My Clipper Log

Standing along the pier at the V&A Waterfront, watching each of the boats get ready for departure, bags strewn all over the deck, crew scrurrying on and off with last minute tasks to complete and good byes to be said; I feel strange watching the scene unfold. Just about a month ago, I was part of that departure skirmish, dealing with a mix of emotions as I prepared for my first ever ocean crossing. It was supposed to be a quick 14 day rollercoaster ride downwind to the Cape of Good Hope. But unfolded into quite the adventure. My earlier blog was all about our close encounter with a whale. After a short repair stopover we restarted our journey on October 10th. This time, having faced the stormy seas and weathered some rounds of seasickness I was rather apprehensive about revisiting that experience. That turned out to be the least of my worries as we made slow, hard work of our hop across the pond ( as the Brits term it). Given the loss of days, we were no longer in the race f...

And so we set off with a lot of fanfare. There was a military band playing for us and a naval ship to flag us off. After a lot of parading around in the Marina, we finally took off. Since I was on Port watch, I pretty much stayed on deck once we set sail. The big waves and swell made me feel queasy almost immediately and I avoided eating any dinner, except for an apple. After a break our eatch was back on deck around 0200. It was a beautiful, starry night and I got my first glimpse of the Southern Cross. What a way to bring in my Mym's birthday and celebrate Kojagiri. 0800 and we changed watches. I was loking forward to 6 hours of sleep. The moment I got below deck, I threw up and instantly, well almost, felt better. Changed out of my foulies and felt good to shed the additional weight. Its the constant in and out of all the warm clothes and foulies and the consequent changes in temperature that really bother me. Its so warm inside that justbthe thermal underwear is good enoug...

Woke up at 0400, then at 0600 and then gave up trying to sleep anymore. So I checked my emails, messages, Facebook, WhatsApp and it was just 0630. Spoke with Nandu and one, one excited, one nervous. Then enjoyed a nice, long, leisurely, hot shower, which took me to 0730. Breakfast starts at 0800 so waiting. The plan is 1000 crew on board 1100 skipper brief at the marina 1200 slip the lines 1230 Parade of Sails 1330 MOB drill 1400 Race Start

I wasn't expecting this! Im actually getting bored sitting in my hotel room, watching Punta people stroll by. I woke up nice and early and headed straight to the yacht club right after breakfast. The paln was to move my backpack onto the boat and come back for the rest of my stuff, after a recce. Met a few crewmates and realised that registration was only at 1500. Then Roy told me we weren't expected to stay on the boat at all. In fact we could get on the boat directly on the 4th. David Greer was the only person who chose to stay on board. So i came right back and extended my stay for a day till i fugured my options. It being the off season, there was plenty of choice. The evening had things looking up again. New crew were welcomed by the Clipper officials and offered a welcome beer. After which the RTWers and first leggers took over and took us out for a meal at the local pub with live music, Capi The 1st leg was really long, 31 days, and the heat below deck made a lo...

Its a crazy, funny, exciting, scary pit in my stomach kind of feeling. Will I be able to work shoulder to shoulder with my team!? How will the waves and wind affect me out in the ocean!? I've not been seasick yet. Will this be when i discover what that feels like. Life at 45 degrees will take some getting used to. I packed my bags a week ahead of time in anticipation of my visa. Then repacked them when I got my visa. Every thing is in zip lock bags for what Alan, one of my First Mates on training said would be a wet and wild leg. With 4 pairs of footwear and assorted warm clothing the bag still weighs just 15 kgs. It sure feels good to be told I show signs of being a typical sailor gal. So here I am on the adventure thats sure to shake me out of my comfort zone, rattle every bone in my body, show me the ocean in all its glory, reveal the mysteries of the stars out at sea, make me new friends and learn me new skills. Woo hoo! Seredipity threw this at me, in an airport magaz...

After getting back from my training in Portsmouth and taking a week off to recover, the first thing I did was apply online for the South Africa and Uruguay visas. The South African visa was done within a week. Uruguay however was a completely different story! It all started with a phone call to Harsh. The guy who was to have done the complete race, and couldn't. He helpfully forwarded an email from the Honorary Consul of Uruguay listing all the documents required and a link to the online application form. After quickly putting all of them together, with a lot of help from Clipper, I emailed the bunch to the Honorary Consul, as instructed. A few email exchanges later he okayed the documents and asked me to meet him for an interview in Bombay. After a long wait and a brief meeting, he emailed the papers to the Embassy in Delhi and asked me to courier all of them as well. For reasons best known to them they waited till they recieved the physical papers to email me with a list of ...

“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and  there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”  ―  Lemony Snicket ,  Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid The Race started on August 20 th from Liverpool. After much fanfare, the boats set off on their adventure to the South Atlantic. And now, there’s just a couple more days to go before the first of them arrives at Punta del Este in Uruguay. That’s where I get on for the ride of my life. It’s with a lot of eagerness and some trepidation that I count down to Leg 2. That’s if I get my Uruguay visa! Lemony Snickett was lucky he didn't need a visa. As if the excitement of the Race is not enough, I am torn between frustration and anger at the entirely bureaucratic visa process. Why the US visa was a cake walk in comparison! And I had as much at stake there since I wanted to accompany my son as he began a new phase of undergraduate lif...

