Team Building

It's been a whirlwind since Crew Allocation - the Team Weekend, Level 4 training and prepping to sail off into the sunset for two months has kept me pretty busy!

With only 3 and a bit weeks notice, pulling together a residential team building event was always going to be a challenge, but thankfully it all came together and worked out perfectly in the end. I have to say though, I have a whole new respect for the skippers having to herd so many people - corralling 30 of them into one place at the same time and getting their payment, dietary requirements and suggestions for activities was much like what I imagine herding cats to be like!

We spent the weekend at a wonderful 4* hostel by Stonehenge that had everything we could possibly want and then some (think licensed bar, tree-top walkway, zip-wire, two large garden areas, a classroom for race planning, large conservatory/dining room...) Self-catering was the perfect choice for us as everyone pitched in without being nudged, even to the extent of having too many helpers (an excel sign for the Race), and it gave our Leg 1&2 victualler Julie a great opportunity to practice menu planning and shopping for 30 people on the Clipper budget.

On the Saturday we went on a gorgeous 11-12 mile hike around Amesbury, past Stonehenge and across to Woodhenge in the blistering heat (we only lost our skipper the once), before we settled down to an afternoon of race planning and discussions. We managed to get a Q&A session with 13-14 RTWer Sophie Hetherton as well which was handy for crew fund questions.

Thanks to Quizmaster Nigel A (one of THREE Nigel's in TeamRoy!) we spent a great evening in the garden doing a pub quiz. While my team didn't win, we did at least ace the Clipper round! Our "I'm only as competitive as you all want to be" skipper was in the winning team...

Sunday morning started off with a trip through the forest as we explored the on-site tree-top walkway (including a run-by from a wild ferret), zip-wire (hilariously Roy couldn't undo his own knot for a couple of minutes) and playground. A few big kids had great fun on the swings (Andre, Stian, I'm looking at you!) which got us in the perfect silly mood for the event of the weekend - Sports Day!

When I asked the team what they wanted to do, I have to admit I was surprised by how many of then came back with suggestions that all came together to mean we were having a sports day. Just goes to show, we're all just great big kids wanting to play! Activities included an egg and spoon race, relay race, bucket toss, and sack race. After a very competitive battle for points, the Green Team emerged victorious to claim their medals and chocolate orange prizes - interestingly, the skipper's team! The Grand Finale tug-of-war (Yankee sheets are good for more than just trimming sails you know) was hotly fought over three rounds and much discussion of the angle of the slope in the orchard we were playing in.

All in all an excellent weekend of team bonding, race planning and generally getting to know each other that bodes well for the real thing - I can't wait to sail with these guys!

Level 4 run-down to follow soon.

"And your skipper is..."

What a weekend!

The long awaited Crew Allocation truly lived up to all the hype - nerves, excitement, and much partying.

After a long and nerve-racking morning waiting for my name to be read out, I am thrilled to announce that I am part of Team Roy / TeamCV28 / Team ThreePointFive (we've been officially a crew for all of three days and we already have in-jokes - amazing!).

Skipper Roy's Bio

I'm also super happy to be crewing with not one, not two, but SIX of my training crew mates from Levels 1 and 3 (including five who helped look after me when I had my accident), and the rest are shaping up to be a damn cool bunch.

We spent a great afternoon getting to know each other and thinking about what we believe makes a good team, how competitive we want to be and other crew business, during which I somehow volunteered myself to be Social Secretary (Roy asked who *might* be interested, and I was the only one who put my hand up!). The first test was sorting out dinner after the initial drinks - luckily the wonderful Fran stepped up and sorted out enough tables for all 40 of us while I herded everyone in the right direction. The next test will be organising a residential team building weekend away with only 26 days notice...watch this space!

As well as all the excitement about finding out our crew, at long last the Race route was revealed to us, and although I can't say where I'm going just yet, I can say that I'll be seeing these cuties!

Magellanic Penguins

Exciting times ahead!!

