Crew Blog

California Dreamin’

01 May 2008

“Stopped into a church, I passed along the way.  Well, I got down on my knees; got down on my knees, and I pretend to pray”

Admittedly, I could never do the Mamas and the Papas classic any justice, but this song has been stuck in my head ever since I signed up to do Leg 6 (last July).  Little did I know how appropriate the song would become, but more of that later.

One of the biggest dilemmas for me, apart from having never sailed before (prior to my Clipper training last year) and the fact that I hadn´t met any of my fellow crew members before was whether I would need to pack any thermals.  Yes, I know this all sounds rather ridiculous, but as one who suffers from the cold (why do you think I chose Leg 6 (South America-Caribbean??) I had to make a serious decision.  Everyone was telling me how warm California would be and that I should be taking more bikinis and shorts, but fortunately for me, I chose my trusty faithful thermals and on this occasion I made the right choice.  Santa Cruz it turned out was experiencing their worst April since 1949 and just about everyone was complaining of the cold.  The crews coming in had hoped to be in shorts and T-shirts, but ended up arriving in foul weather gear and beanie hats!  So much for the Californian sunshine! 

So, after 9 months of waiting, the day finally arrived, it was race day and Liverpool 08 was the first yacht to slip her lines. It was quite an emotional time for me as I saw people that I had never met before, who had taken the time and trouble to make my stay in Santa Cruz very special, standing at the marina or by the lighthouse waving me off.  It was a truly fantastic feeling and one I will never forget.

Getting used to the watch system is not for the faint hearted.  After two hours sleep, a face appears by your bunk and if you happen to be using ear-plugs appears to be mouthing obscenities at you.  If you’re not, they’re actually telling you that you’ve had enough sleep and it is now time to get dressed and get up on deck once more.

So, there I was on my first night watch. I admit I was cold, tired and trying to find my way around without falling over, when it appeared that all hell had broken loose.  I got down on my knees (not intentionally), I hung on for dear life, listening to the commotion going on, not really having a clue what had happened and I pretended to pray.  Back to the first two lines of this blog… could a song stuck in my head be more appropriate?  Maybe I should keep singing Money, Money, Money by Abba instead! Everything was soon in control and I can only thank the rest of the crew for being cool, calm and collected. We had simply broached, that’s all.

Day two was just as eventful when we ended up wrapping the spinnaker around the inner forestay. Wow – what a mess! It must be very tempting after a couple of hours of trying to untangle it to cut the thing off, but the whole of the crew pulled together and managed to untangle the spinnaker with no real damage. It was very draining especially for the crew who had been up the mast for hours.

So, my first blog – hopefully not my last and a final note to all those following Liverpool 08 not only in the UK but worldwide, thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated.

Janet (Legger)
P.S.  Thanks to Hely for the hot water bottle – it certainly got used! 
P.P.S.  Special Hello to Brian who flew out to join us but alas couldn´t join us.  You are with us in spirit and our thoughts are with you.