Growing excitement

The list of skippers for the race has just been officially announced. You can see the list here not to mention the ultra cool photo of the skippers swaggering along.

I am soooo excited about crew allocation day which is coming up on 30 May. It’s the day we’ll find out which boat we’ve been assigned to. I have asked to be put on the boat skippered by the guy who ran both of my training sessions. If you look at the list, he’s the chap whose going to be sailing the Qingdao boat. He’s also the only one in the photo wearing sunglasses (because sunglasses make you even more cool - unwritten rule of sailing.)

So assuming I get my request, I’ll be on the Chinese boat. But they have so many factors they have to take into account when assigning people that it’s almost impossible to guess. From the feedback I’ve had from others, all the skippers are great though. It’s just so darn exciting!!!!

This morning I also gave a presentation to my son’s school all about the race. Their theme for the week was Around the World, so it tied in nicely. Talking about the race, where it’s going to go, all the fab places the boats will be visiting has made me feel like I’ve got ants in my pants and I just can’t concentrate on anything.

Right, back to work.

Tags: Chinese, Qingdao, sailing, skippers

3 comments May 19th, 2009

Money money money

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In a rich man’s world.

That Abba track has been my theme tune for today. That’s because tomorrow I’ll be holding the first of my fund raising events to help me cobble together the pennies I need to pay my way in this mad sailing endeavour.

I’m holding a Baby Bargains sale. I’ve roped in several local mummies, who like me have a loft full of baby stuff we need to get rid of but can’t find the time to do it, to become sellers. I get commission off the stuff they sell and obviously I’ll be selling my own stuff too. Here’s hoping we all make millions….Or at least tens.

It’s been an exhausting process. Firstly trying to find the sellers and now, trying to rustle up the buyers. For the last few weeks I’ve spent my spare time (which as you may know I have heaps of) driving around putting posters up, handing out leaflets and getting the sale listed in what’s on directories. I’ve done as much as I could possibly do but I feel sure that I could have done more. I’m terrified that no-one will turn up and we will make no money and worse, have to go home again with all of our baby stuff just when we thought we’d finally made some room in the house.

So fingers crossed that people come in droves. Fingers crossed they buy all the stuff. Fingers crossed I don’t keel over and die of exhaustion by the end of the day.

Just to add to the already fairly astronomical stress levels of this week, my husband has been in the US since Monday and only returns at midday tomorrow. This has left me with a small dilemma. What exactly do I do with two small boys while I try to set up and run a sale? Tricky non?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get friends to watch them as most of the friends are already involved in helping out at the sale. So I’ve had to ask their childminder to have them (at vast expense - which is slightly counter-productive when you’re trying to raise money). I’d like to say that my husband owes me one, but I feel he might point out that I’m the one heading off sailing for 5 weeks so don’t really have a peg leg to stand on. sigh

So this afternoon, while a friend once again helped out with the boys, I rushed around buying safety pins, blue tack, card and a myriad of other strange things I feel might come in handy tomorrow. I also visited the bank with a wodge of cash and got them to turn it into a float. I am now the proud owner of bags of 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 pieces. What a joy it was carrying that through the centre of Newbury.

I shall spend this evening labelling up the last few items, making pots to collect door donations in, making signs, making floats and seller lists and finding calculators…all accompanied with a large bottle of wine.

I shall however, interrupt the proceedings to watch the EuroMillions lottery draw because you never know, I might just be the one in 76 million chance person who wins the £110 million prize. And if I do, you can bet your bottoms that I’ll be handing out my baby stuff gratis tomorrow morning. I’ll then sign up to sail the full round the world race and will pay for my family to fly to every stopover. My husband will stop working, as will I. We’ll get to spend more than one day every two weeks together. The children will have a private tutor to help us get over the drama of getting child 1 off to school everyday. And all will be well.

Here’s hoping. Wish me luck.

Tags: baby bargains sale, fund-raising, Money, sailing

2 comments May 8th, 2009

Feeling fab

I’ve just returned home from my second week of training to find a very quiet, empty house as my husband and the boys are still driving back from my mother in law’s house. So I thought I’d use the few moments of peace to fill you in on how it went.

In short, it was AWESOME!

Last Sunday I set off feeling very tired and slightly nervous but a bit more prepared for what lay ahead of me. I felt far more confident about what to pack, meaning I could get away with a bag half the size of the one I used last time. Which in turn meant I could actually carry it to the boat without pulling a muscle.

Arriving on the pontoon I discovered that I would have the same skipper that I had on part A, which was great as it meant one friendly face. Then, even better, the marvellous Chris - aka Captain Turbo - another member of my group from part A was also on my part B. I immediately felt at home. Unlike last time, I was one of only two girls with many strapping young men to do all the heavy lifting. Another bonus!

