Around the world with PSP - Martin Woodcock

No plain sailing!

Hi to all of my PSP followers from the East China Sea, some 600 miles from our destination of Qingdao in China.

Incidentally, Qingdao is the place that hosted the sailing events for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and we understand they are planning a big arrival ceremony for us all when we arrive in about 3 days’ time.

Since my last message we’ve travelled the length of Taiwan and as expected the air and sea temperatures have tumbled significantly. In a period of about 24 hours we went from sultry hot and humid conditions to cold and damp. We’re all donning our extra thermal layers, prepared earlier in the week, and everyone’s back in their sleeping bags on their bunks. The ghetto is now dripping with condensation from the colder air and there are damp pieces of clothing draped all about the place.

For the past few days we’ve been heavily heeled over as we’ve been beating into strong northerly winds and the boat has taken a bit of a bashing as we slam into lumpy seas created by the strong wind over current conditions. Today it’s all change again…the strong northerly winds have gone and been replaced by moderate easterlies under clearish skies and on a flat sea, making perfect sailing conditions for our final stretch northwards to the finish line. The past 24 hours have seen us bobbing and weaving in and out of what would appear to be the entire Chinese fishing fleet. Quite literally there are hundreds of fishing trawlers in this small area of the East China Sea all seemingly chasing what must be ever depleting stocks of fish. All of the boats look exactly the same size and shape and our AIS (auto ID system) has been lit up with all of their signatures on the chart plotter, making any path between them all seem impossible. Thankfully, in reality it’s not that difficult and the fishermen seem prepared to alter course or slow down to let us remain on our course, some popping their heads out of their bridges to wave us on our way.

There have been a number of injuries on other boats, some requiring medevacs and stopovers in ports to drop crew off. On New York, Stefaan fell out of his top bunk the other day and was lucky to get away with light bruising. Mark our new arrival from Visit Finland, has suffered a knee injury and today Stefaan our doctor on board performed some minor surgery to relieve the swelling. Mark can’t walk properly because of it and is currently confined to his bunk to rest and recover.

We have an almost full boat at the next stopover with 19 crew overall on board, seven of which are newly joining leggers. It will be interesting to see how the group dynamics change with the new people joining. We may change our watch system to accommodate the greater numbers with a 3 watch system using an on watch, standby watch and off watch. This might make better use of people’s time on and off deck as we’re expecting long periods of sailing without many sail changes…but who knows what the weather gods have in mind for us.

I hope to get some good sailing, socialising and drinking in with Frank and his PSP crew during their time in Qingdao and to record both with some memorable pictures that can be published on the website. I’ll write again after the stopover in Qingdao and have some video footage of the heavy seas we’ve crossed in a few days that you might all find interesting. I’ve attached a photo taken during some choppy weather that gives you an idea of the conditions that we’ve encountered on this trip.

In the meantime best wishes,

Martin

No plain sailing!

Hi to all of my PSP followers from the East China Sea, some 600 miles from our destination of Qingdao in China.

Incidentally, Qingdao is the place that hosted the sailing events for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and we understand they are planning a big arrival ceremony for us all when we arrive in about 3 days’ time.

Since my last message we’ve travelled the length of Taiwan and as expected the air and sea temperatures have tumbled significantly. In a period of about 24 hours we went from sultry hot and humid conditions to cold and damp. We’re all donning our extra thermal layers, prepared earlier in the week, and everyone’s back in their sleeping bags on their bunks. The ghetto is now dripping with condensation from the colder air and there are damp pieces of clothing draped all about the place.

For the past few days we’ve been heavily heeled over as we’ve been beating into strong northerly winds and the boat has taken a bit of a bashing as we slam into lumpy seas created by the strong wind over current conditions. Today it’s all change again…the strong northerly winds have gone and been replaced by moderate easterlies under clearish skies and on a flat sea, making perfect sailing conditions for our final stretch northwards to the finish line. The past 24 hours have seen us bobbing and weaving in and out of what would appear to be the entire Chinese fishing fleet. Quite literally there are hundreds of fishing trawlers in this small area of the East China Sea all seemingly chasing what must be ever depleting stocks of fish. All of the boats look exactly the same size and shape and our AIS (auto ID system) has been lit up with all of their signatures on the chart plotter, making any path between them all seem impossible. Thankfully, in reality it’s not that difficult and the fishermen seem prepared to alter course or slow down to let us remain on our course, some popping their heads out of their bridges to wave us on our way.

There have been a number of injuries on other boats, some requiring medevacs and stopovers in ports to drop crew off. On New York, Stefaan fell out of his top bunk the other day and was lucky to get away with light bruising. Mark our new arrival from Visit Finland, has suffered a knee injury and today Stefaan our doctor on board performed some minor surgery to relieve the swelling. Mark can’t walk properly because of it and is currently confined to his bunk to rest and recover.

