Race 9 - Day 8
Crew Diary - Race 9 Day 8
19 March
The first 48 hours of my Clipper Race: a fair beating up (wind)
It’s currently Tuesday afternoon on board CV21, the sun is shining down on the East China Sea and I’ve got some spare time on stand-by watch allowing for some long-awaited blogging.
After enthusiastically departing sunny Zhuhai last Tuesday, we began racing at 1700 local and into the three-watch system we went.
I was on watch first and after a successful and thrilling helming session enjoying the power of CV21 as she glided through the ocean, I switched to check helm. The green monster then struck with a vengeance. Thankfully I was already in a prime location for a few chunders off the stern whilst seeing the last of the stunning sunset.
What followed was a fair physical beating as we ploughed upwind. I saw out the end of my watch and then had the delicate task of getting down below and horizontal ASAP. I’d been warned the window was usually about four minutes. I knew this would be quite a task given that with upwind sailing the heel of the boat is 45 degrees so moving around takes much more effort. It requires holding onto every grab handle available, otherwise, you’ll end up sliding from one side of the galley to the other giving yourself some interestingly coloured bruises!
I made it down and into my bunk, but that’s when the green monster really took hold. I spent the next 36 hours pretty much horizontal, stuck in my bunk until the worst had passed. A bucket swinging off my bunk for emergencies. It’s a blur now as I slept through most of it, occasionally waking to a soft voice checking I was still alive, attempting to feed me crackers or diluting juice (squash).
Having never suffered from seasickness before I didn’t think this was how the first few days of my Clipper Race would pan out, but alas life is full of plot twists.
The fantastic news is that by Friday it had all passed and I was ready to enjoy Pash’s delicious spag bol – my first meal on board – and some sailing!
I’ve heard most of the crew suffered from seasickness at some point over the first few days. We were beating upwind as we headed east towards the southern tip of Taiwan and had a nasty combination of wind against tide creating a very choppy sea state. It felt like being on a continuous bumpy teacup ride at the fairground!
On Saturday as we headed up the east coast of Taiwan we were able to raise the code 2 (spinnaker) and sail downwind. A welcome break from the intense upwind sailing of the previous four days! For someone who signed up for a cold leg, it’s been a hot and humid first few days but as I write this I can feel the northerly wind starting to take a hold and the first cool breeze I’ve felt since leaving Scotland.
Sending my love to all my family and followers, especially my nephews and nieces Ben, Bertie, Ranulph, Henry, Imogen, and Clemmie – hope you are watching our progress, currently in second place!
Beth
OIAO Leg 6 Ambassador