Race 3 - Day 11
Crew Diary - Race 3, Day 11
02 November
Dear diary,
Sorry I haven’t written for a while. But it took me some time to find out more about my current task which puts me right into the middle of a storm in a vast ocean.
It all started out in early August when I was rudely woken up of my well deserved summer sleep and stuffed into a plastic bag. Quite unusual. However, I found company with a wooly hat and some funny gloves. Whereby I still don’t understand why my owner hasn’t disposed of them as there are fingers missing. Who on earth would like to wear something torn like that? Very messy. Just not the way I used to know my owner so far. Never mind, it’s her choice whatsoever.
Well, I was left in the bag for a while now and already got really fed up as other bits and pieces came out and back again. Just as I was left in there, sitting and waiting for weeks! Right at the beginning, I had the feeling that I might be on a plane. So I started day dreaming and looking forward to a new mountaineering adventure or probably glacier skiing in a far away place? Then it rather felt like being on a very bad train track for days on end and it got quite hot as well at some stage. I just couldn’t figure out what on earth my owner is up to.
Then a few days ago I was finally taken out of that bag. What a relief! But where did I land? On a boat! When I was shown to the fellow crew members I got some weird looks and somewhere smiling at me. So a mixed bunch of people living here and my owner is obviously the only one owning a piece of kit like me - simple skiing goggles. I was soon to find out what my task is on a sailing boat.
Imagine 50 knots of wind, high seas right at the nose of the boat making it bouncing or surfing up and down waves, occasional rain or just the gust of the sea unforgivingly piercing into faces and eyes. Those waves also tend to crash violently over the boat making everybody on deck soaking wet and taking off the vision for a few seconds – real buggers. I’m having the time of my life! My owner clinging onto the helm and keeping the course no matter what as I am protecting her and giving some comfort and warmth. Quite the same as I am used to doing in the mountains.
Despite the violent environment and the hardship, heavy weather conditions prevail it’s astonishingly beautiful to watch sea birds still graciously coping with the elements. Sometimes I am contemplating about how many different kinds of bluish colour the sea can have. I’m awestruck by watching mountainous waves building up and rolling, waves with their tops just flying away, waves with a very painful sharp backside (comparable with double diamond or black skiing slope, for experts only) making everybody bouncing up and down violently.
I like my new task :-)
Servus!
The sailing Austrian
