Greetings from Sydney

A quick up date from the good ship Disco.

The crew arrived in Sydney about 5 days ago and it has been a non stop week. As the crew arrived we heard that the Uk was being battered by Snow storms and freezing weather. Sadly this is not the case in Sydney, I wont bore you with the details but Shorts and Flip flops seem to be the norm! So here's been whats happening!

After the Crew arrivved and were settled in to Randwick Barracks, we went to find Disco. 15 minutes later in the mini bus we find Disco, She is berthed right in front of the CYCA in the middle of Sydney at Rushcutters Bay. Saturday afternoon was spent reminding all what the boat was about, but not until we had put the tent up to try and keep some of the heat away from our steel yacht.  Saturday night some of the team departed to the Rocks and the bars around the Opera House. On sunday we continued to fluff Disco's feathers with many items checked and checked again, tell tales reapplied, engines checked and mysterous leaks chased!  The previous week a team from JSASTC had come out to service all the safety kit for all 3 boats so all the lifejackets had to be restowed and the checked the the Personal Locator becons we allocated to the right crew member.

On monday was the big media day, local TV stations arrived, micro phones, interviewing crew's and skipper's of the 3 boats. Camera's clicked and recording's made. The Army departed first and then the Navy with a TV crew on board. Disco was soon escorted out and soon all 3 yachts were sailing around by the opera house and the harbour bridge! Monday we had a great days sailing, with much blowing away of cobwebs, with MOB drills complete, and reefing practised as we soon out side the heads in a NE breeze. All 3 boats had to complete a HF check with the local Authority, which took a little longer than expected. Next up was spinnaker work, we decided inside the harbour as the sea state was flatter but we soon discovered that things had to be done at speed!  After a lively drop we called it a day and a Quick beer at the CYCA with some of the other crews and return to the hospitality of the Randwick Barracks kindly supplied by the Australian Armed forces.

Tuesday became super busy before we knew it. 5 sat the Australian Navy driving test (35 questions, multiple choice, open book), then went to do the big shop and the big cook as all the meals are prepared so we can concentrate on racing! Whilst this was happening, more media calls where handled and the boat was been polished for a reception kindly hosted by Nick Gill. It was good to see Nick and his Austrailian Suppliers and great to see all the crews mingle together.

Wednesday was another sail, starting in little wind and soon building in Bright sunshine with many enjoying the warmth on thier backs and the wondeful scernery of Sydney Harbour. Much more succesful spinnaker drills this time and we were back in just after 4, eventually we managed to cross all the jobs off on the long list and called it a day.

Some went back to Barracks and some stayed out and about.

Today being Christmas Eve, has also been busy, prerace briefing, about the weather and a few reminders of safety as well last minute food shopping. Mike Slade being the owner of ICAP Leopard, the 100ft Maxi came down the pontoon today to specifically wish the 3 boats good luck which was very touching. Now the crews are having some time to themselves so that they get their secret santa presents.

We are hopeing to have a few visitors on Christmas Day as well as meeting up with the other teams to hopefully chuck a few shrimps on the barbie!

The media support here has been totally amazing, we are a story in our own right, attracting much press and attention in the Club, who have been brilliant. The start will be covered live on line, follows a few links which might entertain you.  The boats can be followed on www.rolexsyndeyhobart.com

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/notsobarmy-army-race-to-hobart-20091222-lbti.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/a-british-forces-invasion/story-e6frg7mf-1225811543361

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Sailing/Exercise-Transglobe-crews-prepare-for-Sydney-Hobart-race_3273798.aspx

www.yahoo7.com.au/sport

What a difference a day makes...  Things started to change yesterday evening when we had a stroke of luck and caught our first fish, a small tuna, which was promptly gutted and fried up after dinner.  The rain also started, firstly with a small shower at dinner time yesterday with many of the crew taking the opportunity to get a much needed wash with it.  However as the night drew in, the wind picked up and the rain came crashing down.  It made for a fairly uncomfortable night for both watches.  Despite our best efforts some of the hatches continued to allow water in during the night.  This lead to some unpleasant wake up calls and a few tentative journeys to the bow of the deck, fighting the waves to attempt to secure the hatches. With the strong wind today the boat has been on a port tack which means that the whole boat is listing heavily to the left.  This makes sleeping awkward, cooking difficult and the thought of sunbathing now laughable. What’s more the boat has been bouncing heavily on the waves and today’s mother watch stuck finally lost the battle to sea sickness and only appeared on deck intermittently to empty their stomachs.  Despite the heavy rain on deck the sailing has been quite exciting with winds up to 30kts and spending most of the day neck and neck with the Navy.