Day 1: Come back experts. It’s an order! Starting this level with mixed feelings about how it’s going to pan out. And to top it we had Sir Robin come to each of our boats to say “Come back experts. It’s an order!” The first couple of hours went in figuring our race kit and getting our mug shots taken for the Clipper website. It was a bit much then to be handed kit  in XL and S sizes, neither of which fit me. Consoled myself with the fact that nobody’s perfect. We’re a team of 14 on Team Roy this week, including the Skipper. And we have brand new, numbered life jackets. Funny thing is, there isn’t one numbered 13. Sailors are superstitious. Me? I’m number 7. And it’s proved me lucky so far. Anchor watch tonight was 2200 to 2300, so I could get a good night’s sleep. I started out on this level thinking we would be in complete race mode for the week. But I guess I had Mhadei on my mind when I thought the race to France and back would take us the entire week. Uh uh, race st...

Level 3 Day 1: Doom & Gloom After a good 10 day break, including two days with Alok, exploring London, I was raring to sail again. Doom and his twin, Gloom, had other plans that involved pointing out just exactly what 100 things could go wrong on our race. And then recounted real-life episodes to back up their narrative. Of course most of these things did not happen on a Clipper boat. But then again, keeping Clipper’s strong tradition of safety live and kicking, they proceeded to scare the shit out of us We learnt how to handle all kinds of on board disasters, from fire to flooding, to that perennial bogey, the MOB. The day did end relatively  quickly though, with us being assigned boats early that evening. The Skipper, in what seems to be Clipper tradition, already had dinner ready and we were set for an evening out by 1930. I chose not to drink as we plan to sail with a spinnaker tomorrow. But that didn’t stop the conversation. We’re a good mix of under 30 and over...

My land lady volunteers at a Roman villa in the New Forest. She play acts a Roman lady come back to life after 1,600 years and walks a bunch of school children through her villa. Most of the villa is etched with the help of well laid out stones and a few surviving mosaics and bath areas. She brings alive the era with her realistic play acting and of course the help of the enthusiastic and imaginative 8 year olds. If I had learnt history the way I did that day, I would have had a different career! I did learn  to write my name in Roman... As a volunteer for the day, I then helped the children learn to make perfumed oil using e optic spices; only to have the experience jarred by one of the teachers say the Romans must have smelt of curry with all that spice. It was a beautiful day out, so my fellow volunteer and I took off, with the land lady’s dog, for a ramble in the countryside. Breathtaking views, quaint houses, friendly horses following us round the fields we crossed, he...

It's day 2 of my 10 day break till Level 3 starts. Started off by getting to my BnB to be greeted in sheer delirium by Bran. Tail thumping bundle of energy, he greets all guests with equal energy, in the hope that they will play ball with him.  I was tired, so after a few half hearted attempts at playing fetch while waiting for  my room to be readied, I turned in for the night. Only, I was so tired, I could not sleep! Strolled down the next morning into a spacious and cozy kitchen and a friendly, chatty host, Liz.  When I asked for suggestions for sightseeing she helpfully pointed them out on this map circa 1845! She had just returned from a 2 week camping / motor biking trip yesterday and was busy doing the laundry and the dishes and playing with Bran, all while keeping up a constant stream of conversation with me. Her home is a warm, muddly mix of memorabilia from her many lives as student, mother, partner, host, biker, teacher and cook. Then foll...

Level 2 Day 1: Abandonment After a week spent learning how to rescue a man over board, we started this week with a day long exercise in figuring how to stuff the panic and get onto a life raft in case our boat has an accident. You know, if there's a fire, we crash into an ice berg or another boat, or the mast decides to part ways with us and we have to abandon the boat. A very sunny and happy day indeed. A morning classroom session was followed up by two hours in the local school swimming pool, learning how to step off the boat into the water, with our life jackets on, swim using just our arms, rescue an injured mate, inflate a life raft, and get into it from off a boat or after jumping into the water, alone and with all the crew. That was rounded off with an introduction to the new skipper and first mate. This time we have Andy for Skipper and Carl as First Mate. Carl’s grandfather worked with the Indian railways in Calcutta! Quite a waste of a beautiful summer day that c...

Time flames like a paragon stove and what burns are the minutes I live ~ Irving Layton, The Selected Poems Day 1: The Importance of Attachments The first day of training was so reassuring. Felt just like home….rains on the first day of school. Dull dreary weather and the first look at your new school mates and class teacher. And just like school, I was exhausted by the end of the day. Of course it was a lot longer at 12 hours, from 8am to 8pm and crammed with information. I finally got to exercise the muscles in my head – Paul, our skipper, made sure of that. We learnt all kinds of knots, bowlines, clove hitches, figure of eights..he would be speaking with us while his fingers were busy tying knots..muscle memory he calls it! For the most part it was about safety. What can possibly go wrong with the boat, how to prevent it and what to do if there is an emergency, like a MOB. No not the one around celebrities, a Man Over Board. Which we practised with a dum...