Culture Differences

So with a quad-cultural boat things can get pretty interesting...There is constant conversation that I cannot understand, and every time something really has to get done, everyone´s first reaction is to speak in their native language. Sometimes it just doesn´t work. The Argentines are the ones who know the boat the best, having done the delivery from NZed, and they are also the most adept at fixing things. This is great until you have someone at the top of the mast while under sail and you are trying to figure out what is going on and you have to relay a message through the person who speaks the best English. It is also apparent that due to peoples different sailing backgrounds, different cultural backgrounds, and different reasons for being on the boat that there are certain differences in expectations. Cameron and I came aboard ready for a race, expecting everyone to pull their fair share and with the full understanding that living conditions were not going to be ideal, and that sailing and the good of the crew took priority over certain personal comforts. This was apparently not the case for some of the owners friends. There have been no major issues, but is apparent that some people are not prepared to suffer slight discomfort. As an example, Cameron is sharing a 1 bunk room with 2 other people, 1 from each watch. I am in a 2 bunk room and when we suggested that he move into my cabin seeing as we don´t mind sleeping in the same room when we are off watch. It was shot down because if he is in the top bunk then "there would be no where for us to put our pillows and blankets" because that is definitely not what closets are for...Sorry I digress.

The sailing is going great, we are back in a good 10-15kt breeze and are making between 8 and 10 kts of boat speed. I drove for 2 hours last night from 2-4 in the morning and had us trucking along at 9-10 kts. The seas are still very flat which is nice and makes for very comfortable conditions. There is a lot of lazing about and I am getting into the thick of my book by now. The food has been "good". We definitely do not have a professional chef on board that much is for sure. Surprise surprise most of the fresh fruit and vegetables we brought are starting to go bad so we have been having lots of salad.

The boat as a whole is very sturdy and sails very well, however there is a reason that boat design has progressed since 1939...some of the things they did back then just didn´t work. Yesterday we spent about 45 minutes with Franco, one of the Argentines, up the mast because the block at the top of the mast sheared under the load of the genoa in 10 kts of breeze...this just shouldn´t happen. Cameron and I both have quite a few knocks on our heads in an attempt to find every low beam and short doorway on the boat. We figure the sooner we hit them all the better just so we know where they are.

We are expecting the breeze to hold, and hopefully build a little over the next 48 hours, as we chase our way down the vain between a high and low pressure system. We are attempting to stay with the breeze from the low while not going to far north. We have had dolphins swimming with us every day, but haven´t seen any whales yet, hopefully we see one soon, but hopefully it stays out of our way.

470 miles down and a heap more to go.


Cheers!

~~Andrew

Day 3

Day 3 brings rain and more wind as promised. It is blowing 15 kts and expected
to build. I am lucky right now and our watch has a 5 hr standby in order to
offset the watch times. Cameron and I are snoozing and reading in the salon
waiting to go on deck at 2 pm. Should be a wet one and we expect to do our 1st
genoa peel at around 20~25 kts of breeze which should be fun!

Cheers from Nordwind!

"Freakin Awesome"

"Dolphins in the night"

shining shimmering, dancing diving,
for they are the dolphins in the night,
they play in such sweet harmony,
following the rythym of the bow,
like ghosts they dance beneath the ship,
lights illuminating the trails of their tails,
they come and they go with such mystery,
for they are the dolphins in the night.

..Yes we saw dolphins last night. yes it was awesome.

So far the passage has been a mix of intense excitement and lots of down time.
The start was all adrenaline,especially considering that the first time we
tacked the boat as a crew was 17 minutes before the start. In order to tack
the genoa(big head sail) we have to raise our stay sail(inner head sail) so the
genoa can pass between the head stays...Needless to say it makes for quite a bit
of commotion on the bow, but Cameron and I handled it like champions and we had
an amazing start. I want to thank everyone who was out watching the start it
was really cool to have such a big crowd both on land at Castle Hill and out on
the water. We soon hit some thick fog that lasted just until dusk where it
cleared for sunset and let the stars come out. I am on watch for 4 hours at a
time, then sleeping for 4 hours then on standby for 4 hours which so far has
just meant moving from my bed to sleeping on the sails in the salon. Today was
a beautiful day with a variable 10 kt breeze and not a cloud in sky. We expect
this weather to hold for the next 18~24 hrs, at which time it should pick up to
~25 kts out of the south. Should be exciting. Everything on the boat is running
smoothly, although it can be a bit confusing at times due to the constant banter
of german, and spanish going on. My spanish is improving, my german...not so
much. I am still trying to get a feel for driving an 88 ft yawl but so far my
only practice has been from 3 to 4 am last night so I am hoping to work on it
some more tonight. The clear weather should make steering by the stars quite
easy tonight so we will see how it goes. Everyone is in great spirits and we
are looking forward to a bit more breeze. More to come soon, much love to
everyone back home! I am off to bed now to catch some zzzzzzs before my 1 a.m. to
5 a.m. watch.

Cheers!

And we're off!

2011 TransAtlantic

So this Sunday, June 26th, I will set sail aboard Nordwind, an 88 ft. yawl bound for Cowes, England as a part of the Trans Atlantic Race. I was lucky enough to catch a last minute ride on the boat thanks to a friend I race with on Elan, a Benetau 36.7. One of the crew broke a rib horseback riding last weekend and had to drop out for the race so in an effort to find a last minute replacement I got the call! Needless to say since I got the call at noon on Monday my life has been a whirlwind of preparation. I had already been teased with the thought of joining the race when I was offered a spot on the boat a few weeks ago but had it withdrawn when the owner decided to bring 5 people instead of 3.

I end my internship with Diprete Engineering this week and I will be putting off starting to coach at Weekapaug YC until I return. While they were not exactly happy that I would be missing the first week or 2 of the program, everyone down there is very excited for me and like all of you is waiting to hear my tales of the high seas.

I am only allowed to pack one bag and have to fit everything I need for 3 weeks of harsh cold weather sailing into it, along with a full set of dress clothes for our reception in England. When we arrive in England, hopefully in not much more than 2 weeks, I will be doing my best to hop on the first flight out so I can get back to my coaching job. I'm sure though that I'll have a little time to enjoy myself on land over there :-)

For the duration of the trip I will be sending short blog updates every day or two and I will post all of my pictures when I get back to the states.

Be sure to follow us on the race tracker via the link on the right!