michael's round the world adventure
And so the new Cork boat remains ever elusive, as we continue in our attempts to reach her. Yesterday morning, I transferred onto Team Finland once more, and we slipped lines at 0630 to begin our Panama Canal transit. It was only after we slipped that we were informed that the pilot would be arriving to take us through at 0930... We then had a long wait to get through the first of the locks, and it came clear as time slipped by that we would not be getting through the final gates by our 1700 time slot. So, it was a raft of three boats - Uniquely Singapore, Cape Breton Island and ourselves on Team Finland - who were left in the lake on the wrong side of the final lock gates waiting for the morning when we could complete our journey. Needless to say, we made the most of the situation, and stereos were turned up, we went swimming in the fresh water to cool down, and then beer and rum made the wait seem shorter... We have just gone through the final lock, being followed by a massive tanker which had inches to spare on either side, and we are now motoring down the final stretch of the canal towards the Carribean. Noreen, Kev, Marco, and I - all on board Team Finland for this trip - just can't wait to get a look around our new boat! Orla will be following a little later today, and we will once more be a full crew! I've had a great time on board Edinburgh though. Some good has come out of the Gosong Mampango 'Incident', and that is the new friends I have made, and the experience of sailing on a different yacht, and seeing a different crew working together. I was made to feel so welcome, and really will miss sailing with them. The last week on the boat was hot, and with very light winds, but through a lot of hard work we managed to stay ahead of Hull and Humber to take 6th place, which we were very pleased with. The Pacific didn't let us go without a fight, and after days of no wind, we spent the last 12 hours of our journey motoring into 30 knots of wind, making it very slow going. But Panama was a very welcome sight, where cold drinks and showers were given a high priority. The shower especially important after being ceremonially dumped off the side of Edinburgh in the marina. A lovely coating of diesel - although the cooling effect almost made it worth while! Mixed emotions then, but with our new boat, the old crew, and an excellent new skipper waiting at the marina just around the corner, the excitement of getting back to Cork is the overriding one! Slan agus beannacht! 1 Comment 4th May 2010 05/04/2010
As we get closer to the Panama Canal which will at long last close the door - quite literally - on our Pacific Ocean epic, the big word on board is of the ever increasing heat and humidity on board. A far cry from the baltic conditions we experienced on the trip from Qingdao to San Francisco, finding shade on deck is getting increasingly important. Life down below is less comfortable - there is no escape from the heat and humidity, making sleep ever more difficult to come by. Mother watch today is uncomfortable - cooking in these conditions is not pleasant! But with a flat sea, one can't complain too much, it's not too challenging... The one thing that does baffle me is that the tea orders keep on coming - how anyone can take a hot drink in these conditions, I just don't understand! The last week has seen variable winds - anything from 2 knots to 30 knots, the different conditions all bringing with them their own challenges. Heavy winds are the easiest to deal with - a slick peel of spinnaker from medium weight down to heavy weight, and then it's just keeping the sail trimmed and the boat on course. Light winds are more challenging. To maintain the momentum of this 32 ton vessel means relentless concentration on trimming the sails to catch every breath of air that comes our way. An art rather than a science, this is where the hard yards are gained. The celebrations come at ever lower boat speeds - a couple of hours after 11 knots had been a regular achievement, 5 knots gets celebrated with the same fervour as the wind dies away. The worst part about the regular sail changes has to be the spinnaker packing down below. Rolling, tying, and stowing a 340 square metre sail below decks on one of these yachts is one of the hottest and most uncomfortable tasks to be completed on these tropical races. And so the only other thing to report is a minor equipment failure during the week. The spinnaker guy, which holds the pole and the clew of the spinnaker in place, failed on Saturday, leaving the pole unrestrained, and more importantly the medium weight kite flying from just the halyard and one sheet. This with the wind building over 20 knots. Some quick action had the kite down, undamaged, and the heavy weight on deck ready to hoist again. But then, an error on the fordeck, saw the heavyweight take off before we were ready for it, and with just the clews attached - the halyard was still not attached to the head. Another imaginative drop followed, and we finally gave in and raised the Yankee 2 for a few hours as the wind increased further. Once all was settled, it was back to spinnaker sailing once more. I’ve also done quite well on birthday treats today… On board, there were muffins, Benromach scotch, a poem, and happy birthday played by Malcolm on the bagpipes – a first for me! And there was also a special delivery of cards, pictures and video from home, with my nieces singing happy birthday to me from 5,000 miles away! Thanks to all, it’s been a very memorable birthday! And so we carry on, through the heat, towards our objective - where I believe Cork is now lying in wait for us. At our current speed of 1.7 knots, that could be some time away... Slan agus beannacht! 25th April 2010 04/25/2010
