33 Days to Go: Some dates - UK to Western Australia

We still don't have all the dates/ports confirmed, but here is an overview:

Leg 1

Official crew joining date: 28 August

1 September 2013: departure from Tower Bridge

Arrival window Brest, France: 3- 4 September

Start from Brest to Rio, Brazil: 9 September

Arrival window Rio: 1-5 October Brazilian Host: Marina da Gloria,

Rio de Janeiro.

Leg 2

Crew changeover date: 8 October

Start from Rio to Cape Town, South Africa: 11 October

Arrival window Cape Town: 26- 28 October

South African Host: Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town

Leg 3

Crew changeover date: 31 October

Start from Cape Town to West Australia: 4 November

Arrival window Western Australia: 23-26 November (Note – although we have not confirmed the port, we can calculate the estimated arrival window because it makes little difference to the great circle route and total mileage through the Southern Ocean to the relevant part of the Western Australia coast.)

38 Days to Go: Making our mind up.

At the moment, there is a lot of chat within Team Matt.  Chat about the dangers of a pressure cooker, whether we should take a freezer, and if so how many, and what storage capacity, and what about a back-up if it all goes wrong? Should we share toothpaste and save weight, or try to avoid sharing the same infections round the team and cope with the extra 100 grams per person.  The truth is, we've never done this before, and its a case of the blind leading the blind.  The decisions that we make could make the difference between a happy boat, and a god-awful miserable boat.  Problem is, we have not a scooby - and we end up with the chat,  a lot of chat.

45 Days to Go - In training

For those of you that know me, I can't imagine I'd be in your top ten of fittest people you know.  Which is a bit of a problem, because sailing halfway around the world is not something you do everyday.  They say its a marathon, not a sprint.  But actually its more like 20 sprints a day.  There are times of intense action, followed by bouts of nothingness.  So I really do need to get the fitness levels up, so I'm ready for action whenever its needed.  And for the month of July - I'm going hard at it.  

I've hired a personal trainer - Ibby - who is putting me through my paces.  Because I need to do this for a specific activity, he has tailored a programme to cover three main areas.  Legs, arms and general cardio. Obviously, the cardio day is by far the worst, and I spend most of my time wanting to puke my guts up. But it does seem to be working. Legs is pretty bad too - as I do endless squats and jumps adding different weights and even a Bulgarian Bag.  Arms and upper body is going well.  Ibby has rigged up a rope simulator where I have to pull down or across a thick rope for 40 sec intervals.

I play squash with a friend - and when I started 5 months ago, I would need to collapse in the corner after every game, and we only managed 4 before I passed out completely.  Now I'm nearly matching him, and sometimes even beating him!  

I don't know if I'll ever feel truly fit enough to take on this challenge.  But by the size of my ever increasing biceps, I'm well on the way.

 

46 Days to Go: Just hit my first £1000 fundraising barrier!

And as a present to everyone who's donated (and an incentive for those that haven't!), here is a video of me trying to get out of my drysuit whilst desperate for the toilet!
(Thanks Smack)

50 Days to Go: What am I in for?

So with 50 days to go, things are beginning to heat up.  What that really means is that more and more of my day is spent watching endless YouTube clips of previous races, and showing anyone who's near me some of the crazy weather we'll be experiencing down in the Southern Ocean.  When someone says to you 60ft waves - what does that actually mean?  Well - I can show you. And another one.  Has anyone ever fallen in?   I can show you a video of that as well. The below video is probably my favourite... Enjoy!

72 Days to Go.... All the gear, no idea

We're allowed a maximum of 20kg excluding boots, sleeping bag and foulies which at one time felt quite adequate.  But given that I have only the barest idea what I am letting myself in for, I have gone on a huge shopping spree.  I have bought and returned so much stuff- I could have kitted out the whole boat.  Still, in the next 6 weeks I need to finalise my kit list and be ready to go.

Mand modelling my 3-layer
waterproof sleeping bag

The big stuff is done - sleeping bag, boots, kit bag, thermals, fleeces, mid-layers, outer-layers and I should really just stop there.  But there have been loads of discussions about other useful if not essential pieces of kit that is making it difficult to lay off the late night shopping.

The latest one is 'do I really need a dry suit?'.  I did in fact buy one (for £900!!) which I swiftly returned (not without trying it on first - see below) and it promised to keep me warm and dry in the coldest, wettest seas.  Excellent.  But can I really justify spending nearly a grand on something I'll probably use for a maximum of 4 weeks?

So that went back, and I guess I'll have to see whether that was a huge mistake.  Problem is - I'll only really know when I'm well and truly freezing my tits off.

And then you start to think about how many pairs of waterproof socks you really need.  Recommendation is 2 pairs per leg.  But at £30 a pop, can I get away with just one pair?

Now - I know this sounds like a kvetch, and surely I realised that sailing was never going to be a cheap way to pass the time - but I'm not sure it ever occurred to me that I'd be spending £30 on a pair of socks!

But whilst my bank balance is taking a battering, I am loving all this.  Look at me - I almost look like a sailor!  One freaked out their mind - but a sailor none-the-less.  And whilst I don't exactly know what I'm doing, having the right kit will at least give the illusion I do!

The Race - Quick Facts

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only event of its type.

Anyone, even if they have never stepped on a boat before, can join the adventure and circumnavigate the world in an eleven month-long marathon.

12 BRAND NEW 70-FOOT OCEAN RACING YACHTS

 A 40,000-MILE CIRCUMNAVIGATION, 15 RACES, 13 COUNTRIES, 1 WINNER. (Although I'm only doing half of it...)

