Dances with Waves
Once all the goodbyes were said and our remaining crew member finally managing to join us after his night of passion in a flash Plymouth hotel, we made our way to the start of Rally Portugal 2009.
For two of our crew, Captain Pugwash and Able seaman Stains, it is the start of a one year voyage. The other crew members, Master bates and Roger the cabin boy, would be departing from the boat in Portugal to return to work and university respectively, providing they could tear themselves away from the joys of sailing.
On route to the start line we admired the sights along the way, between which we spotted a young lady frantically waving from the shore, able seaman Stains had certainly made a lasting impression.
Whilst the other boats were eyeing each other up and vying for position at the start line we spotted a film crew in a small inflatable. Once we had finished performing for the camera with a series of dances on deck we concentrated on getting over the start line, which we did in second place. Once over the start we put all our energies into racing mode and made a pot of tea.
The distance between the boats started to widen very early and before long the boats with cruising chutes were heading off into the horizon.
Experience
Experience on the boat ranged from one person with over five thousand miles to one person with just over two hundred miles. Knowledge was freely passed from the experienced to the not so experienced, this helped to keep the crew informed and advised about what is expected of them and what to expect on route.
Watches on board were devised into four hours on and four hours off with two on each watch, it was not a regimented system to the letter of the law and quite often if a crew member found himself not too tired then he would let his opposite number have a lie in. Captain Pugwash and Roger the cabin boy quite often found themselves having a lie, although this was strongly denied by the aforementioned and even suggested that it was in fact they that did the longer watches.
Coffin Hopping
Master bates had come up with an idea to see you could grow the best beard during the passage and although not everyone was keen they did all agree to take part. The crew did however object to his idea of not washing for the whole Biscay trip so Bates decided to go it alone even to the extent of not changing his clothes, keeping this idea to himself.
A popular pastime on board was the practice of coffin hopping. Staines had turned his bed into what can only be described as an open top coffin; this he said would prevent him rolling out of bed during rough weather in the notorious Bay of Biscay. Staines took great delight in telling all who would listen that the Bay is indeed a notorious place and as he was the only one onboard that had crossed the bay he advised that we too should prepare ourselves for rough weather. Hence the practice of coffin hopping was borne and although the Bay was not rough as such, being on such a small boat did in fact make it appear rough, so when Staines was not in his coffin it would be used by someone else. All on board however would like to take this opportunity to flatly deny any rumours that the coffin was used by more than one person at a time, especially between Captain Pugwash and Roger the cabin the boy.
Off watch
Pugwash and his crew settled down into life at sea, each person having their own reasons for wanting to take part in such a trip. Whilst off watch each person also had their own way of passing time and keeping themselves occupied, Roger spent most of his time taking photos of himself in order to attract attention from females on certain internet web sites. Staines spent most of his time off watch asleep in his coffin whilst Bates was hardly ever off watch, preferring instead to spend most of his time on the helm. Pugwash spent his time teaching himself Spanish, he had in fact spent the last six years learning Spanish but for some reason did not know the Spanish word for sugar, this lead us to believe that his Spanish class might have only been attended by diabetics.
A the end of the first days sailing Stains and Bates were given the 2am watch whilst Pugwash and Roger would do the 10pm to 2am watch. Bates came on watch at 2am to find the boat becalmed, there was not a drop of wind in sight and the sea was like mill pond. The moon was bright and the skies clear giving a perfect view of the stars, but with tired eyes from having just woke up, the whole scene gave Bates an eerie feeling. There was other traffic on the water as Bates and Stains worked hard to distinguish one set of lights from another. The single white light on one particular boat caught the attention of Bates, it seemed to be too close for comfort but as this was the first time that Bates had sailed at night he thought that maybe this was normal. With no wind the sails flapped around which added to the eerie feeling, and still the white light appeared to be getting closer. Bates was able to identify how lights appear on boats, such as red for port, green for starboard and the masthead lights but this single white light was baffling. If it’s a single white light then surely it would be moving away from you, and it couldn’t be an anchor light as it was too deep to anchor. Bates could not contain his thoughts any longer, this single white light was worrying him so much that he told Stains about it getting too close. Stains looked at the light, paused for a moment and then turned to Bates, that light said Staines, is the planet Venus. Bates felt such an idiot, especially when the other crew heard about the story the following morning.
