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!

Sessions and Lessons, Lessons and Sessions!

T-25 Days!!

As part of my fundrasing activities I've spent the last few weeks working with the younger students Queen's Park High and Blacon High. At Blacon, after doing an assembly to all of lower school (Years 7, 8 and 9), I have taught Year 7 Geography classes on Navigation and Charts, following on from their mapping lessons. We looked at GPS and positioning, as well as some of the symbols used. I was really impressed with how the kids got involved and with all the questions they had! I'm still not considering a careeer in teaching though.

With Queen's Park I organised two Sailing Taster Sessions for the year 7s and 8s. The first session began with a promise of rain but we were lucky it held off. There was plenty of wind on the river and with 5 boats on the water they were quickly racing each other around. All the instructors at the club who helped out were impressed with how quickly everybody picked it up! There was only one capsize and everybody came off the water smiling! The second session the following week was another great success with all 12 places filled and all the boats used! Some people came back for a second time and they sailed further up river and practised some more advanced techniques. The other group got to grips with the basics straight away and were quickly chasing each other across the river. It was really great to get the kids out on the water and see how much fun they had, but of course it wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of everyone at the Sailing Club and the Staff in School.

My bag is now mostly packed and HUGE! Not quite on the weight limmit but still got a few last minute essentials to get in! The good news is I can still lift it... just! x x x

Practice Makes Perfect

T-31 Days! One month and counting! The final count-down is on!

After spending Sunday and Monday sailing the coast of North Wales on yacht ‘My Tern’, a Bavaria 36, I have confirmed what I suspected on training. Surfing, rocking and rolling down a steep two-meter swell round Puffin Island and into the narrow channel to Conwy was an exciting experience! The occasional bit of erratic steering coming from the helmsman forcing the boat to imitate a corkscrew over particularly tricky waves only made things more interesting! Rough weather does not appear to be the problem. The following day there was still a bit of swell left over from the strong winds the day before but the wind had dropped to almost nothing. Some people find a gentle swell peaceful and relaxing. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. I fear I could be allergic to calm weather as it gives me a funny feeling similar to light-headedness, and if sustained for a long period of time it can cause sudden physical illness. The phrase ‘sea-sickness’ is often used to describe this reaction, but I prefer to call it an allergy - it sounds less ridiculous coming from a ‘hard-core’ sailor! Luckily, this time it was only a short outing!

A similar story can be told of training. We spent several days bashing round the Solent in averagely windy/wavy weather with no problems from my allergy, but as soon as we headed out into the channel and became becalmed I started to feel allergic. This time there was no engines on and home before the sill shut on the marina! Fingers crossed we steer clear of any Doldrums between Cape Town and San Fran!

‘My Tern’ is my Dad’s new toy. He has bought a quarter share of the boat and so gets a quarter of the use while it’s in the water. This week was our last proper chance to use it before it’s put into hibernation for the winter, so we spent the weekend exploring the Menai Straights and round the Great Orme, getting to know the boat. It’s a great boat to sail and seems to be quite fast, but not as fast as Jamaica!! Its best feature for me, though, which Jamaica doesn’t have, is a little wooden seat across the pulpit (the guardrails at the very front), the perfect size for a Lily-sized bum! A fab place to watch the waves go by from, and it weirdly makes my allergy feel better … honest!

WOOO!!

Just a very quick one to say a massive WOOOHOOOO!!!!

Jamaica has climbed up into 2nd place and seem to be gaining on Eero all the time! Looks like we could be pulling are bow strings for real!

FAB! x x x

www.clipperroundtheworld.com

www.clipperroundtheworld.com/jamaica

p.s. T-36 days!!!

Dubarries and Sponsors! It's a busy time!

T-39 days! What a hectic couple of weeks it’s been! I’ve spent more time in school than when I actually attended! Everything’s set for the 1^st taster session to run on Friday with the year 7s but still waiting to fill up the places on 2^nd session. The support from staff has been incredible and I can’t wait to get on the water!

I had to do one of the scariest things I have ever done last week. I stood on the stage of the main hall at Blacon High School and spoke to the whole of Key Stage 3. That’s 300 people aged 11-14 and all the staff to go with them - including the Head Teacher! Somehow I managed to stay up-right for all my presentation and some of the feedback I’ve had has been really super. Students and staff alike seem to be behind me and they are all showing their support.

Support and sponsorship comes from all directions, from friends and family to people we hardly know, all are unique and have different messages of support but all are wishing me the time of my life! It is quite a humbling experience to be on the receiving end of such kindness and I would like to thank everybody for their help, I really couldn’t do this without them.

I’ve been on a bit of a spree this week and have finally bought (with help from sponsors!) the last big bits of kit needed; waterproof camera to capture all those magical moments, warm mid-layer salopettes for when it snows in China, and, the most exciting bit of kit, my new Dubarry Boots to wear around Cowes with my mini-skirt! Oh, and to keep my feet warm and dry round the world, of course. So with only the bits and bobs left to sort out I finally feel like we’re making progress.

This feeling is made better by the fact that Jamaica has climbed from last place back into fourth place, a position that shows good tactics, perseverance and most of all team work pays off! Well done to the guys and keep up the good work! The on-going battle with Cape Breton is keeping the team on their toes but the challenging tactics are what we need to keep focussed, though at the moment the temperatures they are experiencing are more than distracting!

Don’t forget that you can follow the race at www.clipperroundtheworld.com and www.clipperroundtheworld.com/jamaica

Please, please, please feel free to leave comments to show your support for the whole team, and as always, keep reading! x x x

Preparations!

T- 49 days! Or exactly 7 weeks today! I can't belive how quickly time is passing, it feels like yesterday that it was Crew Allocation and there was still three and a half months until the start, and six months until I would be leaving! With the boats on their way to Rio and struggling with tricky downwind conditions, its frustrating being away from the team but Lindsey's updates up-dates on the crew website are encouraging and morale on-board doesn't seem to be suffering too much.

The race start in Hull was exciting (if not a little emotional!) and a great chance to see all the team before they left! The spectator boat hired by later-leggers and family was a fantastic place to see the action from and we were able to follow the boats for a short time as they sailed up and down the Humber. Apparently over 100,000 people came to watch the boats leave and the support from private boats anchored in the estuary was incredible.

As far as preparations are going I'm feeling a bit behind! I still have boots, mid layers and what feels like a thousand little bits and bobs left to get. However, slowly but surely but its all coming together. I've been busy working with Mr McIntyre at Queen's Park, my old school, and Pete Hadfield from Chester Sailing Club organising a couple of taster sessions for  year sevens to help raise some last minute funds. I've also been planning lessons for year sevens at Blacon High based on navigation at sea and can't wait to get stuck in! I've had my picture and story in the local papers this week which will hopefully attract a few more sponsers!

Had better sign-off now as its getting nearer to T- 48 days and tomorrow promises a fun-filled day of planning, preparing and organising! Keep reading!! x x x

Team 'Jamaica Lightning Bolt' onstage at the race start.