiles and we're treated like Queen's! Sharon is now my adoptive mother and will be introducing me to my new Dad, brother and sister in Australia when they are there to meet us - as long as she hasn't married me off to a randomly chosen, unsupecting young male!

I can't get over how fab teh weather has been! We went on a refresher morning on Quindao and had the maost amazing view of table mountain ever. Generally we've clear blue skies and gentle breeze which pics up in the late afternnon to early evening.

The forecast for the start of the race looks like we will beating mainly for the first few days and not turning east until later in the week. With this in mind I've been out today to buy sea-sick pills - but NOT the dreaded Stugeron which I am convinced actuly made me sick!  We're aiming to stay between the Indian Ocean High and the Southern Ocean depressions so that we get the benefits of both constant, steady weather and burst of fast sailing. The most common sail plan is probably going to be a poled-out headsail most of the way as it will be to windy for even the heavy weight spinnaker!

The start tomorrow promises to be an busy time! The boat still looks like bomb-site with kit all over the place and day-packs waiting to be stowed, and still more kit to come aboard! Not completely got my head round the storage system but should be fine once we get organised!

Feeling very nevous at the moment and I'm hoping that a good nights sleep will sort me out! At crew breifing they showed us some footage of the Hull and Humber man-over-board which stirred up a few people, me included! Although we spend so much time training and preparing for situations like that you never really expect to have to do it, and in such simple circumstances as that.

Now its time for my last night in a stable bed wide enough to stretch as wide as I like! I'l try and write as soon as I can and let you know how big the waves are! Keep your fingers crossed! x x x

T-5 Days!! Yes 5 days!

How fast has that come around?! I can’t believe that its only 5 days until I fly out to Cape Town – better start getting organised! It was fantastic to see everybody on Saturday at the sailing club. Mum organised a fab party with everyone there, friends and family. Thank you to everybody who helped!

Kate and I packed my bag yesterday under the eye of Kerry’s Camera. We weighed in at 24 kilos, spot on for the boat’s weight limit. Phew! Kerry is the guy from North One Television who is making the documentary on the race and he spent yesterday afternoon filming Kate, Mum, Dad and myself around the house, watching us getting ready for the ‘big day’! His other camera-man, Wayne, did some filming with Jamaica on training and he’ll be on-board for all of Leg 3. We still don’t know when the programs will be shown but it will be after I get back so watch this space instead :)

With ‘the big pack’ done and dusted it’s now down to organising all my paper work and making sure I have all my documents in the right place. Most importantly, I bought my advent calendar today, as far as I’m concerned the most important bit of paperwork! It will only be a week out of Cape Town before we start the countdown to Christmas on the beach! Naturally its not a snowy chirstmas scene but its very sparkly and has fairies on it! What more could I want!

As I read more of the blogs coming back off the boat I realise how much I am jumping in at the deep end. Already, whilst still in the South Atlantic and somewhat protected by South America they are reporting the size of waves in whole building sizes, and seasickness is affecting the boat quite badly. Despite this, we are still moving up through the ranks and are only 6 miles off 3rd position.

It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling at the moment. As I said to Kerry yesterday, I’ve been preparing for this for so long that it’s almost become part of the background but now it’s being pushed to the front and I have to think about it. I keep going through cycles of excitement at the adventure, panic that I’ve forgotten something and shear terror at the 5-month rollercoaster ride ahead of me. It’s like climbing to the top of the Pepsi Max and waiting for it to drop, and you’re still not sure if you will like it or not! I’ve decided to take everything as it comes and focus on one thing at time.

So… Flying… uh oh!