20^th Feb

Day 1

Morning all!

Got here yesterday evening (that's this morning to you) to a thunderstorm and after I slept on the right bits of the flight and a good nights sleep am jetlag free.

Off now to the boat for the first time to do a corporate day sail.

Met some of the crew who seem great guys. The fact that we didn't see them waiting for us at the airport seems to have been forgiven! :)

Ben
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20^th Feb

Found the boat!

Just arrived at the harbour and found the boat ok. Just trying to post a quick picture message from my phone - not too sure if this is going to work...

The massive quantities of rain when I arrived last night has stopped to give way to the more expected bright sunshine and high temperatures.

Darling harbour is very nice indeed- just sat down to a nice, ice cold beer and I must say, its tastes much nicer here than when in Canary Wharf! :-)

Ben
 

25^th Feb

1 day to go!

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I've now been put into a 'watch' (the team is split into 2 to drive the boat & sleep/eat) and I'm with the 'groaners' (The names were chosen as it was noted when pulling up halyards some people grunt and some groan!). I also have my bunk allocated...which is top of the 3 man at the rear. It looks very difficult to get in at port... but apparently is much trickier as the boat is dropping off waves and rolling around!

Today is Saturday and is a day off before the big start on tomorrow. I'm really quite apprehensive about leaving and just want to get on with it.

Tomorrow starts for us about 9, we leave the dock at 12 and the race starts at 3. We have 2 days of nice-ish wind... and then gales on Tuesday as we come into Tasmin. So - not much scope for getting use to the daily boat life in calm conditions then!

One last thing...  I understand it's snowing in England. Strange to think as one's sitting here in a T-shirt, hat, sunnies and factor 60 sun block! Don't worry if you feel jealous though - just give it a few days!

Ben
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26^th Feb

Start day

Very busy here as we prepare to leave and I have to give my phone up now (class rules), so one last picture message from it....

Apparently the start will have hundreds of spectator boats.

VERY exciting!! :)

27^th Feb

Sailing for 24 hours now  

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As you may have seen we were first off the line on an incredibly exciting start, but have since hit some unfortunate wind holes and have dropped back. Still 6,000 miles to go so it means nothing - we are going to win! :)

Start was amazing -never experienced an atmosphere like it. The blitz over the start was very exciting and there were lots of supporters, helicopters and the like everywhere.

We've settled into our watch systems now so I have a bit more of an idea of life onboard and I like it a lot (after a bit of sickness feeling at the start).

Currently we're in a wind hole and the others aren't. Not all bad though as we're sitting in incredibly hot sun and earlier had about 50 dolphins feed around the stationary boat. :)

Should go now - need sleep as am due on again in a few hours!

Cheers

Ben
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28^th Feb

Surfing down the E.A.C. !!!

That's the East Australian Current, as per 'Finding Nemo', and it's every bit as much fun as the film implies... just without the turtles! :)

We've been surfing downwind, flying spinnakers for 24 hours now and its stunning. 50 ton boats aren't supposed to surf like this... surely it's not possible :) The sun's out and generally its hot - we've been in t-shirts and shorts during the day and night. Last night was quite amazing where we're surfing at 5 knots continually on massive waves coming from behind, whilst phosphors light up the waves we're making. At the same time, there isn't a cloud in the sky and the stars are nothing like I've seen before. Not only the constellations (ie. the Southern Cross is new to me) but also the clarity and depth of detail. I know this isn't going to last, but am certainly enjoying it whilst it does! :)

As for our position, that's one of those things. After the start the boats split, the ones to the East continues with a breeze, the ones to the West continued with a breeze and the ones in between... fell into a very frustrating hole where we didn't move for about 6 hours. Meanwhile the other boats got into the EAC (the current helps the boats along) and kites up earlier - so that’s why they look so far ahead. We're not worried; the latest positions have just come in (with now all boats in the EAC) and we're covering considerably more ground in a 24 hr period than they are :)

Right then, must dash. I only have a limited time to send email and with the boat bouncing all over the place each key is difficult to press. Almost every minute of time off, one simply wants to sleep! :)

Until next time...

Ben
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1^st Mar

Bass Strait  

From little wind to gale force in an hour. 4 sail changes in 1 watch. Boat all over the place. Permanent soaking on bow - underwater for a lot of time! Completely knackered.

Making cup of tea very very difficult & hazardous!

Clearing Tasmania soon

Overtook 3 boats last night

I am on mother watch today (cooking, cleaning). Moving around inside is near impossible!

This is what I signed up for! :)
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2^nd Mar

Just rounding Tasmania  

(boat's calm and I can type now!)

Well I must say that life on these things is most unexpected. Yesterday we were surfing downwind in t-shirts flying spinnakers and then we came to the 22:00 shift...  it started cold and we took over with a fairly mundane Yankee1, Staysail and full main.

After 20 mins it looked like the wind was backing and dropping so we prepared to raise the spinnaker (big kite thing at the front used in light winds). We got as far as raising the spinnaker pole (a fair bit of effort) when the skipper decided the wind had changed and to leave it... then to change the Yankee number 1 for a number 2... then actually a number 3 (the 2 was on deck by this time, plus the kite), then QUICK - reef the mainsail down to 2... then to 3. Then of course we had to get the number 1 back to the cockpit, 3 to the front and hoisted... only we now needed a storm staysail!

