Life on board a Clipper 70

I have just returned from my L3 training, the first time on the 70 ft Clipper yacht, one of the boats I will be going around the world on.  Slightly different to the Clipper 68 in that below decks is set out differently and on deck is less cluttered, mainly because the 70 doesn't have the spinnaker pole as we will be using an asymmetric.  I thought I'd give people an idea of what it is like on the boat, so here goes:                                                               

Accommodation

Accommodation is just as basic as on the 68 though my bunk was a bit like a cave - very dark and not very high.  The only way I could get into bed was to wriggle into my sleeping bag while standing on the floor, then sit on the side of the bunk all scrunched up before lying down and lifting my feet onto the bunk.  Someone said it was the funniest thing they'd seen for a long time.  Once in it was cosy and I felt safe, and I imagine that in an ocean swell with huge waves there is not much space to be thrown around.  I didn't have any lockers so had to leave my stuff on the other side of the gangway under the bunks there.  Not sure it will be my favourite spot while we are racing but I believe that bunks are going to be allocated by drawing lots out of a hat so I might not have much choice.  I think we'll be 'hot bunking' anyway so I may well sleep somewhere different each time I put my head down.

The 'Heads'

The 'heads' (toilet) are even more basic with a hand held shower and bowl with no lid.  I can imagine having a shower will be something that is not done very often as water will be salty and it will take ages to clean up afterwards.  Everyone has to sit, including the boys, and they have to be left as found.  It is quite an achievement to be able to balance as the boat heels over at 30 degrees, and if those on deck suddenly decide to tack it can be quite a challenge to stay sitting as the boat is 'flung' the other way.  There are two of these delightful 'rooms', divided off from the rest of the boat by a flimsy zipped canvas door.

The Galley

The galley is positioned in the centre of the boat at the bottom of the companionway up onto deck.  A reasonably equipped and compact space with everything tidied away in cupboards with no doors.  A decent hob with five gas rings and a small oven and grill so, as long as the seas aren't too rough, some decent meals can be served up.  We will each take it in turns to be on 'mother watch' for a day during which time we are responsible for all meals and cleaning.  Mother watch lasts for 24 hours so also gives crew a chance to have a longer sleep, do washing, have a shower and generally chill out.  I can't say I am particularly looking forward to having to spend my time below decks but hopefully seasickness will become a thing of the past as my brain gets used to seeing and feeling contradictory experiences.

Inside the sail locker looking down through the hatch from the deck



Unlike on the Clipper 68 where we slept in the sail locker the 70 has a separate sail locker in the bows.  It means that we won't be soaked every time the hatch is opened to either take up or bring down a sail.  There are bunks in this very basic space and I expect that if the boat has a full complement of 22 crew on board then people may have to sleep there.  Not sure.  This picture is of Mel (another Team Jim crew member) and I after we had repacked the locker after the final day deep clean.  It doesn't always look this tidy!

Floor boards removed and bilges cleaned
and wiped down

 At the end of the training week, and every time we finish a race, we have to do a 'deep clean'.  This involves taking everything out of the boat, including all our personal belongings, and wiping everything down with anti-bac (anti-bacterial spray) including cushions, mattresses, all lockers and bilges.  Floor boards are taken up and washed down on the pontoon, foul weather gear and all the lines and sheets (ropes) are hosed down with fresh water.  Once everything has been put back the decks are washed down and tidied up.

Washing under the 'cuddy'

This is also a time for maintenance including servicing the winches and repairing lines.  Time in port at the end of each race will include all this maintenance and it is not until that has been completed that we will be able to have some time off.




Will I remember which bit goes where?

Sophie has become a good pal since we met on Level 1 just after Easter.  She is also RTW (round the worlder) but on Qingdao, the boat sponsored by the city that held the sailing events in the Beijing Olympics.  The plan at the moment is to get together on our stopovers - it will be good to see a different face and to be able to download after an intense few weeks at sea.



Sophie splicing a sheet that had become frayed and
in danger of falling apart.

Living is going to be interesting.  It's OK for a
few days when it's possible to go ashore for a shower but for 5 weeks without a break - a totally different 'kettle of fish'.  I can imagine resentments growing if someone is perceived not to be pulling their weight, or, for example, if they have taken one too many biscuits.  I am hoping that this is where my skills as a listener will come in, and that I am able to give people the space to be heard in a non-judgemental and empathic way.

The next time on a boat will be in early July when I will be training with my Skipper, Jim, and with others from my boat.  I am looking forward to it.

Looking west as we sailed down the Solent and back to Gosport

 

Crew Allocation and start port

A good day yesterday when we found out that we will be leaving from St Katherine's Docks on the 30th August. Also I

am on 'Team Jim' and will be finding out our boat sponsor when that has been sorted.

Seems like a good crew and I am really pleased to have Jim as skipper.  Two others from my Level 1 Training and one person from Frensham Sailing Club so not all unknown.  The race has really started!!

Now on L2 training which began with Sea Survival today and will continue with offshore life when we set sail tomorrow.  A real mix of crew including 3 from China, 4 from South Africa, 2 from France and me. Skipper from Canada and his mate from Liverpool - so an international feel.

Will let you know how the week went, but I'm hoping for good winds to take us west along the south coast and back.

 

'Team Jim' on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall just after Crew Allocation

Living on Board with Level 2

The idea of Level 2 training is to get an understanding of what it is like living on board 24/7 in a watch system - cooking, cleaning, sailing, sleeping, engine checking, sleeping, being seasick, helming, sleeping, nausea ......... etc. 

