Leg 3 Durban to Fremantle

Reaching Fremantle is a huge milestone for me as we have now completed three long ocean crossings each taking around 3 weeks and we are one third through the race in terms of time and distance. Also we have a break here of over 2 weeks and the best part is my family arrive on Christmas eve.

If you have been following the race you will note that we came first and are now leading the overall race by one point. So far we have managed two firsts, a 5th for the halfleg to La Rochelle and a 7th where we had damage to our mainsail and had to drop anchor when the wind died on us. Overall we are doing really well but the big question will be can we keep it up as 6 crew get off now and we get 6 new crew for this next leg. We are fortunate to have a skipper that is an extremely competent sailor and a great tactician as you may have noted from the bold moves made in the Southern Ocean.

This last leg was not what I was expecting as we did not get the big swells where the boat then achieves the high speeds. Overall we had fairly benign weather and after the first week tracked a high pressure system across the Southern Ocean until a few days before Fremantle. The last 3 days prior to arrival were atrocious as we had to beat into the wind and as we crashed through the waves we would have tons of water crashing over us. Both my appetite and sleep disappeared so as soon as we arrived in Fremantle I rushed to a hotel to warm up and dry off. Suffice to say 6 days later I am feeling human again.

This photo was taken from the top of the mast whilst we had 3 hump back whales swimming in parallel with us for about 20 minutes. These magical moments more than compensate for the bad times where I question my sanity on undertaking this adventure.



Karin had arranged an Ocean Bird Guide through Amazon that was delivered to me in Durban. I managed to identify 7 of the 16 types of albatrosses. There is an excellent article in the latest National Geographic on albatrosses. This photo is a Wandering Albatross.



The next two photos are taken whilst on watch. It was cold on this leg so as soon as we finished our watch we disappeared down below to warm. We have plenty of time to reflect on life in general and solve the many problems in the world.......







We had 5 crew on our watch - Nigel on the helm was our watch leader and then from left to right are Dave, Mandy John and myself.



Happy Christmas to you all.
Ian

Leg 2 Salvador to Durban

It is Tuesday afternoon (November 20) and I am sitting in the comfort of my hotel room that overlooks Durban harbour. We completed Leg 2 at 3am on Saturday and after 2 breakfasts of fried eggs bacon etc, many beers and too many rum and cokes I finally felt that I had arrived. This photo is taken of the bow when we were close hauled.



We finished 7th in this race which although disappointing we just felt relieved to get here having survived a Force 10 gale just off the Transkei coast and the only damage was a severely ripped mainsail that is currently being repaired. The final week was very frustrating with either little or no winds then a full force gale. We were about 40 nautical miles from Durban and it took us over 24 hours to cover that distance. This is a shot taken from the mast (not by me).



I thought over the next few blogs I will post some photos taken from down below. I sleep in the top bunk at the back of the boat on the Port side (left). The advantages are that it has more privacy and has better ventilation. The disadvantage is that it can be very noisy as my head is just below the mainsheet winch and when that is being used I will always be woken.



These are the cabins from the main sleeping area where there are 14 bunks. Crew members use sarongs to create some privacy and note the sails that are stored here. When sails are being tranfered to or from the deck it gets both noisy and can be very wet.



One of my creew roles is to repair the sails. This photo is taken with Claire and I repairing some minor rips in one of the headsails. The cloth is too thick in these sails to use the sewing machine so all repairs are done by hand with a needle and very thick thread. A few days after this photo was taken we ripped about 2 feet of the spinnaker and that we repaired down below with the sewing machine. Apart from the mainsail which required profession help we have been very fortunate with little damage to our sails.



On Sunday we leave Durban and should take just over 3 weeks to get to Freemantle where we will have over 2 weeks to rest. I am especially looking forward to the stopover as that will be the first time I will see my family since the beginning of September. I miss them terribly and not seeing them is probably the hardest part of this race for me.

