Gosport prep week 10th - 14th August

I have been a bit slow in letting you all know how the Gosport week of boat preparation went so here goes --

The aim of the week was to get the boats as prepared as possible for the circumnavigation.  A lot of work for up to ten crew who were down for most of the week.  We started with the ropes.

Laying out the lines on the pontoon

End of whipped line tied onto cleat

Milking the line

All the running rigging was replaced - halyards, sheets, outhaul, running backstays etc.  They were all whipped and milked - what on earth does that mean I can hear you ask.  New ropes need to be prepared so that the outer sheath doesn't bunch up over the inner core and therefore get stuck in the blocks and jammers.  The end is tied up with string (whipped) and then the outer sheath is stretched (milked) over the core and held in place by further whipping.  This involves crew laying out the lines on the pontoon, tying the first whipped end, using the dreaded bowline, to a cleat on the pontoon and then using a sail tie to pull the outer sheath over the inner core (milking).

This milking is done up to six to eight times until there is no movement between inner core and outer sheath.  It can be hard work, especially with ropes that are up to 45 metres long.  Once milked the outer sheath is held in place with a vicious looking spike until the end can be whipped.

When the replacement halyards were ready the old ones were removed and using a 'mousing line' the new ropes were fed through the mast and into position.  Once in position, shackles were connected using a 'blood knot' - does the introduction of new terminology every end!  I am beginning to realise that we will also be learning a new language as we become more evermore familiar with workings of our UNICEF boat, CV30.

There were new sails to put on the boat and mark up, winches and jammers to be serviced and the engine and generator had to be looked over and serviced by the Chief Engineer for leg 1, the Bosun and various other interested parties.

There has been a suggestion of putting a video together as how to put the winches back together again as there was an interesting moment when the crew thought that all the bits had been mixed up.  A good idea guys!  Handles have been added, storage nets for fruit, veg and baby wipes have been fitted.  Helm pockets were installed, someone went up the mast to give the rigging a thorough check, the heads were serviced and the oven door replaced.  It had exploded the previous week on the last Level 4 course!!

I was involved in taking the inventory for the medical supplies - amazing to see what we are taking with us.  Something for what seems like everything including scalpels, stitching thread, bed pans, a body bag - I have asked what would happen if someone did die on the journey and the answer was that the body is put into a body bag and this is then put into a deployed life raft and towed behind the boat until the next stopover.

Inventories for tool boxes, the galley, navigation station.  A library full of books on everything from celestial navigation to ocean current maps and tide tables.  Even though we will have access to electronic charts we are taking paper charts for every part of the world we will be travelling in.  Paper charts don't rely on a battery supply and electronics working so are much more reliable.

Seals on deck fittings were checked and repaired/replaced to prevent leakage onto bunks and into the boat.  The transom (back of the boat) was cleaned and waxed, rudders brushed clean, baffling sewing machines conquered by the sail makers and I went on a course to explain what I was supposed to be doing.  Lots of information regarding stopover management, watch patterns, rotas for mothers, engineers, navigation and the deck etc.  Also a chance to meet the other Team Coordinators as we will be a source of support for each other as we sail round.

Day bags all labelled and sorted

Bottles of sauces

Most of the victualling supplies were put onto the boat.  First all the food had to be laid out on the floor in a large room.  Dried milk was weighed and put into plastic bags for water to be added, packets of bread and cake mix were put into individual dry bags (thank you Linda and Martin for their help with this), and the food for each day was gathered together.  The menus had all been worked out by our very hard working victualler, Janice, a seven day rotation for thirty two days.  A phenomenal amount of food.  Once all sorted, divided and put together the items were put into a couple of dry bags for each day, labelled and sorted into numerical order.  These bags were then all taken back to the boat and Andrew had to find somewhere to store them until needed.  A feat of engineering in itself as he squeezed bags into every space available.

On top of the 32 days there were an extra five days for emergencies and two days for bad weather. One bad weather menu consisted of pot noodles - only need to add hot water.  I hope the recipe has improved since they first came out as pot noodles were some of the less appetizing meals I consumed while at uni.

