Leg 4: 30th July

Position at 2000 local time, 30th July 2009, 48.52N, 33.23W

Day 11 began with chaos once again, with the ocean waves reaching heights of 15 feet and wind speeds of force 8 at times, allowing the boys on watch to boast having sailed in an Atlantic Gale. Red Watch, as soon as getting on deck for their 12-4 watch were immediately called upon to perform several tasks, all of which where completed within their first hour. This involved first of all, having to get the Genoa 1 sail untied from the guard rail and into the sail locker, but not before having to cut through one of the more formidable sail ties. As they were stowing the Genoa, to Kai's dismay, one of the waves managed to turn the relatively safe sail locker into a 7 foot swimming pool whilst Kai was the one standing in it to safely secure the sail. Next the watch crew needed to pull down the Yankee 1 sail and hank the Yankee 2, which was successfully completed with in the torrential weather that surrounded the boat. To their relief this was the mostly all they had to for the rest of the day, spending the rest enjoying the sun and the waves that where crashing against boat and reaching into the cockpit. After one particular wave which drenched them all simultaneously, all their SOS alarms activated at once, giving Rona a fantastic Technicolor light show for all to see (all who could see anyway).

At the daily position report it was found that we had taken another 40 miles out of Peter Von Danzig's lead and we were still in first place in our class.

When Red watch were getting some well deserved sleep, White watch had a slightly more pleasant and less tiring duty. During their time on board they managed to make contact with a oil tanker (to negotiate routes for safe passage), spotted around 30 dolphins dancing between the waves surrounding Rona, and at one point, Mark found the time to try out his second home made kite (a Mark II of sorts) which met the same fate as its predecessor. The problem was, in Marks words, it kept crashing in to the floor, which was unfortunately the sea moving at 8 knots. The only hard ship they had to endure compared to Red watches was a chilling cold despite the bright sunny weather.

Down below deck, Blue watch were once again on mother watch duties. Not much had changed in terms of required tasks. All day meals included a hefty dealing of mash, heads needed to be cleaned and dishes to be washed. However due to the previously mentioned flooding of the sail locker, the excess weight had to be pumped out from beneath the floor boards once again, only this time being done so 6 times. The watch's day was also met with more varying excitement of duties when Toyin discovered a new life form on Rona, a well hidden fungus in the corner on the cutlery shelf. This meant a complete rewashing of all the cutlery and cooking implements (although judging from the size of the fungus, it already had enough time to potentially inflict everyone with some kind of food poisoning but not the tough Rona crew).

As the day came to a close, happy hour at 6pm presented the usual beer and crisps/peanuts, and also secret Santa surprises. Gifts ranged from giant lollipops and inflatable hammers to collars and thongs. Hopefully the crew will resist the urge to wear the latter until after we reach Belfast.

All in all another good day.

Julian Burton-Pierce
Red Watch

Leg 4: 29th July

Position at 1800 local time, 29th July 2009, 47.52N, 37.28W

As I write this blog, we are currently surfing down 10 foot rolling waves and touching on 11 knots of speed through the water. We have regained first position as we have closed in by 40 nautical miles on our closest rival, Peter Von Danzig, and are now just 180 miles behind on the water. With our boat speed still high we hope that we are still closing in on them.

Blue watch experienced some massive waves in the early hours of the morning whilst changing sails to cope with the rough conditions of force 8 winds. This provided a bad nights sleep for most of red watch, today's mother watch. Blue watch also suffered after this ordeal with many of them having to come below to change out of their sodden clothes for the remaining three and a half hours of the watch. The rest of the day has been mostly downwind sailing and are directly on course which has provided some fairly nice conditions down below with the continual rolling from the heavy ocean rollers. Then on the early morning watch Watch Officer Simon Turvey started complaining about having a wet bottom even though wearing brand new waterproofs. There were also cries from the whole watch (especially Rupert) about how they have had wet bums since the start of the watch at 8pm (it is now roughly 2.30am) while on the foredeck changing sails and that he should grow some and accept it. We also had to endure Tom's un-suppressing moans of how he wants fish and chips then wondering whether they would serve a chicken portion with those chips as well. Oh and also Irish Liam's mood after suffering a dive has now come out of the trough and is pretty happy, possibly due to the increase in size and variety of the moral board and dance music while on watch.

As the current pressure system passes over us, we have the last of the strong winds and we are looking forward to the new incoming low pressure. This will hopefully bring us some more wind to help us on our voyage.

