michael's round the world adventure

 
Cork Blog, Day 6 06/23/2010
 
Almost a week into what for some is our final, and for others our first, ocean crossing of this race, and there have certainly been plenty of things to remember it for. While we still try to keep the chasing fleet at bay – Jamaica are now only 150 miles behind us, and gaining all the time – life on Cork Clipper has been the opposite of dull!

The fabulous farewell from Cape Breton – complete with a traditional dancing lesson, apparently due for a reprise in Cork – seems like an awfully long time ago now. Since then we have had a couple of days light airs sailing, when it felt like we were going nowhere, to the more recent 20-25 knots spinnaker sailing, pushing this boat to her limits, and getting some fantastic speeds out of her. In between, we have had thick fog over the Grand Banks, glorious sunshine as a massive group of whales welcomed us to the Atlantic proper, a completion of the circumnavigation for the six round the world crew members on board, and drama as suspected damaged rudder bearings threatened to put an end to our race.

The departure from Cape Breton was a strange one, as we left alone. There was ceremony nonetheless, and the locals were out in force to see us depart. After a small delay, due to a fuel flow issue with our engine, we were out into Sydney Harbour for our own start. We were delighted – but not too surprised – to be first over the line, and we set off out of the harbour with first the "ice gate" south of Newfoundland, and then the Fastnet Rock, in our sights.

Our first day or so was in fairly light conditions, but we soon picked up a depression with wind speeds of up to 30 knots, so have been flying along.

We crossed over the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the infamous fog staying clear for the most part – just two days of foggy conditions, we were relatively lucky. For me, these were some of the best days of the race.

Sunday, in particular, had it all. The weather started out fairly dull, but soon the sun was breaking through the cloud and by midday we had clear blue skies. Coupled with this was wind in the 20-25 knot range – perfect conditions for our medium weight kite, and trucking along to a top speed (set by yours truly…) of over 13 knots. As if that wasn’t enough, just before sunset we found ourselves surrounded by multiple pods of what we believe to be sperm whales. Each pod seemed to consist of about 10 whales, and we saw at least five distinct pods. One whale surfaced within about 10 meters of the boat, it was a truly special sight. This was a day we all felt privileged to be out here on the ocean.

That was our farewell from the Grand Banks, and since then we have passed the Flemish Cap, the location made famous by the film "The Perfect Storm".

Sadly for the ladies on board, there was no sign of Mr. Clooney, but happily for us all there was also no sign of the conditions seen in that movie either! Shortly after passing the Cap, yesterday evening we passed through another milestone, with those of us who have been on board since Hull officially completing a circumnavigation – by passing through every line of longitude on the planet. We are honored to have joined an exclusive club, and the occasion was marked with stickers, certificates, and a very special cake made by Marco!

We’ve had some lovely conditions up top today as I have been below, along with Orla, trying to keep everybody fed and watered. Winds have been up after taking a small break yesterday, surf has been building and, despite our boat’s inherent dislike for the sport, she has been coming off waves pretty nicely – culminating in Tom Breen (with the help of Keith Hale on trim) hitting an impressive top speed of 14 knots, the highest we have had so far. I’m not at all bitter that he beat my high of 13.1 from a couple of days ago…

The joy was short-lived, however, as very soon after this high speed surf, a rather worrying "wobble" throughout the boat was noted. Boards were lifted to check the keel boats first, and when they checked out ok, damage to the rudder bearings were suspected. With the wind building, the off watch and the mothers were called on deck for a hasty drop of the heavyweight kite to make things more comfortable for further investigation.

With the kite down, decking and a liferaft were moved to provide access to the steering gear, where everything appeared in order.

Further investigations down below continued, with Hannah eventually discovering that the shaft break, which holds the propeller stationary while we are sailing, had failed. A quick fix involving some very strong spectra line was undertaken, and just like that, the wobble disappeared!

Surprising that this could have such an impact, but an effect called cavitation will have been taking place off the propeller, effectively boiling the water aft of the prop, and causing massive turbulence around the rudder. This was the cause of the "wobble" we were feeling.

So, the massive worry we were all feeling about the future of our race – it was really not a pleasant half hour with the prospect of having to take it easy all the way into Kinsale looming – now out of the way, we are back to what we do best. We continue to push hard towards our goal, trying to get into port well ahead of the rest of the fleet. That may mean making it in ahead of schedule and our families, but I hope that all will understand!

There is still a long way to go, and as we have seen today things can change in an instant. All we can do is deal with the issues as they arise, and continue to sail the boat safely and quickly. Here’s to fair winds taking us home!

Slan agus beannacht.

 


Comments

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Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:50:41

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