This is just the first round of hellos from the latest crew of HMSTV Challenger but we thought we’d get it in early and let those of you back home start to get a feel for how the whole trip pans out – warts and all – we promise to try and avoid a long list of menus and sail changes but should things get ‘a bit sporty’ we hope you’ll forgive us if we get a bit distracted.
‘Where are we man?’ – Bill S Preston, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
As with all of the legs of Transglobe we started out in Fort Blockhouse with the usual round of kit issues, briefings and generally child-like excitement. For the majority of the, mainly, Royal Engineer crew it was a chance to catch up with old friends and for the rest it was a chance to meet the people they had signed up to spend a few cramped, damp and potentially ‘challenging’ weeks with... After a couple of ‘ice-breakers’ in Gosport it soon became clear that we have a pretty balanced crew, with some experienced sailors, some novice and few that have ever done anything remotely like this leg! Such was the level of team bonding that our token non-Sapper George ‘Doc’ Kivell felt comfortable enough to come out of his closet and admit that he’s actually an ex-para. After some quick consideration the rest of the crew felt his usefulness as a medic out-weighed his past and that we were good-to-go. Next stop – Heathrow.
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Donkey, Shrek 2
We’ll try and not dwell too much on this leg of Transglobe, it went as well as could be expected but 16 hours in cattle class to Hong Kong, a 40 minute transfer window and then another 6 ½ hours onto Perth was pretty grim. No matter which way you cut it, Australia is a really, really long way from Gosport and the boats have gone all that way already!
‘We need to work as a team – that means you do everything I say’ – Charlie Croker, The Italian Job
Our first ‘shout out’ has got to go to the Aussie Forces, in particular those who call Leeuwin Barracks, Freemantle home – a good night’s sleep, in proper beds, for all the incoming crew was a god-send and purely down to their generosity. Cheers boys!
Getting down the boats was quite surreal for us, even given jet-lag it was still strange to see all three boats, battle-flags flying in perfect sunshine in a gorgeous marina. There was little sign of the battering that these ladies took on the last leg and only the real train-spotters noticed a few missing bits of standing rigging and other tell-tales of a truly epic crossing from Cape Town. On that side our Second ‘Shout out’ goes to Royal Logistic Corps Crew of Leg 4, and their skipper, Mike Symes – Thanks guys, the boat’s in great nick and that’s purely down to your hard-work and seamanship, we’ll do our best to hand her over in the same state (or better!).
‘I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat’ – Chief Brody, Jaws
The last couple of days have flown by, a short morning to recover from the journey was spent exploring Perth but we’ve mainly been slaving under the eyes of the skipper and mate as we prepare to go to sea. We repacked everything we can think of, fitted the parts that we brought out for the boat from the UK, seen the last few pieces of standing rigging fitted and stowed an incredible amount of food in assorted nooks-and-crannies all over the boat. One thing that we can’t quite get straight in our minds is that if 14 men need this much food for 16 days, how on earth did they fit in food for 30+ days? These ‘67s are truly Tardis-like but for the weight-shy racers amongst us the sheer amount of stores and equipment is a real culture shock.
As I write this blog our last supper ashore in Freemantle is being passed out of the ‘happy hatch’, we’ve a few last bits and pieces to sort but we all suspect that we’ll never be totally happy and so we’re as ready as we will ever be.
Having had a last look at the weather charts the skippers have agreed that it’s looking as good as it can be for the next few days so – all thing being equal – we’ll be heading off tomorrow morning. Best of luck to the Royal Navy and RAF crews, we’ll see you in Sydney guys.
‘The clock is ticking, as of now we’re keeping score’ – Callsign Viper, Top Gun
