#leg two

[365daysinalife]

panicatthedisco Here we goooo #PrayForTheWickedTour

[ixmcmxcix]

WHO IS GOING TO SEE PTV/SWS ON THEIR WORLD TOUR ON FEB. 8th IN COLUMBUS?! My friends and I want to hang with some people!

[clipperkate]

Africa

I've had a couple of days in Cape Town now (it's so nice to have a bit of a break to actually see the place we've just sailed thousands of miles to get to). It seems like a lovely city and I love the idea that my first trip to Africa has been by sailboat. Our first day (we arrived around lunchtime) found us all filthy and eventually a bit drunk. The first thing we had to do once moored up was clear immigration. We filed up to the race tent where passports and such were apparently handed over. Clipper brought us a much-desired case of beer. Mission Performance (seriously the best sponsor of the all the fleet sponsors) brought us burgers, chips, and more beer. Is there anything more to life? We eventually (and reluctantly) went back to the boat to finish up the rest of our deep clean. More beers were had. Claire's friend had sent her a vegan cake, so that was eaten as well (straight out the box, passing around the forks - let no one tell you we're not a classy bunch). Then it was off for showers and out for drinks (are you seeing a theme?). We had a really nice night out at one of the local bars in the waterfront - catching up with friends and family, and other crew members. One of the really nice things about going around the world rather than just doing legs is that you do have the chance to get to know crew from other boats. We go out drinking together, partying, and generally share all the good fleet gossip (there are no secrets in Clipper). The next day Claire and I left the boat early (to avoid getting roped into working) and did some shopping. Nothing too exciting, but I did need a few bits and pieces for the next leg. We came to drop things off on the boat just before lunch and did get stuck into work. 15 minutes on a boat and you will end up fixing something. That evening I treated myself to a nice hotel room. It was amazing to have the opportunity to simply lounge on a couch, watch terrible tv, snack on all sorts of food I hadn't eaten in ages, and play around on the internet. The next day my mother had set up the most amazing birthday treat - a long massage at a beautiful spa and fantastic champagne lunch for Claire and I. We spent time in the sauna, spa, and thermal pool before asking the masseuse to basically fix everything. Sailing is a game of upper body strength. My shoulders, back, and arms were pretty destroyed after all the work. The comments after the spa mostly went "this muscle is tight, and this one, and this one, and this one...." It was magic. Lunch afterwards was also fantastic though I felt a bit ill from the sheer volume of food consumed. The surprise bottle of champagne was a lovely touch (thanks mom and dad!) That evening we had our prize-giving ceremony (boring, cold, very wet) followed by the crew party. The party was beyond awesome (one of the Clipper guys said it was the best one he's seen in the four races he's worked on so far). The venue was a cool bar around the corner from the marina. They had a large South African band, plenty of drinks, and plenty of snacks. It was great to catch up with people and have a bit of a dance. At one point, one of the GB guys broke out his bagpipes (yeah, traveling around the world with bagpipes) and played with the band. It was awesome. Afterwards, one of the Sapinda Rainbow guys took a few of us out to Long Street, where all the bars and clubs are. Eventually, a good group of Clipper guys ended up at an Irish pub. It was a really great night, and then a really hungover morning for most of us. The next day I disappeared in the morning to sort some things out before returning to the boat and doing a little bit of work (mostly just putting back together things I'd taken apart). We had a big crew dinner at a nice restaurant that night followed by a Halloween party organized by another boat's sponsor. Most of our crew dressed up (thank you Mission Performance for getting us some costumes), though the most spectacular was our dear leader, who went in full lingerie drag. Some sights can never be unseen. The next morning Matt, another crew member, and I did a training sail with new crew members from our boat, Switzerland, and PSP. It was beautiful day's sailing (though gusting 35 knots of wind is perhaps a bit much for that kind of thing). The idea was just to refresh everyone's sailing skills after some time off. That evening we had a dinner organized by Mission Performance (seriously, could these guys be more awesome?) and a couple of quiet drinks after. The boat went out again today for a corporate sail with them, so I've had the day off. I went to Table Mountain (and quickly back down given the size of the line for the cable car) and am now hanging out in Kirstenbosch, the botanic garden. It's lovely - blue skies, bright sunshine, and plenty of lovely spots to hang out and watch the world go by. Cape Town, I love you and I promise to return.