P.S. In a burst of productivity I've set up a Supporters Group for friends, family and fans (!) - please join to become part of Team Roy's journey and show your support

A week at sea and a trip to A&E

Level 3 training? Check!

After talking to Level 3 veterans and frantically cramming the Crew Manual in Wagamama's the night before training, I was worried that the whole "spinnaker thing" was going to be a confusing, tangled nightmare looming over the whole week, when actually I had a blast and a lot of "eureka" moments! (Gybing finally makes sense to me now, hallelujah) 

The awesome Easter crew of CV23! Thanks to Lars for the photo

Highlights

• Finally "getting" gybing
• Hanging off the bow unhanking the Yankee as fast as Carol was easing the halyard (trickier than it sounds)
• Being called "the tough one" by a watchmate - a good boost when I was knackered and doubting whether I could manage to grind up the Yankee!
• Leading lots of tasks with my watch - talking through the process really helped stick things in my head and asking for everyone's input helped us gel as a team and make sure everyone knew what to do and why
• Having a full crew gave us a good taste of what life will be like on the race - it was strange how little I saw of the other watch once we got into the watch system though - apart from the deck handover, we didn't see them at all

Lowlights

• Only getting 45 minutes sleep on one off-watch because of a spinnaker wrap
• Slipping on a hatch and winding up in A&E
• The pervasive smell of bacon - as the only veggie on board a boat where bacon seemed to feature in every meal I spent a lot of time on deck while meals were being cooked!

Life at an angle - the cooker is actually level!  Thanks Matt N for the photo

With a full crew of 17, plus Skipper Matt Mitchell (ClipperTelemed+ skipper in 15/16) and First Mates Carol Eccles and Alex Laline, CV23 was a pretty busy place! We split into watches right from the beginning with 8 in Port (my watch!) and 9 in Starboard. After spending the day studying ISAF theory in a stuffy little classroom it was a relief to be getting on with the boat walkthrough, checking life jackets on deck and settling into our bunks. Amusingly, before we went into the watch system full time and those in the forward bunks started hot-bunking, we had one person too many for the crew bunks so Lars ended up locked in with the sails for a couple of nights on the spare bunk tucked in there.

After some creative acrobatics (a few of us got a top bunk for the first time and didn't quite get the knack of climbing in straight away) and a fair few bumps to the head, we rounded of the night with a trip to the Castle. 

Tip: grabbing the edge of the cave locker by your head helps give you a lift as you launch yourself up - just remember to make sure your lee-cloth is fully loosened so you don't get your legs tangled in it as you swing them over...

Days 2 and 3 followed the usual routine - safety brief below and on deck, pontoon MOB (I was 'swimmer'), and sailed over to West Cowes where we put the boat to bed and headed off to the pub for a drink, then a long day sailing across to Portland reminding ourselves how to do everything and getting used to the layout of the 70's (plus another MOB, where I was swimmer again!).

Thanks Jonny for capturing some of the action!

Once we left Portland we headed east and fell into the watch system properly on a 4 on, 4 off rolling pattern. Saturday saw us hoist the spinnaker for the first time, which went very well, and then drop it and wool it. To the uninitiated and clueless (as I was until I was handed a ball of wool), "wooling" the spinnaker means rolling it up in a very specifically odd way, and then tying strands of yarn all along it and folding it. Sounds easy? Ha! The sail fills the entire below decks, gets tangled, has coloured tapes you need to "run", and the wool likes to break at annoying moments. We're told we'll learn to love it.

Tip: don't ask an ex-race RTW'r (Alex) how many times a day they did this on the race, it will only drive you to comfort eating brownie bites and chocolate bourbons while sobbing into your tea 

After merrily sending Starboard watch down below, the Port watch decided we wanted to hoist the spinnaker again (undoing all that lovely wooling). Sadly, it did not go as well the second time round. The wool broke free part way up the hoist, filling the sail and wrapping it around the forestay. Oops. After trying to untangle it for about an hour, we decided to head to a sheltered spot out of the wind to sort it out, just in time for Starboard watch to come up on deck. 

