Race 1 - Day 24
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 24: Liverpool to Punta del Este
13 September

Hello again to all HotelPlanner.com supporters!

Thank you all for your continued interest and support. I hear many people are losing sleep due to addiction to the Raceviewer – or as my sister Kate has named it 'The Crack Map'.

You have received many snippets and insights into life on board HotelPlanner.com over the past three weeks but I am going to give you a run down of a typical 24 day, as we are currently experiencing it.

We are currently sailing/racing (lest we forget) down the southern Atlantic Ocean, accompanied by the Trade Winds. We crossed the Equator on Sunday, so are now recording southerly latitudes in our daily log. At present, we are approximately 180 nautical miles off the east coast of Brazil as we head for our first port of Punta Del Este in our 70 foot 'washing machine'. Probably somewhere between 8-10 more days of sailing to go.

We are being tossed about and often spun around but rarely come out dry. The seas are currently quite high with waves frequently crashing over the bow and into the cockpit, especially as you are just about to go down below at the end of a watch to ensure you don't escape dry. Ann Marie Davis & I were on watch on deck around 0500 last night and both in the cockpit when a rogue wave crashed over the mid ship port side and swept us off our feet across to the other side of the cockpit. However, apart from a 'little drenching', our safety harnesses were the heroes of the hour. Amazingly, the water in the southern Atlantic is currently lovely and warm so the unexpected salty shower it is no big deal except that it is so challenging to dry the clothes. Also, we are all trying to keep the bums dry as much as possible due to a widespread problem of 'sailors bum'. No secrets on board here...the Sudocream is very popular this week.

So we can begin anywhere, but let's start with the first 'Watch' which runs from 0700-1300. We are woken around 0620 by the 'On Watch'. Breakfast is prepared by the Mothers (cooks of the day, one from Port Watch & one from Starboard Watch) and eaten by the on-going watch before they change into their foul weather gear or lather on the sunblock as conditions on deck dictate. Most importantly, before going on deck, no matter how briefly, is that everyone has their life jacket on and their tether/safety harness which we use to avoid any accidental swims.

We have all been assigned a number 1 – 20 to include all crew and skipper on this leg and everyone 'counts off' before we begin watch handover. Handover includes a rundown of events occurring during the Watch; such as sailing conditions, compass course, winds, other vessels (a rare sight in this big open ocean), helming conditions etc. We generally get an update of our position from Skipper Conall and a plan for the next few hours. Off-going crew head down into the saloon for breakfast as the invariably hot & sweaty Mothers try to keep everyone fed and happy for the day. Then it's time for to head to the bunks. Some of us are 'hot bunking' as we climb into the same bunk just vacated by a fellow crew member. Own sleeping bag of course, but no space is wasted on board. I have turned into Spiderwoman as I climb up into my upper bunk on port side. With the boat currently on a port tack, this means I am fighting gravity with the 45 degree angle against me also. Therefore it is very important to secure the lee cloth after I hover into my bunk to avoid any unplanned dives. We try to sleep until we are called around 1220 for lunch and the next watch (1300-1900). Most people wander out earlier than watch changeover.

During each watch, we are changing or trimming sails to suit the weather conditions and tacking or gybing as the route and the winds dictate. Currently we have the Mainsail with two reefs in due to high winds, the Staysail, and the Yankee 3. We are sailing close hauled, again due to the wind direction. We are quite focused on our hourly progress, which is currently averaging 10-12 nautical miles per hour or approx 240nM per day. However, this can change quite quickly. We don't expect these winds to last too much longer. Sail changes take place day and night as the race is never-ending until we hit port.

As before, we have watch handover and all eat lunch, usually on deck, before the off watch head down and try to sleep. Throughout each watch we rotate 'duties' every day. We become Mother, Engineer, Deck watch, Logger, Navigator, and Cleaner for a day. Everyone gets to try each role every week.

Sleep is challenging, if not due to the heat down below, then either the rocking of the boat, or the noise of the winches on deck overhead and the other watch at work. The dreams are generally quite mixed up with so many inter-references and frequent waking...

Following two 6-hour day watches, we rotate on three 4-hourly watches overnight. There are currently 9/10 on Port/Starboard Watch. Conall can appear any time from down below, (and he arrives right on cue as I type). He grabs sleep whenever he can but is very keen not to miss any action also.

There is soo much more but I had better shut down now as again, it is time to reduce the distraction of lights from down below to allow those on deck adjust to night vision. Hope it is all starting to make sense to you all.

Happy to report that all are keeping safe and well on board and hope you all are too. Special good wishes to those in hurricane affected Florida as your loved ones here (Randall & Greg) have been quite concerned about you and are glad to hear you are all ok.

Goodnight and Godbless as aunty Jo would say.

Slan agus gra mor to my own people back in Ireland.

Mary x x.