0300 in the morning and we need to make a major sail change as the wind has picked up. Unfortunately we don't have enough people on shift to manage it, so the "mother shift" is woken up to lend a hand. This is rather tricky at night and took 7 of us about 2 hours to complete (in 30kt winds). There was a lot of falling over, a few bumps and grazes, but everyone was clipped on just incase anyone fell over board. As the day  progressed it turned out rather nice again, although the wind speeds were dropping. Having spoken to the other ships it sounds like we are currently in second place - you never can be too sure however - there could be some mind games going on. . . .
 
A fantastic meal this evening (as I cooked it) helped boost moral for the evening shift - hopefully not to many sail changes tonight!!

Today brought a mixture of bright blue skies and golden sunshine, along with a few surprises.  Traveling downwind we adjusted the sails to suit leaving us with the main, 2 Yankee and staysail. This created a goose wing affect, before this could be achieved however, adjustments had to be made to the main as the luff boxes have started to come loose and we've lost several screws. Unfortunately we had to take the main sail down (never an easy job) to inspect it and replace / tighten missing screws  - hopefully this is all sorted now and we can have a swift journey to the Canary Islands without any more major dramas. 

Once again we've had brilliant blue skies and, thankfully, much calmer seas since we've left the Bay of Biscay - bring on Lanzarote :)  Early morning and the  task of daily repairs begins once again. Unfortunately today the water maker has packed in, so makeshift repairs need to be made otherwise we will need to "ration" the remaining water. This unfortunately would mean no showers (although we only have on every 3 days as it is), or any freshwater washing of clothes. Fortunately after a call back to base on the Sat phone and a few hours reverse engineering we managed to get it working again. On that fine note I'm off for a wash. . . .

Everyone seems to have found their sea legs today, and the crew was looking much better (even Steve). Early morning saw some good winds which pushed us onto our destination as a steady pace; but as the day progressed the winds died - on the up side however the sun came out so the crew managed to dry out some of their kit, that had received a soaking earlier on in the week. Weather forecasts are looking like rain so we made the most of things today, and are battening down the hatches for tomorrow.

One word to describe day 4 'WET!' Throughout the day the yacht was reaching some interesting angles as the majority of the crew off watch claim to have been clutching at the railings to stay in the beds for those precious hours.  Dolphins were yet again spotted alongside the yacht. Around 0800hrs we experienced slight difficulties as the steering failed at the hands of Mike (aka Stretchy).

A mixed overnight watch saw showers in between stunning moonlit seas.  The coast of Brittany was just about visible on the horizon.  Sunrise was again a stunning sight before the winds picked up and the sea grew choppier.  Breakfast was a splendid scrambled egg, beans and bacon on toast; the vast majority dealt with that one!!

This seemed to be the best day yet; good winds (up to 30Kts) and reasonable seas with the sun well and truly on parade.  To escort us to the Bay of Biscay a pod of Dolphins gave a cracking display and we were visited by a low-flying Beech King-Air, probably Customs or Fishery Patrol, before we put out more canvas and cranked up the pace. 

Heading Southbound into the Bay of Biscay most of the day to outrun an area of low pressure before heading Westbound to get back on course.

The wind eased toward dawn, and the sun finally came out at 0930. Many of the sleeping crew were awoken by the sound of Steve's retching; to the tune of the the mating call of the North Atlantic Walrus!!  Consequently breakfast was porridge; most of the crew kept that one down!

The motor came on to allow us to form up on the other 2 boats and escape the channel before the tide turned. Supper was bangers 'n' mash; Gordon Ramsay would have been proud!

Crew arrived on board at 0630 to make the final preparations to depart.  We motored across to Portsmouth Gunwarf Quay at 0730.

Families arrived at 0900 for the departure brunch at Tiger Tiger.  Peder was hauled up the mast for a final safety inspection of the mast! Families were shown around the yachts and finally there was a dedication ceremony before we all said our farewells.

The Yachts slipped from Gunwarf at 1200 for the procession departure out of Portsmouth harbor prior to the start at Southsea at 1300.

Beating upwind out of the Solent wind started to pick up towards the evening up to 33Kts, leading to an eventful night; a number of the crew were violently ill throughout the night!  This was a shame as the supper was gourmet Spaghetti Bolognese - the fish had a good meal at least. . . . .