The ships morale board has now spread across the entire boat to cope with the rationing of tea, coffee and hot chocolate due to us realizing we have been using too much gas. In addition to this, we only have six days worth of happy hour beer left and have run out of nutella. The food situation is, however, not all bad. We are continuing to experiment with the menu and today we enjoyed a cinnamon and current loaf.

White watch had an awful night watch weather wise as we were rained on all watch and even the most waterproof of jackets suffered from severe seepage, however despite the rain the wind was high which made sure good progress was made. Mark has been working on a kite made of bin bags, pencils, tape and fishing line, it is currently nearing completion and we hope to test it when the wind eases.( maiden flight was made but fell from the sky into the sea to be never seen again) Our 8-12.30 watch was fairly busy as we spent some time experimenting with the mizzen staysail, and working out whether port or starboard tack was favoured as we moved towards our next waypoint. Enjoying a sing song now before dinner and then we have two watches tonight

Dom De'ath - Red Watch
Steve Jackson - White Watch

Leg 4: 28th July

Position at 2000 local time, 28th July 2009, 46.27N, 41.22W

Today was the first of clear skies and sunshine after a long period of mist and fog. It was accompanied by the wind and boat speed falling to zero, but this precipitated the highlight of the day - a swim in the middle of the North Atlantic at a depth of 4,500m! Most of the crew went for a dip in the ocean, while a few stayed on board to film and take photos. The brief lull also gave many an opportunity to wash and do some laundry, while all the oilskins were hung out to dry after the rain of the last few days.

Swimming was followed by one of the many culinary delights of White Watch, the mother watch for the day. A tuna pasta bake with an improvised sauce of powdered milk, tinned mushrooms and some surprise jars of nacho dips went down well with everyone and the two trays were polished off with no wastage.

Several more hours of low winds followed before things finally picked up and we set some sails and gathered speed. Unfortunately this was accompanied by the thick fog that we have experienced for the last few days, although this is a small price to pay compared to our earlier lack of wind which had allowed Peter Von Danzig to take first place from us in Class D, as we found out in our latest race update. Things were going well until Simon Turvey, watch officer of Blue Watch took to the foredeck during the first dog watch at 1700 and managed to drop the cruising chute straight into the water, distracting mother watch from their happy hour preparations as they had to pack the wet sail away. Thankfully their canapés of mushroom and onion quiche were already well underway so were not too badly affected by the disturbance, and the meringues - an epic creation, and possibly a Project first - had already gone in the oven. The meringue preparation had taken up a large proportion of the early afternoon with up to five people, including the mate Andy Wright, involved in the Paul Steptoe's innovative solution to the beating of the egg whites using a hacksaw handle and string to rotate the whisk at high speed before a plastic bag and part of a cereal box were used to pipe out the swirls ready for three hours of baking in time for dessert - with lemon curd sandwiched between and on top of a bed of chocolate angel delight. The meringues were the piéce de resistance of a delicious dinner consisting of chorizo and meatballs on rice, served with kidney beans, cabbage, mushrooms and carrots.

The time between happy hour and dinner played host to the first of a series of sailing theory lectures run by Andy Wright. His explanation of sail choice and sail trim gave those involved a much enhanced understanding of the sails that we use and why we choose certain combinations for different wind speeds and directions. Several more lessons are scheduled for the following few days, including navigation, knots and ropework, and the theory of anchoring.

Monday night had seen the beautiful clear skies that were to follow in the morning and Red Watch were treated to a fabulous sunset and sunrise during their 2000-0000 and 0400-0800 watches. Blue Watch claim to have seen bats while they were on watch between midnight and 4am, although there was some debate over whether they were in fact bats, or just sea birds. Rupert had a massive four hour stint on the helm, while Tom West provided entertainment with his one-and-a-half hour story. The sailing all night was fast but the sea was quite calm allowing us to glide through the water and give sleeping crew members a decent night's rest.

The end of the night watches was greeted by the first of mother watch's surprises - an omelette of frankfurters and onions making a nice change from the scrambled egg that we've had every morning. Paul Steptoe spent the morning fixing the toilet roll dispensers in the heads using some of the many pencils we have on board, while on deck the wind dropped right down until we were stationary and the skipper and mate made the call for a Mid-Atlantic swim.

As I write this, we have managed to find some wind again and are currently speeding along at 10 knots in a Force 7. The breeze had picked up just before dinner and has really boosted moral as we continue on towards Belfast.

