Sent: 10th February 2010
Position: 016degs 34' 65N 116degs 06' 48E
Boat time: 08:20hrs
Part 2! The pros and cons of life onboard!
Before joining the boat, whether as a round the worlder, a legger or a somewhere-in-betweener (like me!), everybody has thier own ideas of what they expect the boat to be like, how they expect to cope and how they will get on with people. They will also think they know what they want to get out of the race and what they will have acheived by the end of it. For the most part, these ideas are completely changed within the first few days on board. For me, here are some the unexpected things that I didn't necesarily expect......
The bad bit first!:
There is no privacy! Even in the heads (loo) people know what you're doing and hidden away in your bunk people can still see you and talk to you, and sometimes you just want to escape and have a bit of time to yourself;
There is also no escaping the smells of yourself and of other people. Fortunately, over time you build an immunity to the regular smells;
Sometimes - after a hard watch of racing, headsail changes, putting in and shaking out reefs, tough weather and hard work - all you want is a few minutes to catch your breath, relax and re-focus. However you know that when the conditions are like that, then the call for next task will be almost immediate whether it's to repack a sail, rehoist, tack, or any number of tasks, and you know it will keep going until your watch is finally over;
There is no respite from the weather extremes, whether hot or cold. We have fans in our bunks but even with them on when it is really hot they offer little comfort. With cold, after sitting on deck in freezing conditions for 4 hours, even getting into a fully lined ocean sleeping bag has little effect on your frozen toes! When your kit gets wet with salt water it will stay wet until you next get a chance to wash it in fresh water - sometimes not until you get to port - and finding shade from the sun is almost impossible, especially near Midday;
Mother watch! 24hours of being stuck below decks, hot and sweaty, cooking and cleaning for everybody and often feeling ill (although this time I survived a whole Mother with no hiccups or squiffy moments at all - progress!). You can only cook what you are told to cook and you only eat what your given;
Hygiene could be a lot better! Especially in the heads which often leak and, if one is broken, the other has to serve all 18 people onboard sometimes. Smells around the boat are really bad, and showers are few and far between;
Sleep is quite often hard because of conditions above and below deck e.g. too hot or cold, too rough, the other watch doing a noisey evolution (sail change). Also, when you are told to get up there is no snooze button. you have to get up no matter how tired you are and whatever the conditions. This is possibly one of the hardest bits for me being a teenager!
Being cut off from the outside world can sometimes leave you feeling out of touch with what is going on in the world.
And the good bits:
The team environment is fantastic and there is always somebody around if you need them. I expected to make friends but not as firmly and quickly as has happened;
Everybody onboard has found that it is easiest just to be yourelf completely and there is no pretence;
Keeping us going through the tough moments is the united competetitive spirit and the excitement of the race. There is nothing more satisfying than when the sched (scheduled reports from all the other boats) comes in and you see that we've taken miles out of all the other boats and we know our hard work has paid off;
When the weather is good it's fantastic. With warm sunshine and good breezes an excellent tan is just one of the side effects, one I have not experienced properly before;
Sunrise, sunset, starry nights, phosphoresence, shooting stars, wildlife and sounds of the ocean. Nothing will be able to replace these when I get home! My favourite time of day is from about an hour before dawn until the sun is about half way up. The colours of dawn are much more subtle and relaxing than sunset and the gentle, fresh sunlight on your face as it just appears over the horizon on a clear morning is one of the best feelings ever;
We have seen quite a lot of wildlife including dolphins, whales, tuna, flying fish and a variety of birds. When you see these animals you are always over come by a great sense of privilege that you have been lucky enough to see them in the wild;
Mother watch means you only have to cook and clean once a week and the rest of the time you have somebody else attending to your every need! Also, when you do Mother watch you are allowed your weekly shower!!!
No one cares if you wear the same t-shirt for a week because everybody does anyway;
Exactly half your time is dedicated to eating or sleeping so you can usually find time somewhere to catch up;
Being cut off from the internet, mobiles, cars, rush hour etc is really refreshing. Sometimes in port, you miss the peace and quiet of being on the boat;
On watch is never boring! whether you're chatting, playing games (eye-spy, the name game, I went to ... and I bought ...), enjoying the scenery, lots of tea, coffee, biscuits and chocolate, or whether learning skills from rope work to cooking to coping with life on board in general. There is always plenty going on.
And of course, the most important 'pro' of them all:
We are sailing round the world and nothing can beat that!
Thanks for all your comments on the blog. It's really nice to know you're all out there following our progress. Don't stop posting comments. Dad copies them all back to me and I can't tell you how nice it to hear from people and what a lift I get when I read the messages.
Things have been fairly quiet sailing wise since we left 'Singers' but I've a feeling it's about to change with some stronger NE winds setting in that mean big seas and a rough ride.
Keep an eye on the blog and do visit: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/ for regular race updates. Lily x
