Browsing Archive: December, 2009

Leg 3 Day 17 - 17th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 17 - 17th December

Woke up drenched in sweat again– the lurgy has finally settled on me now!  Had a couple of paracetemol, got dressed and got on with it.

The night was as dark as any I'd seen. Complete cloud cover again making even the faintest of horizons impossible to detect.  Helming was by compass only and while not difficult, due to the still gusting winds, was challenging to keep both course and speed up and steady – still aiming for our target and keeping GKHFX in mind.  A...
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Leg 3 Day 16 - 16th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 16 - 16th December

I didn't sleep very well last night and woke up drenched in sweat – it seems I had got the cold bug now! Grabbed a couple of paracetemol from Piers – asking if he needed to pull my ear first (the medical check he used on everything – his own special Doctor Dudin signature treatment). He said no but he might pull my leg instead.  No change there then!  

Night watch – was very wet, pretty cold and very bouncy!  We are still trucking along at 10 – 11 knots. ...
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Leg 3 Day 15, 15th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 15,  15th December

My Motherwatch turn had come round again and once again was with Rob. Rob was one of the guys who had been struck down with the near fatal strain of man-flu so I suggested he stay in intensive care – sorry – bed for an extra half hours while I get breakfast organised!

We dished out the penultimate helpings of porridge for breakfast  (all our stocks were starting to run down now as we began what we hoped would be the final week of sailing) while the boat did its ...
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Leg 3 - Day 14 - 14th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 - Day 14 - 14th December

Night watch gave us some great sailing again. The stars were out in full glory although only for a couple of hours as by 4am it was getting pretty light.  We had to relearn how to do everything at an angle again and I was thrilled at the appearance of not only Wilfred but also Walter, who I hadn't seen for a few days.

I now officially have the boat cold. It's been doing the rounds and in some very serious cases has turned into man-flu, however I just have a scratc...
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Leg 3 - Day 13- 13th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 - Day 13- 13th December

At our AA meting last night JR announced that as he and Mike B would be 'Mother's' today and as it was a Sunday he was declaring an official mothering Sunday and cordially invited us to shower them with cards, flowers and other such gifts! Ordinarily I would have told them to “sod off” but as I was now relieved of my watch-leader status and therefore didn't have to pretend to be a responsible grown-up anymore - I jumped at the chance to show off my skills as a...
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Leg 3 - Day 12 - 12th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 - Day 12 - 12th December

We had our final bit of good sailing today – according to the forecasts the winds are due to drop.  However we still managed good speeds during our night watch. It's still cold but feeling much milder – and there are fabulous sunsets and sunrises at the moment that use the whole of God's great paint palette.
The engine was turned on this morning, as the winds did finally drop, so we likewise dropped the sails and used the day for starting the deep clean. All t...
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Leg 3 – Day 11 - 11th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 23, 2009,
Leg 3 – Day 11 - 11th December

After 3 days of constant flying, the guy on our spinnaker gave up the ghost today and went 'pop'.
It's probably the longest constant spinny run we've had without anything giving up, so we kind of knew it would happen eventually.
I was off watch at the time and sitting in the heads when I heard it go. On leg one there would have been panic in the air but now – for us RTWers at any rate - our reaction was 'oh that'll be the guy then!'  Being only 16 crew I knew w...
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Leg 3 Day 10 – 10th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Tuesday, December 15, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 10 – 10th December

We arrived on deck at 1.45am to a dark, dark night - not a glimmer of the moon or stars –  and we were running with the spinnaker overnight for the first time this leg. For the single leggers this was pretty daunting and for the rest of us, still a tall order as we had had first hand experience of wraps and knew how easily they could happen – especially when you can't see the sail! It's a bit like trying to pin the tail on the donkey except you don't have a b...
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Leg 3, Day 9 - 9th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Tuesday, December 15, 2009,
Leg 3, Day 9 - 9th December

We switched watches yesterday evening. I was on Port watch and am now on Starboard watch, which means that when I was going to bed at 2am, I'm now getting up at 1.30am to be on deck for the start of night watch at 2! In these temperatures the challenge of a lifetime is just to get out of your “oh-so-warm” sleeping bag, but I had responsibility on my shoulders which helped motivate me to get up and into my now 7 layers of clothes! The night watch was my first as ...
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Leg 3, Day 8 - 8th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Tuesday, December 15, 2009,
Leg 3, Day 8 - 8th December

Last night was a pleasure.  My sleeping bag, now rebuilt, was not only warm but the extra layer provided extra cushioning and I was a snuggly as a snuggly thing can be! It did take an hour or two for my feet to thaw out but they did eventually. The hardest thing now is prizing myself out of it ready for my next watch!

