Donate a Pint

Arriving on the jetty, the 60ft of fibreglass & wood in front of me was not looking big enough to take 15 crew around the world. However, my main concern was that I was the only one in my twenties and I strongly suspected being one of three under 40. Had I found the SAGA jetty? One consequence of this that wasn’t offering any comfort was that htey had plenty of ‘opportunity’ to gain plenty of sailing experience. Hence they conversed in some foreign language in which I recognised most words but I was completely lost on the meaning. Now, I’m a confident guy but at that moment, I felt like a very lost little boy!

On board, I quickly learnt where ‘forehead’, ‘port’ and ‘bottom’ were. I searched all the bottom bunks and the one at the front on the left was the only one without any bags. The learning curve was looking vertical from my current position deep down in the chasm of an ocean trench. The opportunity of a lifetime that I’d signed up for was rapidly subsumed into the challenge of a lifetime. Now I understand why fewer people have sailed around the world than had stood on the summit of Everest. Why couldn’t I be a normal person, with normal ambitions and a normal job?

The following few days were about language training. Ropes became halyards & sheets; sails became headsails, mainsails and stormsails; tacks were no longer nails; kitchens became gallies, and toilets became heads. Heads? I mean where is the logic? There’s a plethora of names available but no, the sailing fraternity have decided to take a perfectly good word and stolen it to mean ‘toilets’. Going to the pub on the first evening offered the perfect excuse not to use the onboard ‘heads’ but by the morning, I had no choice. There was no option. Sat there with nothing other than a piece of cloth between me and my fellow crew, who I hadn’t even known for 24 hours, I went about my business and then pumped dry and pumped wet. For those who do not understand - lucky you, best to keep it that way!
Being the weakest link in the group was something I struggled to come to terms with. I was desperate to learn but my cogs weren’t whirring as fast as some would have liked as I had to translate every instruction into English. “Winch the sheet in to tighten the main” - come on, what on earth does that mean?!

As we headed West, the answer to one of my biggest fears was realised. The queezy feeling rooted itself deep inside my stomach and clung on. It was in there for the long haul, digging its nails in and sapping every ounze of strength from within me. Every rock and roll of the boat made it worse. I made it to the guard rail seconds before lunch arrived - on its way back up! That was my initiation to hell on earth. I tried to make it to my bunk but I fell over so I just sat there, bucket between my knees, on the floor of the boat waiting for the next episode of wrenching. It was a marathon to climb through the hatches, clamber over sails and find my bunk. Lying down felt so much better but even lifting my head an inch reproduced the most ferocious wrenching. Just how much bile can one stomach hold? As if that wasn’t bad enough, I ended up sharing the pre-used bucket with another casualty. Throwing up next to my ear just reinforced the gut screaming pain of vomit.

As the week went on and I grew in knowledge, confidence and found some sealegs, so I started to see what all the fuss was about and realised the thrills I could look forward to during the 10 month race. Whether it’s swimming, surfing or sailing the adrenalin rush when you harness nature’s power offers such a natural high that you keep coming back for more. Being at the helm, sailing into the sunset, watching the stars begin to twinkle as the wind whistled around the sails and the waves lapped at the hull really was a pleasure, honour & delight. Taking on the world…it won’t be without its challenges & difficulties but I know the highs will be sky high. Up for it? You bet I am…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 at 11:38 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.