It has been a while since I wrote a blog, in fact the last time I wrote I was busy holding on for dear life as Aviva launched off of angry North Atlantic December waves. After a very nice festive break where I worked hard at regaining the 6 kg I lost after spending 22 days on an Open 60, I am now back to work at securing the sponsorship I need to make my dreams and ambitions become a reality. I always knew this task would be hard. The last year has been a continual learning curve. At times when I am frustrated with the task in hand I remind myself of some of the great experiences I have had over that last year and it certainly hasn’t been time wasted. Lisa and I kicked started our challenges with a 10K run raising £500 for the RNLI in the process. Within a week of completing that we were signed up to run the New York marathon. I then joined Katie Miller aboard her Figaro 2 and we began racing double handed including competing in the Fastnet race. I sailed with legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox Johnston aboard his Open 60 Grey Power taking part in the iconic Round the Island Race and the Artemis Challenge. I also got to sail on Artemis 1 and Hugo Boss. Lisa and I successfully ran the NY marathon, this time raising over £1,000 for Help for Heroes. I rounded off the year with a fantastic 5,000 mile Trans Atlantic aboard Aviva, experiencing storm force winds, huge seas, fast surfs and giant grins!
Time is running out to reach the start line of the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11, it is fair to say that I am down but not out just yet. I had a very nice e mail from Brad Van Liew, a competitor in the Velux race wishing me luck and inspiring me to keep pushing. It has been a terrible economic climate in which to hunt for sponsorship but all the signs suggest a more positive outlook for the near future. Whatever happens, I am certain that the future will be a bright one, full of adventure and of course many more thousands of miles of ocean racing.
After a moment of frustration resulted in me updating my facebook status with the notion that I was going to give it all up, a friend responded with this quote - “It is through endurance that we conquer” - Shackleton. With that in mind I refuse to give up.
There seems to be a pattern here. The last time I wrote a blog we were bouncing around upwind and here we are again crashing off of waves at an angle that makes typing a somewhat tricky exercise. The difference being of
course that two weeks ago it was warm and sunny and the water temperature in the twenties, now however is it a much bleaker scene. We have spent the last 24 hours pounding through a low pressure system which basically means we are all soaked, cold and counting the seconds to arrival. Getting out of a nice warm sleeping bag to pull on drenched clothing involes some serious gurning but the sight of the UK on the same bit if electronic chart as us is enough to push us through.
It has not all been grim out here however. After conditions abated from the great big low that towed us from Bemuda to the Azores we eventually got around to hosting the just passed half way party which involed tinsel and candy canes loaded with the Costa Rican equivalent of smarties. This was follwed a couple of days later by our passing through the Azores celebration for which we brought out the big fat cigars no less.
So a few more hours of beating to go yet but tomorrow should bring ligter winds and some faster reaching conmditions, lets just hope we don't get slowed too much by the ridge of high pressure in our path. Our arrival wish lists are growing by the day.
We're now 1845 miles from home approaching the Azores where we'll turn left and head north towards the English Channel. We've made good progress over the weekend, Saturday we covered 340 miles in 24hrs in 30-40knot winds power reaching, Harry managed to submarine us up to the coach roof, poor Katie had to stop reading her book as everything went dark down below for a few seconds. We chugged on through the night under 4 reefs and the staysail, by morning we could see we were in some huge seas and the wind had built to at least 50 knots.
Not long after sunrise we took off down a monster breaking wave at around 20 knots and performed what I can only describe as an open 60 headstand. I was standing in the cockpit and saw the bow go in not far off vertical, I glanced behind to see 8-10ft of breaking surf cheekily making its way over the transom. Using my crude rule of wave measurement I reckon that monster was around 60ft high. The deceleration was so violent that both Katie and I were thrown forward, I landed on the hatch which was quite handy as it stopped the torrents of water flooding in and Harry charging out still in our dry sleeping bag (it is one of the few things that is still dry onboard)! Harry and Hannah woke up standing on the bulkhead and by all accounts it seemed much worse down below.
We quickly furled the staysail but in the process it flogged and tore the clew patch to bits. We got the staysail down and storm jib up, by this point the wind had built....Harry reckons in the region of 65 to 70 knots. We deployed 3 spinnaker sheets attached to mooring lines out the back to act as a drogue, tidied the boat up and then did what every true English person does when presented with a crisis.........we had a cup of tea! Through yesterday and last night the winds and swell have abated and we're making good progress towards home, the mighty Aviva is eating up the miles. I can't get over what an amazing boat this is, she takes the worst of the conditions in her stride and keeps us safe albeit a touch soggy. How Dee does this on her own at race pace is awe inspiring and having had a taste of what it’s like out here I can see why Dee and Aviva make such a solid duo....they’re both hard as nails.
We're still smiling, Hannah has put Christmas decorations up around the nav area and we each have a tube of smarties wrapped up in tinsel.....it’s definitely cold enough to feel Christmassy now. We heard this morning that two of the Artemis crew were injured quite badly in a broach, they are making to the Azores where they will be treated. We've offered our assistance if they need it and supplies of painkillers, but at present they feel they are in good shape....we just hope they get to land quickly without too much discomfort!
In 24 hours time I will be sat on a plane en route to Costa Rica. This prospect does not fill me with great joy and excitement as I detest flying but my reason for traveling to Puerto Limon more than makes up for the hours sat still on a plane. I am off to join the crew aboard Aviva for the return journey across the Atlantic once Dee and Brian finish the Transat Jacques Vabre. Yes we are going the wrong way - leaving the warm and heading back to the cold and yes there is a possibility that Christmas could be spent out in the cold Atlantic tantalizingly close to a delicious roast turkey but what a fantastic experience. This should give me a real taster of what is to come in my future projects and here is hoping I come back with a big smile on my face.
It will be a great end to a somewhat frustrating year. It is hard enough trying to drum up sponsorship at the best of times but putting together an Open 60 campaign in the midst of an economic crisis has proved incredibly difficult. I have approached this in the same way as I prepared for my first circumnavigation by gaining as much experience as possible so that when the money comes I am ready to go. A Trans Atlantic aboard a new generation Open 60 will be a fantastic opportunity for me to learn more about these awesome machines and I am keeping everything crossed for some great sailing conditions.
So the sponsorship hunt will continue in the new year and in the meantime I can’t wait to get back out on the ocean, bring it on!!!