We had quite a busy day today, dropping headsails, reefing and putting up the heavyweight spinnaker. I took the opportunity to film some action with th...
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Leg 3 Day 7 - 7th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 7 - 7th December

I had a full night's sleep last night – part of the perk of doing mother watch – although I didn't sleep all the night as I was too chuffing cold!  I had gone to bed with the thought that I would reattach the third layer to my Ocean Sleepwear Sleeping bag (they are truly marvelous) but having looked everywhere in my locker space by head-torch I couldn't find where I had stashed it – so had to go to bed and think warm thoughts.  It was only as I readjusted my pi...
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Leg 3 Day 6 - 6th December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 6 - 6th December

It was mother watch for me today. Rob and I were teamed up to cook up a storm in the galley. Well, actually what we were cooking up was soup and sarnies for lunch and pasta Bolognese for supper.  However it's not necessarily what you do but how you do it that makes the difference on mother watch, so the very basic fare we turfed out of a moderately bouncing galley, was dressed up with a large side-order of humour, enthusiasm and a large dollop of back-chat!  It's als...
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Leg 3 Day 5 – December 5th

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 5 – December 5th

Today is John's Birthday, so after much secret squirreling during the night to organise card, decorations and cake, (Mike B had managed to find some egg substitute in Cape Town so we had high hopes for the result of the cake mix) John woke to find birthday banners and balloons and a semi-celebratory breakfast with card and present (tiny bottle of South African scotch).  The sun came along to celebrate, as did a magnificent Royal Albatross (not to be confused with t...
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Leg 3 Day 4 – December 4th

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 4 – December 4th

Night watch last night promised to be a long chilly one with the prospect of staying on starboard tack and the wind direction set, there was potentially little else to do other than helm and keep an eye on the trim. However, we were kept on our toes all night as we periodically hit wind-holes for 5 or 10 minutes at a time, would run round trimming the sheets to try and keep the boat moving and then the next minute we'd be doing 11 and 12 knots again – so then re-...
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Leg 3 Day 3 – December 3rd

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3 Day 3 – December 3rd

Night watch last night was cold. Extra layers were added – to the point where it took me twice as long and most of my patience to get my Foulie jacket on and off over the top of it all.  We were by no means at our coldest point of the race, so how I would cope in 10 – 15 degrees less I don't know! I may have to buy a jacket 2 sizes bigger!

The wind dropped again during the day and the yankee 1 – the biggest and heaviest of the foresails went up. We learnt how ...
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Leg 3, Day 2 - 2nd December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Leg 3, Day 2 - 2nd December

Still feeling shaky I did feel well enough to have toast and marmalade for breakfast – which immediately made me feel better still and I knew I was over the worst!  There were still quite a number being ill but each hour complexions were changing back from green to normal and the smiles were making a return to faces.  The wind had settled overnight and we'd also moved off the Agulhus Shelf, which had contributed to the short choppy waves that had been our downfall...
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Leg 3, (Race 4), Day 1 - 1st December

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
1st December

We finally left after much scrambling around and final checks from the surveyor to give us the all clear.

The last tools were all stowed, a quick final tidy up, a fill up with water and a wave off from the Clipper Team, the surveyor and all the local 'yachties' who had been watching our story with interest.
As we left, the Club rang their bell and bade us a good luck and a special farewell over the tannoy system.

It’s great to finally be heading out again – 9 days after most of t...
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Mon 30th – Cape Town – Day 8 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Mon 30th
Today we would be moving back onto our beloved H&H. Hoorah! We were all packed and ready to go by 9am and piled into taxis and cars.
The boat was in a state of chaos but the main thing was that, where there had been a gaping hole in her hull, there was now a new shiny, apparently stronger than ever, bit of fibre glass.  Other than the missing branding she was looking almost as before. The final bits of woodwork were going into place along with the new block, the stanchions and the guar...
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Sat 28th & Sun 29th – Cape Town – Day 6-7 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Sat 28th  & Sun 29th

The weekend passed slowly – a mixture of anticipation for the off and a final relax before we were. On Saturday morning we all gathered in one of the apartments for an update from Piers.  We were hoping that we could start doing some prep-work on the boat but Piers told us that we couldn't get access until Sunday late afternoon at the earliest, so a few of us agreed to reconvene then, ready to go and work – through the night if necessary – so that we could set sail ...
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Fri 27th – Cape Town – Day 5 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Fri 27th