If none of that means anything to you, sail changes require a great deal of effort, but the wind changed quicker than we expected. At the same time you have waves crashing over the front, wiping everyone off their feet and absolutely soaking them - just like the videos! The boat was continually airborne and being smashed sideways and diving through waves! As the watch changed (at 2am) the conditions continued. In one 2.5 hr slot we had done EIGHT sail changes!!

Anyway, this hard core 'keep changing the sails' attitude is paying off - we're clawing our way back up the leader board, continually covering more miles than any other boat. At the time of writing we've past 2 more and on the horizon now have BG spirit and VAIO... which we will(!) pass by the morning!

The weather now is calm, but we're ticking along on a nice breeze with the promo kite up averaging about 9 knots. Tasmania is on the right and looks quite a sight. Should be the last land we see for a long time.

I've been on 'mother watch' all day today which means cooking and cleaning for my watch. It's been hell trying to clean toilets as the boats dropping off 10 ft waves! Had a kip and its calm now - so am liking it again. Wasn't so good earlier! :)

That's all for now. Thanks for the good luck notes!

Cheers

Pikey
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2^nd Mar

A bit about life on board...

Watches

There are 18 on the boat.
2 are the skipper and 1st mate - they know everything and do anything whenever they want. The remaining 16 are split into 2 watches of 8 and run on a 2 day rota like this:

        02:00-06:00 ON
        06:00-12:00 off
        12:00-18:00 ON
        18:00-22:00 off
        22:00-02:00 ON
        02:00-06:00 off
        06:00-12:00 ON
        12:00-18:00 off
        18:00-22:00 ON
        22:00-02:00 off
                ... repeat to fade!

During ON watch one sails the boat & the 'mother' in that watch (changes each day) will cook and clean for all. During OFF they sleep - all are absolutely knackered and no one has any problems sleeping... regardless of the size of waves encountered! The watches are woken up 30 minutes before the start of their ON. They eat during OFF.

Its a strange life but one that is surprisingly easy to settle into.

Pants!
Ok, so the engineering boys at work really want to know this, so....

Right, you need wicking underwear, pants - or 'special pants' as they've been described! You are expected to live with 3 during the voyage. I was told Musto are the only people who make these, but could only supply me 1 pair, and a day before I left. However I found 2 extra pairs here. One a Swiss hiking pair and one an Aussie pair.

My initial testing has revealed that the Musto are the most comfortable and wick better, the Swiss aren't too bad either... but the Aussie pair..., well they're actually not much different than lycra shorts and although they make me look like Linford Christie (a la lunchbox), they're bloody useless for wicking!!

The answer....  ASDA sell own brand wicking pants - 3 for £10 that work fine!  Oh well! :)

Must go, they want tea now and I'm still mother for the next hour!

If you have any other questions – the mail address is attached to this log!

Toodle pip!
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4^th Mar

All change

Well its all change from the nice spinnakers of a few days ago. After rounding Tasmania the gates of hell opened and we went through!

My God - you have no idea how incredibly ferocious the seas can be. Coming over the continental plates the waves were only about 3-4 meters but the distance between them was so small the boat was being hurled everywhere. That in a 45 knot wind, gusting to 62. (Interesting fact - it takes about an hour to take the mainsail down in a 40+ knot wind!).

The sea temp has also plummeted as has the air temp and the wind speed, so it is now "bloody cold" all the time.  Great thing is it's going to get worse.

I’m bearing up ok but apprehensive of how much worse its going to get when the current state is worse than anything I've ever seen. Good job there's no getting off option - this is hell!

Spend all time on deck in a drysuit which is the most amazing piece of kit ever. You really do get drenched as much as those videos show - and the dry suit does keep you dry! Newton has a problem in that his was repaired at the last stop over but lasted only an hour before the zip came away. Big problem. Mine is too small (as suspected before I left but was told 'tough') but does work. Trying to source solution of how I can get sufficient warm clothes on as I will need shortly.

Took a tumble 2 days ago. Was moving from high side around a winch when a wave flicked the boat up. I went airborne (and down), safety strop caught me, pulled tight and spun me round and back onto the deck. As I came down the back of my head hit the step with quite  a bang. In no time at all I had the good doctor Ruth checking my neck was still attached (damn sight quicker service in the Southern Ocean than the NHS in London that’s for sure), who gave me a clean bill of health.

Talking of injuries, Save the Children had to spin round the other day and drop a chap off at Hobart. The guy was asleep in his bunk and when the boat dropped off a huge wave, he was dropped onto the support bar. It not only fractured, but also dislocated his hip. Nasty!

Right, midnight where you are, 11am where I am and I have to get lunch, then ready (it takes 30 mins to put your clobber on here!) so I'm going to go. Enjoying the experience but missing the comfort life.

A happy, but tired, and a little smelly, Ben  :)
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6^th Mar

Position 49' 31S 137' 11E

Log posted on Challenge website:

Ever since I heard of the Global Challenge I have wanted to take part, and now I am finally here and the experience is even better than I expected.

