The Days Before Departure
Over the Christmas and New Year's period I was finally able to set my mind on joining Leg 5 of the Clipper Race. Many of you asked me whether I felt ready, which until today I still find tricky to answer!
As Kate is traveling with me to Australia, we had some additional logistical aspects to sort out; house sitters Elide and Sander are taking care of Dash in his own habitat and we found a nice tenant for our place in Amsterdam.
Packing up for two months has been the most interesting. Do I have everything I need? How will the weather be; from humid and tropical to chilly or even cold at night... and how is everything ever going to fit in my luggage?!
Wrapping up work in the first week of January was fairly easy and it’s been really nice to get so much support and excitement from my colleagues about the upcoming race!
Traveling to Australia was sort of a déjà vue after Kate and myself came here for our honeymoon three years ago. We had foreseen to stay 24h in Sydney which turned out to be very wise decision. Not only did we get some rest after two long flights, it turned out that travel to Airlie Beach was completely impossible on Sunday due to Koji, a cyclone which had come on land. We had a nice stroll through the city and Kate got a new tattoo of two little waves showing her love for me and the attraction to the sea.
Well rested, we continued our journey the next day when flights were resumed and most of the power outages were restored. What was left were traces of massive rainfall, damaged trees and even some boats that had broken loose from their mooring lines and ended up onshore. Luckily the Clipper boats that came in were safe and the other boats finishing were asked to sail in over a safe route, therefore the finish of Stage 5 was moved to a different mark point.
What followed was an incredible warm welcome by the team. Even though I missed seeing them sail in, they had just brought home another hard fought 1st place and anyone else I ran into seemed in awe of the Team GOSH’s achievements so far! Feeling embraced as crew member on the next leg is just a very good feeling, knowing that this team has already gone to intense moments of racing, now we will do it together.
On Wednesday crew changeover took place, so I had to register and make sure all details they have from me and my emergency contacts are still correct. Let’s hope none of that will be needed. At the end of the day I got to experience the prize giving for the results coming into Airlie Beach. I had seen some of these streamed live on Facebook, but as expected, this is so much more animated and lively in person!
Now that the activation window is over the countdown for Stage 6 can really start. We went through the refresher training for the new crew and tomorrow will be crew briefing for all crew. My personal supporter team, Kate’s Aunt Lynn and Uncle Garry, have arrived and I’ll enjoy some last full nights of sleep before we slip the lines on Monday!
Now I’m ready!