The waiting game gave way to another game today. Knowing that we'd be here all week, some of the guys bought a load of tickets to see one of the one-day cricket internationals between England and South Africa. Charles and I volunteered to shop first thing for a big crew picnic and at midday we set off for Newlands cricket ground with enough food to feed a small army.
The ground was pretty packed but we were pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount of St George Cross flags being wave...
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Thurs 26th – Cape Town – Day 4 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Thurs 26th

Cork left for Oz  today.  We found out early on that they were going to be ready to leave by early evening.   A few of us went to wave them off and with them, two of  our H&H crew members, Charlie and Vic. It was hard to see them leave on an another boat and know that they wouldn't be sailing the Southern Ocean with us. It had been an even harder decision for them to make, to leave on Cork but both had big personal commitments in Australia, which meant they couldn't afford to wait a...
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Weds 25th – Cape Town – Day 3 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Weds 25th

Today I made the most of being in the apartment - so much so that I didn't even get properly dressed until about 4pm!  A happy day vegetating in my new domestic surroundings and spent mainly on my laptop trying to sort through all the photos I'd taken so far to get them uploaded onto the internet for friends an family to see back home.  At 5pm Katy, Kirsten and I left for the yacht club as it was their race night and they had extended an invitation to the Hull & Humber crew to sail w...
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Tuesday 24th – Cape Town – Day 2 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
We were told we had to be up and clear of the boat by 9am so the repairs could start early. We were all packed up like refugees and then had a frustrating morning of hanging around while we waited to be told where our new accommodation was. Late morning Joff got us together to tell us where we were being put up. He also informed us that Cork would be leaving that Friday as their repairs were easier and already coming along well.  He was still hopeful that we'd be away in a week’s time – h...
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Weds 25th – Cape Town – Day 3 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Today I made the most of being in the apartment - so much so that I didn't even get properly dressed until about 4pm!  A happy day vegetating in my new domestic surroundings and spent mainly on my laptop trying to sort through all the photos I'd taken so far to get them uploaded onto the internet for friends an family to see back home.  At 5pm Katy, Kirsten and I left for the yacht club as it was their race night and they had extended an invitation to the Hull & Humber crew to sail with them....
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Monday 23rd – Cape Town – Day 1 of Repairs

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
The morning arrived – bright and sunny with rock solid Table Mountain still there in the background. However there was a very definite black cloud still hanging over us.  Various contractors arrived bright and early to asses the damage and rumours banded around of a delay of anything between 5 days (which we knew in our hearts was unrealistic) and 3 weeks – which would mean the end of the race for several of the leggers and would also mean we'd be at sea for Christmas and  (even worse in ...
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Sunday 22nd – Leg 3, Race 4, Day 1 – leaving Cape Town & My Birthday!!!

Posted by Della Parsons on Wednesday, December 9, 2009,
Today was a big day for all kinds of reasons. It was the start of Leg 3 – the next part of our adventure and the crossing, which would take in the Southern Ocean. It was also my birthday, (happy birthday to me, Happy Birthday to Me...!) but both of those things were to be overshadowed by the events of the day.

It started off bright and sunny and a few of us strolled down to the waterfront and a local hotel that did a fabulous buffet breakfast for a very reasonable price.  Kirsten went to get...
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Saturday 21st Cape Town Day 7

Posted by Della Parsons on Saturday, December 5, 2009,
Today was spent doing final preparations for the off. Final checks, a crew briefing from Piers and yet again another talk through the MOB and evacuation procedures for the boat. It seemed along time ago when we did that at the start of leg 2 and within a week or so were putting into practice those same procedures for real. I realised how far we'd come since then as sailors and more importantly as a crew – a team that was working really well together and was also now bonded more strongly thr...
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Friday 20th – Cape Town – Day 6

Posted by Della Parsons on Saturday, December 5, 2009,
The morning arrived and the sun was burning out across the world – a perfect scorching day for climbing a mountain – not! Undeterred I hailed a taxi from the yacht club with rucksack and mountaineering determination but with some doubt that either of the guys would be there to join me! After a 10 minute wait I was surprised to see a party of four brave hearted souls (idiots) like myself descend from a mini-bus ready for our slow-roasted challenge.
We finally found the start of our route ...
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Weds - 18th & Thurs 19th – Cape Town Days 5 & 6

Posted by Della Parsons on Saturday, December 5, 2009,
The next two days were working days. Actually I thought I had the morning off on Wednesday but the Corporate sail was brought forward to 10.30am.  We were up and sprucing up the boat from 8am. It was fairly clean and tidy but when you've lived on a boat for 3 months it feels like home and we were amused to note that it felt exactly like having friends round to dinner and the mad rush to make the place look spic and span beforehand!
We tidied away to the sound of the wind whistling through the...
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