As with other boats we had to endure the towering super tankers in and around the shipping lanes, both at night and during the day. These monsters of the high seas had to be observed constantly, you had to make sure that a good look for kept to avoid them getting too close, so just why Bates and Staines had too leap out of their beds in the early hours due to raised voices from Pugwash and Roger up on deck remains a mystery.
Sleeping patterns on board differed from one person to the next. Bates being a light sleeper managed about two hours sleep in the first fourty eight hours due to people making food and drinks in the middle of the night instead of preparing it beforehand, people switching on lights and even the radio being switched on at full blast in order to listen to the weather report.
Pugwash would bed hop whenever the engine was on as it was too noisy in first class with his en suite bathroom and cosy double bed. Roger would complain about the boats movements preventing him from sleeping in the forward cabin and would use it as an excuse to bed hop but Staines would and did sleep at the drop of a hat and at every given opportunity, it was even suggested that he slept more than the other three put together.
Wildlife at sea
Various wildlife was spotted which ranged from Pigeons, Seagulls, Flying fish, a Whales tale and of course Dolphins. Each sighting of Dolphins caused much excitement, especially at night when combined with a bright moon it gave the impression that Dolphins were all blinged up. Disregarding the need to follow our 210 degrees course, the crew were so overwhelmed by their natural cohesion to their sea dwelling brothers that they did not hesitate to alter course and follow them. This to the fleet viewer would give the impression that Dances with Waves was zig zagging its way across the Bay.
Water on board had to be rationed when it came to washing so when Stains did the boats shopping he also bought plenty of baby wipes, these baby wipes would be used in place of showers. As there were no women on board there was no worries about stripping off when it came to using the wipes, apart from Bates who was determined to go the whole trip without washing anyway. On day five Stains and Pugwash found that the wipes weren’t good enough anymore, day after day of putting on sunscreen was taking its toll as their skin was becoming greasy. The solar shower was rigged up on deck but as there would only be enough water for one person it was decided that they would shower together. Roger stayed below deck as Bates tried to helm the boat without having to look forward, if he looked forward he would have to endure the sight of two grown men showering together. We can only guess as to what the men on the fishing boat must have thought as they watched a boat sailing past with two grown men showering together naked.
Roger and the mast
As it was another calm day with only about eight knots of wind Pugwash decided to use this opportunity to replace the mast tricolour bulb. Roger jumped at the chance of going to the top of the mast and volunteered to be hoisted up in the bosuns chair. From the deck the top of the mast did not appear to be that high and Roger was very excited at the thought of going up. We used a bucket to carry the replacement lamp as well as the tools needed, Roger also put his camera into the bucket. We should have read the signs from the beginning that this was a bad idea, because even at just three feet off the deck Roger started whimpering. With full sails up Bates was on the helm trying to keep the boat as steady as possible while Pugwash and Stains hoisted Roger up the mast. As Roger reached the first spreader we thought about bringing him back down such was the sound of fear in his voice, but insisted in carrying on. Throughout the trip Roger had told everyone that was prepared to put up with his stories how sporting and daring he was, so it was quite amusing listening to him crying like a baby. Bizarrely enough, the higher that Roger got the higher his voice would get but Roger blamed this on his wedding tackle being squeezed in the bosuns chair, not on the fact that he was actually frightened. Fifteen minutes later Roger had reached the top of the mast, Bates was smirking to himself because the wind speed had increased which caused the top of the mast to start swaying, this in turn caused Rogers voice to go even higher. Bates and Stains found the whole event very amusing which lead Pugwash to tell them off for being so childish and Roger started shouting at Bates to keep the boat steady, accusing himof making he boat sway on purpose. The fear in Rogers voice caused both Bates and Stains to double up laughing, again leading to Pugwash to shout at them like naughty school boys instead of two grown men. Once Roger has fitted the bulb he tried to take some photos of himself to add to his internet female searching web sites, unfortunately Roger would not let go of the mast with both so the photos failed to turn out right.
All in all the Biscay passage has been an experience thoroughly enjoyed by all four on board, we have had many laughs along the way, always making sure that safety was first and foremost in our minds. Spain and Portugal will undoubtedly bring many more laughs and hopefully some wind. To be continued………………………..