22 12.080n 19 12.398w
Meet the crew
Wed Nov 08 2023
All voyages are made up of many elements, the boat, the weather, the journey, the destination and of course the crew, to name but a few. And just now we find ourselves some hundred miles or so off the coast of Africa, heading in SSW direction towards the group of islands, Cape Verde, approximately 600 miles away.
The wind has only just this minute calmed down a bit from a steady 23/25 knots and occasional gusts of 30 knots to a more moderate 20. The watch system has started and I’m second up after Emm who did 2000hrs to 2200hrs. To be fair to Emm the wind was at its most excitable, so far, during her watch. I was sitting down below just keeping an eye on things when I saw the wind speed increase quite significantly, followed by a huge thump in the boat. I immediately assumed it was a rogue wave cruising around and looking for something to crash into and stuck my head up in the cockpit to see if Emm was OK. She was, albeit she had been launched from her seat on which she was lying and onto the floor in one short but effective lurch.
Today has been our first full day at sea and by and large it has been a joy. Last night saw some antics from some of the other competitors as they chose to pass by no more than a mere biscuit toss away, considering their bigger and faster boats deserved some sort of priority. Fortunately Admiral Wilson was on hand to explain some fundamental maritime rules that ought properly be observed when one vessel passes another. And after a wet night with some proper Cornish mizzle the day cleared away and bright sunshine shone upon the boat as the fresh NE trade winds hurried the ship on its way in an ever building sea.
Nonetheless, appetites were appeased with a substantial lamb hot pot, chosen to be eaten in the middle of the day, allowing the crew spend the afternoon largely horizontal and looking aimlessly towards the sky.
But the crew have been magnificent. Dear Emm, despite nearly slipping under the guard rails and into the sea, only instead to lose her phone (a replacement unable to be produced until Christmas) has got the most magnificent grip on this trip and wrestled her seasickness to the ground. Spain delivered a medicine, that can be freely bought over the counter, that appears to have done the trick and a quick tour around the Farmacia’s of Lanzarote and Gran Canaria we now have every locker fit to bursting with the little orange gems.
Emm’s new found legs has meant that she has become a extremely willing and able assistant to our very own Patrick Moore. Complete with monocle and ill fitting suit Neil spends almost every waking hour taking noonsites, sun-run-suns, star sites, moon sites, dead reckoning in fact any number of extraordinary methods for calculating our position. As we all laze around the boat Patrick comes shuffling up through hatchway, sextant in one hand, time piece in the other. The time piece is thrust into Emm’s hand and it is her duty to record the very second that Patrick fixes the object in the sky. As he hollers ‘that’s it, got un’ Emm dutifully records the moment in a scruffy notebook provided by the Professor together with other readings from the ancient mechanism held so tightly in his hand.
As the number of sightings have increased the Professor has allowed his student to wield her own sextant and together they rejoice when their readings coincide. Some hours are then spent at the saloon table as the Professor performs mathematical gymnastic as he tumbles through his journals making seemingly endless adjustments until finally, after several hours our position is fixed. Meanwhile the student has been making her own calculations for the Professor to assess.
The accuracy of these readings have been phenomenal, rarely more than a mile or so out and all this done whilst the ship barrels along, rolling from one beam end to the other, in 25 knots of breeze. A truly remarkable exhibition of seamanship.
The newest member of our crew (four of us being present for the passage from Falmouth straight to Maderia) has operated at the highest possible level keeping the ships galley in great shape both producing food and clearing it away at regular intervals. Admittedly, when she first stepped aboard and slung her duffle bag in the forward quarters the jury was unable to reach a verdict of her skill level as she rarely rose from her bed before noon. But as the deadline closed in, late starts were replaced with a new vigour helping Emm endlessly provision the ship.
Yet once we had put to sea her talents really began to shine. With sea legs akimbo to Jack Tar, she moves around the boat in a quiet yet highly effective way. Not intimidated by sticking her head into cupboard for 40 mins whilst looking for the gravy granules or staying fixed to the ships stove to produce another hot meal. Non complaining and very willing. A rising star in our mini floating galaxy.
You don’t often hear the name Frank when you think of great adventures, but when you dig a little deeper you often find one. Whilst Shackleton stole the headlines for his courageous leadership in bringing all his men to safety after his ship sank in Antarctica, Frank Worsely was back of house and playing in integral part in ensuring ‘the Boss’s success. And so we have our very own Frank, sometimes centre stage, but not often, content to research and offer gems of advice when asked. There is little that Frank hasn’t seen, done or read. A cross between Gandolph and Jeremy Paxman. Frank’s job is largely to oversee all jobs on the boat. Whether that is overseeing the coiling of ropes or watching, at a safe distance, the washing up he’s an absolutely first class supervisor. He’s also very good at starting jobs and if ever we lose him at any point in the day he’s quite easy to track down as there is often a trail of tools and spare parts that ,if we follow them, at the end we’ll find Frank. But his help in supervising is not where his skills end.
The skipper. Probably the less said about him the better. A total control freak. A know-it-all. Opportunist. Chancer. Fake it till you make it. Let’s leave it at that.