Not that there hasn’t been enough to keep me busy right here at home, but over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about Mike Perham who crossed his finish line in the UK yesterday to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. There isn’t much I can say, but congratulations! and how excited for you, Mike!
In my books, Mike's achievement is totally amazing. His trip wasn’t all exactly smooth sailing, and handling his yacht Totallymoney.com, an open 50, isn’t something I can imagine. I’ll stick with my little S&S 34, even if we cant quite match that kind of speed!
Ever since getting the chance to meet Mike when he made a brief stop in Australia I’ve been grateful to have had the chance to talk to him about all the different aspects of sailing around the world. To hear about his experiences and swap notes has been really cool.
Actually, I’ll admit it. I’m a little glad that Mikes home, what with Mike's boat being about as different as you get to Pink Lady, it's only natural that there’s been a lot of jokes back and forth. I’ve spent the last few months constantly hearing about the amazing speeds he’s been achieving which mostly has the effect of turning me green with envy!
Hats off to Mike from me, and congratulations again!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Sailing Solo…. Almost - and food: Lots of it!
Yesterday was the big day: my first solo sail on Pink Lady since the refit. Well, actually that might be stretching the definition of the word solo as there were up to five cameras aimed at me at one point and I was wired up to a microphone throughout!
But it was easy enough to pretend when I hid behind the sails and disobediently turned the microphone off. ( Hey as I see it I was doing everyone a favor. Hearing me sing along to the stereo on full isn’t something I plan on sharing!)
Actually, I did spend the whole day wired up to a microphone because we had a TV crew visiting from the USA, I was filmed doing jobs on the boat, walking down the dock, eating lunch, and worst of all having a pre-voyage check up at the dentist! I’m pleased to report that I’ve been given the green light by the dentist, and the ESPN film crew were actually a lot of fun!
The other milestone yesterday was the big shopping trip, with the help of my strong and trusty brother Tom to do the heavy lifting, we set off to the local Duggan’s IGA to pick up the bulk of the food I’ll be eating. What a pile it was! And a big thanks to Nick and all the team at IGA for helping Mum chase down all those tricky hard to get essentials. After a quick look through all the crates a small problem emerged… make that a major one: There were no lollies! anyway the problem was soon fixed by a trip to the goodies aisle, armed with an empty trolley. What's that they say about letting kids loose in the lolly shop?
Back at Mooloolaba Marina, everyone’s been putting in the hard work to ensure everything’s just how it should be. So, a HUGE thanks to all the team and particularly to Jason from Linemaster for tackling communications and nav gear in the often over crowded cabin, Richard who keeps coming back to help some more, and to Dad and Bruce who really put the hours in.
Jessica
But it was easy enough to pretend when I hid behind the sails and disobediently turned the microphone off. ( Hey as I see it I was doing everyone a favor. Hearing me sing along to the stereo on full isn’t something I plan on sharing!)
Actually, I did spend the whole day wired up to a microphone because we had a TV crew visiting from the USA, I was filmed doing jobs on the boat, walking down the dock, eating lunch, and worst of all having a pre-voyage check up at the dentist! I’m pleased to report that I’ve been given the green light by the dentist, and the ESPN film crew were actually a lot of fun!
The other milestone yesterday was the big shopping trip, with the help of my strong and trusty brother Tom to do the heavy lifting, we set off to the local Duggan’s IGA to pick up the bulk of the food I’ll be eating. What a pile it was! And a big thanks to Nick and all the team at IGA for helping Mum chase down all those tricky hard to get essentials. After a quick look through all the crates a small problem emerged… make that a major one: There were no lollies! anyway the problem was soon fixed by a trip to the goodies aisle, armed with an empty trolley. What's that they say about letting kids loose in the lolly shop?
Back at Mooloolaba Marina, everyone’s been putting in the hard work to ensure everything’s just how it should be. So, a HUGE thanks to all the team and particularly to Jason from Linemaster for tackling communications and nav gear in the often over crowded cabin, Richard who keeps coming back to help some more, and to Dad and Bruce who really put the hours in.
Jessica
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Out and About
Sunrise over the deck, heading home after two nights at sea.