Leg 4: 27th July

Position at 2100 local time, 27th July 2009, 45.45N, 43.17W

Today we were still on a high from Blue watch setting the top speed of 12.7 knots. This morning the banter started early with blue watch being the clowns of the crew. Today Blue watch was on mother watch and the breakfast consisted of pork burgers with beans and a pancake for each portion. Johnny Warring did the impossible by making perfect pancakes and flipping them whilst the boat rocked violently. After most of the crew had finished breakfast Rupert and Toyin provided some post-breakfast entertainment. Rupert was given the challenge of eating pork burgers in one go, and he successfully completed his challenge. Then Toyin repeated the challenge and then did one better by eating a pork burger with ketchup, sugar and some other eatable stuff the crew could find, which was then all wrapped up in a pancake. This was all captured on video ready to be uploaded when we reach our destination and no doubt it may find his was onto some social networking sites. All were surprised when he not only kept the concoction down but was not ill unlike the last mother watch he was on.

The 1000 mile mark was passed at 0749 with Ben on the helm, who refused to let go the helm until we had achieved the 1000 miles. Watch Officer Paul Steptoe (of white watch) set his watch the challenge of solving a rubix cube. The first person on his watch who solved the rubix cube would receive the grand prize of 9 pints when we arrive at our destination in Belfast. As you can imagine it went down a storm and the watch was straight onto the task and the rivalry between the watch members was amusing to the other watches, and some members of the other watches had started to place bets on who was going to succeed first and also if Paul was going to keep his promise about the prize.

Lunch was tomato soup and pasta with sauce, which went down a treat. After lunch Paul Steptoe got out his Guitar and we sang some songs, such as Yellow submarine, Fast car, Angels and American pie. Also in the galley Tom was baking 50 cookies which were to be served at the start of happy hour. When Happy hour came around Toms cookies went down a treat and we also did secret Santa on deck. The secret Santa event was well organized by mother watch and there was a cheer from the crew each time one of the crew reached in and pulled out a present. There was a massive cheer when some of the crew pulled out toy musical instruments and started to play them. Some other prizes were a pair of leopard print pants, a spider-man ball on a bat and a signed picture of Russell Watson.

Dinner was a lovely dish of Corned beef hash with peas and carrots, midway through serving dinner Rupert reminded us of his famous catchphrase 'I hate soup' which always makes the crew laugh as his catchphrase was always perfectly timed and brilliantly executed. For desert we were treated to tinned oranges and custard. After dinner Paul Steptoe took out his famous guitar and we sang a few songs before we went to bed.

Toyin Kimber-McCall AKA(T-Man)

Leg 4: 26th July

Position at 2100 local time, 26th July 2009, 44.54N, 46.45W

To begin the new day we rounded the waypoint at 0058hrs, which has been a huge moral boost for the whole crew. We had encountered adverse weather on the long journey to our waypoint which had begun to drag as we had logged many more miles than the distance between the point and Halifax.

After the waypoint this morning we have covered another 150 nautical miles which has kept us in 1st in class in front of our main competitor Peter Von Danzig in recalculated time Recalculated time is used in racing because all boats, even in the same class, perform differently. Therefore a handicap is calculated to reduce the differences between the boats and to amplify the skill of the sailors. Peter Von Danzig is a faster boat, so even when slightly behind them on the water we can still be leading the class. We have also had visits from dolphins and whales as well as reaching our fastest speed of the race so far at 12.7.knots, whilst flying our heavy weather spinnaker and riding down the face of a wave.

Below decks Red Watch has been improvising and excelling on both renewing the images of the entertainment and moral on board and creating interesting meals for the deck crews. When life becomes repetitive onboard simple changes in daily activities such as meal variety becomes increasingly important. Meals have consisted of cereal, grapefruit and bubble and squeak for breakfast, soup powder was instead used to create a pasta sauce and spam was fried, enjoyed with freshly baked bread to make lunch as interesting as possible! Then an onion tart was created to enjoy during our daily beer at happy hour, and Matt's amazing curry was served before Josh Warren's spectacular lemon curd Victoria style cake. Red watch is now abed for a few hours before mother watch ends and their sailing duties recommence at 0000hrs.