I was on mother watch with Felicity and in charge of getting dinner ready, so we headed down below with the instruction to have it ready in 45 minutes while everyone else went to sort out the Port watch mess. We duly cooked the pasta and pesto bacon for the appointed time (8pm), only to hear that the spinnaker situation was taking a lot longer than hoped and we'd need to hold it a while longer. The weary and hungry Port watch finally started stumbling down below around 9.30pm where they scoffed a miraculously still warm dinner and threw themselves into their bunks - we were meant to be off watch at 8pm and had to come back on at 12am. As mothers Felicity and I stayed up with the Starboard watch until around 10.15pm or so to make sure everyone was fed and watered and the galley was cleaned up before trying to snatch what sleep we could in the 90 minutes we had before we had to get up again. Who says Clipper is a holiday?!

Tip: don't plan meals involving cooking pink food under a red light - its blooming hard to know when bacon is cooked if the whole galley is bathed in red! 

Happily the next morning dawned brighter, with the Easter bunny visiting the crew during the 8am watch change on Easter Sunday. I'm very impressed that the little smarties filled eggs I'd brought with me had managed to survive intact despite being in my kit bag shoved and kicked at the end of my bunk with my boots being chucked on top of them every 4 hours. Another good day sailing with some stronger winds driving us home, and everyone falling into the 4 on/4 off pattern a little more easily.

Unfortunately with just 2 hours left on what was expected to be my final watch, disaster struck. We were speeding along nicely at 10-11 knots with 3 reefs in and an angle of around 40 degrees when I went to have a turn helming. As I went to grab the guard by the helm a wave shifted the angle of the boat and I slipped on a hatch landing heavily on my nose and right knee. Luckily I was clipped on, so I didn't slide very far down the deck, but it was clear pretty much instantly that I had done some serious damage, potentially breaking my knee, and I needed to get to hospital.

Within about 30 seconds Matt was on deck and assessing my injuries while Carol did a great job of keeping me calm while checking my head and neck over. Their training really showed, and I had absolutely no doubts about their ability to look after me. Handily, there was also a retired GP and nurse on board to help out and get me splinted up using gaffa tape and a wooden stick they found in the sail locker.

While I can't say I enjoyed being the subject, the accident did offer my crewmates an excellent opportunity to practice dealing with a real emergency, and I think they did marvellously! They rallied round, handing over their sleeping bags to wrap me in and keep me warm on deck, sitting with me and including me in the ongoing game of "would you rather" Port watch had started the day before, and generally keeping my spirits up during the long motor back to Gosport and help. They even wrapped me in a sail bag to keep me dry (or so they say, I think they just wanted to get a picture of me pretending to be a sail!).

After a painful few weeks stuck at home on crutches being sent from hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor, I was told that my some miracle I hadn't broken my kneecap or damaged my cartilage as everyone thought, but "just" impinged my intrapatellar pad which should heal in plenty of time for Level 4 training in July and won't need surgery. 

I'm so lucky it wasn't worse, and for once in my life I'm doing as I'm told and resting up so that I can heal quickly - my eyes are firmly on the prize: crossing the Atlantic in August!

P.S. During all the drama my boots had to get cut off - if anyone has any decent size 7's going spare, let me know!!

A week in the life of a Level 2 Clipper trainee

At long last, the story of my Level 2 training has been translated into intelligible English from my awful boat scrawl - enjoy a look into the life of a Clipper Race trainee!

Sorry all for the hiatus and thank-you so much for sticking with me - the last couple of months have been insanely busy and I've barely had time to breathe. The next few months are likely to be just as hectic, but I'm determined to make time to chart my Clipper journey more regularly in the new year! Coming up next on my Clipper journey - I'll be completing my RYA Navigation certification over the next month which I'm super excited for, and Crew Briefing/Party in January down at the London Boat Show - watch this space!

P.S. Feeling full of the Christmas spirit? Please support the amazing work of the Red Cross and help push me over the £1500 mark in time for Christmas: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RedShoesCaitlin

Thanks to Emily Woodason for this great snapshot of life on CV8!