Not long since the last blog, so this one will be quick! I’m on mother watch today, and with some nice flat seas it’s not a bad watch to get, so I’ve some time to write down a few thoughts as we trundle along at about 9 knots down the coast of Baja California. So, we passed through the scoring gate this morning, the fifth boat in the fleet to do so. No points then, but another marker on the journey south towards our rendezvous with Cork on the far side of the Panama Canal. We are approximately one third of the way to Panama, having covered just over 1000 nautical miles through the water – but still having a little over 2000 miles left to the finish line at the Pacific side of the Canal. We have been blessed with some truly stunning sailing conditions so far this race – the contrast to the last race could not be more marked. Instead of the bitter cold, grey skies, and big, menacing, grey seas, we are currently making our way through a flat, blue sea; overhead, the sky is cloudless and azure blue; and to top it all we have 10-15 knots of breeze just aft of the beam to help us along to our destination – and to keep us cool down below! It is truly a privilege to be sailing in these conditions. Spirits on board Edinburgh are high, fifth place being a very respectable mid-fleet position. There is a feeling that certainly third was on the cards for a time, but despite sterling work by the crew in implementing sail changes in lightning fast times, it seems that other team’s sail plans served them better. Qingdao and Jamaica in third and fourth are looking challenging to catch. Team Finland and Australia look to have the top two sewn up, however with light and fluky winds expected up ahead, there are no guarantees, and certainly even the hint of a podium finish has the crew here chomping at the bit. There may be a chance yet! There was certainly some satisfaction in seeing our new skipper on Qingdao picking up a point through the scoring gate – never in any doubt of her abilities as a racing skipper, it’s nice to see that confirmed up close! We look forward to more of the same on Cork – with Hannah in charge, and our close, competent, crew getting down to work, we look forward to seeing what we can do with those extra ten tons! Slan agus beannacht! Day 4 of Race 8, and we seem to finally be rid of the cold weather that has been a feature of our sailing since our approach to Qingdao in February. Gone are the days of 7 layers of clothing under ones foul weather gear – it looks like we are not far off the shorts and t-shirt weather that we enjoyed way back on leg one! Unfortunately, with that will inevitably come the discomfort of the extreme heat below decks, and I’m sure we’ll all be thinking wistfully back to the cooler days – but for just now the temperature is just perfect, and we are enjoying some ideal sailing conditions, so we’ll enjoy it while we can! This race started with some heavy winds, the fleet setting a quick pace as we set off under the Golden Gate Bridge. With all nine boats in a close fought battle, apparently the sight of us from the bridge was pretty impressive. We were concentrating hard on working our way into as good a position as possible as we left though, and have managed to keep Edinburgh in contention at the front half of the fleet. That first night was not the most comfortable way to introduce some of the new ‘leggers’ who joined in San Francisco to the world of ocean racing. With the wind ahead of the beam and gusting at 45 knots, the boat was heeled over, bouncing through waves, and there was a lot of water on deck. Exhilarating stuff, but comfortable it certainly was not! But Tricia, Malcolm, John, Will and the returning Les all seem to be settling in nicely – although Tricia slightly less comfortably after having police officer Simon land on her following a particularly large wave across the deck. The resulting bruised ribs did not keep her down for long, and today we wish her a very happy birthday – our gift being a mother watch with Les. At least she gets a good night’s sleep!? Enduring the rough weather has been helped by the fantastic cheese on board - courtesy of Kerrygold, all the Cork Crew host boats have a box of fantastic box of Dubliner and Blarney Castle cheese to get us through these early days. A much appreciated luxury on board! As the wind has steadily died off – to the point where today we have reached single figures for the first time in a long while – so the sail changes have come thick and fast. Yankee 2 at the start gave way to Yankee 3 as the wind initially built, then back to the Yankee 2, then the Heavyweight spinnaker and now the Medium weight spinnaker as it has died down again. It has been a lot of hard work, but it really feels very good to be racing again after the fairly boring Pacific leg, where we