I knew this was the toughest leg and indeed I selected it just for that reason and it hasn't disappointed me. The first few days were a gentle introduction with flying spinnakers in shorts & t-shirts throughout the night, then all of a sudden it changed into what we have now and has remained consistent ever since! Now one doesn't exit the hatch without being clipped on first!

The sailing itself is fantastic and every minute on deck (well, almost!) is such a buzz. The Ocean out here is unlike anything I've ever experienced before; so extreme, vast, ferocious and somehow majestically beautiful, although at the same time relentlessly punishing. It's not at all scary like some have warned me, as it's very clear that the boat is strong and safe. It ploughs through waves like a torpedo and although every now and again it thuds into something bigger than the helm expected, the boat flexes a little and shrugs it off.

Downstairs the boat is like a haven; being warm and comfortable dampens the sounds of the outside and protects its occupants entirely. However, this is the bit that's not so much fun. I think the worst bit(s) of the day is getting ready to go on watch. They say you burn about 6,000 calories a day, well I reckon you burn about 1,000 in each of those sessions (3 times a day).

I'm very glad to have joined this team, as they are all a fantastic bunch. All very friendly, very welcoming, work extremely well as a slick, trained team and always eager to help. The ongoing banter makes the tough conditions much easier to deal with and turns the lows into highs. Oh, and the food's not nearly as bad as they make out - but maybe that's just because one's always hungry after a watch? Anyway, so far I'm really enjoying the experience - we'll see how I feel after a few more weeks.

Right, it's blowing a gale out there and I heard they're preparing to tack. Must dash!

Ben Pike
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7^th Mar

Morning

Just finished watch where conditions so bad only 3 people up for 30 mins. Cold and very very wet.

Used Finian's "last night" song during a particularly sh*tty time and went down very well! :) (James - is Finbob on this?)

Saw Southern Lights - utterly stunning

Thanks for encouragement emails - really help :)

Off for another 6 hour watch now. yippee......
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8^th Mar

Past 24 hrs

The past 24 hrs have been rather strange. Yesterday and in particular last night we had such ferocious weather that we could only have 3 on deck at any one time and you wouldn't even think about stepping outside the hatch without being clipped on before. As soon as out of the hatch you were then down as low as possible... and counted the minutes until you could go back downstairs.

In the morning we then found that the waves had been so strong that they had bent 3 stanchions - 1 of them severely. (The stanchions are 1 inch wide poles that go around the outside of the boat holding the guardrails in... how much power must be needed in a wave to bend a pole I don't know!?

Anyway, this morning was fairly calm and its been like that all day (thankfully). We've been trying to position ourselves to avoid a very calm patch that's round the corner. Seems a lot of this sailing stuff is tactics.

We're on "happy hour" at the mo so I'm off to use it wisely... sleeping!!

Cheerio!

Ben
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9^th Mar

Thursday 1am - half way to the half way point

Its been an interesting few days. The weather has subsided down to a fresh breeze and sea state calm. This has allowed us to recuperate a little with showers, pant-washing and the like.

During the heavy weather the drain holes got blocked in the roof so the saloon ceiling was constantly dripping, the protector came off the mast so a fair bit of every wave came down through the mast (necessitating in a lot of bilge emptying every hour!) and the heater didn't work and leaked fuel everywhere! Fortunately all has now been repaired and we're ready for the next dollop of nasty stuff. Incidentally, we've been warned we aint seen nofink yet! Knock-downs are almost guaranteed!! Also the really impressive, super expensive mega boat compass turns out to be a bit out - the satellite GPS thing is much more reliable!!

What else? Well the breeze has picked up again here and we are stonking along once more. Its also extremely cold with crew members often coming down to warm up. So strange how the inside of the boat is so warm (sleeping in boxers only with sleeping bag unzipped) whilst on deck no amount of clothes can do the job of keeping the cold at bay.

Today I was on mother... which is quite good to do on a calm day - particularly a calm, cold day :)  Day started with me having to make bread and finding all about kneading! Whilst it was a roaring success and all was eaten I think I'd recommend sticking to Sainsbury's finest for ease :)  In order to spice up meal times I also hooked up my iPod to the boat stereo and delivered my delicacies to Hed Kandi and Red Hot Chilli Peppers... which seemed to go down well. Not too sure they appreciated my singing and gyrating though but hey, mother's job is to entertain! (Sarah- 'pink martini' got a lot of strange looks :)  )

One thing I am (we all are) getting into is the positions against the other boats. We get position reports through 3 times a day. Called 'scheds' (schedules) they show relative position as a direct line to next way point, how many miles in the last run and how far behind the next. The position is actually quite misleading, but there isn't really a better way to represent it. It's misleading because although a boat may be physically nearer, it might not be able to get to that point without tacking, which would put it behind another that is positioned not to tack. Also note the times; the sched at the moment puts us in 7th because the boat at 6th sent a late position update.

Another thing worth mentioning are the 'gribs', binary grid data files, delivered twice a day, produced by some American super computer that accurately forecast the wind state to within a few miles. These files are overlaid onto our position and the forecast run (as an AVI)... the result is the navigator decides how best to maximise the wind available whilst avoiding light patches. An example of this is 'Me to You' who dropped from 2nd to 9th in one hit as they didn't steer round a light patch that the rest of the fleet did. The software allows us to see where each of the other boat positions are (last position report) and forecast from their perspective.

