Race 1 - Day 9
Crew Diary - ​Race 1, Day 9
12 September

We all slept well on our first night on land, so to speak, and after a shower it was back on to the boat for a Skippers de-brief to discuss how the event had been; our fears, experiences and comments on how the boat functioned, after all, it was our first trip together. 20 people put together in a tough environment is difficult to cope with sometimes. As far as I was concerned, the trip was a massive learning curve from the training environment in Gosport, but I feel we have come together well and respect each other. The yachts mantra of ‘if you need help ask if you are asked for help give it’, has stood us in good stead. We are here to look after each other. Trust and teamwork has prevailed and regular debriefs have allowed us to clear the air.

Back to work though.

The deep clean and checks continue and re-stocking of food has to continue.

One job for me was to assist Brian with the on deck checklist, which I had previously done in Gosport. It involved going through a checklist of nine pages looking at all the pieces of equipment on board, from front to back, to ensure that there were no breakages or faults, developing from stanchions to fire detectors, automatic bilges, pump sensors, navigation lights, all safety equipment, life rafts and jackstays. This is all the vital equipment that we depend upon whilst at sea. A similar check is carried out on the rigging by Sam the First Mate.

In the afternoon, the food was loaded on board, and started to be put into dry bags. Each bag contains the food for each day at sea, so when Mother Watch comes on, all they have to do is pull one bag out of the locker and that is the food required for that day. A difficult job but one that makes life at sea a little easier.

Another job is sail repair, and James was busy on dry land repairing the Yankee and Spinnaker sails that we damaged whilst at sea, several other boats were also doing the same as us. We all have taken an interest in sail repair.

In the evening we had the Prizegiving party, hosted by the Mayor of Portimãoand there was lots of food and drink, and many celebrations. Some crew members from the Imagine your Korea team did the Gangnam Style dance, just so that when we are on the podium people know what to expect. On the way to the party, we passed an ice cream shop, well worth a visit before we leave!

Still more jobs to be carried out but that can wait until tomorrow, but tonight, we party.