So can someone please tell me where the last 4 months have gone? I first contacted Clipper about entering the race in July, and frankly one of the few things I didn't like about the challenge was how far off it all seemed. The race was 20 months off (or my leg at least) and the earliest I could get away for training was December - an agonizing 5 month wait. Of course it wasn't enough to put me off entering and now, here I am just one week before training starts and I'm quickly realising I probably haven't given nearly enough thought to all I need to bring with me yet. But I spoke to Sparkey this morning and I'm pleased to say he's in the same boat (dreadful, sorry...) - he gathered all his gear in one pile and worked out he's got lots of thermal underwear and little else to wear - could be interesting. The only significant purchase I made was a "technical" pair of sailing boots which is basically a very expensive pair of wellies that do clever things like letting your feet breathe etc., which, by all accounts is important when you're wearing them every day for a month in freezing conditions. Other than that, I seem to have a lot of very thin long sleeved t-shirts and a couple of fleeces, and that's about it really! We have a total of 20kg baggage allowance on the boat which includes sleeping bag, pillow, towel along with everything else we might need for 2 weeks winter sailing, so less is more seems to be the motto.
- The Finish Line at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran - still feels a long way off.
So that's the gear sorted.....kind of. I think I'll have a much better idea of what I'll need for the race after my upcoming two (very cold) weeks training. Last week we received a pack of required reading before training starts, none of which I've had time to look at yet. Week 1 will apparently entail First Aid, Knot-tying, boat safety, sail trimming and "sea survival techniques" - and the latter takes place at 8am following our one night out during the training - you've got to love the scheduling there. Week 2 entails Collision regulations, fire fighting, radio & radar techniques, racing protocol and somewhat amusingly "hygiene" - does that mean we can expect week 1 to be rather smelly and unpleasant as none of us will yet have learnt how to be hygienic?
Have to say I can't wait to get started now - the adventure is beginning and, come what may, by mid December I should have learnt an awful lot about ocean sailing. We just received an update from Clipper HQ in Portsmouth and in the last week alone they have had hail, freezing fog and gale-force winds. One thing's for sure - it's going to be damn cold. I've decided to add a balaclava to my kit-list (please add all Irishman in a balaclava jokes at the bottom of the page). My next update will be on "the other side" of Level 1&2 training. Assuming I survive in one piece I'll send an update in mid December of how it all goes, how nice/annoying the other crew are and what life on the boat is like.
- Sadly, snow on board is all too common