were restricted to very limited sail plans to protect the rig. Damage limitation has been another important part of this early section of the race. The light winds early today gave us the chance to repair a small tear in the mainsail that we had identified yesterday. Another nick in the spinnaker was spotted early, and repaired in situ – Jane waiting for the constantly moving spinnaker to hold still for long enough to apply the sail repair patch to the affected area! And after a deck check identified some wear on a Yankee sheet against the spinnaker pole, some ‘minor adjustments’ involving a file were made by Alan, and the problem is resolved before it became any kind of an issue. So, we crack on down the coast, keeping on the lookout for whales (apparently it’s migration season, but we’ve not spotted any yet…), and battling to keep up with the leaders. For this Cork Crew member, it’s also getting ever closer to the new boat, which I am sure is continuing to take shape under the watchful eyes of Rachel and Jacqui in Antigua, while Hannah gets her Clipper racing eye in on board Qingdao just ahead of us on the race track. It’s going to be fantastic to get the crew back together, I know all of us are just itching to get out there on the new heavy Cork. It’ll be tough to keep up with these lightweight Clipper boats, but we know we have the best team in the fleet, so if anybody can do it, Cork can! Slan agus beannacht! Mike Lewis. After the longest leg of the race, we are currently enjoying what has turned out to be the longest stopover of the race. The stopover here in San Francisco has been lengthened from the originally planned six days to sixteen, as we patiently await the arrival of Team Finland, who are working to catch up with us after being delayed in Qingdao awaiting their replacement mast. We think of them often, and hope that they are maintaining their good spirits as they approach the finish of the epic crossing, which has been a far more lonely affair for them than it was for the rest of the fleet. They are an excellent team, and I’m sure they are looking forward to resuming racing down to Panama as much as the rest of the fleet are looking forward to having them back in the fleet. Before that though, there will be the new boat – and pictures of Aurora turning into Cork in Antigua have been keeping our appetite whetted. It will be great to finally join her and get the team back together! We, on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, are now just under 400 nautical miles from the The immediate future, of course, involves a lot of thought about the things that we have missed for the last five weeks at sea. Fresh food, showers, an end to the constant motion, and of course beer, are all high on the list of things we are looking forward to when we arrive in The vastness of the Until A lot of news since I wrote the last blog, so just a quick update on thoughts from this end. As I wrote the previous blog, a communications blackout was called on board, preventing me from sending it. These blackouts are never good news – previous blackouts had been when Finland was dismasted, apparently when we ran aground, and when Piers was injured previously in this leg – and with all of the boats except Finland thousands of miles from land, we were certainly concerned. The good news came first – no serious injuries. Then came the bad. Singapore had been damaged by a serious knockdown, losing their main hatch cover and damaging the helm. And California had been dismasted, details sketchy as all long range communication equipment was down. This race is starting to truly turn into one of attrition. With friends and, in some cases, relatives, on both boats, we were all concerned for the welfare of the crews, and then thoughts turn to how we can help them. We got the news as steadier winds and more manageable seas started to come in, so thankfully we had weathered the storm undamaged. Our damaged rig held up well, the crew tired but unbeaten. The next weather forecast was a concern – three low pressure systems joining to form a massive low, with hurricane force winds predicted. We are due to see this system in the next 24 – 48 hours. We have been heading south at best possible speed to stay out of the worst of it. Strong winds are expected, but by staying south we shouldn’t see much more than 40 knots, which we are comfortable we can ride out. At the moment we need to concentrate on getting through this bit ourselves, and then we will return our attention to helping California. Once the low has cleared, we will carry on to rendevous with California. It is likely that we will stay with them the entire way to San Francisco to ensure they make it there safely. Their lack of long range communications means that it is prudent to have a second yacht in convoy with them all the way. It will certainly make me feel better to see that my friends on board – particularly former Cork crewmates Noreen and Gavin – are doing ok. News today that race start out of SF will be delayed to the 16th April, hopefully this will give us time for a much needed recharge over there… I think all involved are looking forward to the end of this one! Is Yesterday, Tomorrow, Today? 