Much like last time, we started off with team building exercises which at one point involved my face being inches away from a stranger’s crotch as we all attempted to stand on a very small dot on a sail, so the ice was well and truely broken by bedtime.

This time we stayed on (and sailed) the actual boats we’ll be going on for the race. They’re a lot bigger than the others with slightly more room below deck - like toilets you can actually sit on without your feet sticking out the door (not to mention toilet door zips that actually zip up). I was quick to nab a bed that was in the middle of the boat to ensure maximum stability but given we didn’t do any night sails, it didn’t make too much difference.

Day 1 involved a good long sail out through the Solent to the Needles to refresh everything we’d learnt on Part A training. Standing on deck in torrential icy cold rain that stung my eyes as I attempted to look up at the sail certainly brought back memories and once again I questioned my sanity in doing this.

But once the rain cleared and we got a fab view of the Needles, it all started looking up.

Day 2, the sun was shining and we got to learn all about spinnakers. After a morning of cleaning (a non-stop job on a boat) and theory, we headed out to try out our spinnaker hoisting skills, which were somewhat lacking. Luckily so was the wind so we were able to play around with the huge sails without too much drama. Well except for one of the spinnaker sheets getting stuck in the prop and the skipper having to dive into icy water to sort it out. Here he is emerging a bit chilly from the water:

We also got to pack the spinnaker’s back into their bags. Imagine a sail the size of a tennis court. Now imagine trying to get that amount of sail cloth folded the correct way in a confined space while going over waves. It involves a lot of patience. Here I am with crew member Jen folding one of the spinnaker’s up. It’s hot work, hence the red face:

Day 3 we had a fabulous sail down past Selsy bill. Sitting lined up on the side of the boat with the sun on our faces and a breeze blowing us along while we gazed out to sea was bliss. I also got to hone my skills in the snakepit, the part of the boat where all the halyards and lines come in to and can get themselves into a massive knot unless you’re constantly flaking them out on the deck behind you. It’s a job that requires you to know which rope to pull when while you communicate between the foredeck crew and the helm. It’s normally girls who get to do this job well because it involves communications skills and the ability to multi-task. I loved it!

I was also on Motherwatch duty which involves cooking food for the entire crew and cleaning up. Unlike last time, this time I was able to cook in relatively calm seas although if you look at the pic below, take note of the angle of the cooker in the galley - it swivels to the angle of the boat so that the pots don’t slide off it when the boat is heeled over. Still not exactly an easy cooking experience but at least this time it didn’t end with me vomiting over the back of the boat.

Day 4 was another light wind day but we got to race the other training boat in some seriously competitive races. I really enjoyed the racing and the fact that we were finally starting to work together as a cohesive team without millions of mistakes (not entirely mistake free but we certainly looked a bit more professional). It felt far more like what the real race will be like and for the first time I really started to understand why doing this is going to be such a blast.

That night we moored up in East Cowes and had a fab night out eating and drinking and generally behaving the way sailors normally behave when they’re remotely close to a bar.

Day 5 We set off first thing in virtually non-existant winds and tried to understand tide charts and weather systems before setting off on another race, this time a long one some way out to the East of the Isle of Wight. We won by ten minutes - yay! By now the wind had picked up a lot, with gusts up to 35 / 40 knots. And I got to helm. Gulp.

I know how to steer a boat. But steering a 68 foot, 35 tonne boat in big seas and strong wind isn’t easy. By the time we got to the first mark my shoulders were rock hard, my arms and legs aching. And then we got to do the downwind leg. For anyone not familiar with sailing, this means you have the wind behind you and the potential to gybe at a moment’s notice (which is when the boom swings across the boat taking out everyone in its path - not a good thing really).

So we’re heading downwind fast, surfing big waves, the wind threatening to gybe the mainsail. Coming directly towards us was a rather large container ship. Coming at us in the opposite direction was a fast ferry to the channel islands, with the boat we were racing coming at us on the opposite tack (and they had right of way). Let’s just say that I needed a stiff drink by the time we got ourselves out of that sticky spot. That night I slept very, very well.

Day 6 Was our last day of sailing, but the winds were very light once again. After a final bit of racing, we got back, derigged and had to write an exam.

Then it was off for our big crew supper that involved plenty of chinese food, lots of wine and lots of talking seventeen types of shite.

And talking shite was a major feature of the week. Not a single meal went by without a discussion about poo. Get 8 men together and talk tends to gravitate to poo and willies. Remarkable. I thought it was simply a phase my 3 and 5 year old boys were going through but apparently it’s a lifelong affliction.

But I can honestly say that I haven’t laughed as much in years. It was a great taste of the comaraderie that develops on board. You meet brilliant characters like:

and

These two are known as foredeck monkeys, mastmen or grinding gorrillas i.e. they’re the hired muscle. But every job was done with a chuckle and a joke about poo, willies or testicles.