The day after Crew Allocation I reported to a school swimming pool in Gosport where 20 of us were doing our sea survival training.  We spent the morning going through the theory of surviving if tossed overboard, abandoning into a life raft or staying with the boat.  A charismatic guy brought life to what could have been a very boring session but turned out to be quite interesting, before we all headed for the swimming pool to put into practice some of the things we had talked about in the morning.  We jumped into the pool, clambered into a life raft, formed a 'snake' to get from one end of the pool to the other, raced, shouted, swam, had buckets of water thrown at us - simulation of the Pacific Ocean I think,  and generally had a laugh.  A good way to start to get to know the crew we would be spending the next few days with.




'The Crew'

It was then onto the boat, CV9, with nine others plus skipper and mate, for the sailing part of the training.  The crew was an eclectic mix of Chinese, French, South Africans, Dutch and a smattering of Brits, which made for some interesting discussions and cultural exchanges.  Most of us succumbed to a bout of seasickness with some of the younger South Africans taking to their bunks for a significant part of the time.  Considering some of them couldn't swim and had probably never seen the sea before they generally made a stirling effort to take part.

Sunset over the Isle of Wight from the English Channel

The idea was to head west down towards Portland but the exceptionally cold wind for the time of year, from the north and west, meant that we headed south across the Channel to France instead.  We witnessed a couple of stunning sunsets, one across to the Isle of Wight and the other as we headed towards the French coast, which made the crossing bearable. 



Evening sky as we head towards the French coast east of the
Cherbourg Peninsular

It was lovely watching the sky get darker and for the moon to rise into a star studded sky, while the lights on fishing boats, tankers and cruise liners blinked and sparkled across the black sea.  To say that I am excited about crossing some of the most inhospitable oceans in the world is an understatement.  I can't wait to experience the night skies and sunsets, to watch the changing colour of the sea as day turns to night and back again, to see the sun set and moon rise, though not necessarily in that order, and to experience the sounds of the water as we slice our way from one continent to another.



         What was it like living on board?  For the first two and a half days I was feeling nauseous and was sea sick.  I did wonder what on earth I had signed up for and was I making an enormous mistake.  Kees (pronounced Case), our skipper, took part in the 13-14 race and tried to convince us that the nauseous feeling goes after 2-3 days as the body starts to ignore the sensations created by the fluids in the inner ear. Unfortunately we didn't stay offshore for more than 2 1/2 days so his theory was never fully tested.  I did manage to get out of my bunk and onto deck for my watches, but because I didn't eat properly for 48 hours I started to feel very weak, tired and dizzy.  Kees made the decision to go back to Gosport as, at times, there weren't enough crew on deck to practice sail changes, reefing etc.  A good decision though I would have like to have stayed out for a further 24 hours.  We had fulfilled the brief - got a good idea of what it was like to live offshore and to function within a watch system.




Is anything vertical?  The cooker certainly doesn't
seem to think so.

We all took it in turns to be on Mother Watch - to cook and clean - and it was an interesting experience heating up baked beans and pasties while the boat tacked from side to side.  The cooker was on gimbals but never seemed to sit in an horizontal position - or perhaps I was never in a vertical position to judge.  I would be leaning one way only to find that my world tipped and I was then leaning the other. 
 
Getting in and out of my bunk was challenging, as was going to the loo.  If there was a clatter up above it probably meant we were about to tack so 'brace..brace..brace' as the boat rocked through 90 degrees.  Sleeping wasn't too bad and I managed to get to sleep quite quickly.  There was the 'snoring orchestra' in concert most nights but the sound of the water on the hull as the boat travelled through the water was loud, but comforting at the same time.  The boat slamming into the waves wasn't too much of a problem for me but then I have had many years of training as I slept in large dormitories in various boarding schools as I grew up.

The view behind

Our last day of training was spent sailing up and down the Solent practicing the evolutions we hadn't been able to do during the preceding days due to low watch numbers. Tacking, gybing, putting in reefs, shaking out reefs, man over board drills, lowering and raising headsails, driving, knot tying practice, were all gone through in fine detail until we had it sussed.  I have to say, training is hard work, especially when it is cold.






Sunset over the Solent

I was sad to be returning to Gosport at the end of our last day of sailing.  I know I hadn't been well for part of the time but I had met some wonderful people from all over the world.  I have now met someone who will book me a hotel room and show me round Quindao when I get there in March 2016.  I have cooked and cleaned with young South Africans who are about to embark on their journeys of a lifetime as they are each sponsored for one leg of the race.  I have heard and taken onboard advice given by the skipper who took part in the race a couple of years ago and I have learned a little more about living and sailing on an ocean racing yacht.



The deep clean of floor boards

The last morning was spent deep cleaning the boat.  This involves cleaning everything from the bilges to the galley and heads, from the mattresses and cushions to the floor boards.  I was on floor boards which entailed taking all the boards off the boat, washing both tops and underneaths with Milton, drying them and trying to put them back in the same order and place they came out from.  Luckily some of the younger guys had technical backgrounds so could solve the puzzle as they were presented with various unlabelled floor boards through various hatches in what seemed like a random order.

On reflection it was a good week, though at times I did wonder if I had done the right thing in signing up as I leant over the guard rail on the leeward side at the back of the boat.  Now that I am back home I know it is the right thing to be doing. 

My Level 3 starts next week on the 15th May with an Offshore Safety course, before we head out into the Solent again.  This time it will be on one of the 70 ft race boats so that we can practice with the asymmetric spinnaker and start thinking about race tactics.  I can't wait!!