Ahead of the race start we bring you one crew member's memories of leg 4 and another's recommendations of kit for joining crew :
First, round-the-worlder and watch leader on leg 4 John Braithwaite recounts the ups and downs on the race from Singapore to Qingdao :
Ni hao!
It's great to write to you from Qingdao, it means we're all off the yacht, in one piece having finished in our best position yet, 5th. With a few days of luxury in a hotel the rose tinted glasses have started to set in and I'm beginning to forget quiet how tough the race up from Singapore was; a good thing as we are starting off for Hawaii in a few days.
This was the hardest race we have had so far. It was like living on the side of a mountain for 3 weeks in the winter, with the occasional gale blow over you, having to get up out of your sleeping bag every 4 hours, put on wet clothes and climb further up the mountain. For those of you who know my fear of heights fortunately the analogy stops there as the waves were never more than 6 meters or so. With the wind always coming from the direction we were travelling; be it North East, North or North West we were always sailing 45 degrees off our optimum course and with the yacht heeled over at 30 degrees it made for hard work living below as well as above deck.
We had an unfortunate 24 hour period where everything seemed to break, ropes snapped, sails ripped, the battery charger got flooded and the engine fuel supply (which we were then using to charge the batteries) failed. Fortunately our crew were very resourceful and a work around was found that meant we could keep our batteries charged. However, the engine only drew cooling water on starboard tack, so tacking became less tactical for best race position and more a necessity for keeping power for our navigation systems and lights (both of which also failed at points during the race!)
All this was more than worth it for the welcome we had in Qingdao. Its been amazing. The prize giving (normally a few speeches in a yacht club and a lot of beers) was a sit down 4 hour banquet that was live on Chinese TV for 4 hours. There were dancers, opera singers, kung foo exhibitions and Mongolian bamboo dancing which were very impressive, although we still managed a beer drinking competition!
Today we've been on a city tour organised for us, the highlight of which was a Taoist temple (see picture) and Tsingtao beer factory (Nigel drank my beer for me!) It's been great to have a few extra days away from the yacht, but now I am looking forward to getting to know our new crew on the training sail.
I hope you are all well and enjoying a British winter. I'm looking forward to sailing towards the sun again and the time when we'll be sailing in shorts and T shirts again, as opposed to the 8 layers that will be required when we start the leg.
Bye for now JB
Our thanks to John for his candid account of life on board.
Next Dinshaw Avari talks of his experiences and gives a valuable recommendation for future members of how to make life on board a little more bearable :
Dear friends
Reflecting on my experiences on Leg 4, I thought I’d give a run-down on the kit for the upcoming legs. The views expressed hereunder are my own- and may very well differ from what others on the same leg experienced (& these comments are targeted to cold weather legs) –
1) Ensure you have a good woolen cap which pulls down over, and covers, your ears (in my case, not only did I have the Henri Lloyd (HL) cap but I also wore a woolen ski cap below the former).
2) A scarf to cover the neck – somehow the wind and water finds its way in otherwise.
3) A “smock”??? I may have the name wrong, but basically this item covers the face and nose, leaving the eyes open to see through. It gives protection to the exposed areas of your face (especially the nose)- and if you’ve got a nose like mine … boy does it need protection!
4) I wore SEVEN layers of clothes under my red Henri Lloyd oilies (this represented ALL the clothes I had with me)- 2 woolen vests, 2 pairs of woolen socks, 2 HL long johns, 3 T-shirts, the black HL jacket and HL mid-layer (this was the best investment ever- salopettes and jacket). This actually kept me very comfortable (not the feet- more on that below). So many are not required if you have good warm underclothing/base layers/thermals. The main point here is that your legs and body must be warm- which was NOT the case for some of our team members. Good, warm socks are a MUST too.
If I did not have the mid-layers, I don’t know what I would have done. Get a good quality mid-layer (both the jacket and the salopettes) and that will act like a good insulation plus keep the dampness out of the rest of your clothes under the mid-layer.
