Race 5 - Day 15
Crew Diary - Race 5 - Day 15
06 January
Reality bites in the galley
There are good days and then there are not so good days, and then there are the difficult ones. Two days ago, Shane and I were on galley duty or ‘Mother Watch’ for the day. This starts with me coming out of the 4 am to 8 am on-watch at around 6:45 am and waking Shane. Our task is to prepare breakfast and the remainder of the meals for the day, which comes out of an assigned day-bag kept in a bilge space somewhere according to Ben’s master plan.
The boat was heading in a northerly to north-easterly direction about 100 miles or more off the south-east coast of New South Wales, beating into the swell. On a normal day, the sensation of the boat is sometimes like a smooth roller coaster with an occasional side-to-side sway. As the day built, the intensity of the beating increased. We prepared porridge for breakfast for those who wanted it and toast and yoghurt and cereals and spreads, cold and hot drinks as requested by the crew. We wash-up as we go. Lunch was ravioli out of a can, which could be controlled fairly reasonably while heating on the gimbals of the stove.
The air temperature and humidity were increasing as were were heading north into the warm and moist northerly wind, making the galley area more like a sauna, similar to the rest of the accommodation but a little hotter. Some sleep between preparation periods is possible, but it was difficult after the cooler weeks of the race so far. After lunch the sensation of the movement of the boat, for those trying to imagine it, was like sitting on a mechanical bucking bronco sitting inside the roller coaster which had just entered its ‘Mad Mouse’ phase. Every now and then we would launch into mid-air for a second and then crash into the next wave, sending a giant shudder of shock through the boat and movement of non-fixed items into the air – people, food, jars, cans and such included. The boat was heeled over to about 40o so on one tack the sink won’t drain. If a tack is put in then the items on the galley bench move across to the other side and the sink starts to drain. But then we have to change the water supply tank and sea-water supply side so they would feed to the sink. I’m trying to put the picture in your minds of what is to come with all of this going on in our sauna.
Monsieur Le Chef Shane was preparing Chile-con-carne and rice in a big boiler on the stove. As the attack of movement increased, after each heavy landing the pot on the stove would jerk, the lid would come off and a spurt of hot meat sauce eject itself onto the galley bench and crew-protection screen installed for just such events. Then at the time required to switch-on the rice cooker to be ready for serving dinner at 7:10 pm, the generator would not start because the heel of the boat meant it couldn’t suck cooling water in. So we had to transfer the rice and water to another boiler on the stove, which was slower; it also unbalanced the stove so we tried a balance pot of water as a logical extension – however on each jerk it would also eject water and put-out the burners, so we gave that a miss. Eventually dinner was served with crunchy rice for the first sitting, while it wasn’t too bad for the second, although neither of us had any energy left to eat after the exertions. Pump the day tanks and we were finished by around 9:30 pm. At least we had a long sleep until the next day watch came up at 8 am the next day.
But you take the difficult with the good. Just a few days ago on New Year’s Eve, I was surfing in the Southern Ocean. In my youth, I surfed the southern coast of Victoria on a 6’ board, but this time I had the helm of a 70’ boat surfing down the 5m swell of the southern ocean at up to 22 knots – a real Orsa experience as my friends in the Brotherhood of the Coast would say.
So its onwards and upwards as we chase currents and wind towards Airlie Beach. To my family and friends, sailing compatriots at the Botany Bay Yacht Club and other places, keep watching the progress of WTC Logistics. Bye for now.