21st March 2010, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Pacific Ocean 40°03’.007N 173°54’.364W It’s been a tough couple of days out here on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, with the Pacific Ocean leg proving to be the most challenging so far. Conditions are cold, grey, damp, and very windy. We have had winds fairly steadily around 45 knots, and these have been producing enormous seas – waves 15 – 20 meters high. Life on board has been, to put it mildly, uncomfortable… Still, the high wind strength has meant good progress towards our destination, with the miles to San Francisco continuing to tumble. A major milestone in our trek across this expanse of water was the crossing of the international dateline yesterday morning at 1115 local time. So it was that the 21st of March became the 20th of March, and today we have had the 21st of March once again! We’ve all been trying to get to grips with it, but the key thing is that it means that those of us who have been on since the start have now completed a semi-circumnavigation of the world! We are over halfway through the race, but now we are also halfway around the world. It also means that all the time changes from here on get us closer to the time back home, just another step in getting us back there. Today, second time round on the 21st of March, we also passed the 2,500nm mark to San Francisco. Still a hell of a long way to go yet, but it is very satisfying to see the miles tumble down. We have been managing around 200nm per day with these heavy winds, and with it all in the right direction it’s great to see our destination getting closer so quickly. We’ll take advantage of it now, as it may not last much longer… Light winds are predicted. Illness has made the last couple of days a bit more challenging too. A couple of the crew have been down suffering from a flu-like illness, with headaches and dizziness meaning that being on deck is simply not an option. As a result we have had fairly short numbers on watch, and I’ve had to step in for Alan as watch leader for the North watch while he recuperated. After reaching a low of five on watch last night – particularly difficult in these temperatures when the minimum on deck is four, not much opportunity to warm up – I’m pleased to report that Alan and Richie made it back for today’s watch, so numbers are back on the increase. If the temperature could start heading the same way, things would be very happy indeed! Slan. Quite a week… 03/16/2010
16th March 2010, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Pacific Ocean Well, the last nine days since my last update have been nothing if not eventful… It seems that the Pacific Ocean decided that if we wanted to pass through her waters, we would first have to be tested. And so we, the racing fleet of currently 8 yachts, have been. We have not all managed to come out of it unscathed, and there are still 3345 nautical miles to go to San Francisco… The drama unfolded soon after entering the Pacific proper, with winds fluctuating from dead calm to strong gale force. These conditions were a real test for skippers and crew, as we constantly battled to keep the yacht racing fast, but also trying to ensure that we did not have too much canvas up for the conditions. Things were going very well on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, with our hard work being rewarded by some very fast and exciting downwind sailing. As we started our tactical move south, things were looking good as we moved up the leader board, up to second place. Unfortunately, fate and the Pacific Ocean were against us as, with one particularly nasty gust, control was briefly lost and the boat rounded up to the wind. I was down below off watch at the time, and knew immediately that this was more serious than usual. I braced myself for the inevitable, and sure enough there was a loud bang from the deck, and a great shaking of the rig. A group of us down below leapt out of our bunks and straight into foul weather gear and up on deck. Sure enough, the spinnaker pole – which we had been using to pole out the Yankee 3 – had snapped. Once the two parts of the pole had been retrieved, there was a chance to assess the full extent of the damage. A broken pole. The pole connection to the mast bent out of all recognition. A section of the mast track for the pole pulled off the mast. A small hole punched in the mainsail as the pole flogged around. All of these things could be either repaired or worked around. But the killer blow was subtle – a bowing of one of the spreaders, part of the structure that holds our 90 foot mast up. This was a serious concern, particularly as we were still battling Force 9, and sometimes Force 10, gales. We quickly reduced sail area to a minimum, and e-mailed the race office for some advice. Sure enough, a rigging expert (on hand looking after Team Finland’s mast in Qingdao) confirmed that the structure of the rig had been seriously compromised, and that we should therefore keep stress on the rig to a minimum, and reinforce the spreader when we could. That first night was pretty intense. With a weakened rig, winds gusting over 50 knots, and waves over 20 metres in height, we had our work cut out. We reefed the mainsail down to its’ smallest, dropped all the headsails, and had to restrict the helming to the most experienced. Despite the reduced sail area, we