We have an almost full boat at the next stopover with 19 crew overall on board, seven of which are newly joining leggers. It will be interesting to see how the group dynamics change with the new people joining. We may change our watch system to accommodate the greater numbers with a 3 watch system using an on watch, standby watch and off watch. This might make better use of people’s time on and off deck as we’re expecting long periods of sailing without many sail changes…but who knows what the weather gods have in mind for us.

I hope to get some good sailing, socialising and drinking in with Frank and his PSP crew during their time in Qingdao and to record both with some memorable pictures that can be published on the website. I’ll write again after the stopover in Qingdao and have some video footage of the heavy seas we’ve crossed in a few days that you might all find interesting. I’ve attached a photo taken during some choppy weather that gives you an idea of the conditions that we’ve encountered on this trip.

In the meantime best wishes,

Martin

Hungry and tired but spirits are high!

Hi everyone,

I hope you like the picture I attached with this message of waves breaking at the bow in some moderately lumpy seas that we’ve experienced these past few days.

We’re now past the Scoring Gate and making good progress towards the southern tip of Taiwan, some 600 or so miles northeast of our current position in the South China Sea. Unfortunately we didn’t gain any additional points at the Scoring Gate and decided a few days ago, after assessing our position, that we should play the longer term game for the overall finish. That’s why we’ve kept to a more easterly track than most of the rest of the fleet and are hopeful that this will pay big dividends over the coming days. With the winds set to drop soon and turn more to the east, we are hopeful of reaching up the coast of the island of Luzon, which is in the Philippines, rather than having to beat if we were further west. Let’s see how accurate the forecasts are. I feel that the wind gods owe us a few favours after the last couple of races.

It’s been hot, humid and bumpy over the past few days. With the wind strength steadily increasing and wind-over-current conditions, the sea has been quite lumpy and the boat has been listing up to 25 degrees at times. This makes getting about the boat and doing the everyday tasks and just sleeping that much more difficult. Consequently, the crew are all in need of some extra hours sleep and are probably slightly undernourished right now with conditions in the galley for cooking being somewhat less than ideal.

We’re all waiting in anticipation of the sudden temperature changes that will happen after we get north of Taiwan and are preparing our kit bags with the added layers that we’ll need for the final few hundred miles into Qingdao itself.

Our new crew member Mark has fitted in well although we lose him again when we reach Qingdao. I’m watch leader again for this trip and enjoying the added responsibilities that come with the role. My watch crew are a great bunch, we get on well together and share the load well. I will be sad to lose Ruth at the next stop as this is her final trip. She has been a great team player, always has a smile for everyone, is a constant source of fun and her work ethic is second to none. I just hope we can find someone good enough to replace her. I know that Rachel will miss her also, as they have developed a close friendship during their time together on board and at the stopovers.

There’s not been much shipping traffic to worry about so far on this leg other than inquisitive fishing boats. They have a habit of turning towards us at night and getting a little too close for comfort at times. There’s no point calling them on the radio because many of them don’t have them switched on or can’t understand us even when we do make contact. So there’s usually much torch flashing at our sails and at them to get their attention and identify ourselves as a sailing vessel sometimes coupled with large turns to port or starboard to avoid them.

I’m really looking forward to meeting the PSP team at the Qingdao stopover. I understand that we have a sailing day with PSP and their guests on board New York and look forward to showing everyone around my home for the past 6 months. It will be interesting to see what everyone makes of it and if it inspires any of them to do something similar.

I’ve just come off watch and have washed all of my clothes and my hair of the saltwater spray that’s been coming over the decks for the past week or so. Apart from constantly sweating in the humid conditions I almost feel human again. All I need now is to catch up on some sleep and eat a proper meal and I’ll be fit for the rest of the journey up to Qingdao.

I promise you we are trying our best to push this boat in to the lead and we won’t stop trying until we’ve crossed the finish line.

I’ll write again when we’re closer to Taiwan.

Best wishes,

Martin

Your PSP correspondent from the middle of the South China Sea

A film star’s welcome

China here we come!

It’s day 4 of Race 8 to Qingdao already. I’ve beaten away those early race sleep deprived feelings and am back into the swing of ocean racing again after a long stopover in Batam and Singapore.

Singapore was an amazing place and, I guess like a lot of the Far East today, is rapidly catching up overtaking and stealing a march on the Western economies. It definitely felt like the place to be for any aspiring entrepreneur.

At Qingdao we’ve been told by Clipper to expect an even bigger welcome than we had at Singapore and to feel like film stars for a while, with everyone wanting their pictures with us and our autographs. PSP will also be hosting trading events of their own at Qingdao and I look forward to helping them out with those and catching up with Frank and the rest of the team over a beer or two….. or four.