Copious amounts of tea was drunk during the day with Guinness, gin and tonic and bitter consumed each night as we gathered in the local pub to chill out and discuss the adventure ahead.  It was a good week of bonding and getting to know the crew on the boat as well as being able to be involved in the basics of getting an ocean going racing yacht ready for a 45.000 mile journey.

Some vital items were still missing as I left early evening on Friday 14th - including our supply of toilet paper for the next 5 weeks.  Will it arrive on time?

A week of extremely hard work but at the end of it I have a much better understanding of the workings of the boat and especially how to repair and replace the running rigging.  I now look forward to a weekend away from the boat and to the delivery trip next week which will see all twelve Clipper yachts journeying up to London and St Katharine Docks.

A virtual tour of a Clipper 70' yacht

For those of you who are unable to come and see the boat please find below a link to a guided tour of one of the Clipper 70' yachts - not the one I will be on, but identical. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffpRY0VwsA

My skipper, Jim, is giving the tour and having just watched it myself have discovered that we will not be having showers on board.  I hadn't quite heard that before!

If any friends or family would like to come and see the boat for a personal guided tour, either in Gosport (10th - 14th August) or London (24th - 29th August), then please get in touch with me and I will try and arrange it.  Otherwise have a look at the Clipper website and once the boats are up in St Katharine Docks there should be 'open boats' for people to view.




Saying Goodbye

With just over three weeks to go before I set sail from St Katharine Docks I am starting the process of saying 'Goodbye' to the family and friends I won't be seeing for the next year.  This week is the last full week on land as I go down to Gosport on Monday 10th August to start the first boat 'prep week' before the delivery up to London, the final 'prep week', and then departure on the 30th.

This past week has been one of great personal learning as I am realising how much my friends care about me, and how much they are going to miss me while I am away. 

Angela - Thank you for all your support while I have been moving house, and what about our lunches at The Good Intent.  Perhaps we should be booking for August 2016!

The 1830 hrs swimming class at the Hart Leisure Centre on a Monday evening - I really enjoyed our 'goodbye' dinner after swimming on Monday, and thank you for paying for me.

Lindsey and our walk around Fleet Pond on Tuesday evening.  No deer this time but a lovely amble followed by the usual Indian takeaway.

Martin, Me, Linda and Charles

Linda and Martin - a wonderful 'Tea at the Shard' with friends from University days.  Lots of banter, too many sandwiches and cakes, and copious amounts of champagne.  The view was stunning as well!

A bizarre experience as we sat and ate our picnic while the general public wandered around staring at us, but definitely worthwhile and if you get the opportunity to go up to the top, then take it.  We could see as far as Croydon to the south and the views all around were magnificent.

Thank you Linda and Martin, and Charles.

St Katharine Docks from The Shard

St Paul's Cathedral from 'the top'

Frensham Pond Sailability on Thursday morning - a place where I have always felt welcomed and included, and 'at home'.  My usual 'B&B' (brie and bacon roll) was followed by an enormous slice of chocolate cake.  Thank you, Carol, for your thoughtfulness.

Then again this evening, Friday evening, as I joined helpers and sailors for the annual summer BBQ.  The kind words of encouragement and support, the wisdom of Paul and Clare who both sailed in the second Clipper race back in 1998-99.  Thank you to everyone.

The Pirates of Tabard Street

 Today, Friday, brought further farewells from friends and colleagues I used to work with during my oil company days.  The traditional NBL with unrepeatable poems, pirates, and gifts from 'secret' donors, all taking place in the upstairs dining room of The Royal Oak in Tabard Street.

I appreciate the effort everyone made to be there, all ten of you, and again, thank you for your words of support and friendship as I embark on this madcap adventure.









