Race 12 - Day 14
Crew Diary - Race 12, Day 14: New York to Derry-Londonderry
09 July

The Great Challenge

Sailing has been a relatively new sport for me. After doing a course at the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dublin, I was fortunate to join Pat Rigney as a crew member on his 34ft yacht 'The Great Escape' for weekly racing in Dublin Bay. This provided a wonderful opportunity to truly escape from the daily grind and enjoy the freedom and fun on the water.

This desire to 'get away from it all' has a whole new meaning now, and the Great Escape has evolved into a Great Challenge. While getting this vessel across the vast Atlantic Ocean remains the primary goal, in my mind a greater task lies in the 'living'. Occupying the pockets of 23 people around the clock is interesting. I find myself constantly apologising for being in the way. “Excuse me can I just get by...eh will we switch places there....do you mind sliding across...will I get down so that you can get up...(and sometimes)....can you just MOVE”!

As close as we are to each other, keeping track of ourselves requires regular number counts. It is bizarre that it takes this military like procedure to find who is missing, and simple as it sounds, rarely runs with continuity. Perhaps fatigue is at play, but not infrequently the numbers don't follow an ascending order as 'fourteen' has forgotten that 'thirteen' comes before them... In particular, once darkness falls, identifying a face by their peeping eyes beneath a ton of identical red kit is impossible. No offence taken when you ask someone 'who are you'?

Verbal communication is a significant challenge too. Roaring seas, a churning wake, (and layers of fleecy ear muffs) drown out a voice from bow to stern. The smallest comments are lost in translation. I once shouted back that a sail trim looks “fine” which was interpreted as “grind” causing a flurry of spinning arms. Ooops HOLD.

The most precious space in this living environment is an allocated bunk, but only half the time. This demands obsessional organisational skills, and if you can't find your sealskins beanie, it has probably gone out to deck on someone else's head. My bunk buddy has not been shy about taking (my?) cosy gloves off me at 3am! Navigating the route into this space involves muscles not normally primed, with the agility of an olympic gymnast. The ability to tie secure knots is then really tested and I have learnt more than once that a quick knitting manouvure just won't do. The final frustration occurs when after securely zipping up tight you realise the light is still on. Argggh.

And so if I had to suggest any improvements to the operations of this vessel, I do wonder if a one-way traffic system below deck might be useful!. Movement from bow to stern on port side, and stern to bow on starboard. The channel across the galley area should be a pedestrian crossing, where those in life jackets have right of way. The wet lockers are a no-parking zone and companion way steps a minimum speed of 3knots! Anyone other than the mothers may be clamped in the galley.

At the end of the day, it is quite remarkable how you can really adjust to having so little space and no freedom. The realisation that going with the flow is the only way forward is so important, as is the mutual respect for other peoples' opinions and needs. It is these life skills that I have really appreciated in our team throughout this journey, making the sailing aspects of this great challenge all the more enjoyable.