So right now we’re in the South China Sea beating slowly northwards in light winds and on a flat, calm sea under still hot and humid conditions. Our position is fluctuating between 4th and 8th depending upon which tack we’re on and we have Edinburgh Inspiring Capital hanging on to our coat tails at the moment. Gareth (skipper) was on the VHF to Gordon (skipper of Edinburgh Inspiring Capital) yesterday and Gordon said he was following us to stay competitive. Let’s hope it works out for both of us.

Last night I was on the VHF radio to a cargo ship that was on a collision course with us. We had what seemed like a concise and accurate conversation where I was expecting them to alter course and go behind us but after about 30-40 mins with no change whatsoever we had to contact them again and reiterate our request.

Again they agreed to go behind us but made no move to alter course for about another 15 mins. Eventually when they were about 3 miles from us they did alter course considerably and the collision was averted. I suspect that is what they planned to do all along but it is a little disconcerting when you are the smaller vessel and the one who is likely to come off worse if a collision did occur. Obviously, if they hadn’t made their move when they did we would have tacked ourselves to avoid them and put the episode down to experience. Just goes to show how important it is to have a good lookout at all times when at sea and to remain vigilant.

After losing two crew at Singapore we have gained Mark Nye from Visit Finland. Mark is an experienced sailor and qualified yachtmaster so will be a very useful member of the team. Unfortunately he gets off at Qingdao so we will make the most of his knowledge for the short few weeks that we have him on board. At Qingdao we welcome some new members on board for the long leg across the Pacific to San Francisco. It will be good to get some new faces and bodies on board for what will probably be one of the toughest legs of the whole race.

For this race I’m still watch leader of Port Watch and have Brian, Stefaan, Mark, Ruth and Rachel in my team. They are a great bunch, we get on well together and have fun whilst we’re trying to get the most out of the boat. Ruth and Rachel are a constant source of laughter and great team players. Stefaan is back with us for the rest of the world after a short trip home, Brian is also a good team player and leaves us after Qingdao and we have Mark with us also to Qingdao with his valuable sailing experience. The guys and girls make it easy for me to lead and don’t need much persuasion to do the ‘dirty’ work on board. They are a pleasure to be 
with and work with.

One of the daily hourly tasks that we need to perform on board is pumping out any seawater from the boat’s bilges. The boat isn’t 100% watertight and seawater leaks in from a number of places. This isn’t uncommon and all the boats have the same issue. Up to now we’ve had to do this manually with stirrup pumps and buckets, which if we’re beating in to heavy seas in the middle of the night is not the easiest task to perform and quite arduous. But now we have fitted an electric pump with a long hose that stretches to most parts of the boat and pumping the bilges is a much simpler task, quicker and requires a lot less labour.

Unlike any other race so far or to come we are expecting a dramatic fall in the sea and air temperatures after we get north of Taiwan. When I say dramatic, I mean it. We can expect snow and ice when we arrive in Qingdao so there’s going to be big changes in attire worn on board in about 10 days’ time. We’re all wishing it so at the moment because of the high temperatures and humidity. I’m not so sure we’ll be saying the same thing after the temperatures drop!

I’ve attached a pic of the race start with Gareth at the helm and the crew after our arrival into Marina at Keppel Bay in Singapore. The boats all get close at the start and this time around Gold Coast Australia got a little too close and were over the start line before the gun. Their skipper didn’t contest the issue and decided to go back to start line by way of a penalty which has had little effect on their position as they’re in the lead at this time.

Time to go and organise my bunk and belongings, wash my hair and sweat-soaked clothes.

Looking forward to meeting the PSP crew in 2 weeks’ time. Keep watching and praying to the wind gods for us.

Bye for now,

Martin

Singapore

Greetings to all of my PSP followers from Singapore.

As I suggested in my blog earlier the race was cut short because of the light winds and the mid race positions were the final race results. So unfortunately we did not get any chance to improve on our 7th position for this race. The upside of this is that our main rivals at the moment (De Lage Landen, Visit Finland and Welcome to Yorkshire) did not fare any better and we retain our 4^th position overall. So this last race has given us some time to recharge our batteries and prepare ourselves and the boat for what should be a tougher race up to Qingdao in China. The temperatures are set to dip significantly after we pass Taiwan, which will make the next race different from any other.

Our arrival into Marina at Keppel Bay in Singapore was quite spectacular and organised in minute detail with much banner waving and music. We’re here now until 4th February. What an amazing city! Modern and contemporary, clean and tidy, busy and bustling with trade from all over the world. There’s a container port here that is absolutely massive, a hotel with a full size ship on the roof and a museum that is shaped like a lotus flower. It is a shoppers paradise, with more malls than you can shake a stick at, and every designer brand name known to man. Not exactly my own cup of tea but impressive nonetheless.