People keep asking how I am feeling about going away and if I am honest it is difficult to answer.  I fluctuate from being a frozen 'rabbit in headlights' to a 'headless chicken'.  The whole concept seems a little surreal at the moment and as the time for departure gets closer I realise how much more preparation is needed.  At the end of the day I will be leaving on the 30th and if I haven't bought something, packed something else or thought of yet another thing - then what is the worse that could happen.  And as Paul pointed out this evening - there are shops in the rest of the world.

I don't think I am worried about the sailing aspect of the adventure but rather leaving the family behind.  How are they going to cope?  What will happen if ........  ?  The irrational worries of a mother who is leaving behind her two 'children'.  They are both old enough (and ugly enough) to be able to look after themselves and I think that this year will be the making of them as they learn to become responsible for their own day to day life.



Unicef boat on Level 4 training, August 2015

What next - Prep week down in Gosport from the 10th to 14th of August.  I will come back home for the weekend and then return on Monday 17th to prepare for the delivery trip to St Katharine Docks between the 18th and 20th.  Back down to Fleet for the final weekend and then to St Katharine's on the morning of the 24th in time for the 'Boat naming Ceremony' in the evening.  I am attending a one day seminar/workshop on 'Mentoring' (I think) being run by one of the boat sponsors, Mission Performance, on the 25th and then all crew on Leg 1 need to report to Clipper on the morning of the 26th for the final countdown to the race.  I also have to fit in a Clipper party on the 28th and a final Unicef 'do' on our final evening in town, the 29th. 

All this partying is tiring with too much food and drink being consumed on a daily basis.  Still, in a couple of weeks time I will embark on an 11 months weight loss programme, so maybe a couple of extra cakes won't cause too much damage.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of my fund raising efforts.  Both Ocean Stars Trust and  Frensham Pond Sailability are charities close to my heart so please dig deep and make a donation

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KateWhyatt

 

and come to think of it there is nothing to stop you donating more than once over the next eleven months.

Da Nang announced as SE Asia stopover port

Hot off the Press

Clipper have announced that Da Nang, on the eastern coast of Vietnam, is going to be the stopover port on our way from Australia to China.  Unfortunately Kate, my niece, will have left Vietnam where she has been living for the past year and working as a recently trained architect.  This is the first time Vietnam has been involved with the Clipper race so I expect there will be a lot of excitement on our arrival.

We have also been informed thats the fleet will return to St Katharine's Docks on the 30th July 2016.  That means that I will be back in the UK this time next year.  What a thought!

Moving house

Apologies for the lack of posts over the past few weeks but I have been extremely busy with moving house and trying to downsize into a property with half the space.  Packing up Rosedene Gardens involved hiring a skip for the 18 years worth of rubbish and junk that we had accumulated, driving to the local Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) on at least ten occasions, numerous visits to local charity shops plus charity vans collecting the larger pieces of furniture from the house.  All the forward planning did mean that we were able to fit all our belongings, albeit in quite a cramped way, into the new house.  The actual moving day was fine with some sunshine, brilliant compared to the following day when it poured with rain from sun up to sun down.

We are settling in and as I type this most of the boxes have been emptied and most things found.  Still further trips to the dump and charity shops as we all realise that some of what we moved is still superfluous to requirements and not needed.  I am in the smallest bedroom which I am finding quite cosy and certainly a lot bigger than the accomodation I will have on the boat when I will probably be hot bunking and sharing a bed while we are racing.  A good idea to downsize early I say to myself.

The one downside is the lack of an Internet connection.  I didn't get my act together soon enough and by the time it was all organised BT told me I had to wait until the 4th of August for broadband to be installed.  Oh, how reliant I had become.  I have had to start using my iPad, an experience in itself, in order to try and keep up to date with the rest of my world, so I am currently sitting down at the sailing club watching the Saturday racing as I type this.  Racing has now finished so I am watching the boats being put away.  It is a good opportunity to test out this iPad before I go away as this will be the way I communicate with the outside world while I am in foreign parts.

It is time to end this but I will hopefully be able to keep up to date with my posts once internet is installed on Tuesday.