Bryn Kewley

Leg 4: 25th July

Position at 2100 local time, 25th July 2009, 43.36N, 50.11W

After 48 hours of being hard on the wind there has been an obvious affect on the entire crew. We are all very tired. When the boat is at 30 degrees all tasks are exhausting and it is extremely hard to sleep and carry out even the most basic requirement in life. But despite this crew moral has not fallen. Humour is at a high and although we have not heard the guitars from Johnny and Paul for a while practical jokes are beginning to crop up.

Matt O'Connell managed to graffiti Johnny Ho while he was snoozing and to Johnny's dismay when he awoke he had been tagged "he's mine, love Matthew" in permanent red marker. Another great moment in the day and a small exchange that we have decided to be our quote of the day came from when mother watch was pumping out the forepeak bilges. Paul asks "can you get me a screw driver Steve?" Steve replies "what type of screw driver?" Paul "the normal one!" we are yet to establish what type of screwdriver is normal and I can see a great debate arising.

Steve finds his way into the blog once again as we all realize that a profession in plumbing is probably not the best path for him. We have struggled with only one head (toilet) for a few days now and a queue is a common sight. So armed with a silicon gun we sent him forward to try and reseal the port head so that it can be used without fear of flooding. Sadly Steve returned with sealant everywhere apart from the intended hole. But after many hours of labour white watche leader Mark managed to fix the leak so that now there is only a minor dribble.

We are all growing tired of soup. Frequent cries from Rupert of "I hate soup!" inspired Johnny Ho to create three mouth watering loafs of bread that would not look out of place in a bakery. It truly did change they way we thought about soup, for lunch anyway.

Now onto some actual sailing, we are currently 11 miles from our waypoint and after that we are free to set any course that we like. Although the way point has been mandatory to ensure we do not make friends with any icebergs it has been a frustrating 5 days. Forced to Cover 750 miles instead of the intended 500 due to an ever changing wind it has taken us far longer that expected. We must tack one more time in order to pass south of the way point and then we are free to do as we please. During happy hour we "hove to" for five minutes and our intended course was explained to us and an estimated time frame. (Although I will not divulge that information as I would hate to be responsible for cursing our winning streak.) We are currently 1st in our class for the third day running. This is definitely a great boost for the crew and something to give real drive during those extra tough sail changes.

Finally I want to leave you with the news that Matt O'Connell managed to encounter our biggest and "best" wave so far. Managing to soak the members of mother watch in the galley preparing dinner and even bring water into the navigation area and onto his own laptop. We wait with baited breath to see if we meet any others that can top this one or the wave that came in through the air vent and rudely awoke the mate during his afternoon nap.

Steve Jackson White watch
Matt O'Connell Red watch

Leg 4: 24th July

Position at 2000 on Friday 24th July 2009: 42.56N, 52.21W

Day 5 of this Atlantic challenge brought meaning to the word challenging. The wind which seems to have been absent over the past few days came today all at once bringing force 6 and 7 winds and some seriously rough conditions for all of the crew particularly blue watch who had mother watch duties.

Although speed was hugely increased with the boat reaching speeds of up to 11 knots, the heel and boat motion made life uncomfortable for crew. The boat flew along today at 45 degrees and crashed head first into the massive choppy Atlantic waves, an experience for everyone. The crew were all affected in different ways, some began their first round of vomiting while others such as Kai and Steve decided to go wave hunting on the foredeck subsequently having their life jackets explode into action.

Red watches efforts today must also be recognized as well. The one hour long head sail change of the No.1 Genoa to the No.1 Yankee at 01:30 was a test that pushed everyone to their limits. Bryn, Kai, Dom and Matt had an intense disco as their man over board beacons activated due to the sizeable series of waves during the change over. 20 knots of wind meant that they lost the Genoa to the ocean four times before they were able to heave it aboard. Not to be forgotten was the swimming lessons Bryn and Matt received during their visit to the bow in the morning watch to move sails as ballast. 4ft water surges engulfed them as they clung to the unsecured sails to insure they were not lost over the side. I think we all learnt the true importance of being latched on today.

Breakfast for obvious reasons proved a real struggle and there were few takers. The rapid decline of fresh food on board led to the breakfast consisting of tinned rubber sausage type things and 'smash' potato cakes. Gourmet or what!!

After breakfast with the roughening weather Toyin showed everyone his skill in recycling his breakfast whilst loitering on top of the coach house roof.