Doing jobs up the top of Pink Lady’s mast, the top of my world!
Pulling the main sail up and heading out for a sail with my sister Emily and brother Tom.
Thanks John for the last minute welding and late night work!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Home Again
Two nights at sea and 250nm dodging shipping was a really good test for Pink Lady and myself. I'm very impressed with how easy she was to handle. Sitting in the cockpit, it felt like everything was right there at my finger tips and perfectly under my control. Everyone's saying it: The S&S 34 is certainly the right boat for the job! And what a great job all the team have done!
I was also pretty happy at the consistent speeds we were achieving. On the second night, with 30 knots of wind and a short swell, we did uncover a few small leaks in the deck. Leaks like this aren't really a safety issue. They just make life extremely unpleasant. It's so nice to know about these problems now while we have the chance to fix them!
So it's back to work at a million different things, and next time I’m off by myself!
I was also pretty happy at the consistent speeds we were achieving. On the second night, with 30 knots of wind and a short swell, we did uncover a few small leaks in the deck. Leaks like this aren't really a safety issue. They just make life extremely unpleasant. It's so nice to know about these problems now while we have the chance to fix them!
So it's back to work at a million different things, and next time I’m off by myself!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
60 nm out
Jessica reported in tonight at 20.00 hrs.
Position 26.40 S 154.22 E on a heading of 253 degrees.
They have 30 knots of northerlies and doing 6 knots pushing current.
Seas are 1 metre, bouncy and very wet.
Wind vane doing really well.
Julie for Jessica
Position 26.40 S 154.22 E on a heading of 253 degrees.
They have 30 knots of northerlies and doing 6 knots pushing current.
Seas are 1 metre, bouncy and very wet.
Wind vane doing really well.
Julie for Jessica
Sea Trials
Jessica's mum here.
We waved Bruce and Jessica off last night and stood watching as Pink Lady's navigation lights disappeared into the darkness under the Southern Cross.
Was a pretty monumental moment.
She reported in this morning at 08.00 hrs
Position 26.30 S 154.19 E
They are on a heading of 90 degrees and doing 7.5 knots
The wind is 12 knots.
All is going really well, there were lots of fishing boats about during the night.
We can see her smiling from here on shore!
Julie
We waved Bruce and Jessica off last night and stood watching as Pink Lady's navigation lights disappeared into the darkness under the Southern Cross.
Was a pretty monumental moment.
She reported in this morning at 08.00 hrs
Position 26.30 S 154.19 E
They are on a heading of 90 degrees and doing 7.5 knots
The wind is 12 knots.
All is going really well, there were lots of fishing boats about during the night.
We can see her smiling from here on shore!
Julie
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Sailing and Technicians
It’s all action around here, my heads buzzing with a million different things and I’m starting to feel more and more excited. We’re right down to the details and most importantly on Friday we finally went for a sail! It was one of those perfect winter days, wind 15 knots, no sea, blue water, clear skies etc so all round a perfect day for gently testing everything out. All went well but now I’m even more desperate to get out there and do some solo sailing, talk about itchy feet!
The last few days have been busy with technicians working away on all my communications equipment, Iain from Panasonic Toughbooks did great job of setting up the Toughbook laptops that I’ll use on the voyage and Rod from Satcomms gave me a run down on how to use my Sailor 250 Satellite dome. To begin with all the flashing lights and switches had me a bit worried but turns out there’s nothing to worry about, the Sailor 250 is just like using a normal phone and I think we can safely say that the Toughbooks are more than up to the job.
Lastly, to update you on what I’m now going to call my radio saga. Turns out that my radio and speakers had in fact been wired in, the radios been sitting there in perfect working order only I hadn’t been told!
This evening the plan is to head offshore for a few days so keep posted and we’ll let you know how it goes.
The last few days have been busy with technicians working away on all my communications equipment, Iain from Panasonic Toughbooks did great job of setting up the Toughbook laptops that I’ll use on the voyage and Rod from Satcomms gave me a run down on how to use my Sailor 250 Satellite dome. To begin with all the flashing lights and switches had me a bit worried but turns out there’s nothing to worry about, the Sailor 250 is just like using a normal phone and I think we can safely say that the Toughbooks are more than up to the job.