Currently we're excellently positioned and the next 12 hours should give us more wind than the other boats. I would say this is all about luck but it so isn't. Middle of the Southern Ocean on a 50 ton boat with 4,500 miles to go and every degree sailed, every tack put in is carefully calculated. In the meantime the sails are trimmed about every 10 minutes and every 15 minutes manual data logging is used to compare against previously recorded data polars to ensure the boat speed is at maximum.  I didn't expect a 5 week race to be run with the consistent, continued intensity of an hour's race! Impressive stuff, but exhausting.

Overall the skipper is still confident on our final position. The scheds show the boat is consistently very fast... we just need a tad of luck with people's (ours and others) interpretation of the gribs!

I thought I'd get a bit of a long update in. It's normally difficult to find 5 mins on the machine, but being on mother I have some hours where others are asleep! Right, wind's got up and I think I need to offer more teas now. Making tea is very difficult when the boat is heeled over as you have to angle everything by about 35 degrees. Except the thing is it's 35 degrees... 20 deg... 40 deg.. up a bit, down a bit, left a lot, up a bit.... you try pouring boiling water in those conditions!! :)

Cheerio...

Ben
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11^th Mar

Cold!

Cold, cold, cold!

Bloody horrid! Waves the size of houses, walls of water that should be frozen solid (they feel like it when they hit!) and wind that knocks you off your feet!

Watch systems down to 30 mins on / off during allocated watch.

This is the real Southern Ocean stuff. Recommended to no-one! I hope I'll be able to look back on this moment and say it was worth it, cos right now it certainly doesn't seem the case :)

Brrrrrrrr............

PS. Regarding the scheds, we should be in 4th position by the morning. Also note that the positions are the nearest to the next waypoint. That waypoint is one we're to keep NORTH of, to stop us going too far South, following the great circle (ie. the fastest/shortest way there due to the curvature of the earth). We don't actually have to go round it or touch it - just stay above it... but the leaderboard implies one must reach it.
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12^th Mar

Even coplder!!

Now changedx from halestones on deck to snow - horizontal snow! It's about -10 and really rather chilly!

We tacked recently so we've nopw hit the southernniost pointr on the trip. I kewep sayingh "so we're heading towraqds thge heat then" but apparentlyt that's noyt quite teh case! :)

Been singing sopngs on deck to keep warm. Seems Rick Astley's "never gonna give..." has been doing rather well. Terrible how that tune never leaves your head isn't it!? :)

Anyway is now 23:30 and havbe to bw back on deck at 02:00.

Ciao all

Ben

PS. pls excuse typing miustakes - you would too after haviung your hands frozen off and being at 40 degrees, bouncinhg whilst using a keyboard that's tiny!
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13^th Mar

Freefall!!

The same conditions continue only with bigger waves. Now we've broken 5 stanchions and 1 of them has come off completely. Skipper has banned anyone from going on the foredeck for the time being. This could be a bit of a problem if the qwind changes and we need tpo change a sail. We can change the stanchions ourselves, only with calmer waters, whioch wer're unlikly to see for 6 days. We also lost our jockey pole over night. Noone knows how -its just not there in the morning!

MEanwhile the waves have got stunningly bigger and the boat is often droppping off these things that seem tyo have no backs. Sleeping, strapped into bunk and in mid air /freefall is now the norm!

4th result is pretty good and all are pleased. Naviagator & Skipper trying to work out how to close those 30 miles. Should be doable :)

Rest of the boat is ok and spirits are good. Sent a note to Kids (team Save the Children) who are having v. bad luck; medivac, broke generator, broke heater, broke leech line, then big wave on foredeck broke 4 crew... and they're 200 behind leader :(

Off for food now. Toodle pip!

Ben
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13^th Mar

3rd... :)

Well, we've got past Barclays and now only have BP and Unisys to go.

Unfortunately BP are being rather tricky to catch up. Also a lot depends on who does the next tack and when. It *could* be advantageous staying North...or it could not! :)

The weather has eased slightly (you can tell by my typing improvements!).

We've now broken 8 stanchions and have had word back from Challenge that they are replacement, reconditioned ones that the manufacturer assured "were as strong as the original"... yeah, right!

Spirits are high on board. The weather is still very cold, but its something one has learned to deal with - you get so cold you can't believe in your 30 min session, but you then get the opportunity to warm up just a little to ensure you don''t die! After that is a meal where you forget how cold you were previously! See - having a rubbish short term memory has advantages!

Today is Monday, or maybe Sunday, so we have an extra hour in bed, which is pretty cool. Every 15 degrees we go West we clock an extra hour. All very strange really.