were still surfing down waves at over 20 knots. Looking almost vertically down the deck of the boat as we prepared to speed down yet another one was pretty intense, especially when you need to keep everything smooth to prevent shock loads on the rig. Once night fell and this was happening in the pitch black, it became even more interesting. Myself and the three others who were helming that night all had a pretty haggard look on our faces the next morning! It was another two days before the sea calmed down enough for us to be able to get up the rigging to install the extra rigging to take some of the strain off the damaged spreader. With the arrangement now complete, we are feeling a little more comfortable with the rigging, but we are still having to take it very easy. With 3,300 miles yet to go, we really do not want to lose our mast out here! As a result, we can currently see Spirit of Australia, about to pass us traveling at about 9 knots, while we limp along at just 7 knots. That will make a big difference over the distance we have to travel! Our troubles, however, were really put in context and reduced to nothing with the news from Hull & Humber that their skipper, Piers, had suffered a serious fracture to his leg when they were hit by a rogue wave. It highlighted just how easy it is for things to go wrong, and that truly none of us are immune to the risks. It’s great to hear that he is now ashore and in good hands. I join with all the other crew and skippers on the race in wishing Piers a speedy recovery. So now, with the weather improving, the seas flattening and the wind dropping, we continue our journey towards San Francisco. We will take whatever this epic ocean has to throw at us. We are hoping for steady trade winds to kick in during the next week or so, hopefully they will aid our progress towards our destination. In the meantime, there will be celebrations tomorrow on board for St. Patrick’s Day – I’ll make sure of that. We can certainly claim to be some of the most remote celebrants of our national day out here! Shona la feile Padraig! Into the Abyss... 03/07/2010
Into the Aby 7th March 2010, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Pacific Ocean. Finally, after almost three months of sailing on the sea, we have returned to the vast emptiness of the ocean. And none are so vast or empty as this one, the Pacific. This is the big one, the longest period we will spend at sea during the circumnavigation – and quite probably the longest any of us will be at sea in our livetimes. The 5,000 miles of ocean that lie ahead of us represent, for me at least, the start of the journey home. We’re over halfway there, heading to more familiar territory, heading back towards family and friends. It feels good. The transition into the Pacific Ocean was fittingly dramatic. We passed from the East China Sea, south of the Japanese island of Kyushu, through the Osumi Kaikyo straits, late yesterday evening. A pitch darkness had fallen, but there was a glow of light from the islands of Japan on either side of us. Ahead though, there was only blackness. I stood on the bow, taking my turn at protecting the spinnaker from being snagged on the pulpit during the frequent wind shifts, with light either side of me, the boat behind me, and absolute nothingness ahead of me. It was a pretty awesome feeling. The conditions so far in the Pacific have certainly been varied… Although our wind instruments are misreading at the moment, from experience we have seen winds, just today, ranging from a force 1, all the way up to a force 8. Our sailplan has gone all the way from full main and windseeker, down to twice reefed main and the staysail. And that is just this morning! We are hoping for some more settled weather in the next 48 hours, but for now the watch on deck are kept busy with frequent sail changes, trying to get the most from the boat and catch the others ahead of us. It has been paying off, as we have caught back up to be in touch with the rest of the fleet. We’re still closer to the back of the pack than we would like, but hopefully we’re in a good position to push for a decent result this time. The change in weather over the past few days has certainly brought with it a change in living conditions on board. Thermal layers are being packed away, and keeping dry is becoming the key. It is certainly warmer, both in the air and in the water, but we have been beset by a lot of rain, which, along with prolonged periods on the bow of the boat, has really tested our foul weather gear. Unfortunately, mine has been found wanting – despite a full re-proofing treatment in Singapore, my Henri-Lloyd Ocean gear is leaking quite significantly, making life a little uncomfortable. Some of my colleagues who are lucky enough to be clad in Musto HPX kit are finding it difficult to hide their smugness… Fortunately my feet are remaining dry, with Dubarry and Sealskinz proving to be an, as yet, infallible combination. With my best wishes from a very heeled over and bouncy Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, I hope this finds all of you, my readers, well. | AuthorMichael Lewis, sailing round the world on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race! ArchivesJuly 2010 Categories |
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