'The team is now fully established!'

Hello out there,

The true nature of Adventurous Training can be found on a sailing vessel such as Adventure after a week at sea.  Individuals have become small teams and these small teams make the whole expedition work!

It is a real pleasure to see these individuals conquer the skills of down wind sailing at 11+ knots on this 67ft vessel we call home for another week or so.   It doesn't sound too hard to get the wind to blow just past your left or right ear and keep the yacht heading in a straight line, but then you have to do the same thing at 3am when there is no light and the mist  has formed a goldfish bowl around the yacht.  Next you add the breaking waves that slew the yacht from side to side.  When the penny drops and it clicks into place, smiles are all you need from the helm to acknowledge a job well done!

Leg 2 – Moments before setting sail

Close proximity

67ft is pretty large in yachting terms, but this space seems to half on a daily basis.  Where do you go for 10 minutes of peace?  Living in such close proximity can have its draw backs, it can make you want to scream!  But when you need some hands for a quick sail change, everyone is pretty easy to find.  Its amazing how easy it is to live out of a small blue box.  Creature comforts are few and far between, generators and engine noise makes sleep slightly awkward at times, but when the body is tired you always seem to find a way.

Character

When a group is brought together into such a confined space from all walks of life, personalities are required to merge and soften at the edges.  Social stratification has no place on board the yacht, when the chips are down and gloves are wet, their IPOD is not charged and they have to clean the heads after other individuals have failed to use a good point of aim, this is where true character and strengths develop.  A simple brief taken in the wrong context can upset the apple kart so easily.  The end result must be the safe passage  of the yacht with a fully harmonised team and everything else must come in as a close second.  Mother nature takes no prisoners and will find chinks in the strongest armour.  Ocean sailing is a fantastic tool for honing individual and team skills.

Cooking

It is always amazing to see how well we can eat as a crew.  Menus are made and food purchased to suit the menu, but its the little extra ideas that brighten up meal times.  Meals are also a social gathering on board as most of the watches and mother will be in one place allowing for briefings to take place and the usual banter between watches.  Bread making has become a real contest for example and watch leaders drive their watches to produce the best possible breads for the next meal.

Mornings are always worth while!

Yacht matters

On a daily basis the batteries are constantly requiring to be re-charged, generator checks and engine checks take place, the water maker re-fills the tanks on board and a plethora of other activities happen like a well oiled machine

We are now heading at 10 knots towards UK waters.  The rain and mist are in for the night and helming is not much fun.  But the crew are always prompt for the start of their shifts and brews are made to welcome the on going shifts boys and girls with a smile.  Discussions on deck range from fuel prices to favourite tipples and plenty of  memory games keep the hours passing by.

Adventure's intended course home on the chart plotter

I will leave you with fond thoughts of family and friends waiting for the crew at home.  I'd like to say a special hello to my baby boy Oliver.

Daz, Mate, Adventure.