Race 4 - Day 12
Crew Diary - RACE 4 DAY 12: FREMANTLE TO SYDNEY
14 December
So this is Christmas – well nearly – and what have we done? Nearly 18,000 nautical miles, some but not nearly enough of them guided by a star, many nights of darkness and low cloud and sometimes lots of stars but none in the direction we wanted to go. I guess the wise men would have said we were missing the point. John Masefield certainly had it right when he asked for “a tall ship and a star to steer her by”, it is certainly a lot easier with an astral target; the wise men would have agreed on that! It may be that their camels knew the way home, sailing boats always seem to want to go in the wrong direction usually upwind and then the spinnaker turns nasty...
Not sure if we come bearing gifts but Mrs Egan's chutney was a very welcome and much enjoyed gift over a couple of meals in the Nasdaq bistro on this trip, thank you to her.
Our spinnaker woes continue, on a personal note this time, I had an argument with one during a gybe, I lost and dislocated my left shoulder. Never get on the wrong side of a sail we were warned many times, trouble was I think it changed sides at the last second then changed back; I should have seen it coming. So for the last six days I have had my arm immobilised and been confined below deck; the current immobiliser or preventer is a natty and ingenious construction put together by Alex and Ineke using the neoprene and Velcro seal from the remains of my foulie jacket.
My thanks to Alex for relocating the shoulder on the night in question and to Rob, the rest of my crew mates, especially Phil Wilkinson for their skill and kindness, more of that later, and subsequent forbearance. The one-armed crew member confined below is a frustrated one, although still reasonably agile around the galley. It quickly becomes apparent that when you are not working full time the boat is a small place.
The spinnaker won the next round too ending up flying by its halyard from the mast head without sheets or tack before being retrieved and confined to the sail locker in several pieces, no-one is happy about that. Both of us are wondering if we can be repaired in time for the next race – the sail has a better chance than me I fear.
We do have a spinnaker flying as I speak and we are making good speed in the right direction so all is not lost. The race is afoot this time we are in close competition with GREAT Britain, HotelPlanner.com and Liverpool 2018, and have our sights on Garmin ahead of us.
Sydney harbour beckons but as always time seems to slow and distance grow in the last few hours. Jonny Cole thinks we will be there before closing time on Friday, Tommo says the bars don't shut, so I guess he must be right