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It is because we are human that we dare. Some dare more than others. So it is with sailing around the world.
It's barely three weeks since I packed my life up in London, said goodbye to reality as I knew it and hit for Clipper HQ in Gosport, South East England, to complete my final few weeks of prep before the official start of the Clipper Round the World Race 09/10.
 To try and explain how far removed I feel from that life after such a short time is impossible. In the last few weeks, I have gone through First Aid, Sea Survival and my last week of offshore training, combined with a week in the classroom covering the required yacht master theory, while moon-lighting as the boat victualler, testing out our bread maker, and kitting out the galley. How many teabags or sheets of toilet paper will 19 people use, over 35 days to Rio de Janeiro? What food will last without the luxury of a fridge and freezer once we hit the dead heat of the doldrums? Will we have any chocolate that won't melt? It's been full on few weeks, 24/7, race, race, race, race.
All the preparation and hard work culminated in the fleet's departure from Clipper HQ on 31 August to make our way up to Hull for the official race start. This was the day it clicked into place for me. We were really going. Standing on the pontoon, with all our crew and skipper, under the Irish flag, alongside the nine other international entries was pretty surreal. We got waved off by the fleet and cheered by the locals who lined Gosport and Portsmouth marinas. A very bizarre feeling...It was finally time to get sailing.
We were out until late on that evening when the race officials called the fleet into various local ports, as the incoming weather fronts would have meant we were up in Hull in two days flat, when we weren't expected until Friday. Cork pulled into Brighton for a day and a half with six of the other boats, Cape Breton, Quingdao, Hull and Humber, California, Edinburgh and Jamaica. The remainder made it to Dover and Ramsgate and we all were to rally at a starting gate outside the Thames Estuary to race up under time to Grimsby, for a quick stopover at Humber Cruising Association, before hitting for Hull and the official race start.
We set off at 6am on the Wednesday morning, knowing we were going to have to be prepared for a stormy ride up. We had about 12 hours of watching the seas build and the weather change. It was quite eerie sailing into a dark and miserable weather front and knowing that you had no other options. Time to 'man-up' (a favourite of our skipper's!) and get out race faces on! I don’t think any of us were prepared for what a force 9, gusting force 10 would feel like. That was true wind speed, add another 10 knots onto that, with the driving rain and you’re just about to let yourself give up!
We were working in four-hour watch systems and the changes you would see after your three-and-a-half hours off deck were mind blowing. The sea state kept building and the wind increased, with gusts in the 50s. Any attempt at sleep was completely futile! The boat was slamming against waves, the waves crashing against the hull, right beside your head and with people scurrying around on deck shouting back at forth at what they wanted to get done.
You can't hear anything in those conditions from the foredeck to the helm, so everything is repeated three or four times, as it is relayed back and forth to the people at their various stations. So while you are officially in bed and off watch you are lying in your bunk, going through the motions with them.
This was only 48 hours...the boat took some serious knocks, as did the crew, between sea sickness and various run-ins with random parts of the boat, falling out of bunks being the best...you really start to wonder what the hell we have ahead of us in larger seas.
But the main thing that struck me throughout was that apart from the cold, wet, wind and lack of sleep, I felt safe, the boat felt under control. She can really surf waves on a downwind run and didn’t give out half as much as I expected when were beating into that Force 9 gale. That is bloody reassuring and I trusted us all to get there. The decisions made were good one's, carried out fast and efficiently, you can see the training really kick in, with and everyone looking out for each other. We'll come through a lot with that.
We got into Grimsby marina this morning at 6am. I've had a bit of kip now and am getting ready for a dinner and drinks event with the fleet, hosted by HCA. It should be a great night of swapping stories and talking tactics for the next leg. Bring it on!
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