Race 2 La Rochelle to Salvador

I am sitting in the comforts of the Hotel Redfish in their lounge area. Coming in 1st was a huge advantage enabling some of us to get the choice hotels. Whilst some of the crew decided to stay on board I opted for a little luxury. The hotel only has 8 bedrooms and is in the historic old part of the city about a 20 minute walk from the marina. Today some of us are heading to one of the islands for a mini-break. We have completed all major repairs and maintenance so our skipper is happy for us to take some time off brfore the start of race 3. Last night we had the awards ceremony and all crew got a small pennant and then there was a trophy plus a very large pennant to display on the boat.

The race from La Rochelle lived up to all my expectations:

Lousy weather (mostly in the Bay of Biscay)
Fantastic downwind sailing with the spinnaker
Better food that was expected (we have 2 delightful ladies on board who did a great job provisioning)
Becalcalmed in the doldrums (not too long for us)
Avoiding major disasters (2 boats have broken their spinnaker poles in half and many have severely damaged spinnaker sails)
A few crew disagreements (nothing major and always resolved - there are 17 of us living in a confined space so this is not unexpected)
I would classify us as a Happy Boat
I have lost weight (rapidly being regained here in Salvador)

I hope you are all following along on the Clipper web-site- their race tracker is excellent.

Here are some photos:

Prior to the start in Liverpool:



At the start in La Rochelle - I now have no hair and no moustache - it was a do-it-yourself job and took me ages - does anyone remember Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest - that was me half way through.



Sometimes it was miserable on deck:



Another tough day at the office.....



Spiking the spinnaker sheet prior to a drop (not me)...



Winners in Salvador:

Message From Ian Deas

The surprising thing is that we are doing 10kts and we are in the dreaded doldrums. Our skipper planned to enter the doldrums where it was predicted to be at its narrowest based off the weather information received last Friday and so far it is working to plan.
It is now over 2 weeks since we left La Rochelle and we have covered nearly 3,000 miles and have about 1,300 to go. If you have been following the race progress on the Clipper website you will notice that we stayed west of the Canary Islands whereas 8 of the boats deceided to go east and were becalmed in the lee of the huge volcanoes. That has given us a great advantage to breakawy from them. Unforfortunately one other boat, Nova Scotia had the same idea and are currently 10 miles behind.
Last night as we were approaching some thunderstorms we decided to take down the spinnaker and go with the largest headsail and staysail. Just after midnight we were hit by a squall with winds of 45 kts and very heavy rain. With the full sail we had up we were way overpowered but in the dark with the boat at a precarious angle there was not much we could do. We headed into wind and after about 15 very uncomfortable minutes the squall past.
Once through the doldrums we will be in the south atlantic trade winds and hope to arrive in Salvador on Sunday.

From the mid-atlantic
Ian

--

SMSCrewMail NOTE:

The SMSCrewMail system only accepts emails from shore to the vessel without attachments and in "Text/Plain" format.

The SMSCrewMail system also limits email messages received by our user on the vessel to 1,380 characters.

When replying to our user, please do not include his original message to ensure your message would be processed properly and thus reach our user on the vessel.

When sending your own message, please make sure to set your message sending format to "Text/Plain" and refrain from sending any attachments to ensure your message would be processed properly and thus reach our user on the vessel.

Message From Ian Deas

i am writing this blog on the boats email system which does not have a spell-check so I aoplogise in advance for any spelling errors. I am also not able to post any photos so this will have to wait until we reach Salvador which is about 3,400 miles away. Check Clippers website under Durban crew as we posted a blog there that included a photo of me on deck whist we were surfing down some rather rough seas.

We had a rousing send off from Liverpool with thousands of people lining Albert Dock and the banks of the Mersey River. As predicted the winds picked up for our start and if anyone followed our web-ste you will notice that we were first across the start line. Unfortunately we were 5th across the finish line on the first mini-leg to La Rochelle. Actually were were very pleased with our finish as we had sailed conservatively through some high winds and rough seas in order to preserve our sails for the marathon ahead.
La Rochelle is a very pretty medieval town that is the sailing capital of France. We thoroughly enjoyed the French food and wine during our 3 day stop. We are now somewhere off Portugal with the wind at our backs and making some decent speed. The system has just informed me that I am restricted to the length of each message so expect my blog to be about this length.

Ian

--

SMSCrewMail NOTE:

The SMSCrewMail system only accepts emails from shore to the vessel without attachments and in "Text/Plain" format.

The SMSCrewMail system also limits email messages received by our user on the vessel to 1,380 characters.

When replying to our user, please do not include his original message to ensure your message would be processed properly and thus reach our user on the vessel.

When sending your own message, please make sure to set your message sending format to "Text/Plain" and refrain from sending any attachments to ensure your message would be processed properly and thus reach our user on the vessel.

Liverpool Start

It is now Friday afternoon and we are almost ready for the start of the race. I have been enjoying my last few luxuries and decided to stay in a hotel in Albert Dock. This is a photo from my room of the boats tied up to the pontoon - Durban is very colorful with plenty of South African flags strung from the forestays.



Tonight is the "Legendary" Crew Party (I am intrigued to find out why they call it legendary) and then tomorrow is mostly an off day - I may find a quiet little pub somewhere in Liverpool.

On Sunday we start slipping our berths at 11am and then need to make our way through a series of locks to get to the Mersey River in time for the start at 3pm. We are expecting some fairly strong winds so it should be an exciting race to La Rochelle in France - expected to only take 3 to 4 days. We then leave La Rochelle on Sunday the 23rd for a much longer haul to Salvador in Brazil.

Clipper announced today that Santa Cruz is going to be the North American stopover with the fleet arriving around the 6th of April. This is only about 100 miles south of Walnut Creek so expect to be spending a good part of the 10 days sleeping in my own bed. Unfortunately our new house is expected to be finished at the end of March so as much as I tried to avoid the move I may be spending the 10 days moving furniture. [I intend to send a separate email to our Contractor that any delays are ok]

Hopefully I will be able to post another blog from La Rochelle.

Training is Complete

I am writing this blog from the comforts of my home in Walnut Creek - no don't worry I have not decided to quit but have come home for a few days whilst the boats are being delivered from Gosport to Liverpool. To say that the weather in the UK was bad during my final training is an understatement but one of the comforts I have taken away is that these boats are designed for really adverse conditions so I will be in safe hands on my journey around the world over the next 10 months.

Clipper arranged for a photo shoot in the second week of my training and when the conditions were right they sent a helicopter out to take photos of the fleet. They wanted to show that this is no race for wimps so it had to be windy, big seas and we were asked to be overpowered - that is too much sail up. This photo is the result and there were some equally good ones of the other boats. I am sitting on the rail to the right of the guy above the N.



This photo is the scene on Durban with the crew on the rails on windward side, the skipper on the helm and the leeward rails almost in the water. Very wet but exhilarating.



The following day the weather system moved off and we had time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Those who wanted to went to the top of the mast (not me) and took photos of the rest of the crew making sure they did not come to any harm. It was also a time where we could practice other skills such as recovering someone who had fallen overboard - hopefully also not me.......



On the final evening of my training we anchored off the Isle of Wight and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.



Upon our return to Gosport we spent a frantic week preparing the boat for the race. Fortunately the weather held up and we had lots of warmth and sunshine to prepare our new sails and rigging, provision for Leg 1 and conduct the many repairs and modifications that would make our lives a little more comfortable during the race. I also attended a 2 day "Sail Repair Course" and learnt how to use the Singer Sewing Machine we were provided with and how to repair a ripped sail.



This was the bunk I slept in during the 3 weeks I spent on board and is similar to the others. I don't mind the upper bunks as fortunately being tall is not really a hindrance for me. All the bunks have their advantages and disadvantages so we have decided to adopt a democratic system at the beginning of each leg and drawn names out of a hat for bunk selection.



I intend to spend the next few days at home repairing my body, tying up final loose ends and saying goodbye to my family whom I won't see again until Christmas in Australia.

On Safari

Not really preparation but an opportunity to spend some quality time with my family before I set off on my sailing adventure. This is a photo with my "support team" taken at sunset in Namibia.



This trip had been planned over a year ago by a friend of ours who lives in London to celebrate her "milestone" birthday (don't worry Kim I will not disclose your age) and the idea was a safari through Southern Africa. There were four families with eight children whose ages ranged from 12 to 18 and eight adults whose ages ranged from "old" to "older". We all met up in Delta Camp which is in the Okavango Delta in central Botswana. This shot was taken from the "arrivals lounge" when we arrived at Delta Camp.



The mode of transport through the delta was on the mokoro which is a dug-out canoe that the local men make themselves.



Since the capacity of Delta Camp is only 16 people we occupied the entire camp and this shot is of the lodge where we had our meals, evening cocktails etc. There were quite a few elephant bulls in the area and often we would be confined to our rooms while they wandered through the camp eating anything green that they fancied.



After three wonderful days in Botswana it was on to the Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. This is the dry season and all the animals congregate at the waterholes. When this large elephant bull arrived it made quite clear to the other animals that it was the boss and did not want to be disturbed whilst it drank.



We then flew south to do a walking safari on the edge of the Namib Desert. Fortunately our bags were transported to our camp and all we were required to carry was a day pack with water and some snacks. Our bedrooms were out in the open and here is ours perched on top of a dune. We were amazed at how much life we found in such a seemingly arid area. Our guides were expects and uncovered this "dancing lady spider" and a lizard that seemed to fancy my son's finger.








Here we are at the end of the walking safari making our way to the airstrip where the 4 planes were waiting to take us to Kulala Desert Lodge, a mere 20 minute flight away. Kulala is on the edge of Sossuvlei National Park which is famous for its large red dunes.


Here we are walking up a dune and then some decided the best way down was to "swim".



All good things have to end and I am currently writing this back in California whilst attempting to finalize all at home and prepare for my sailing adventure.

I want to commend my dear wife and children, without whose support I would not be able to undertake this sailing adventure. Thank you.

You are doing WHAT....

Soon after my 50th birthday in 2006 I had the following conversation with a friend:

Friend: So Ian now that you have turned 50 you can reveal to me what you did for your mid-life-crisis.

Ian: I didn't know that I was supposed to have a mid-life-crisis.

Friend: Of course everyone has one around turning 40.

Ian: Is it too late to have one now that I am 50?

Friend: Probably not but it has to be something special.

Ian: OK I will see what I can come up with.

Hence the heading of the title when one evening over dinner I revealed to my family that I had signed up to participate in the Clipper Round the World Race.

In June 2006 I completed my Part A training in Gosport (near Portsmouth) on one of the old Clipper yachts (= sailboat in American) that was used in their first 4 races. I have clarified the word yacht for my American friends lest they believe that I will be on a luxury cruise around the world. The yachts are comfortable but far from luxurious. Part A training is really a test to ensure that we know what we are letting ourselves into. I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the 7 days but more determined that this is what I need to give me a break in my career.




These two photos show me at the top of the mast and then looking down. When I returned to the deck my two exhausted crew mates who had to haul me up looked at me and said that was probably the first and last time I will be visiting the top of the mast.

My Part B training took place in March 2007 and when I climbed on deck it started snowing. Fortunately I was a little better prepared this time and had ample warm clothing. With the snow on the first day, gale force winds the second and mountainous seas I now had a better idea of what to expect during the race.

I should mention my crew mates from the two training sessions as I would be more than happy to be on the same boat with any one of them. They ranged from ages 17 to early 60's and were just a great bunch of like-minded people.



On June 30 we will find out which yacht we will be on and who our crew mates will be. Then at the beginning of August I return to England for my final training session and the preparation of the boat prior to the race which starts from Liverpool on September 16.

The link below is the Clipper website. When the race starts you will be able to track the positions of the 10 yachts as we will report in every 12 hours.


www.clipper-ventures.com