Friday 26th August - The journey begins! 

Travelled with a friend to Waterloo after work and grabbed a sandwich before boarding the train to Portsmouth Harbour. I felt rather like a turtle carrying my sailing life on my back across London, and I was definitely as ungainly - a steady stream of apologies punctuated the journey.

Plenty of room on the train south, so I revised my notes and the Crew Manual a bit. The ferry was late so I got a taxi to the AirBnB - good thing too as it was a lot further from the marina then it said it was! The host was nice and we chatted for about 40 minutes before I headed up to my room to repack my clothes in much more logical outfit rolls (underwear, base and mid layer top and bottoms rolled up together) and revise some more vocab.

Saturday 27th August - Sea Survival

What a crazily hot building! I know it’s August but it was like being in a sauna all day. We split the day into theory in the morning and practical in the afternoon - the theory was interesting but quite scary, and we had a great instructor. Worked through a short lunch to do the practice early and finish a bit early.

The practice wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be - I could actually do everything, even climbing into the very slippery life raft from the water. Hurrah! It was nice as well that if anyone struggled they got lots of cheers of support and a round of applause when they managed it - the true Clipper spirit right there. Swimming in a life jacket is very strange, especially when you’re rescuing someone you don’t know as you end up with your legs wrapped around them rather closely and splashing your arms around behind your head trying not to drown them. Fortunately, we all got the hang of it quite quickly and it definitely broke the ice!

Got a lift to the race office with Faith and had an hour break before we got assigned to our boats for the week. Headed into Gosport with Emily and Faith for crew sweets and a snack (Homity Pie and a chai latte at Coffee1 - yum!). When we got back to the race office we got split into two seven man crews and went to our boats - I got assigned to CV8 with Skipper Chris Kobusch and Mate Paul Atwood. 

After picking our bunks (I picked the forward bottom on the other side to last time - my favourite bunk on the 68’s!) we did crew/skipper/mate intros and covered the below decks safety brief. Fajitas for dinner then flare chat and knot practice - who knew there were three ways to tie a bowline?! Feels unnecessarily complicated to me… Headed to the Castle to meet the other L2 crew for a drink. Slept really well despite how hot and quiet it was. Woke up at 6.30 for a 7.30 breakfast and was the last up!

Sunday 28th August - Bunk yoga is totally a thing!

I’ve been assigned to the Odds watch (the larger of the two with four crew) and am a deckhand today. We’re all rotating roles each 24 hours - deckhand, mother watch, engineer, navigator/watch leader - so we get to try everything thoroughly for a whole day which is great.

On deck safety brief, pontoon MOB with Bob (apparently Ruth is called Bob by everyone outside my awesome Level 1 crew, very strange), readied the staysail, yankee and mainsail to hoist. Slipped lines after lunch at around 2.30pm and motored into the Solent and hoisted the main - I helped sweat it up. Unfortunately there was a hole in the main fairly high up so we immediately had to put two reefs in - good job we’d done that before in Level 1 because we hadn’t prepped for it given the very light airs we were sailing in! Hoisted the staysail. Dinner at 6pm - feeling quite queasy and the creamy mushroom pasta definitely didn’t help matters (mushrooms = slimy little devils). 

Started our first night watches and Odds were on 6-10pm and 2am-6am. Did lots of night tacking in the first watch - we didn’t use head torches so had to let our eyes get used to the darkness and learn what to do by touch. It was quite strange not being able to see the colour of the line I was easing or grinding and having to trust that I knew which one was which by touch and position. Nighttime solo sheeting on the staysail was quite fun!

Came off watch at 10pm and went straight to my bunk - did 2 minutes of bunk yoga (happy baby, cobra and child pose all work well in such a confined space and really stretch out the back and joints) then managed to sleep for two hours. Woke up feeling really seasick for the first time in my life and had to rush to the heads and then the saloon where I spent a good part of the rest of my off-watch lying on the floor feeling like hell. 

