Race 11 - Day 26
Crew Diary - ​The Bare Necessities
27 May

Elisabeth Wilson
Elisabeth Wilson
Team Unicef
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The Clipper 70 is not a luxury yacht. There is no air-conditioning nor heating, no shower facilities and more than likely you will be sharing a bunk with someone from the opposite watch. It therefore requires a level of understanding and a particular mindset to be able to endure weeks at sea, living in close proximity to 15 other people, and still be able to function as a rational human being.

There seems to be generally two ways of approaching a leg; either put yourself into survival mode for the duration of the leg, or make life as comfortable as possible for yourself for as long as needed. The advantage of the latter over the former is that should a leg be unexpectedly extended, you don't run out of knickers or get them in a twist. To do this, even though luggage weight is restricted, many crew will include a small 'luxury' item that has the ability to lift them on a bad day, or make a cold watch more bearable.

My personal luxury is a small USB thumb drive with all my music on it. This can add a little motivation to a mother watch or can help send me to sleep if the rumble of the grinder is a little too much. Across the Unicef crew, music and especially curated playlists feature heavily. Like bags of posh coffee or jelly beans (personal snack stashes are another cherished item), these can be shared so everyone can benefit from a little morale boost.

Some are shared more indirectly, such as the relaxing waft of lavender as my nearby bunk buddy rubs in her hand cream, or the lingering scent of an essential oil pillow mist. Others are more personal, like a brightly coloured capulana from Mozambique; a nice shirt to wear ashore; perfume or after-shave; an iPad or Kindle with plenty of reading matter and the ability to use the crew mail system to keep in touch with loved ones. There's also the keen round-the-worlder who cites his RYA sailing and weather manuals as his luxury item, but has yet to find enough time to read them.

Almost all will include a rechargeable bunk-fan, but to me that isn't a luxury on this leg, it is an absolute necessity!