40% of people (me being one of them!) competing in the Clipper Round the World have never set foot on a boat before.

Between the crew there are roughly 230 different professions.

Tie every warp, line, sheet and halyard together from the Clipper Race fleet and the ropes will stretch for a massive 15 kilometres – that’s twice the height of Mount Everest.

During the Clipper Race the teams will get through about  17,500 loo rolls, or 438,000 metres of toilet paper. That’s the equivalent distance of flying from London to Paris.

In the Southern Ocean there is a place called ‘Point Nemo’, this is the most remote spot on the planet, furthest away from any civilisation.  The nearest land is approximately 2,000 miles away.  If there was a cosmonaut on the international space station, they would be the closest human to ‘Point Nemo’.

82 Days to Go - No experience necessary

I was one of the many that succumbed to the advertising on the tube.  The poster said 'Are you ready for a challenge of a lifetime?' and at that particular moment, I definitely was.  Then, when I found out about Clipper and sailing around the world, the thing that tipped me over the edge - was that little statement at the bottom that said 'No experience necessary'.  So I was hooked.  Not only was I going to learn how to sail (from scratch!) but my first real sail would be to Australia.

The snake pit

So this was right up my alley, but I don't think I realised at that point what learning to sail really entailed.  There is a whole new language to learn.  I remember doing a theory course as my first foray into this world, and was totally blown away with the vast amount of stuff I was going to need to get to grips with.  All the ropes on a boat have a certain name, they all are clearly vital for something and in the heat of the moment, when times get really tough - you cannot afford to sit there thinking about it.  Sailing is instinct, and I am a long long way from that.  But I do remain optimistic that whilst my French is poor, Sailing is a language I will pick up. For the sake of my team, I will have to!

And that's before we even start with navigation.  Am going to call that phase 2.  At the moment, I'm carrying a bit of rope around with me, so if I'm waiting for the bus, or need a break at work, I'm practising my bowlines, clove hitch, admiral stopper and twisty twisty hitchy hitchy knots.

Luckily - most of the people doing Clipper have got some experience and are super patient and happy to teach, and some of them even have boats that they let me try and work out what the hell is happening.  So its slowly coming all together, though am still waiting for that hallelujah moment.  Will let you know when it happens!

93 Days to Go. And the race of my life starts in... LONDON!

Boris and Robin KJ

Its taken nearly 18 months to find out where I'll be starting from - and it was worth the wait!  Boris (noch) announced the St Katherine's Dock start point.  Yep, we'll probably be motoring for quite a while up the Thames, but how exciting to have London as the backdrop.

Still got loads to do - I'm buying lots of stuff I don't need and spending most of my time sending it back.  Trying to sort everything out whilst I'm working in Madrid is not easy - but hey - there are definitely worse places to be in the world!

I finish work 2 months today - can't believe it! The announcement has meant its never felt more real.

100 Days to Go. Some FAQs...

TOP 10 QUESTIONS

Q1 (and by far the most common): Do I get seasick?
A: Not so much that I think it will be a problem.  But yeah - have a feeling that on the Southern Ocean, me and the back of the boat are going to get well acquainted!

Q2: How many people are on the boat?
Around 20.  We get put into 2 shifts, so really will only see 10 of them for most of the time.

Q3: How big is the boat?
70ft - thats around 24m.

Q4: What will you be doing?
No idea at the moment! There are lots of jobs to do - and I'm hoping to get round to all of them.  I'll be expected to helm, work the lines, trim the sails and generally get stuck in.  One day a week I'll be Mother which means two of us will be responsible for cooking for everyone - but we do get a shower!

Q5: What previous sailing experience have you got
Er none... Hadn't stepped foot on a boat before I signed up for it.  Now I've probably had about 4 weeks...

Q6:  What's your route?
Set off from the UK, then to France, and then non-stop to Recife in Brazil.  From there to Cape Town, then to W. Australia, then Sydney and then finishing probably somewhere in Queensland.

That's where I get off, but the race continues to China, across the Pacific to San Fran, through the Panama Canal and up to New York, and then to the UK.

Q7: How long will you be in port for?
A:  Depends how good we are!  If we get good winds and nothing breaks, then we could be in port for up to 10 days.  But if it all goes wrong, it could be only 3-4 days.

Q8:  What are you going to eat?
Loads of carbs - porridge for breakfast then probably rice, pasta and tinned foods.  Not doing this for the gastronomy.

Q9:  When do you sleep?
We will have 2 watches - probably running 4 hours on, 4 hours off....

Q10:  What are your crew-mates like?
Don't really know them yet - but a really good mix.  From 18-69.

104 Days to Go

It may not be the most interesting, well designed or useful blog out there - but hallelujah! here it is.  Not that I could even do this on my own.  Thanks Frank for the awesome logo, and Barnaby for the name of my campaign.

So - for those of you that don't know what this is all about, let me bring you up to speed.  About 18 months ago I signed up to race a sailing boat to Australia (without ever having stepped foot on a boat).

About 4 weeks after that, my Mum was diagnosed with Breast Cancer for the third time, and whilst it was a pretty shitty time for me and my family - reinforced the reasons for doing this.  My Mum also loves adventure, so I thought I could also give something back by raising money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Campaign.

Thankfully, she's doing really well now, with a brand new funky haircut to boot, and is looking forward to this (nearly) as much as I am!

With 104 Days to Go - I have a team and a start date, but that's about it.... Don't know where we're starting from, where we're going, when we'll get anywhere, or how many pairs of socks to take.

It may not be for everyone - but that's the fun of it!