As with all well laid plans and expectations, and after the euphoria of week 1 training, came the sheer agony of week 2
There I was in the middle of my second week of training and feeling wretched I felt rough, the sort of rough a couple of bottles of cheap wine brings on. I was not amused, I was sea sick. Funny thing, I wasn't sick; stupid thing, I didn't recognise I was sea sick. Dr Charlie was my knight in shining armour, stick this under your gum he says with a bedside manner to die for, you're sea sick; 24 hrs and lots of tablets later I am functioning again.
I soon learn that my week 2 skipper, Juan, doesn't take prisoners! And by the way, he goes barefoot, no really, he runs and jumps around the boat barefoot. I have to admit to a bit of a snigger when after a few days at sea I saw his toes wrapped in blue tape, little accident I say, too late, I realise my foot is now well and truly in my mouth, a mistake i think, to mention the 'toes'. This will definitely not have improved my popularity ranking which by this time is already about as low as the ship's cat! I am puzzled by a thought, not normally being of an envious nature that deep down I lust after the freedom of barefoot sailing but with my poor, high heel damaged size 39's, not a chance!
Anyway, back to sailing. here we are in the Solent, just off Portsmouth, UK, preparing for a 'Le Mans' start, against another Clipper training boat. We are heading towards the line, adrenalin up, sails up and up goes the shout MOB, Man Overboard! I jump into the harness, my blood is up, the fore sails hit the deck, the crew are leaping around the boat which is looping back to the poor unfortunate 'Bob', a key member of the crew.
All thoughts of racing have gone we are a finely tuned rescue team. Our skipper Juan is at the helm, our pointer has Bob in her sights, the mate has me attached to the port side Yankie halyard and I am being hoisted up and over the side. the boat is racing to Bob, I am confident I am going to rescue my shipmate who weighs in at 140lbs and is bright orange. Absolute failure, Bob freezes to death before we manage drown him in our rescue attempt. I am not the heroine i imagined i would be. I am wet, cold and miserable, life as usual hasn't gone to plan. Probably a good idea to keep the sailing boots on!!
PS: We won the race and lost Bob, collateral damage I think they call it; I wonder if I will end up 'collateral damage'? With very fond memories of a great crew, skipper and mate. Special thanks to Dawn and Susan, the 3 of us made up the coven and Richard the honoury member.
Forever the optimist, well it can't get any worse, can it?
My last week of training and I meet my skipper Gareth. This is the 'real deal', I am sailing with my Round the World shipmates Our crew is made up of around 20 people, of all ages from 19 to 70, from diverse backgrounds, students to professionals to retires and everything in between.
As you may have gathered by now I fit into the upper age bracket and as such some investment into my body was in order. I have never got to grips with the gym, couldn't get my head around all those machines and weight training has always been a mystery! My reason for bringing this to your attention is because I am now totally addicted to the gym, weight training, my bike and pilates. My body is now a fine tuned machine, an old machine I have to admit, but a machine to be reckoned with; a machine to take on the oceans, the wind and the waves.
And so back training. I am full of anticipation, what could possibly go wrong this time? What went wrong was my confidence, I know I hear you all shout, not you Gail surely not you!! 'Fraid so!
It dawns on me, a bit like being hit by a thunderbolt, this is bloody difficult I might not be able to do it. I might not be able to take the pain, the sleep deprivation, the food, the sickness and worst of all I can't read the instruments without my glasses. all of a sudden I can feel every year I have lived in my aching bones, and my long 'partially' sighted eyes.
Ocean racing is hard, gruelling, sleep deprived, mentally exhausting and I simply Love It!!
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