Crew Blog

24 hours in the Doldrums

08 October 2007

The big blue boat screams on!
What 24 hours holds.
1645 nautical miles to go.
Seventh to sixth position.
Two spinnaker failures.
One ankle burn.
One flying fish attack (thought to be a sabotage fish from Uniquely Singapore boat we just passed.)

Our day started with a rude awakening at 0300, the desperate call for “all hands on deck.” With only time to grab a lifejacket and boardshorts, the darkness slowly revealed a flogging spinnaker in 25 knots of breeze. After desperately getting it on board, the sail was repacked and hoisted again on a new guy within minutes. Shortly after, the new guy broke causing the spinnaker to collapse again. Roger was the unlucky recipient of a ‘ring barking’, sustaining a rope burn around his ankle as he acted as a human winch. The drama continued as breakfast brought an angry flying fish to collide paths with the head of our tired and weary skipper. Both were painful reminders of the inherent dangers that come with a life on the ocean waves!

Meanwhile we hunt Hull & Humber and Liverpool 08 who are only a few miles ahead in our quest for a podium finish after our bad luck in the Canaries.

Preparations are now in full flight for our Equatorial crossing. The crew now ponder what or who to sacrifice to Neptune to guarantee a safe and fast passage to Salvador, where we’re looking forward to catching up with fellow crew Lizzie and Lou.

[PS For family members, none of the crew were severely injured in any of the above incidents. They are both fighting fit.]

Shane and Pete
Bow boys
westernaustralia2011.com crew.