5) Get good gloves – ones that keep your hands warm. Especially for helming, get good HELMING GLOVES. We were fortunate that Simon had one pair, which we transferred from helm to helm, shift to shift. We ensured it remained dry on the inside and managed to pull the last 5-6 days with these. If each of you get your own set of helming gloves, then when someone’s becomes wet from inside you’ll can at least share with others. Chris had an unique idea- getting gloves from dive shops which specialize in cold water diving.
6) The main problem I faced were the BOOTS. I’ll reserve my comments on HL for a private letter to that company, but please PLEASE ensure you get good, warm, waterproof boots; with good quality gaters which will ensure water stays out. Most of us were wearing plastic bags (in some cases two plastic bags) over our socks to stop the water getting into our socks & feet. That, though, did NOT stop the cold from getting in. In most of our cases, we might as well have been wearing nothing because our boots were wet from inside. Try Musto- I believe they are very good. If you feet are cold, you will be miserable and can lead to other complications.
7) Being a cold weather leg, there was CONDENSATION everywhere- on the ceiling, the walls, the sail covers, the floor. Nothing stayed dry. My suggestion is to keep some large plastic/garbage bags to cover your bags with (don’t rely on the boat’s garbage bags as these will run out if you’ll start using it) -which will ensure the moisture/condensation stays out. All my clothes were damp. Another thing is to keep your clean clothes in Ziploc bags (or self sealing bags) in your bags. This will also ensure moisture does not wet your clean clothes.
Relating to this, when you retire from your shift and want to get out of your clothes, put those clothes into plastic bags too- otherwise, in 4 hours these will be wet and dripping. Trust me, it’s not a good experience wearing damp clothes in cold weather!
When you go off-watch, get out of the clothes you are in and get into comfortable and warm, loose fitting clothes. Keep some spare sets of these “below-deck” clothes which you can get into. Don’t forget to store those “above-deck” clothes in plastic bags (other wise they are going to become wet!).
8) One of the best investments you can do is to purchase Ocean Sleepwear sleeping bags. These were damp from the outside (nothing you can do) but warm and comfortable in the inside. Ensure the sleeping bags are not kept open when not in use. I used to fold it up when not in it and let it lie on the bunk.
9) Lastly, the overalls/oilies. Get the BEST quality oilies you can get. The ones I had … well, the less said the better- they were absolutely useless! Maybe there’s a spray that needs to be sprayed on or whatever, but ensure you get those off-shore oilies which will allow you to do a sail change without worrying about water getting in. This is the worst experience because you will be miserable and cold as I was.
Friends, as mentioned, there is condensation & moisture everywhere. That means NOTHING dries. It is worth taking MORE clothes rather than less. Especially in the upcoming leg 5 (to Hawaii), the first 2-3 weeks are going to be cold & wet and possibly uncomfortable. The more comfortable you are the better your outlook and experience is going to be. There’s no place to dry your clothes either- once wet/damp, they remain so, unless you get some sunshine to dry them out in.
Those doing the warm legs, you don’t have to carry too many clothes because you can wash them once a week after your mother watch and dry them out on deck..
Hope the above helps and good luck to all of you for the upcoming legs. More than anything, ENJOY yourselves. This is an experience which will remain with all of us forever. The experience and fun is what will count in the end. Warmest regards.
Go Team Jamaica!
Dinshaw B. Avari
Reflecting on my experiences on Leg 4, I thought I’d give a run-down on the kit for the upcoming legs. The views expressed hereunder are my own- and may very well differ from what others on the same leg experienced (& these comments are targeted to cold weather legs) –
1) Ensure you have a good woolen cap which pulls down over, and covers, your ears (in my case, not only did I have the Henri Lloyd (HL) cap but I also wore a woolen ski cap below the former).
2) A scarf to cover the neck – somehow the wind and water finds its way in otherwise.
3) A “smock”??? I may have the name wrong, but basically this item covers the face and nose, leaving the eyes open to see through. It gives protection to the exposed areas of your face (especially the nose)- and if you’ve got a nose like mine … boy does it need protection!
