I’ve just got back from Level 2 training down at Clipper HQ in Gosport and haven’t got out of bed all day !
The week was brilliant but knackering, and has given me a lot more of an idea about how the actual race will be, though the race is estimated to take 35 days!!
We started off the week with a full on sea survival course – learning what to do if we have to abandon ship and survive on a life raft. Then we went to our yacht (CV9) to get ready for the rest of the week and meet our Skipper and First Mate, Nikki and Conall.
The big difference between L1 and 2 for me has been getting used to life at sea, and learning how to manage on very little sleep – our watch system was 6 hours on/ 6 hours off in the day time, 4 hours on/ 4 hours off/ 4 hours on in the night. In the off time you have to get ready so that you are on deck ready to take over from the other watch bang on time (10 mins early for a handover) so we probably didn’t get more than 2 hours sleep at a time.
To watch a video tour of the boat click here; https://youtu.be/0F0lbxLOOzo
I think relentless is the best word to describe it! It was so much fun and I haven’t belly laughed that much for ages (partly through sleep deprivation induced hysteria!) and at the same time very physically demanding – every evolution takes time and team work, and is hard graft. One of the most challenging things we did in the week was man overboard drills. We would be sailing/finishing dinner/fast asleep and the life sized weighted dummy would get lobbed off the back of the boat by the Skipper or First mate and we had to jump into action. The adreline certainly got pumping, and by our 3rd attempt, we were able to rescue ‘Bob’ and get him back on board in 9 minutes so I think we did well, although I hope we never have to use it.
Cooking/going to the loo/sleeping at an angle is also a lot more tricky, so the week has been really good at showing me what the real challenges of life at sea will be, what I need to work on for Level 3, and that the fitness programme I’ve been doing with Alex at JustGym was a bloody brilliant idea and has really helped with many elements of life on board.
fransbigsail 