Onboard Durban most of the round the worlders have been allocated special jobs; Ship's Engineer (Keith), Chief Sail Maker (Claire), Photographer (Hagen) and Film Maker (Neil). Today, we introduce you to Durban's resident Ornithologist, Ian Deas:
It was about 500 nautical miles south of Santa Cruz that we spotted probably our last albatross (a Laysan) on this 07-08 Race.
Being a keen amateur ornithologist, it was the frustration at being unable to identify the bird (later identified as a juvenile Madeiran Storm Petrel) that spent the night on the radar post as we sailed past the island of Madeira that prompted the email to my wife in California. Thereafter a purchase on Amazon and a delivery to the family in Durban, we are now the proud owners of a photographic guide called “Seabirds of the World” by Peter Harrison. A few birds that I managed to identify from notes previously made were the beautiful Pintado Petrel (aka the Cape Pigeon), the Wilsons Petrel, the Blue Petrel and the Cape Gannet.
In the race across the Southern Ocean the guide proved its worth when we spotted and positively identified our first albatross. The Wandering Albatross was spectacular as it floated with ease over mountainous waves and in 40 knot winds and it must have looked on with bemusement at our terrified facial expressions wondering what all the fuss was about. In total we have positively identified 10 of the 16 albatrosses in the guide; eight in the Southern Ocean and two of the three found in the Northern Pacific. Albatrosses are long-lived and usually pair for life. They generally feed on fish, squid and refuse thrown over from ships’ galleys, thus explaining why we saw many following us. Unfortunately plastics, other non-biodegradable materials thrown overboard plus long-line fishing are contributing to an overall decline of the species.
Albatrosses are generally easier to identify compared to most of the other seabirds where a short glimpse is the most one will get. The exception was the Red-footed Booby we managed to identify during the race to Singapore in the Sundra Straits where we had a group of them diving for flying fish that we roused by the wake of the boat. Unfortunately one was unimpressed by Clare’s inability to scare up more flying fish and deposited the contents of its stomach over her - some said this was supposed to signify good luck!
Although we have probably seen our last albatross, hopefully some calm sailing through the Caribbean and up the North American coast will enable us to see many more species.
Ian
More news from the Pacific:
Another tough day in South Africa, or at least on 544 square feet of it! This racing business is hard! The sun shines, not a cloud in sight. We are flying the spinnaker, which requires little effort as the wind is a steady Force 4 to 5. “Miss Daisy” is so content she glides along with barely a twitch on her helm. We seem superfluous as she sails on to her destination in Panama. The crew uniform is bikini tops, shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses and lots of sun cream. The only thing missing in my opinion are huge tubs of Chunky Monkey ice cream.
After a long, “hard” days of racing, under a blistering sky, the tired crew retires to their bunks content with a suntan and “panda eyes” (the very enviable fashion of sunglasses’ tan lines). We are treated to spectacular starry nights, so warm that for the first time since the South China Sea “oilies” are unnecessary to go on watch in.
Happy birthday on the 30th, James.
Patricia
Here's the latest from Lucy:
Life on board 'mighty Durbs' is steaming along at 8 knots, plenty of beautiful sunshine and lightweight spinnaker flying.
Have been doing plenty of gybing,which has involved varoius people climbing up to the pole, some more successfully than others. Jan managed to reach the pole (with a huff and a puff!) but then unceremoniously with a scream and a thud came down quite a bit faster!!
Lots of dolphins,couple of whales have joined us and today we saw a sunfish too!
Miss Daisy!
Our trip to California was unfortunately a whirlwind one, lasting little more than 36 hours, during which we not only had to work through a large list of jobs on the boat but also had to do laundry and buy fresh food for the trip to Panama. Despite the lack of time, we did our best to sample the local food and drink and catch up with the other crews. The yacht club did us proud, from the reception on our arrival to the goody bag they provided on our departure, and most of us left with the firm desire to return one day with enough time to do the area justice.
We crossed the US/Mexican border a few hours ago, and are sailing downwind under clear starlit skies. Although the Californian temperatures were lower than we expected (especially after being spoiled on Hawaii), we can feel it warming up, and some brave souls have already broken out the shorts. No doubt we will be complaining about the heat in a few days!
The last six weeks have involved a lot of hard work and uncertainty about where, when and how we would return to the race so, despite the lack of a break in Santa Cruz, it’s a great feeling to be back where we belong, racing with the fleet. It’s also a testimony to the Durban spirit that the entire crew has remained faithful to the boat and nobody yielded to the strong temptation of remaining longer in California. We’re looking forward to a fast, fun and successful sail to Panama and a few days on shore there before the unique experience of passing through the Canal.
Claire
Race 9 from Santo Cruz to Panama is underway and, after the briefest of stopovers in California, it's time to get addicted to the Race Tracker once again!
Durban remains in second place overall, just two points behind Hull & Humber and 2.5 points ahead of New York. This morning's positions were a little disappointing for Durban, but assuming that there are no problems with our new mast, there's plenty of time for Ricky and the crew to move through the fleet and be on the podium again in Panama.
Don't forget that you can leave messages for the crew here on the blog or send us an email. We'll forward everything to the boat.