Lastly, to update you on what I’m now going to call my radio saga. Turns out that my radio and speakers had in fact been wired in, the radios been sitting there in perfect working order only I hadn’t been told!
This evening the plan is to head offshore for a few days so keep posted and we’ll let you know how it goes.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Pink Lady's First Sail
Out sailing for the first time on a perfect Sunshine Coast day! We were very impressed with the crunchy new sails from Ullman sails and David Lambournes fantastic rig. My face is still sore from grinning and how cute does Pink Lady look?!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Finishing Off
Sorry about the lack of updates recently, it’s been a busy week finishing off Pink Lady! Working in the sunshine and being back home at Mooloolaba Marina has been great. Some of what we’ve been working on includes fitting winches, deck gear, lining the cabin with foam, fitting communications equipment and finishing off the electrical system (including the all important stereo and speakers!)
I’m excited about my new stereo because Dad’s always said that when I get my own boat I’ll be able to listen to the radio stations I like, only problem is I suspect that the electrician Neil is deliberately taking his time plugging the last wire in so that he doesn’t have to listen to my music either! And just to rub salt in the wounds I know that when I get out there on the water chances are that the only station I’ll be able to pick up will the BBC…
I spent a bit of time with Jim the mechanic going over potential engine problems and am starting to feel confident that I really do know the boat inside out. Every little locker…. sometimes being the smallest person around isn’t a good thing. Whenever there’s a spanner needed in a tricky little corner I start getting meaningful looks… then hinting comments, I normally give up at this point and end up emerging from whichever locker, half an hour later covered from head to foot in sicker-flex.
Mum’s been making the most of me being home for awhile, by feeding me all kinds of long life food experiments for me to taste test. Not to be fussy or ungrateful but some of its becoming a little too creative! My brother Tom says he can’t wait till I leave so they can go back to eating normal food.
On Friday Targa frame version two arrived along with my repaired Fleming wind vane, getting the targa to the back of the boat was a bit of fun but all went to plan with the help of a dingy and a few strange looks along the way.
Next week’s going to be even busier and more exciting with the rig going back on Monday, first sail planed for Wednesday and time for some overnight sea trials by the end of the week.
I’m excited about my new stereo because Dad’s always said that when I get my own boat I’ll be able to listen to the radio stations I like, only problem is I suspect that the electrician Neil is deliberately taking his time plugging the last wire in so that he doesn’t have to listen to my music either! And just to rub salt in the wounds I know that when I get out there on the water chances are that the only station I’ll be able to pick up will the BBC…
I spent a bit of time with Jim the mechanic going over potential engine problems and am starting to feel confident that I really do know the boat inside out. Every little locker…. sometimes being the smallest person around isn’t a good thing. Whenever there’s a spanner needed in a tricky little corner I start getting meaningful looks… then hinting comments, I normally give up at this point and end up emerging from whichever locker, half an hour later covered from head to foot in sicker-flex.
Mum’s been making the most of me being home for awhile, by feeding me all kinds of long life food experiments for me to taste test. Not to be fussy or ungrateful but some of its becoming a little too creative! My brother Tom says he can’t wait till I leave so they can go back to eating normal food.
On Friday Targa frame version two arrived along with my repaired Fleming wind vane, getting the targa to the back of the boat was a bit of fun but all went to plan with the help of a dingy and a few strange looks along the way.
Next week’s going to be even busier and more exciting with the rig going back on Monday, first sail planed for Wednesday and time for some overnight sea trials by the end of the week.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Long Drive Home
Thursday afternoon we finally left Sydney after seeing Pink Lady safely hulled out of the water and onto the truck. Driving up over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the way out of town I couldn't help thinking about how next time I’ll be seeing the bridge from a different angle . . . as I sail under it! As I type, we’re headed north, home to the Sunshine Coast, with the truck and Pink Lady somewhere behind us.
We spent the extra time in Sydney starting a few jobs, making lists, and discussing how we’d tackle a few tricky problems. The must do work list before I’m able to go sailing tallies at 21 jobs and 24 man days. So, divide that amongst the team and I’m away!
