27 June 2008
Hilary's Blog - 27 June 2008
The weather continues to frustrate us with extremely strong winds blowing from the Southwest. The boat, however, is now rigged and, thanks to Simon Rogers' help once again, we are now able to get the mainsail all the way up the track. Whilst Lymington is lovely, and Berthon Marina could not be doing more to make our stay more comfortable, we are facing yet another setback which will keep us off the water. Today Sean Davis, one of our RIB crew, cut himself whilst cutting a paddle down from the RIB. Although not a major injury, it was bad enough to need gluing back together at the local A&E. Since Martin Forster, one of our other RIB drivers, injured his arm whilst we were training in Cowes and is still recuperating, we have no spare crew.
We absolutely require three people on the safety boat, which means that we cannot go out on the water for 4-7 days until the cut is healed. It is not a simple solution just to take on new RIB crew, as the boat and my condition means that many of the jobs they perform on the water are unique to my situation. In addition the whole team has undergone sea survival training and special safety boat courses. I do have one or two friends from Westbere who may be able to help, however, and I managed to persuade one of them to come down for the weekend so that we can at least complete the leg from Bramble bank to Lymington. Martin Cox was the first skipper to take me out in a boat at Westbere and we are looking forward to him joining the team for the weekend. He will spend a day being trained in how to recover me from the water and how to approach Arty and then we will have Sunday and some of Monday to complete the sail. I think that everyone will be relieved to see her sailing again and I certainly can't wait to get back on the water.
Whilst all these delays are incredibly frustrating, it is important to keep them in proportion. We always knew that this would be the tough part as we are sailing against prevailing winds. Once we round Lands End the wind will no longer be in our faces and many of the problems with the boat and its systems will have been solved. It's important not to underestimate the role of the 'dry crew' in keeping everybody's spirits up, not to mention everyone's body weight! Without their care and fantastic cooking life would be a lot tougher.
Page last updated on 5 July 2008 at 11:56