Monday 29th August - A taste of the English Channel

Back on watch at 2am still not feeling great but the fresh air, conversation and no tacking for the first hour helped quite a bit. Helmed for 10 minutes in the dark - I did not like it at all! I am definitely not a helm junkie. Off watch at 6am for 6 hours but was engineer duty for the day so had to clean and do the engine checks with my Evens counterpart Marek before I could go to sleep (couldn’t face breakfast after sticking my head in the diesel engine and generator).

Anchored while I was asleep - not sure how I managed to sleep through that when the anchor locker was right next to my head! - and woke up to the main sail being repaired. I was still off-watch so managed to force down a jam sandwich made by the wonderful Jenny and brush my teeth before heading back to sleep until the afternoon watch.

Back on watch around 2 to slip anchor (that thing is damn heavy) and hoist the main (I was on the main sheet and coffee grinder). Had a bit of trouble with the mainsail and had to move it up and down a little a few times - exhausting! Hoisted the staysail and yankee one after the other (on the staysail sheets then the coffee grinder). 

MOB drill in the afternoon, and I volunteered to be the rescue swimmer - seasickness be damned! Unfortunately, as it was our first run at a sea rescue, it didn’t go quite to plan…but we did get Bob back in the first pass and manage wrestle him on board.  My harness was loose so it kept pulling me to one side, I didn’t blow up my lifejacket (the automatic release is disabled on the rescue jacket to prevent it going off too soon) so I kept getting mouthfuls of the English Channel (really not good for sea sickness), and the immersion suit leaked down the front so my toasty warm layers were soaked! A quick change and a biscuit before debriefing soon sorted it all out though.

Lots of tacking for the rest of the afternoon with us all rotating position so we really got to grips with what we were doing anywhere on the boat. I was last on helm thanks to my dislike for it, which unfortunately meant that I got stuck there for a while during the debrief...really should have got it over with sooner… Sausage, mash and gravy for dinner then know practice for a watch competition. Dropped the stay and yankee sails (tailing the stay halyard and bowman for the yankee), then the main. I was on the topping lift for the main, and eased too quickly in VMT - fortunately everyone was fine but it really did bring it home what a dangerous place the boat can be if you’re not careful and alert every second. 

Helped flake the main, which was so much easier with an older sail than it was with the brand new one we had in Level 1. Motored to to the mooring lines at Yarmouth where I was manning the searchlight to find the buoy. It took a lot of passes to get it as it was a very small target and it was very dark (around 10.30pm) making it tough for Marek and Emily to hook the line in, but they managed it eventually. Quick cuppa and some pomegranate love sweets from Emily (we found them absolutely hilarious - not sure if it was the exhaustion or the sudden sugar high) then the knot competition. Our watch won all but one round! Need to work on my slip knot and be careful with the double sheet bend but I was one of the quickest on all of them so I’ve got good speed. As we won we got to choose our watch times - I chose the 6am-7am duty as I'm on Mother Watch the next day. Headed straight to bed at 12 and slept right through.

Tuesday 30th August - Gybe, gybe, and gybe again

Up, dressed and on watch by 6am. Marek is staying up after the 5am-6am watch to help prep for Mother Watch with me. Porridge for breakfast - seems to be my staple on board! Despite worrying about making it good enough that everyone liked it, everyone had seconds, and one person (I’ll name no names) even had thirds! 

Hoisted the main and staysail, then put in a reef and shook it out and did a racing headsail change. I was on Bow 1 - YAY - with Marek on Bow 2 to hank on the Yankee 1 below the Yankee 3. Dropped the Yankee 3 and I had to communicate with the Pit using handsigns as well as voice commands to control the yankee halyard speed. The hanks were really tough to get off - salty and stiff.

Jacket potato, beans and cheese for lunch on deck (nice and easy to make while at an angle) followed by rigging a gybe preventer and lots and lots of gybing. I was really confused at the first position in my rotation, the dreaded helm, but it started to make sense after moving around a few positions - it’s like tacking with an extra bit (centring the main). As someone who really likes to understand exactly what I’m doing and why, not understanding at the beginning was pretty hard to deal with. Everyone was really supportive and kept explaining it until I got it which was really great.

