On the 19th July I took the short train journey to Liverpool for the Crew Parade. I had not realised how much preparation the crews went to. Some even had commands, that when shouted meant that the whole crew would immediately lie on the floor and wiggle their legs like dead ants. This was amusing, but being the crew behind them, we kept bumping in to each other as they suddenly stopped and dropped to the floor.
The race began on the 21st July and we were the first out of the dock, so it was an early 4am rise to leave the docks at 5am. I had the job of throwing the tow line to the pilots in the lock and managed it in one throw (which I was very pleased with). To begin the race we first had a day or two’s sailing up to the top of Ireland. The sight of all of the boats behind us as we sailed out of Liverpool was amazing. They looked so beautiful.
Once the race began we soon slipped into a routine of 4 hours on watch and 8 hours off with sleeping and plenty of eating in between (thanks to the chef Wendy). Whilst on watch we steered the boat, filled out the log, checked the deck, handed and set any sails needed, braced the yards, whered the ship, scrubbed the brass, sang a lot, watched for other ships and made sure anyone sleeping had their lee cloth up (this stops you falling out of your bunk as the ship rocks).
I, for some reason, thought that I would have lots of time to sit and write my diary and read, but I was so wrong. After every watch I was so exhausted. Our sleep pattern was so random as we had a day watch and a night watch every day. We could be on at 12-4pm than again at 12am till 4am and then to bed, but we had to be up at 7.15am for breakfast and “Happy Hour” (cleaning the whole ship). I would often then try to grab some sleep before lunch. I always got excited when they asked for volunteers to climb the mast and really enjoyed helping others overcome their fear of heights.
When we got to Norway we had a fantastic time doing football, tug-of-war and other competitions before the crew parade and party. I had a fantastic time and would love to do it all again one day.
Thank You!