Clipper Round the World 09-10
Much has been written of life on board the Dragon Wagon, from the joys of sail repair to the trials and tribulations of mother watch. Whilst these are aspects of life that can dominate our daily existence, there are elements of the day-to-day routine that have not yet been exposed to the public gaze, some small and simple ways in which we bring variety to our daily existence.
Chief amongst these are music, books and the odd DVD. In the saloon is one of the boat’s most under-appreciated items, the car stereo. Through this, in conjunction with the deck speakers that Ian lovingly repaired during our San Francisco stopover, we are able to listen to music both above and below decks. Of prime importance to us is the ability to play our boat song (Coldplay’s Viva La Vida) at an ear-splittingly high volume at both race start and when crossing the line. However, the role of Watch DJ is not to be underestimated, in terms of its capacity for both good and evil.
For example, this morning, our watch enjoyed Coldplay’s X&Y followed by the Guillemots’ Red. Previous glory moments were an evening watch a couple of days out of Jamaica as we watched the sun drop below the horizon to the strains of Mylo and Moby as well as the songs of Monty Python in the midday tropical sun. It isn’t all downwind sailing though.
At Skip’s request, we had a cultural morning involving both Carmina Burana and Holst’s Planets Suite when beating upwind into Jamaica, as waves washed the decks. Bracing stuff.
Other boats have previously mocked the Dragon Wagon’s onboard luxuries, which include a flat screen TV and an Xbox. Although few of us are computer games addicts (I shan’t mention the Solitaire fixation that I am grappling with) the TV has brought entertainment to us on many occasions. To familiarise ourselves with one of our more recent stopovers, we watched Cool Runnings. Family Guy and Arrested Development also have regular airings.
Most of us have an ipod, or a variant thereof, so personal preferences are easily accommodated. Without revealing too many embarrassing stories of exactly who watches/listens to what behind their lee-cloth, I can reveal that crew on the boat own between them the following:
The Good Life
Father Ted
Dr Who
Torchwood
Pretty in Pink
Ashes to Ashes
Terminator
Angels & Demons
At least, that’s all I’ve been able to persuade people to admit to thus far...
KFW
Music and books - by Katya Fearnley-Whittingstall (Qingdao)
26 June 2010
Much has been written of life on board the Dragon Wagon, from the joys of sail repair to the trials and tribulations of mother watch. Whilst these are aspects of life that can dominate our daily existence, there are elements of the day-to-day routine that have not yet been exposed to the public gaze, some small and simple ways in which we bring variety to our daily existence.
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Yachting ailments - by Katya Fearnley-Whittingstall (Qingdao)
25 June 2010
This morning, my thumb of my right hand twinged. Upon speaking to Becky (Block) it appears that I may be developing a case of Trimmer’s Thumb, a condition caused by chafe of mainsheet or spinnaker sheet across the back of the thumb when trimming for hours at a time. This set me to thinking about other afflictions that various of us have fallen prey to whilst on board.
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Felicity escapes the wrath of the winds - by Peter Guttridge & Kate Coles (Qingdao)
27 May 2010
Big wakeup call from Michael at 3am this morning, the gods had unleashed their worst on us. A squall of far more violence than the one Pete reported on the San Fran to Panama leg. This time neither of us was on deck, and responding to the "everyone on deck call", we got as far as the companionway to be confronted by acres of lightweight spinnaker on its way down.
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