Race 8 - Day 6
Skipper Report
10 March
Hello Team,
How are we this “sunny sea settling” Saturday? The sun is out this end, a semblance of a late spring in the air this morning. No longer large waves with breaking crests to push the bow over and slide down the other side to start the next attack on the one rolling towards us.
So, are you off for a Saturday morning coffee and maybe a nice slice of cake with friends for a catch up? Do you mind if I join you? I fancy a slice of walnut and coffee cake and a large cappuccino and a bit of an offload, if that's OK. It’s taken 5,800nm but I have eventually had a “Dark Lord” moment and bit of a reality check with the crew. Dark Lord, oh that's my nick name from my previous calling.
This morning
having just taken over from Jeremy Hilton, I poked my head up the companion way
and called “ready to tack runner back, back in a minute while I get my life
jacket”. I returned to be told, “We have a problem, the Yankee lazy sheet has
wrapped itself around the running back stay, so we cannot bring it back”. Now
problems occur and need to be resolved, but I have to say I was somewhat
annoyed to be told that at that moment.
“Why?” you enquire. Well we had been running to a waypoint to tack on, prior
notification of intent. The watch on handover had been informed of said tack
coming, a verbal warning. An hour before had been first light, so SOP's state a
deck walk to be conducted, good seaman-like skills to check for such issues. So,
it took us an hour to sort, meaning we were travelling in the wrong direction
unnecessarily, allowing the boats in front to move away and the boats behind to
catch us up, all due to poor preparation. So, having resolved the issue, we
conducted a debrief for lessons learnt, the positive one was the problem
solving that allowed us to tack, but then there was a red rag to a bull moment.
No, the deck walk hadn't been done, no, the bilges hadn't been checked or
emptied, yes, they knew the tack was coming up but were resting as the last 36
hours had been hard and they were tired. Blue touch paper time, “They were
tired!”
I pointed
out, in a very matter of fact way, so were the rest of the crews on the fleet;
they hadn't been drinking champagne and lying around the sun-deck, while a
local weather pattern hovered over CV30, following us around. I gently reminded
them that they had signed up for a challenge, to push themselves, to be able to
look their friends, families and fellow team mates in the eye and say “I gave
100% and the extra one we agreed to give”.
I also pointed out the boats behind would see us as targets to pick off and we
should see them as a threat. Then, as if by magic, GT and his Pirates (Garmin) literally appeared on the
horizon; thanks GT, you made my case. I don't think I am being unfair, but if
we want to compete we need to work hard. Everyone is tired, but that is not an
excuse to sit back and rest. What would you have said to them Jackie, after
listening to 'The Archers' clearly?
On the food front, Tessa Hicks was Mother yesterday and in challenging conditions produced fruit crumble and custard - awesome stuff, just what the Crew needed.
“Well thanks for listening, I'll pay for the coffees.” Oh, by the way did you know: Just twenty words make up a third of teenagers everyday speech. (I wonder what made me think of that).
Standing by the channel – out.
Dave