I'm starting to enjoy the experience more but must admit I have been thinking of home... of toilets that don't try and kill you (and flush), of drinking wine by my fire, of sitting in a T-shirt in a garden with a cold beer, of being able to eat food that isn't freeze dried, of sitting in a boiling hot hottub overlooking Sidmouth.. oh and of having more than 3 hours sleep at a time :)

Speaking of technology, the iPod is still working (amazingly as everything has condensation on) and, having about 10,000 tracks of I don't know what is going down rather well. To say it has something for everyone is an understatement :)

Right - bed once more. Thank you very much for the encouragement emails. They bring a smile to my face as I go through the hellish periods :)

Cheers all

Ben

PS. Just for the Eng boys (and girl) the next update will include a further detailed pant update. All special pants are not the same!
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15^th Mar

Progress

Wind and waves have eased although we're still putting in a constant 9-10 knots, which is good.

Closing on the leaders is still proving tough, but we're in a good position strategically and hope to gain decent ground over the next few days with a target of 1st by waypoint Bravo.

Did 3 sail changes and 2 reefs last night. Nasty!

Apart from that, still very cold with 30 min watch system still in place. The people on watch but waiting for their 30 minutes on deck wait in the "zero-degree lounge"... which is actually the forepeak. How 18 people co-exist on a 72 foot boat is half of them are asleep at any one time. When that doesn't happen one needs to shift the excess people - hence parking them. It's called the zero-degree lounge as being right at the front its frequently bouncing off waves and one is frequently in freefall. It's quite fun actually! :)

Food is still naff, people keep waking you up after 3 hrs sleep for another watch, everything's damp, heater only works on a starboard tack (don't ask - we haven't figured it out yet either!), and the place really, really pongs! Am I enjoying it? Well, it's "character building", isn't it?!  :)

Oh for a tall G&T in the sun in an English garden.... tall thick glass, lots of Gordons, thick wedge of lime, lots of ice and fresh tonic...Mmmmm....

Ben  :)
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15^th Mar

Engineering special - pump & dump

WARNING: if you don't work for the Engineering team at BarCap you probably won't appreciate this article and would be best advised to read no further!  :)
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Right, I promised you a 'special' for your lunchtime discussions so here goes - "pump & dump". Hope this gets to you for your 12 'meet' (PS. Is the food still as bad?  The freeze dried stuff on here isn't so awful... maybe someone should suggest it to the canteen..."look - you ONLY need add boiling water" :) )

On the boat there are 2 toilets. The primary reason for this is that only 1 can be used at a time, depending on which tack (side) you are sailing on. As the boat is always going upwind, we are heeled (leaning) over about 35 degrees all the time so there is always a low side and a high side. Each of the toilets has a ratchet system which allows one to angle the bowl by (up to) 35 degrees to make it more or less horizontal.

To flush there is a manual hand pump. One must pump about 20 times to generate enough pressure to suck the waste through a tube that runs up the back of the room, to about head height and down, out of the boat. It is only possible to create this pressure on the low side as the angle on the high side would make it (near) impossible.

So, simple enough, one only uses the low side toilet when 'dropping off the kids'. Now... lets say you're on the one tack using the low side heads when all of a sudden you realise the boat is tacking (turning)... your low side is not only about to become the high side but the ratchet system has the bowl angled by 35 degrees the wrong way... very soon one is going to have a major problem and so this is where the pump & dump technique comes in. One pumps furiously to finish the business before the low side is then a high whilst the business is ongoing. Quite a tricky procedure and one which has been perfected by those who've already done 6 months on the boat but one that has caught out the unfortunate few!
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16^th Mar

Frustrating progress

Last night was particularly frustrating as the wind was playing silly buggers and kept changing in every possible way. Over the 22:00-02:00 watch three and a half sail changes were done and two and a half reefs. The half is when you're half way through, things change and you have to abandon it! It's all so very annoying, but when it's a steady 25 knot you have to take the Yankee 1 down.... and then when its a steady 16 knot you HAVE to take the 2 down and put the 1 back. Oh, and just to remind you, once a sail has been used it has to be folded back into the bag.. and a Yankee1 is very large, on the high side of a heeled boat, in the dark, rain and cold. Last thing you want is for someone to say "so thanks for taking that No.1 down and packing it so beautifully. Don't suppose you could pop it back up again for me could you?"

All frustrating and we had the worst sched ever as a result. Managed to defend our position though and have since had a better sched in. Just goes to show how much work is in this getting and staying in front lark! Whilst we're desperately trying to ensure absolutely everything that can be done is we simply don't know that the rest of the pack are in good winds or the same nasty annoying stuff.

So today I'm on Mother (doesn't a week fly) and it was my responsibility to cook dinner. Rather than having a prepared dish I was allocated some ingredients... rice and onions. Hmmm... to prepare a dish for 18 people - and I can't cook! Well, bunged it in a pan, added some salami & soy sauce and what do you know... 18 cleaned plates AFTER seconds. :)  Bah.. there's nothing to this cooking lark. :)

A prize goes to Sam Tuck for spotting the deliberate mistake in my previous mail. The forepeak at the front is called the "Zero-G Lounge" and not "Zero Degrees lounge"... which is the name of my favourite pub in Blackheath. Hmmm...missing home? :)

I used the satellite phone to call home the other day... very strange. Middle of absolutely nowhere in the Southern Ocean and this thing's as clear as a landline.

On a slightly separate note we've been having a bit of email banter with Kids (to give some support over their rather sh*tty recent luck). To the question "Marry, Shag, Off a cliff - Margaret Thatcher, Anne Widdecome, Mo Mowlem?" we got the following, excellent, response….

