My Clipper Log

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 starts

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 50

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, hedges

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 followed a lovely d

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

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore ~ L Frank Baum I must warn you readers before I go any further that this is my first real trip to the UK, so I'm likely to sound like a gawky tourist.  My travels started in Goa yesterday 21st at 11am with the flight to Bombay being delayed by 30 minutes. Not so bad since it gave us a few extra minutes to drop by and wish Aniket a happy 21st.  Thankfully the trip to Mum's place and dinner with the sisters was a quiet affair, highlighted with a video call to Shayann  so we could cut a cake for him, long distance. The sisters dropped me to the airport at 4am 22nd. The flight was uneventful but for my being surrounded by holiness - I had the middle seat in an area stuffed with swamis traveling to bless the British NRIs. So far so good. The UK Border (yup that's what they call their Immigration counter) proved a tough cookie though. Took me the better part of an hour to cross over. So I was ravenous by