In celebration of Julie's birthday, Chris bought her a birthday cake which we had all kept carefully hidden from her all week until our little birthday party on deck. Great fun and a fantastic example of the Clipper family spirit - plus delicious cake!

Another MOB drill in the afternoon while sailing downwind - our best one yet. We were much quicker at our tasks although we were still a little hesitant  to take a task. I was on the mainsheet to start to centre the main before moving forwards to take a halyard back and leading the drop/hoist of the rescue swimmer (Jenny this time) and Bob. Apparently I was very clear and did a good job - hurrah! More gybing then headed below to make chilli for dinner. Ended up serving cake and custard for dessert - so much washing up! 

Back on deck to rig the mooring lines at the buoy at Cowes where I was right up at the bow rigging the lines. I really love it up there! Another knot competition for watch choices on deck in the dark. Sadly us Odds lost (just) so we got second pick and I wound up with 12am-1pm. Really need to practice my rolling hitch! Slept well from 10pm to just before 12am. Early morning ahead with breakfast at 6am for a full day sailing. On Navigator and Watch Leader duty tomorrow - can’t wait!

Wednesday 31st August - Bob makes a break for it - yet again!

Led a racing sail hoist - staysail and yankee right after each other - without my wet notes! Went really well and I remembered all of the steps. MOB upwind this time and I ended up controlling the halyards again, and apparently did very well. As we did the racing headsail change yesterday, today we just practiced a change from Y3 to Y1 - I led on the bow (yay) and led the Y3 flake. Marek and I put in a 2-man reef before a lot of tacking and gybing practice. 

Another downwind MOB - surprise this time - while taking down the yankee. Had to think quickly to secure the part we had unhanked and move it aft so it wasn’t in the way and didn’t unflake itself over the side. Was manning the staysail halyard this time while Julie went over as rescue swimmer. 

Tried a Le Mons start which was great fun although we were a bit slow - it was our first time after all! Was on the mooring lines as we came into moor at the marina in Gosport, then helped Georg lead the Y1 flake once we were secure in port and led on the staysail flake. Went below to help Julie make dinner as she didn’t have a watch partner, then a quick shower and off to the Castle for a drink with the crew.

Thursday 1st September - The end of a great week

Up and ready by 7.10 waiting for the others to pack and eat breakfast to start the deep clean by 8am. Powered through to finish for 12.30pm. Bit of a problem with the Y2 when the sail bag disintegrated at the clew end so we had to flake it inside the sail locker - less than ideal!

My review chat with Chris went well - apparently I know everything, I just need to know that I know it! Calling the halyards in the MOB drills was spot on which is great although I hope I never need that particular skill for real. Amusingly he held me up as an example of how to self-study after I told him about my flashcards (available to download free here) - quite flattering! 

Lunch on deck, followed by a *small* problem overfilling the water tanks leading to 150l sloshing around the crew bilges needing to be bailed out. Manned a halyard with Georg while Chris did the rig check and then popped next door onto Clipper Telemed+ with Julie - absolutely love the 70’s! They have a great deck layout - so clear on the bow and fore deck and great setup below as well. Took our gear to the office then popped to the Boathouse for a final crew drink before getting the ferry to Portsmouth and the train back to London with Marek and Emily. All in all, a great week and I can’t wait until Level 3 in April!

A few of our crew in-jokes...

• The Log joke
• Hair & make-up
• Pervy Bob
• TMI

Life saving

After a long day in London at the end of a long week (I just started a new job),  today I was officially qualified as a First Aider by the RYA - HURRAH!

Basic first aid is such a simple skill, I really recommend everyone go out and do a course. Sailor or not, through the RYA or not (the British Red Cross offer local courses for very reasonable prices), it's just one day out of your life that may help you save the life of someone you care about.

Go save a life - get qualified too!

P.S. Full run-down of my Level 2 last month to follow soon, I promise!