[clipperkate]

Insights?

The two legs we've finished so far (that's 1/4 of the way around the world!) have been drastically different experiences. I know I wrote about some issues I was having on the way to Rio. The good news is that I had none of that on this leg. There will always be times when I'm tired and grumpy and want nothing more than to be in bed still, but on the whole I had a fantastic race. I loved having new crew members on board - there's a level of energy and excitement that we just can't match anymore. It's also great to watch everyone learn so much - I love answering the questions and watching confidence grow. My favorite moments so far have simply been surfing down the waves with a kite up. On the helm you can feel the boat pick up, resting almost weightlessly on the rolling waves before it goes roaring down. Get the movement rights and you'll feel so powerful. Particularly good ones get smiles and cheers from everybody on deck at the time (not to mention the occasional "ride 'em cowboy!" from Chris). We dipped down into the Roaring 40s (40 degrees south) and had fun there. It was all good practice for this next leg. I also feel like my personal learning curve for this leg was huge. I started with very little helm experience but feel quite confident in my ability now, though of course I've still got a long way to go. More than anything I just feel much more comfortable with the boat. Little things like moving better do make a difference. I've got nearly 10000 miles under my belt now. Matt's been reminding some of us that we are in very real danger of becoming good sailors.

[clipperkate]

Race End

Things after our night of terror were a bit difficult. The sail repairs on Bruce weren't finished yet and the evening managed to take its toll on Brian as well. The only kite we had left was Thor, which underpowered the boat quite heavily. We were certainly still sailing, just not racing anymore. As a team we've had a bit of bad luck like that. Clearly we're a fast boat when things are going right. We also have an incredibly happy and social crew (I even know that some crew members from other boats have requested to switch to ours). Next step is going to be winning something for a change. One of the interesting things about the leg we just finished is the variety of conditions experienced. After the heavy wind and fast sailing we ran into the opposite problem - very light wind and drifting around. A fully repaired Bruce made his return after about 50 hours of dedicated sail work - he did unfortunately have to be taken back down with a small tear that was missed, but he went back up again. We found out when we got into port that we were one of the very few boats to actually bother repairing damaged sails. We even had dearest Wendy up and flying for a bit just before we hit Cape Town, as we sunk into a wind hole. I swear our greatest talent as a boat is finding wind holes where none should exist. We drifted lazily into Cape Town in a heavy fog. Luckily, a couple of miles from the finish line the sun came out, the sky went blue again, and the lovely Table Mountain came out from its tablecloth of cloud. It was gorgeous. We had a great welcome into the city as well. Entering the marina, crew from other boats clapped and cheered us in from the bows of their boats. As embarrassing as it is to come in 11th place, there is something comforting in having friends there to smile and remind you that the most important thing is simply our achievement in crossing the South Atlantic at all. It's still something to be proud of.

[ipromisetowrite]

A little girl sits in a chair, kicking her legs with purpose, carefully and with rhythm she pumps them and inside her head as she counts, leg one, leg two, leg one, leg two. It’s meditative and it passes the time as she waits. School ended an hour ago and the yellow buses have long since pulled away, full of screeching children and text messaging pre-teens; but she is left behind in a chair outside of the principal’s office. In the past hour the secretary has offered her a carton of chocolate milk, a book to read and set of multiplication flash cards, to occupy her. She politely declines, her soft voice barely audible, and bows her head back down. Inside she counts her legs as they pump forward and backward, she silences her thoughts this way. This is not the first time she has found herself sitting alone, forgotten. Inside she is older than the rest of the kids at this school, even though she is in first grade, younger than most. She is keenly aware that she is different, she is older. She waits, absent from the thoughts that race quietly in the back of her mind.