This link is to the segment I did with Thursday Night Live the other week. Now you’ll be able to understand what I meant about the curly hair!
http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?vxSiteId=cb519624-44a2-4bf7-808b-3514d34e96e4&vxChannel=Ten%20Featured%20Videos&vxClipId=1427_TNL-sailor-300709&vxBitrate=300&vxTemplate=integrated.swf&vxClickToPlay=false
I’ll keep this post brief as I need to get some sleep so I can be ready to see Pink Lady back into the water tomorrow, but I’d like to finish by saying a special thanks to Dad - for all that sleep you’ve given up, all that time you spend on the phone, and for your patience with me!!
Jessica
We spent the extra time in Sydney starting a few jobs, making lists, and discussing how we’d tackle a few tricky problems. The must do work list before I’m able to go sailing tallies at 21 jobs and 24 man days. So, divide that amongst the team and I’m away!
This link is to the segment I did with Thursday Night Live the other week. Now you’ll be able to understand what I meant about the curly hair!
http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?vxSiteId=cb519624-44a2-4bf7-808b-3514d34e96e4&vxChannel=Ten%20Featured%20Videos&vxClipId=1427_TNL-sailor-300709&vxBitrate=300&vxTemplate=integrated.swf&vxClickToPlay=false
I’ll keep this post brief as I need to get some sleep so I can be ready to see Pink Lady back into the water tomorrow, but I’d like to finish by saying a special thanks to Dad - for all that sleep you’ve given up, all that time you spend on the phone, and for your patience with me!!
Jessica
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tick Another Box
Wow the Sydney Internationl Boat Show is over already, and it’s on to the next step. Tick another box!
The last days of the show went well with the exception of me doing so much talking that I started losing my voice! All that talking was hard work, but I did finally have the chance to take a bit of time off – maybe a good thing considering how much work we’ve got in front of us! Now it’s time to make new work lists and get back into it.
As the show gates closed, it was back to work. Our once beautiful targa frame was dismantled, cut up and sent off to be used as a template for the new frame. I can’t say that it felt very nice seeing all that work lying on the ground in a tangle of bent stainless.
Another thing that I had the chance to do was to stop into the Maritime Museum which is now the home of Kay Cottee’s yacht, First Lady. Kay was the first lady to sail solo around the world non-stop. I really enjoyed having a good look around her boat and picked up some great ideas. Even though my Pink Lady and First Lady are completely different boats, it was interesting to see the similar ways they’ve both been set up for strength and solo sailing.
On Tuesday morning we were up early to pull the rig out and get ready for the boat to be trucked home but . . . well, nothing ever goes quite to plan, and this time the truck was delayed before reaching us. Oh well, all part of the fun!
Jessica
The last days of the show went well with the exception of me doing so much talking that I started losing my voice! All that talking was hard work, but I did finally have the chance to take a bit of time off – maybe a good thing considering how much work we’ve got in front of us! Now it’s time to make new work lists and get back into it.
As the show gates closed, it was back to work. Our once beautiful targa frame was dismantled, cut up and sent off to be used as a template for the new frame. I can’t say that it felt very nice seeing all that work lying on the ground in a tangle of bent stainless.
Another thing that I had the chance to do was to stop into the Maritime Museum which is now the home of Kay Cottee’s yacht, First Lady. Kay was the first lady to sail solo around the world non-stop. I really enjoyed having a good look around her boat and picked up some great ideas. Even though my Pink Lady and First Lady are completely different boats, it was interesting to see the similar ways they’ve both been set up for strength and solo sailing.
On Tuesday morning we were up early to pull the rig out and get ready for the boat to be trucked home but . . . well, nothing ever goes quite to plan, and this time the truck was delayed before reaching us. Oh well, all part of the fun!
Jessica
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sydney International Boat Show in pictures
Pink Lady might look a little small next to all that glamour but we definitely didn’t sink beneath the radar!
From the port (left!) Pete Goss, myself, Don McIntyre, Justin and James up on stage, I really enjoyed these discussions and the chance to hear more about all their adventures.
Pink Lady all made up for the show and me on the bow talking to more cameras.
Up on stage during my daily talks with Tim, a lot like playing twenty questions! By day five I was feeling a lot more confident.
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