What if...? The Level 2 Fear

With only 6 days left to go until I head down to Gosport to start my Level 2 training, I have to admit, I'm equal parts incredibly excited and utterly terrified.

The excitement part is fairly obvious - I've been desperate to get back out on the water since I disembarked for the last time at the end of Level 1, and can't wait to learn more and really get to grips with being at sea for more than just a day at a time, plus meet more Clipper Crazies. Kit-wise, I've been packed for a week already (I got a wee bit over-excited by the arrival of my new Musto holdall...) so I'm looking forward to trying out my new thermals and dry-bags (a sentence I never thought I'd say a year ago!).

On the other hand, I am pretty scared. In my head I know that I can get through training - after all, I got through Level 1 just fine and even managed to shake out a reef on my own, I hiked 110 miles across the Scottish Highlands in June, and there'll be a whole crew in exactly the same position as me and a first class Skipper and Mate to guide us through.

My stomach is a completely different matter! 

What if I've forgotten everything? (I'll probably remember more than I think I will)  

What if I suddenly hate sailing? (like that could ever really happen)  

What if I can't manage physically? (if I can drag myself plus a 17-18kg pack 110 miles while climbing 6000m over rough mountain terrain with various injuries, I can definitely manage a week on a boat with crewmates and winches to help carry the load)  

What if my cold turns into full-blown flu? (it's pretty unlikely if I'm sensible (!) and wrap up warm and hydrate) 

What if...?  

What if I just go for it and have an absolute ball of a time?

Bring it on Level 2!

Is it just me? Or, Kit Madness

Does this ever happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

Earlier this week my brand new Musto Evolution 60l waterproof holdall* arrived at work and I was so excited I had it out of its packaging and was brandishing it around the office showing it off in about 10 seconds flat (lucky for me my office is infected with Clipper Fever so they were at least vaguely interested in the appearance of a giant dry bag).

But hey, it was in the sale (my favourite thing) at a mere £57 instead of £115! And it has a nifty valve feature to remove excess air to save space! And an adjustable shoulder strap! And an easy-to-spot-at-night-using-a-red-light colour!

That wasn't the worst of it though - today my excitement reached a whole new level when I went to put it away in my kit cupboard (thru-hiking and sailing seems to come with a whole load of kit that demands its own space) and noticed a few things I knew I wouldn't be using until my Level 2 training in two weeks (sailing boots, sleeping bag etc). So obviously it made total sense to put those things inside the holdall to save space and having to pack them next weekend anyway. Twenty minutes later my entire kit is packed into dry bags within the giant drybag and is ready to sail.

Oops.

*Full kit review to follow after its inaugural use at Level 2 training later this month

Clipper Fever

I knew Clipper Fever was a serious condition since I've been infected with it for a year now with no sign of a cure, but I sadly underestimated just how contagious it can be... since Race Finish last weekend, Clipper Fever has swept through my office and globes, mugs and stickers have appeared all over the place. 

To avoid risk of infection, please stay away. If you've already been infected or have been affected by this rapidly spreading condition, a free support group is available here: Clipper 17-18 Round The World Yacht Race (Facebook)

Branching out

As you've probably noticed, it's been a bit quiet on the sailing front since Level 1 back in March. Fear not though, I am still practicing my knots frantically (I am determined to get my pressure bowlines perfect for Level 2 in August), getting ready to party at Race Finish, and practicing some of the less obvious skills I'll need to cross the Atlantic - which includes engine maintenance. 

Now, obviously I can't practice on an actual yacht engine outside of training, but that hasn't stopped me from tackling my stuttering and generally unwell camping stove in a bid to gain some (read: any) mechanical skills. After two weeks of being used 2-3 times a day, the poor thing really needed some TLC! 

I'm definitely not the most, how shall we say... mechanically minded, so I'm pretty impressed with myself for managing to get the stove back into ship shape and working like new, even if it took a while and got me covered in grease, soot and fuel. Maybe there's hope for me and the Clipper 70 engines yet??