"Maggie Thatcher - marry, now old Dennis has snuffed it she'll be frothing at the gash plus you'll get some serious lad points for boffing the former PM. V loaded and not many miles left in her so if you can bear the saggy bits for a few years then you're laughing.

Anne Widdecome - off a cliff, a very high one at that. That's after you've sat her down and made her watch some seriously offensive porn just to watch her blood boil.

Mowey babes - one nighter. Always wears a neck scarf so you can use it to blindfold yourself so Anne Widdecome won't recognise you in the video she's about to watch!!"

Good to see their spirits are still high :)

Still bloody tired. There is absolutely no let up in the pace here. Quite amazing what you can actually make oneself do. Don't think I'll ever have grounds again for complaints of tired, cold, exhausted, etc... :)

Night all!

Ben

PS. Thanks again for mails.
PPS. Thanks again James for forwarding all mails :)
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17^th Mar

Oh well  

The drop in places was bad wind that we expected the whole fleet to have but actually it was just us and Samsung. The scheds since show us still consistently faster and we expect to regain those 2 places and are hanging on for the first 2. Oh well... not even a set back. Just a minor detail. We are fast and we do have the navigational expertise. Chances of us being first into CT are high :)

Nearing the Kerguelen islands and there is much more wildlife. The birds now following and sweeping round the boat are quite fascinating.

Other than that, more of the same. Cold, rain, nasty wind that keeps bloody changing and waves the size of houses.

Oh, one other point... regarding the pictures on the challenge website (some have said that there are few from Stelmar). This is a bit of a bone of contention. Challenge say that each boat should send 1 pic every other day however some have been sending 4 each day and Challenge have been publishing them. We've been following the rules. The media person has spoken to the Skipper who’s mentioned it to Challenge (so it's "watch this space") but personally I would just keep flooding them in... as the other teams are doing :)  Rest assured I have taken a few and will appear on Pikeynet sometime in April.

Off to use the heads now. You all know how that goes!

Ben
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17^th Mar

Sorry - my fault!

Well since James told me that the reason we dropped 2 places was due to me not pulling ropes quick enough, I told the Skipper who promptly had me flogged. I am now pulling ropes much quicker and we are back up to 3^rd! (Actually, Barclays steering broke and we were simply quicker than Sark.)

We're now quite happy plodding along gaining ground on the others with Sark actually visible to the naked eye. The sun is out, which is nice as it's been foggy and miserable recently.  Changed lots of reefs and a few sails overnight which was a bit naff. This afternoon as I came off watch I noticed the water is a little warmer.... On the foredeck, body sprawled out on top of the No.1 Yankee which was trying to fly again, huge waves washing over the top pushing me to the length of my safety tether, water washing up my arms and down my neck... and my heart didn't shudder and stop with the temp. So then, must be getting warmer :)

Actually we're just rounding the bottom of India at the mo. Kerguelen Islands in the next few days. Regarding the positions have a look where BP is; they are very far South and have a lot of ground to cover to get up North to waypoint Bravo. We're reeling them in slowly but surely :)

In a good mood today as Ruth provided pancakes and cinnamon buns for breakfast. Mmmm... lovely!

It's 13:15 here, 06:15 London and I'm off to bed (for 3.5 hours until someone wakes me for another 4 hour drenching!)

Ben
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19^th Mar

Yowzer! 

Big weather change last night. Wind whipped right up - making enormous waves (after some time the wind flattens the waves out to make wide ones). Was riding shotgun (sitting near helm should something happen) with safety tether wound round winches to shorten. The biggest wave I never saw engulfed the boat and sent me forward with incredible force, pulling all the tension on my  tether and trying to send my legs through the wheel safety net. This wave’s force was continuous and never stopped coming. Just pushed & pushed & pushed!! Wow! Scary stuff but what a buzz!!

The water is back to "bloody cold" and we've been seeing waves that break over the top of the boat. It's officially nasty again here :)

Yesterday we changed the remaining broken stanchions. Had a look at why they broke and saw the answer. The reinforcement had been placed inside the bottom of the stanchion, but about 3 inches from the bottom... where the bottom 2 inches plugs in. Therefore the people who "reinforced" them made a weak point where you could guarantee they'd go. Doh!

Up to 3rd now. Closed loads of miles on the leaders. Now a drag race up to Bravo. Probably about 2 days. Won't see the Kerguelen islands, but we have enough strange facts :)

Me? Tired, knackered, exhausted, worn out. How much more of this? Apparently the last 2-3 days will be nice!  Had a shave yesterday - looked, felt and smelt like a tramp before!  Blurgh.....

Ben  :)
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20^th Mar

Bigger and better  

Unbelievably it's got worse. The wind has reached stupid levels, the boats never touching the water for more than 2 seconds before airborne and now one of our sails is damaged. Just figuring out repair plan. Difficult as this weather set to continue for 18 hours.

Watch out for a report of mine on Challenge website for Monday.

Gotta go. No time to type.