They drive on the left hand-side of the road and everyone speaks English as either their first or second language. So it’s an easy place to get around and has a very modern, efficient and cheap to use underground system. There’s very little crime and spitting chewing gum is a criminal offence. Most professional people seem to employ house maids (from the Philippines) who live in with the family and get what can only be described as a storage cupboard for their accommodation. Seemingly all apartments here have these built in to them for that purpose. Money, affluence and success seem to be big on everyone’s agenda here. From the little I’ve seen of this place it seems to work.

Being in a tropical climate, the weather is hot and humid and set to get even hotter over the coming months. Afternoons are often punctuated with heavy rain storms that are welcome because they reduce the humidity for a short time.

Clipper has a busy schedule for the boats here but I had the opportunity to sit and chat over a cup of tea with Sir Robin Knox-Johnson the other day, which was pleasant and informative. We’ve taken one of our boat sponsors (Rockport) out for a day sail in the harbour and are set to do the same again with another today.

I’ve managed to get out in to the city and see some of the sites. Some of the architecture is amazing and bizarre. I’ve attached a picture of the hotel with the ship on the roof for you all to see and the lotus flower-shaped museum. The botanical gardens are beautifully laid out and well maintained and well worth a visit. China town is also well worth a visit with the roadside food stalls cooking wonderful dishes up on the spot and all the market stalls selling absolutely everything known to mankind.

One of those strange coincidences that sometimes happen in life has also occurred for me here. My wife’s colleague at work knows a couple who have just moved out here for work and they were keen to come down to the boat and meet us all. They invited me to stay with them and we did a bit of sight-seeing too. To cut a long story short, after several conversations it turns out that I have met them both before back home. Just goes to show how small the world is.

We leave for Qingdao early on Saturday morning and we’ve been busy over the past couple of days readying the boat and re-provisioning the food supplies for a 3-4 week passage. We’ve dropped some things from the menu like omelettes as they are too difficult to do for the numbers we have on board and added others like mashed potato, beans and sausage which are much easier to do and will be welcome when it starts to get colder.

We’ve lost two crew members to work commitments and injury but have regained one and another Yachtmaster-qualified person from another boat as this is a requirement for safety purposes. So we’re light numbered again for the next race but personally I prefer it to having too many.

Wish us all good luck for the next race. Keep watching our progress on the Clipper Race Viewer and if you have any connections with the wind gods please put in a good word for New York.

Bye for now,

Martin

from Pulau Batam

Hi everyone from the marina resort of Nongsa Point on the Island of Pulau Batam, a mere stone’s throw from Singapore.

We’ve been having some R&R time here for the past few days in advance of us arriving to a formal ceremony, lasting most of the day, in Singapore on Saturday morning.

Nongsa Point is like any holiday resort complex with beachside huts and apartments together with an adjoining 9 hole golf course and of course the marina complex where we are moored. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Last night Nongsa Point Marina laid on a crew party with some local entertainment and fireworks. Justin from Clipper nearly blew himself up lighting one of the fireworks which seemed to go off prematurely before he had time to move away from it. Luckily for him there was no damage done.

Yesterday I played 9 holes of golf with Brian (New York crew) and suffice to say I hit a few good ones and lots of bad shots, but all in all an enjoyable few hours away from the boat.

We’ve also taken the shuttle bus from the resort to the local ‘Mega Mall’ which is just like any mall you see anywhere in the world these days. We bought some food there for those staying on the boat during the stopover and a few of us had an impromptu barbecue at the end of the pontoon with some drinks. A very pleasant evening indeed. There are only three of us staying on the boat: myself, Ruth and Rachel. Everyone else has opted for rooms or an apartment at the resort, which by all accounts needs some upgrading. I don’t quite understand why everyone wants to get away from the boats so quickly but each to his own I suppose. Maybe it’s more to get away from the people than the boat itself. Ruth and Rachel are like the terrible twins, always up to mischief and having a grand old laugh. They’re a real breath of fresh air on the boat. Ruth will be missed for her jollity when she gets off in Qingdao I’m sure.

Today is Friday, our last day here. I’m planning on a walk around the local area this morning and maybe sit by the pool and chill this afternoon. We leave at 0430 local tomorrow for Singapore, so it’s early to bed. Clipper has warned everyone that if they are not on the boats by 0400 latest they will not wait. Let’s see what happens hey!

Sarah’s (my wife) colleague at work has friends that live in Singapore (they moved over here last year) and they are keen followers of the race so I’m hoping to meet up with them after we arrive and maybe even spend some time with them sight-seeing etc. Not sure exactly how this will work out yet because of the busy programme in Singapore.

Take care everyone,

Martin