Living on a boat with a bunch of strangers has all the makings of a potential disaster - but you live in this amazing bubble where the rest of the world ceases to exist. You become an entirely different person to the person you are in your day to day life. I’m known as Mel on board. I’ve never been Mel. But somehow I am Mel when I’m on the boat.

You revert to the person you were before children, husbands, mortgages, school runs, work or being a grown up. It’s like being 20 all over again. It’s completely liberating. You focus on the task at hand - sailing a boat - and you forget about everything else.

So while I am back, tired and covered in bruises and have aching muscles, I look and feel healthy, happy and relaxed.

I dread the huge amount I have to do in the next two months but the old adage of a change being as good as a holiday really does hold true.

Now I just wish I was doing more legs of the race - but there’s always 11/12 race for that….

Tags: cowes, isle of wight, sailing, spinnakers, Training

5 comments May 3rd, 2009

Tick tock, tick tock

‘My bags are packed and I’m ready to go….’ Actually they’re not and I’m nowhere near ready to head off on training part B on Sunday afternoon. Between now and then I have to:

- pack in a huge amount of client work (like a month’s worth)
- prep freelancers to man the decks while I’m away
- drive around to village halls, nurseries and doctors rooms handing out posters for my nearly new fund raising sale (which takes place the weekend after I get back)
- buy a range of things needed for my nearly new sale and distribute lables and posters to other sellers
- book an ad in the local paper for the sale
- sort, iron and label all the stuff I have to sell for the sale
- buy enough groceries to keep the family in food for a week while I’m gone
- buy all the bits and pieces I need for another week at sea (including many, many seasick tablets)
- finish typing up the telephone directory sized list of instructions for my sister in law who is looking after the boys while I’m away
- practice tying bowlines
- spend time with the boys including squeezing in a football lesson over the weekend

Why is it that whenever I go on these training courses I arrive absolutely shattered, rather than well rested and ready to face a week of gruelling physical activity?

What’s more, during training, you don’t get to eat a massive amount of fresh fruit or vegetables, which when combined with having to just about poo in public, doesn’t help one’s er… regularity. So this week I should really have been doubling my five-a-day quota. But I’ve had no time to buy food, so it’s been a case of ready-steady-cook in our house using random tinned and frozen ingredients to see what culinary delights I could create. I’ve been giving the boys any fresh veg we’ve had left but I feel that scurvy might already be setting in for me.

Must go make some breakfast and start ticking off some on these things before I run out of time entirely. I’ll report back again after training week is over. Here’s hoping my fingers (still not fully recovered from last time) survive, that I get my sea legs and don’t feel quite as sick and that I’ve mastered a bowline under pressure by the time I return. Wish me luck!

Tags: nearly new sale, sailing, scurvy, sea sick, Training

4 comments April 23rd, 2009

Reflections and preparations

So I’ve been back home for a week now and I’ve had some time to reflect on my first week of training and the after effects of it. Here are some of my insights:

- extreme tiredness takes a while to get over. All of last week I felt as though I had narcolepsy, nodding off at inopportune moments. Had someone said to me: “Are you tired?”, I would honestly have been able to say no because I didn’t feel tired. Yet when I least expected it, my eyes would just suddenly close and I’d need a brief power nap to keep going.

- a week of no make up coupled with a bit of sunshine, blasts of sea air and splashes of rain = the best facial ever. Honestly, my skin has never felt as smooth or looked as clear. No need to pay a fortune to a spa, just head out to sea. Sure there’s less barfing at a spa but hey, maybe the purging helps as part of the cleansing regime.

- the week after a being at sea is not good for the figure. Your body gets used to eating bag after bag of gingernuts and chocolate raisins. Trying to convince your tummy that it no longer needs the calories isn’t easy. Then there’s a week’s worth of not drinking wine to make up. All in all, it’s probably best to take a picture of yourself when you step off the boat toned and trim because it won’t last.

- despite having a completely surreal experience, when you get home you get sucked straight back into the laundry pile and you’ll wonder whether it ever happened at all.

So now that I’ve finally stopped swaying when I shut my eyes, I have just five more days before I head off for Part B of the training. I’ve armed myself with knee pads and some better deck shoes. I’ll be packing less stuff and will certainly take more socks this time. And I need to practice those sodding bowlines because despite having mastered the art of tying them before I left home, under pressure I was pants.

Anyway, I’m off to enjoy a rare sunny day, the last day of school holidays before trying to fit a month’s worth of work into four days.

Tags: bowlines, chocolate raisins, facial, gingernuts, narcolepsy, sailing

3 comments April 20th, 2009