The Day After:The Skipper's Version.
Fair Do's VII, Atlantic 2008....
Professor John Shepherd
Fri 12 Dec 2008 16:43
|
So now its my turn. This is how it really was so I
guess this is the reality blog. For those who know me well you will understand
that I will be severely technologically challenged to write this so bear with me
and here goes.
What an amazing experience we have had, crossing an
ocean all be it in rather different style to some of the other competitors with
their air con, cocktails waiter service and four course meals and changes of
clothes after a hot shower shave and use of a heads that works
without blocking.
Well we crossed the finish line at 12 38 and
35seconds local time (16 38 35 GMT) on Tuesday 9 December to be
greated as we arrived at the dock by horns flags and cheers from
locals, ARC officials, crews from the only six other boats in, all
considerably bigger than us and the 'wags' Duncans parents Ian and Susan.
Champagne (sprayed over the crew and down Jamie's gullet) beer and rum left
that rather nice after taste on the beard. Only one other race boat had beaten
us in: the Volvo 60, Nova One by 6 hours . Crewed by Russians ( Chelsea supporters from the directors box) they
thought they had won until I explained politely that handicap rating meant a
level playing field and they should have beaten us by over 4 and a half days. Oh
dear, more vodka and the start of another cold war! Following gradually
Desna,Nisida, Incisor and at mid day today P42 have come in to
similar raptuous applause. Every so often the horn blasts and another boat
finshes.
Well we did it the hard way. Nick, we lost our bet
to Dark and Steamy as we had to do an extra 550nm going south as far as 12 59 N
having hoped to cross at 23N latitude. As far as the second part of the bet
is concerned, the boys are working hard on that right now!
All told we did 3250nm in 16 days,3 hours and 58
minutes, 35 seconds. We all have a few battle scars but most importantly great
memories and tales to tell! For a start I thank the heavens for
Sudo-Cream and imodium. Twice in 16 days is not bad and certainly better than
water-skiing hanging off the transom or using a veggie poo-bag. Still, its all
bio-degradable.
The race is remarkably well organised and the whole
event very friendly.It is amasing how many people know the boat and how many
others have fowed the race. Even our competitors have followed our blog,
sometimes being stimulated to sail harder and faster.
How have we done? We won'tknow until the last race
boat is inbut may have a pretty good idea by the time most of us leave later
this afternoon .Four of the boys have decided to go in style by helicopter to
the airport. Matt and I prefer a more sensible and stable mode of
transport to catch the big ugly bird home. Mind you we may well see some
of the fleet still coming in as we fly over them. As yet only 54 of 225 odd
boats are in and the stragglers may take another 10-14 days.
Attending the welcome party at the plush Royal
Hotel with less than 30 boats in by Wednesday evening was a strange but fun
experience. The crew certainly tried the various delicacies of the island, one
in particular. I think they won that part of the bet with Dark and
Steamy!
The island is spectacularly beautiful with the
Pitons in the south as part of a volcanic mountain range and dramatic
coastal views which a couple of us were able to tour round with a tropical rain
forest also. The rest of the rabble had a pool party with the
inevitableconsequences by the time we joined them for our crew dinner last
night.
So before I finally sign off, having taken some 3
days to do this, marks out of ten for exceptional contributions (from the
front):
JK : Clearly a 'specialist' visiting his cousins
and especially Jemal. He kept us amused the whole trip and has continued since
we finished. (9.5)
PW : Brought new levels of hygiene to the galley
with his unstinting and regular production of beverages and especially the
evening meals, the poo bag explosion was the only blot on his copybook and the
sole of the cabin! (9.0)
GR : His continuous humour whilst trimming led to a
relaxed style at night but kept us going, even though he was the only person to
sleep during his on watch, always the first out in a crisis from his offwatch -
though we would rather he dressed more appropriately when he did so.
(9)
JH : Produced lunches of a variety
with only Tuna, Corned Beef, and tinned ham, the tabasco certainly helped.
Again his trimmign and grinding throughout the night played a major part in the
humour of the trip. (9.0)
HF : A different man once the race had started, the
boat was excellently prepared and well looked after the whole way accross. His
Welsh sheep suited him after the rugby result (clearly a one off).
(9.0)
IC : Personal hygiene has never been so strictly
observed on fair do's, however, in Ian's case this was clearly necessary from
the ammount of energy he expended during his four hour (and soemtimes more)
continuous grindathons. (9.0)
MH : Helmed with ferocious concentration,
especially when the going in the light was very slow. The continuous barage of
abuse with Jemal helped to keep the stratospheric humour levels.
(9.0)
DT : Just like a little school boy on the helm in
25 knots of breeze. His two fingers are now competely flattened having kept the
blog going and in his capacity as comms officer following the weather and other
ARC information. (9.0)
Lastly, we would like to mention the 10th man
aboard (in spirit) Chris Tibbs who was our weather guru. We had a fantastic
pre-race meeting where he shared his predictions, regarding which route to
take and on a daily basis advised the fastest likely passage with accurate
warnings of inclement conditions.
All in all a fantastic 3 weeks. Most of us have now
shaved in preparation for real life. I hope you have enjoyed following this, as
much as we have participating and recieving your support from around the
globe.
By our calculations it looks like we have won, and
we will update further when the news is confirmed after the finish line closes
on the 19th - unfortunately, none of us can make the prize giving but we hope
Indian summer will do the necessary in our absence.
Regards,
John
|