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.