Durban 2010 and Beyond
Speaking from the dockside Durban 2010 and Beyond skipper, Ricky Chalmers, said, “It was supposed to be a nice and easy passage here to Santa Cruz. The plan was to take our time in order to train the crew, get things sorted out and tune the rig. However, we left Hawaii and within two days we had 40 knots of wind for over a week. After that it calmed down a bit and for the last week we had much milder conditions and were able carry out some work on the rig.”
With a race restart scheduled for Thursday the teams are now focussed on achieving their final preparations in order to be ready for Race 9 from Santa Cruz to Panama. “Two days is a bit of a tight one for us,” says Ricky. “We’ve done a lot of jobs in the past couple of days so we don’t need to do a deep clean and everything has already been sorted out food wise. All in all it’s not too bad really, a few things left to do on the rig which we should have sorted by the end of the day tomorrow. We’ve still got everything to play for and the guys are really up for it.”
We left Hawaii Yacht Club, on Wednesday, the 9th of April, in a drizzle, but by the next day everyone was on deck in shorts and t-shirts, thinking what a great sail we are going to have to Santa Cruz. This was what we signed up for. Fun, laughter, lots of sunshine, fair winds and the privilege of sailing on a big yacht. Life couldn’t be better. Since we are not really racing we were going to do a lot of training to sharpen our skills for the next race from Santa Cruz to Panama. BUT never under estimate the ocean!
Within hours the sun had disappeared and we were caught on the edge of a high pressure weather system, notorious for this part of the Northern Pacific. It was as if we had tacked once too many times and were right smack in the middle of the Southern Ocean. The sea looked the same as those photographs one sees of the hundreds of mountain peaks in the Himalayas taken from the peak of Everest. The sky was steely grey with squalls every few hours. Thirty foot waves going in all directions. Only the most experienced crew helmed at first until they taught the 'new' crew how to helm in this kind of weather. This was the stuff of nightmares.
The boat sails up the wave at an angle bearing away from the wind. The waves are taller than the boat and when we get to the top there is a cliff you must get down on. So you swivel the boat a little to windward and down you go at great speed with roaring seas chasing you. The trick is not to slam the bows into the next oncoming wave. Up on deck life was manageable as you can brace yourself for the onslaught. Below deck was a different matter. You don’t know what is coming. The only sounds you hear are rushing water and the wind howls like a freight train, 24 hours a day. Water is pouring over the deck and is finding places to leak into.
Condensation is high with 16 people living in a confined space, EVERYTHING is WET. You, your clothes, the bunk your sleeping bag. This is the only place on earth where you burn calories just by going to the heads. Little did we know this was going to go on for seven more days. We were living at an angle of about 30 degrees. More than one crew member was flung from their bunk or pitched over from the violent motion of the boat. Imagine trying to cook, sleep or helm in this situation (and being seasick at the same time!). And not only that, the main sail needed reefing, halyards checked, head sails changed according to the wind conditions, all this on a wildly pitching boat, after all we still have to get to Santa Cruz.
By day three, I was ready to jump ship, only land was two thousand nautical miles away. This was NOT fun anymore. Morale was low for the new leggers and it had become a matter of surviving from one hour to the next. But this is Durban Clipper and we survived and learned much in doing so. Today, Wednesday the 16th of April, we had an awesome sunrise. Everyone is on deck, drying out clothes, wet shoes and themselves. Life on Durban 2010 and Beyond is great again. Fun, laughter, lots of sunshine, fair winds and the privilege of sailing on a big yacht.
LIFE COULDN’T BE BETTER!!
Patricia
Here's the latest news from the boat:
Everyone thrilled wth the result of race 8 - a fantastic win for Singapore and a podium spot for NS - congrats!! Brilliant for Durban as it keeps NY,H&H,Glasgow at bay for the moment!
Have had some very lumpy seas; 35-40 knots wind on the nose and rain for several days which has slowed our progress to Santa cruz.
Also meant that we inducted our new leggers with 3 out of 4 enjoying sea sickness!! Fortunately the weather has now improved,wind has decreased and moved around, sun is shining, all sea sickness evaporated and spirits riding high.Today's amusement has been taking photos for fleet gurning competition.
Probably got another 6 days at sea,so we are expecting a very quick turn around in SC so that we can re-join the racing& our quest to remain No 1!
Lucy
Well, we’re finally back at sea again, and this time as a sailing vessel rather than as a glorified motorized surfboard (admittedly we are motorsailing at present in order to catch up with the others as much as possible, but at least we have the option of sailing). We slipped lines from the Hawaii yacht club in front of an audience of all the people who had done so much to get us going again. After 3 weeks and 1 day in Hawaii it was definitely time to say goodbye, although we all had a wonderful time there. It was a real relief to get underway after a manic week of working our way through the huge jobs list. As we passed the SE coast of Oahu we were entertained by several whales closer inshore, which particularly delighted Gill as they were her first whale sightings ever. Our wildlife encounters continued this morning, when Ian had the dubious pleasure of making close acquaintance with a flying fish, which leapt on him as he dozed on deck.
Durban 2010 and beyond…
Halloween, haircuts and Johan's 40th birthday - it's all here!