Ben
PS. Dan - thanks for the mail. Very supportive :)
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There will be many thousands of you, who like me previously, are sitting there at home or in the office, glued to the updates on the excellent website. You keep checking every few hours to see if the race viewer has been updated, if any new logs have come in for your team and whether there are any extra pictures of life on board. You want to know how the story's panning out and all the trials and tribulations of daily life on board. It becomes a bit of an addiction doesn't it?

Well I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that as a legger I was that viewer and now I am here, in that story and part of it. It's a bit like a film set that I've jumped into. To sit under that huge boom with Stelmar written on, to being in the vastness of the Ocean, to working with the crew I have already read so much about. it all has a rather surreal element to it.

So how does this real life compare to the view a web reader sees of our world? Well there is so much going on, so many things to report that the only true way to know is to be here oneself. However, the thing that I find most difficult and which will not have been reported is the off watch routine and the way it constantly saps your energy and enthusiasm. The frustration of getting in and out of the clothes, which eats up valuable sleeping time, and being woken up after only a few hours sleep to be reminded "it's that time again" add to the mix, but then there's the climate. The heater is efficient but makes the air so dry it completely messes with your body's thermo-regulation system. In your bunk one changes from freezing cold to sweating hot and back to freezing cold again without any apparent change in temperature. It all adds to the fatigue, which if left unchecked could make one forget just what an amazing time this is and that I am an active participant on an exciting adventure that has thousands enthralled (and perhaps jealous!).

You will already have read lots about the huge waves, strong winds, wet clothes and constant slamming. I love all that stuff, but above all although this is a highly rewarding experience, when woken up I really do have to remember where I am and choose my attitude to make it work for me as well as it is. It's great to be here!

Ben Pike
Team Stelmar - SAFE, HAPPY, FAST
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20^th Mar

Monday Morn

It's been a busy time. Leech line went in the Yankee3 and without repair it was going to destroy itself. Tookj the sail down in middle of tyhe night, filled the saloon with it and repaired. Unfortunately the 6 hours we went without it cost us time on the scheds. Going upwind so ttightly in these winds without it is like a car in 1st gear when everyone else is in 5th..!

Weather still verty heavy. Boat bouncing a lot. EXtremely cold. Just finishged a 4 hour watch I thought I would freeze on! :) No, doesn't seem like we're over the worst. Still very much in the worst!

NEar to Bravo now. To answer a few questions, it's an invisible marker so nothing to see. Kerguelen islands will be too far from view to see. May see some other islands further on.

Also the nasty angle of wind has slowed the whole pack considerably. We're already looking at using the emergency food reserves (hence conserving the non emergency daily stuff) by the time we come in. :)

Thanks for the updates on sunny London town. Can't wait to get back and enjoy a few sunny lunches admiring the scenery :)   Oh, and strangely I'm really longing for a ice cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice more than a pint of beer. Strange what this ocean sailing lark does for you! :)

Cheers all

Ben
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21st Mar

Ahhh… that’s better!

Calmer now. Everything working. Stonking along WCV at about 10 knots in calm waters. Even temp appears to be up (or rather its not as unbearable as before!).

So, nearly at Bravo now and for most on the boat it's a marker to open sealed pants, socks, thermals and have a shower. It's fair to say this is greatly welcomed! :)

We've been served excellent food again today by the best mother on board. She hit her head on a winch a few days ago (assisted by a monster wave) and hence has been signed off deck duties by the doc. As a result her cooking experimentation has paid off extremely well.... we're trying to stop her going back on deck so it can continue :)

I've also negotiated use of another bunk. I complained that the one I had was stupid as its 2 support bars bruised the whatsit out of me whenever it was rough (which was often) and hence they had one always (more) tired crew member. I now have use of a 'normal' bunk, but on the low side so have been getting more sleep.  All good stuff! :)

James - thanks for the tip to stay on the hard boaty bit and out of the watery bit... but the two are often blurred! :)
Justin - Hope your leg heals soon and your new noddy car brings you the entertainment needed to get over it :)

Gotta go... Mother's just serving popcorn!! :)))))

Ben
PS. Also, no my desire for orange juice is NOT scurvy setting in!
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22nd Mar  

Rounded Bravo today  

Lots of light winds ahead... this is where the tricky bit is (ie. races won and lost in light winds). Should be an intense time.

Rounding Bravo was a bit on the non-event side, but I managed to do a much more interesting log (and photoshopped pic) for the Challenge site (should be on tomorrow am). Now to sit back and wait for the "really...." emails from all the gullible ones out there! Even got in a reference about pants! Next I'll try and get a reference in about drysuits... and blowing seals / mayonnaise :)

Apparently we're in a shallow bit at the mo - only 1,200 meters under us. "Only".. Hmmm. Skipper says the norm for round here is 5,000m - Wow, that's a lot of water under our little boat!

So, rounded Maldives to the North and coming up on Seychelles. Something about a manky French island called the Kerguelen underneath, but why would anyone mention that?! :)  Also been reading up on Cape Town's history. It's quite, umm, chequered...

Just had a shower and a full set of fresh, never worn before clothes. My, do I feel human again or what?  This showering and fresh clothes thing could catch on...

Rest of the trip should be nicer. We do a straight bit, then a North to the Sun trip. Hopefully this would indicate the worst is over... here's hoping :)

Right then, off for a Pikey Power Nap!