4) I wore SEVEN layers of clothes under my red Henri Lloyd oilies (this represented ALL the clothes I had with me)- 2 woolen vests, 2 pairs of woolen socks, 2 HL long johns, 3 T-shirts, the black HL jacket and HL mid-layer (this was the best investment ever- salopettes and jacket). This actually kept me very comfortable (not the feet- more on that below). So many are not required if you have good warm underclothing/base layers/thermals. The main point here is that your legs and body must be warm- which was NOT the case for some of our team members. Good, warm socks are a MUST too.
If I did not have the mid-layers, I don’t know what I would have done. Get a good quality mid-layer (both the jacket and the salopettes) and that will act like a good insulation plus keep the dampness out of the rest of your clothes under the mid-layer.
5) Get good gloves – ones that keep your hands warm. Especially for helming, get good HELMING GLOVES. We were fortunate that Simon had one pair, which we transferred from helm to helm, shift to shift. We ensured it remained dry on the inside and managed to pull the last 5-6 days with these. If each of you get your own set of helming gloves, then when someone’s becomes wet from inside you’ll can at least share with others. Chris had an unique idea- getting gloves from dive shops which specialize in cold water diving.
6) The main problem I faced were the BOOTS. I’ll reserve my comments on HL for a private letter to that company, but please PLEASE ensure you get good, warm, waterproof boots; with good quality gaters which will ensure water stays out. Most of us were wearing plastic bags (in some cases two plastic bags) over our socks to stop the water getting into our socks & feet. That, though, did NOT stop the cold from getting in. In most of our cases, we might as well have been wearing nothing because our boots were wet from inside. Try Musto- I believe they are very good. If you feet are cold, you will be miserable and can lead to other complications.
7) Being a cold weather leg, there was CONDENSATION everywhere- on the ceiling, the walls, the sail covers, the floor. Nothing stayed dry. My suggestion is to keep some large plastic/garbage bags to cover your bags with (don’t rely on the boat’s garbage bags as these will run out if you’ll start using it) -which will ensure the moisture/condensation stays out. All my clothes were damp. Another thing is to keep your clean clothes in Ziploc bags (or self sealing bags) in your bags. This will also ensure moisture does not wet your clean clothes.
Relating to this, when you retire from your shift and want to get out of your clothes, put those clothes into plastic bags too- otherwise, in 4 hours these will be wet and dripping. Trust me, it’s not a good experience wearing damp clothes in cold weather!
When you go off-watch, get out of the clothes you are in and get into comfortable and warm, loose fitting clothes. Keep some spare sets of these “below-deck” clothes which you can get into. Don’t forget to store those “above-deck” clothes in plastic bags (other wise they are going to become wet!).
8) One of the best investments you can do is to purchase Ocean Sleepwear sleeping bags. These were damp from the outside (nothing you can do) but warm and comfortable in the inside. Ensure the sleeping bags are not kept open when not in use. I used to fold it up when not in it and let it lie on the bunk.
9) Lastly, the overalls/oilies. Get the BEST quality oilies you can get. The ones I had … well, the less said the better- they were absolutely useless! Maybe there’s a spray that needs to be sprayed on or whatever, but ensure you get those off-shore oilies which will allow you to do a sail change without worrying about water getting in. This is the worst experience because you will be miserable and cold as I was.
Friends, as mentioned, there is condensation & moisture everywhere. That means NOTHING dries. It is worth taking MORE clothes rather than less. Especially in the upcoming leg 5 (to Hawaii), the first 2-3 weeks are going to be cold & wet and possibly uncomfortable. The more comfortable you are the better your outlook and experience is going to be. There’s no place to dry your clothes either- once wet/damp, they remain so, unless you get some sunshine to dry them out in.
Those doing the warm legs, you don’t have to carry too many clothes because you can wash them once a week after your mother watch and dry them out on deck..
Hope the above helps and good luck to all of you for the upcoming legs. More than anything, ENJOY yourselves. This is an experience which will remain with all of us forever. The experience and fun is what will count in the end. Warmest regards.
Go Team Jamaica!
Dinshaw B. Avari
We extend our thanks to both John and Dinshaw and wish the crew starting leg 5 tomorrow safe sailing, great fun and Godspeed.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 comments: