Skip to main content

Captain Jack Aubrey on deck...

After the morning's squall died down, the boat was still being shaken by
huge waves. Sleeping in the forepeak was challenging; people secured their
lee cloths in the hope that they wouldn't be flung from one bunk to the
next. Libby and Louisa took great pleasure in ensuring everything was
battened down on deck, and rode the waves at the pulpit in a true titanic
pose. Throughout the day it got calmer, and the off watch managed to catch a
couple of rays on the aft-deck.

It was an important day for Mark, the Watch Officer for Red Watch, who
turned the grand old age of 31 - Happy Birthday! We celebrated in style with
carrot cup cakes at happy hour, a handmade card and some carefully wrapped
presents. What a way to spend your birthday, in the middle of the ocean,
with good company and cake.

Birthday or not, Red Watch still had work to do on our watch between 6pm -
8pm. Lorna headed up the team of Libby, Harriott, Kirsty, Abby and Louisa up
to
the now extremely wave-stricken fore-deck. The aim being to secure the Genoa
(our largest white sail) to the rail in preparation for a racing sail
change. Picturesque, there was a beautiful pink sunset in the background.
The deck, however, was much less serene. All secured to the deck with our
safety strops, we braced ourselves as huge waves swept over the deck,
soaking our waterproofs through. One wave caught Lorna off guard, and she
looked rather startled as she spat out sea water and looked around to find
Red Watch giggling. Nevertheless, undeterred we battled the sail out of its
bag and valiantly secured it to the deck for future use. Mission
accomplished!

Mark's one birthday wish was to helm whilst listening to music that reminded
him of the sea. Just after 8, a mixture of blue and red watch congregated to
listen to the master and commander and jurassic park theme tune on deck. It
was very atmospheric as Mark got to pretend he was Captain Jack Aubrey. Epic
music at the end of an epic day!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rona II blog 23rd Aug 2017

> Disaster strikes! After arriving in the visitor marina of Le Havre at
> 0430,
> Rona II drove over a stray rope which had been left in the water.
> This tangled around the propeller, causing the Skipper to call for the
> anchor to be dropped a mere 10 metres from our intended mooring position.
> The crew then had to inflate the rubber dinghy and set world class rower
> Theo Darlow to take a line to shore where himself and Dr Sam Wareing
> pulled
> the boat in.
>
> In the morning, the afterguard set off to find a commercial diver to cut
> the
> rope free from the propeller. They located a man named Patrick, who
> arrived
> to the scene of the incident at about 1500 donning full scuba gear; he
> quickly got into the water and began working away at the stern of Rona II.
> After roughly 45 minutes of fishing bits of rope from the marina water,
> the
> crew saw Patrick emerge victorious. Angus Elliman used his bilingual
> …
Post a Comment
Read more

You can't escape the dentist, even mid-Atlantic...

An interesting start to New Year's day aboard Rona II. The dawn light
enabled a field dental practice to open for a short time on the aft deck.
Watch Officer George Hopkins, after walking head first into a spinnaker pole
last night came off with a chipped tooth. After a night of discomfort his
Watch Leader and newly qualified dentist Sam Wareing took to the tooth with
an emery file to curb the sharp edge. At the other end of the hierarchy the
Mongol deputy Director of Renewable Resources has been suddenly fired from
his post on allowing a tin can to fall into the bilge, the height of
incompetence in his line of work and the last straw adding to a string of
minor offences.

The effects of a post Christmas comedown hasn't affected the standing of
Rona II in the race, holding first in class and sixth in the fleet overall.
With the Mayans back on mother watch; breakfast was churned out and squared
away within the hour leaving time for Mate, Andy Wright, to present a short
lecture o…
Post a Comment
Read more

Leg 5 - The Final Blog!

After a long, hard month, the Rona II crew are returning home. For the past few days, the three watches have been cleaning and getting the boat ready for the delivery crew who will return her to the Hamble, and enjoying the hospitality of Le Havre.Wednesday morning was spent cleaning the boat to try and make it look like it hadn’t just crossed the Atlantic, and like the crew hadn’t been painting the town red the night before. At lunchtime they were given shore leave and the chance to have a well-deserved shower, but due to Rona II’s early arrival in Le Havre, the showers weren’t open, so everyone onboard had to go to the swimming pool, purchase Speedos, and shower after a colder than anticipated swim. In the evening, the crew were invited to our fellow competitor yacht Peter von Danzig for a little get together, and everyone enjoyed being able to talk to the other crew about their Atlantic experience.Thursday is traditionally the day of both the Captains’ Dinner and the Rona II …
Post a Comment
Read more