Skipper Torben Grael with Green Dragon behind, onboard Ericsson 4, on leg 7 from Boston to Galway. Image copyright Guy Salter/Ericsson 4/Volvo Ocean Race.
by David Endean (pitman)
Before leaving Boston, I was told that I should write one of the first emails from the boat. The reason being was that I wanted to thank everyone in Boston for a fantastic and memorable stopover. The best yet in my mind.
I was going to thank my family for their support, the local people of Boston and all the people that came from far and wide across the US and other parts of the world to see and be part of the action. I also wanted to thank all the volunteers for their efforts. Sure it’s great to be involved, hanging out with some well-known yachties and being part of the festivities....but when the Boston weather turned bad for the best part of a week they were still there helping out, sitting out in the cold and getting their jobs done. So, thanks to everyone involved...it really was a top quality event.
So, why so late in the piece? Well, it has been exceptionally busy on board this leg, and when I did have a chance to get typing, I chose the bucket instead...to bail that is! This boat is so damned wet inside you would not believe it! And when it’s wet its gets colder and there is more condensation and so it gets more and more wet.
We have sailed this boat pretty hard before obviously, but there is something about the north Atlantic sea state that make sit extremely difficult to keep these boats under control in otherwise normal conditions. The biggest ingress of water happened the last night when we nose dived hard into the back of one wave. This filled the cockpit up to our knees, which isn't so bad if the boat is moving forward. But when you leap straight into the back of another wave and stop, all the water from the wave before turns around and creates a tidal wave down the main hatch....gushing past our washboard like a busted floodgate.
Then you have about 9 buckets of water to bail out. This is on top of all the little leaks and the extra water coming off the wet gear of all the guys as they come down the hatch. This tidal wave effect happened at least twice an hour for about eight hours.
It has truly been a taxing leg, with wind and wave conditions, sail changes and general manoeuvres and the usual stresses taking their toll on crew and gear....and it ain't over yet, so I had better get back to it.
Thanks again everyone...
Volvo Ocean Race
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