Early Christmas Fun!

Christmas is coming, time for fun! Eighteen of us, some old freinds and some new freinds decided it would be a good idea to meet at Dickens in St Kats. The first challenge came when trying to meet someone you've never met in a crowded London pub. This is when Facebook showed that it did actually have a use!

"Anyone here?"
"Yes, outside"

"Hi. Chris?" "Yes, Ben?" - great, lets get a drink! This continued throughout the next couple of hours as more "strangers" approached our table and asked in faultering tones - "are you Clipper?"

A great evening was had drinking and eating pizza. Though to my shame this evening resulted in my first sleepover on the train home, resulting in my wife coming to get me at 00:30!

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Clipper 2013-14 Race Start

Oh my! What a weekend! Two years to wait before my turn!

Sunday September 1st saw London provide an amazing send of for the 2013-14 race. St Katharine's dock was buzzing, crowds lined the Thames, people gazing down from Tower bridge. I have never felt so excited in my life, sorry Rosemary, James and Jessica, but that's how it was, I was just buzzing. There were a couple times I nearly cried, thinking about what those lucky lucky people were about to embark on and what it will be like in two years time, when I'm on one those boats waving good bye.

The fun started Saturday evening at the 15-16 crew party. Time to meet up with old friends Mike, Ali, Sarah, Rosalind, Ian, Patrick, Tracey ....... as well as meeting new crew like James, Pipa, Thomas and more. The beer did flow!

0930 Sunday and St Kats woke up. Boat crews were introduced to the crowds - Pipe bands, Jamaican dancers, all sorts. In groups of four, Clipper 70s slipped their lines and locked out into the Thames to rapturous applause. Three times this happened, each time was magical.

First Sue and Gary arrived during all this, then Jessica followed by Paul & Sam and Tania & Gary. Though I had been boring them for over a year now about Clipper, I think on Sunday, they understood. They felt the buzz, they could see the crowds and more interestingly, they could see what it had done to me that day.

"Happy Christmas!" Oh yes, they won't see each other until next summer!






Sunday was of course just the ceremonial start, you can't race 12 Clipper 70s down the Thames! So where were they going? The answer was Queenborough, just 30 miles from home. On the train home I was tracking them via AIS and once home could see them rounding the Montgomery heading for the entrance to the Medway. Gary and I downloaded our photos whilst having a cup of tea and then off in the car. When we get to Queenborough GREAT Britain was moored to the pontoon, OneDLL picked up a buoy and Qingdao was bimbling around ready to raft against OneDLL.

As the light faded in came Invest Africa, Team Garmin and Henri Lloyd. Time to go home have some dinner, drink some wine and relax. Can't wait for the home coming, but first the race!

GREAT Britain Naming

A slightly more upbeat post than my last one. 3rd August I went to Trafalgar Square with my Rosemary, Sue & Gary to see GREAT Britain, which had been planted on the terrace just outside The National Gallary.

What a magnificent site!

I wore my T-Shirt with the Clipper logo on so the staff would know I was already signed-up. That was a good move the nice Clipper staff I spoke to allowed us on board for a look around. The others found it quite interesting to look below as it allowed them to better understand what conditions would be like and so make it easier for them to understand what I was telling them.

RIP Brian

Yesrterday we laid Brian to rest. He was the relative that had his leg amputated earlier in the year. It was all very sudden, he was at home recovering, having physio ready for his false leg, when bam - heart attack. Life is so transient, don't waste it. Even if don't sign-up for Clipper, do something with your life.

In the words of Miranda - "What have you done today, to make you feel proud?"

Clipper 13-14 Race Start

How exciting and interesting! The start and finish of the Clipper 13-14 race is to hosted by London. Well I guess after the success of the Olympics it make sense for both parties to ride on the coat tails of the publicity that it has generated.

https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

This race will also feature a Great Britain yacht, breaking from the City or Region based sponsorship.

Be there on 1st September and be part of the spectacle.

I've also decided to take this opportunity to support the Jubilee Sailing Trust by selling home made charity mugs for £10. Please see my Charity page for details.

Oh boy! What a weekend!

A few of us 15/16'ers arranged a private charter of one of the retired Clipper 68s - CV7 Uniquely Singapore as it happens. We did this for various reasons; some because they have never actually sailed before and others like me, because waiting until October to do the Level 1 training is just too far away.

What a machine! Previously, the biggest boat I've sailed on was 46'. Initially that was a bit daunting, but after a few hours it felt no different than my lovely little Westerly Centaur. However, the Clipper boats are in another league. Being cutter rigged (two sails in front of the mast) adds to the complexity. The size of the boat also means that the loads on all the rigging, sheets and halyards are really big.

Tacking in my Centaur involves zero drama, thinking and very little effort and can quite easily be carried out single handed. To tack a Clipper requires, well an orchestra of people all operating in perfect harmony.

How did we do? Well, not bad really. We shown how to rig the boat on Saturday morning, had a quick lunch and headed out into the Solent. Dawn had broken gloriously on Saturday morning, but by the time we got out, it was blowing F8 with rain and fog. We had a blast!

On Sunday, having over nighted in E Cowes, we were left unguided to re rig the boat. We did this really rather well with only one minor error. The wind had eased on Sunday and the sun broke through the clouds and all too soon we were back in Gosport.

What a great weekend and two days later we are still posting pictures and videos on our Facebook group. I've suggested to Clipper that they might want to offer this to people that are interested, but unsure. Having tasted it, you will be signing on the dotted line!

The next event to look forward to, is meeting up again at the 13/14 start, wherever that is going to be?

I'm going to visit a relative in hospital today. At the beginning of January, he tripped whilst out shopping and hurt his leg. Five weeks later and his leg has been amputated above the knee.

So many times have you or others talk about doing something "because you never know what might happen tomorrow". I'm glad I'm doing something, because if something does happen tomorrow, there is only one thing worse than talking about doing something and that's not it.

"If I had..." is the sadest phrase you could ever say, so do something. Step 1, buy Against The Tide 2 the story of the Clipper 12-13 race.

Clipper 70 Launch

13th January 2013 myself and a number of the Clipper 15-16 crew gather at St Katherine's dock, London at the invite of Clipper. Though the new Clipper 70 was at St Kat's for publicity, we were to get exculsive access as well as information on our Level 1 training dates.

Clipper 70

Previously, the biggest yatch I'd been on was a 46 foot cruiser, so this was something else. These are serious out-and-out racers, a V8 muscle car of the sailing world. Down below there are no home comforts, not one splinter of Cherry wood. This is designed for one thing and that is speed!

A bunch of met in the Dickins Inn. Some of us had meet before, some were just names on Facebook and some were completely unknown before we met in Dickins. What struck me during that afternoon was the social aspect that was developing. When signing up for Clipper it never occured to me that there would be this whole network of people opening up from all walks of life and from all parts of the globe.

With the public locked out, our reception began. More freinds made, two of which are second time Clippers. Snack were provided washed down with a drop of beer and our first set of training dates were provided. So next thing is to choose which week to book and then spend the whole summer in excited anticipation!