I wish someone had mentioned to me that sailing boots can be a
beneficial assessory for people working on the foredeck. I had
assumed they were just an over rated fashion item that could
optionally be used in conjunction with a pair of shorts to look good
both on the rail and in the bar!
As a navigator and helmsman I usually pack a gps, hand bearing
compass, tide book and on a long offshore a pair of slippers to keep
my feet warm at the chart table!
Therefore, it has come as a great surprise that boots do have a
slightly more functional purpose! Spending the past 36 hours on the
foredeck in the Middle Sea Race has opened my eyes to a hole new world.
This race so far has had everything one of the big classics should
offer. We are constantly changinging sails, changing gears, breaking
kites, surfing at 14 knots or running out of wind under spectacular
volcanoes!
We have just passed Stromboli which is a massive volcano towering out
of the sea. I was somewhat surprised to see it is inhabited,
especially when witnessing the steam pouring out of the top as a stark
reminder of it's ominous and threatening prescence.
This certainly is not the weather I had been promised when asked to
join Seawolf nor is it what I had expected! Hopefully we may get some
sunshine eventually but that will have to wait till our 140 mile beat
to the western tip of Sicilia is complete.
As you may have guessed, I now have very wet feet and it looks like
they may not dry out till we get back to Malta on Wednesday! Oh yes,
if I had remembered my foulies that would have been useful too!
On the positive we are currently in 4th position in class and just
minutes behind the top three.
Till tomorrow
Philippe
Sent from my iPhone
RORC 'Sailing School Boat of the Year' 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009