Crew Blog

Religion @ Sea

22 June 2008

Race 13 – the last big one.

The summer solstice was not celebrated very well on New York clipper – a shortage of druids, long white robes and the absence of a definable sunrise behind the threatening mist and clouds conspired to rob me a family tradition.
As the son of a wood patternmaker with a self confessed tree hugging pastime, a Christian name derived from a cultic name for ‘forest dweller’ and a wife who is an Anglican priest I was inevitably drawn to the wooden crucifixes in a craft stall in Sydney.  I was unable to decide which to buy so with the permission of the craftsman I photographed the exhibit, I was tempted to buy the combined crucifix and plank with crucifix hole in but I was troubled by the poor fit between the plank and the crucifix it was all beautifully polished but some how not right. The fit was not engineered. The crucifix seemed to represent the religious part of our life together and the plank the family, business and the ‘real world’ as it is referred to on board. Thinking about this as I prepared to go to ‘virtual church’ I realised that the fit of our religious life in our real world was quite good, one of the many things I am profoundly grateful for. A specially commissioned version is be ordered with an engineered fit as a thank you to my wife for her support in my mad adventure. Virtual church is an anchor to the normal life that I used to lead, for others on board it is European football, baseball or Tiger Woods at the US Open. Favorite hymns on the iPod at the correct BST time enables me to be with the congregations in Morpeth even at two churches at the same time at least in spirit (this also happens in the real world some weeks). The crews of the various yachts are on their way home. There is much talk of normal life, outside interests that have been suspended and new careers etc. Perhaps their plank of reality has had a yacht shaped hole in it for the past weeks or months as the case may be. This Clipper experience has altered many of us and I suspect that fitting back into normal society may bit a little like the crucifix obviously part of the same piece of wood but not quite joined up correctly the process of creating the crucifix has left an area of discord. The joys and difficulties that arise from the Clipper process both at sea and back on land are an enriching experience for anyone, going around the world surely creates a degree of discord which the round the worlders in particular are now close to facing; the reality bubble is about to burst! I am aware that the changes in me will have to be re-engineered so that I fit back into society without too much conflict with family and friends. I guess there will be many stories of before and after, what we did next etc. ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things’ to quote Sir Robin.
Other religions affect boat life a belief in WCV (waypoint closing velocity – how fast we are approaching the finish line even if not able to sail straight towards it) is paramount in winning a race and is to be respected at all times..

Whilst totally stationary in a wind hole with absolutely no wind I thought I heard a hymn ‘be still and know that I am God’ it may have been sung by the dolphins that continue to delight us.

A Clipper prayer –
Our Skipper who art on New York,
Duggie be thy name,
Our race be won, Thy will be done
On deck, and in the hell-hole*
Give us this day our three watch meals and lead us not into cold waters, but deliver us from icebergs
Forgive us our over trimmings as we forgive those who pinch at the helm against us#
For thine is the yacht, the tactics and the result,
For this race and for ever,
Ah sailing.
• * affectionate term for the living accommodation,
• # small errors which affect boat speed.
Apologies for any offence but this is intended to be both humorous and reflect the life on board a racing yacht going around the world.
Little known fact: wood is the only structural material that does not have a fatigue limit – provided the maximum stress is not exceeded it can be loaded and unloaded for ever. Other materials will fail at loads below the maximum by repeatedly loading and unloading it. Iisn’t wood fantastic!
Happy Sunday
Keith