B
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23^rd Mar

Weird weather  

This morning at 4am there we were hoisting the spinnaker... where it remained until 1pm. Shortly after that the wind got up and we're into waves and strong breezy suff again. Must admit the calmer waters were rather welcome. The boat was like a different one being flat and easy to manoeuvre around. Quite nice actually! :)

Meanwhile I'm rather worried about the state of my world back in London. First my neighbours said they had painted my car pink (I'm sure that has something to do with Sarah) and now a friend tells me my whole house has been modified...

      - one side has been jacked up on pit props so it is permanently heeled over at about 35 degrees
      - your bedroom has been converted into 48 individual bunks in cupboards
      - two limited edition 'Pump'n'Dump' toilets have been fitted, one either side of the house
      - we've thrown all of your clothes out and left you two pairs of horse-hair pants and an old Peter Storm cagoule
      - the water main outside has been strategically ruptured so as to spray large amounts of cold water directly over the front door

Thanks Jeremy. I'm laughing lots now (actually the crew are as well!) but we'll see when I return! :)

Well I'm not sure how my joke about the man in a RIB marking Bravo went down on the challenge website. I, actually we, are rather disappointed that the editor thought it necessary to point out that it was a joke. The plan to reel them in failed. Anyway, seems that my sense of humour has been unphased by the extremities of the Southern Ocean... so I guess it's staying then :)

Questions... "Stelmar covers more miles & higher averages but doesn't move up leaderboard, yet on same tack - why?"   Well the simple answer is that we're not! The others cover more miles and if we cover more miles then we have still to use those to reduce the distance before we pass them (clearly!). On board we have a huge amount of data available for statistical analysis and I suspect that on the challenge website you don't get that. Therefore you may see a picture that simply doesn't make sense.

Today we've been stonking along at about 10knots WCV (ie. down the line, miles that matter as they're direct to CapeTown) for most of the day. Thing is the others probably have the same conditions. What we're after is great wind for us and light horrid stuff for them... but that's the nature of the game. The grib forecasts are not 100% accurate.

Right, it's 18:50 here, 14:50 there and it's bedtime again. Up at 21:30 for the next go.

Ben

PS. James... as you know everything, how do submarines navigate underwater? The GPS can't work and compasses on big steel objects (like this one) don't work well. We can't figure it out, so I thought I'd do the next nearest to phoning a friend :)
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23^rd Mar

Challenge website

To answer a common question, I don't know why they don't feature Stelmar in the news on the challenge website much. We think a few of our pictures haven't been published too.

We can only think that there's either more news-worthy stuff going on in the other boats...

But out here I / we just don't know. You could ask yourselves... editor@challengebusiness.com

Off to do some sailing now. Toodle-pip!  :)

B
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24^th Mar

G’day..

Interesting fact for the day: we have only just past the point of no return (to Aus)!  True - the positioning and planning software shows that we are now a few miles nearer Cape Town than the place (forgotten it's name) at the bottom left of Australia. Bloody hell - done 4,800 miles, still have 2,400 to go (direct waypoint), passed halfway, then Bravo and STILL have only just done point of no return. This great circle, world's round stuff doesn't half get confusing!

Ooh, we've been playing with our clocks again. We'll be GMT by next week. No idea what we're actually supposed to be, but it helps with the morning light.

Had a weird radio message from Pindar earlier... said "I don't suppose you've done 180 degrees and are heading towards us? No? Didn't think so. Well the radar's saying someone is". Turns out it was  French fishing factory ship thing. The guys here are saying how mad it is to find a fishing boat out here, but I think it's more reversed... that the fishermen are going "look - there are nutter sail boats out there"!!  :)

Wind has been pants so far today. Sched's just come in though and everyone (at the top 4) has had the same light stuff, so we've kept our position. Rather frustrating though when you can do little but bob up & down.

Thanks very much for all the submarine navigation info. Didn't realise everyone else in the world knew :)  James got in there first and I've printed the mail up where everyone's going "oooh" and "ahhh". Think I'll print the others too. Ta all :) 

Not much to say other than the 'clean pants' topic is now widely discussed around the fleet on the chat shows!

Ciao!

Ben
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25^th Mar

Noooooooooooo

We've fallen to 5th!!  :(

We've had a torn spinnaker, a number 1 yankee wanted to be free (went overboard (despite being hanked on) & took 8 people an hour to bring it back and we've had the weirdest wind ever (not forecast by the gribs). Been going from a fair breeze to a stonking 35 knots on the nose with Yankee changes from no1 to no2 to no3 (plus mainsail reefs) in a very short period of time.. to go 'click' and back to a light breeze from behind. Bloody weird this Southern Ocean thing.

Anyway, that's why we've fallen behind. Still, 2000 miles to go though so not over yet!

Dunno what the hell VAIO are doing. Apparently its called a 'flyer' when they go for a gamble that the wind will be better there. Hmmm...

On mother today. I did hot cross buns and later chocolate brownies (that turned over in the oven - you have NO idea how difficult it is to cook when heeled over at 35 degrees and dropping off waves!!). Too much chocolate mix I shoved the excess in a bo