Julian and lee were today joined in their raving exploits by the bilge flooding alarm going off all day. The flooding of the forepeaks as wave after wave poured though vents and left open windows didn't aid the problem what so ever. However blue watch once again came to the rescue, manually pumping bilge water from bilge to bilge and eventually out into the Atlantic. The epic pumping session continued all day and led to mother watch member after mother watch member make the commute to the cockpit to joining T-man in the newly set up vomiting league.

We were all delighted to hear on the daily radio schedule we had retained 1st in class.

'Happy hour' was made even more special with an on board birthday. Ben is 18 today and because of this, the regular happy hour treats of beer and nibbles were joined by a beautiful chocolate cake for Ben's 18th , and of course the singing of happy birthday. The skipper even hove to for 10 minutes so that the cake could be cut, mood was also further lightened with more crew banter and Tom's revelations the 'badgers don't lay eggs!!' during an egg based discussion.

Today ended on a high with a superb dinner of spaghetti bolognaise thanks to the ever ready Johnny and a rapid but funny decline in Simons mental state. The time zone also changed today indicating our progression across this vast ocean.

Liam Fullbrook - Blue watch
Matt O'Connell - Red watch

Leg 4: 23rd July

Position at 1700 local time 23rd July, 43.16N, 55.25W

The night sail saw the first of the rough weather, which picked up at around 2130. It was overcast but the rain held off for a while, or until at least I hit the sack, although sleeping was not easy as the boat was chucked about with the roughening sea. Immense amounts of admiration and skill should be given to Rupert for his superhuman efforts on the wheel holding her steady in a gathering sea and increasing wind, until the mate kicked him off as he felt his position as chief helmsman was being threatened. Between 0000-0400 the weather settled down to a steady force 6, but coincidently when blue watch came back on duty at 0400 more sail changes were required as the wind increased to force 7 and the skipper decided that a bit more control was required or his hot chocolate would be spilt so 2 reefs were put in the mainsail, where we all bought out our A game and we dominated the No.1 Genoa, typical sods law entailed where as soon as the bigger sail went up and oilie jackets were removed a squall hit bringing torrential rain and high winds, so jackets on and the big sail dropped. Although the night sky was lit up with rave master Julian's man overboard alarm going off 19 times in 2 watches providing us with flashing green lights and a cracking base tune, which sounds surprisingly like the Nokia message tone, 'special'. then after all this excitement breakfast loomed...

After a hearty breakfast consisting of potatoes and tomatoes the Rona II crew got stuck into another hard day of sailing. It became clear from the early morning showers, that rain would be the theme of the day. Work down below was made less pleasant due to the high humidity and clamminess of the saloon. However morale remains as high as ever with banter and singing echoing from the galley and cockpit.

Yesterdays immensely passionate work on deck really paid off with a triumphant rise from third to first place in the class. Clenched fists and beastly roars could be hear from miles away, when this news was heard, striking fear into the heart of the competition.

Over our delicious pasta and freshly made bread stories of the previous night's sailing were exchanged. Matt, for instance, vividly remembering screams from Simon: "Get there T-man", as the watch officer bellows encouragement to Toyin as he fights his way the foredeck for a highly physically demanding sail change. Luke was also relieved of any further hot chocolate making duties after a shocking batch of thick hot chocolate (described as chocolate mousse) for the night watch.

Currently mother watch is baking scones for afternoon tea to feed the wet and hungry men work with dogged determination in the rain. In a fine display of engineering brilliance mother watch constructed a drying room in the port heads and a washing line in the forepeak. this was needed to overcome the problem of wet tee-towels.

As I am writing this blog, wet seamen are coming down from the aft deck after the first showers of the race. the new and improved and clean crew is now looking forward to arriving at the first waypoint and also celebrating Ben's 18th tomorrow.

I would like to end today's blog with the quote of the day: "Jonnie is too cute to wake up", as he looks like a startled dear, when woken. The look on his face is so innocent that the task of waking him is not a nice experience.

Best wishes from Kai, Rupert, skipper and crew of Rona II.

Leg 4: 22nd July

Wednesday 22nd July 2009: Position at 1800 local time, 44.05N, 59.02W

Today was white watches first on motherwatch, a delicious breakfast of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and baked beans were laid on for a ravenous crew. 31 miles were completed overnight as white watch enjoyed their 'golden kip', which was much needed after 2 days of four hours on four hours off. A full nights sleep was enjoyed, only interrupted by Matt sounding the fog horn, which he claims was necessary, I disagree.

By 0900 Rona was getting in the groove, cracking along at 6.5 knots in a SSW F2/3, under spinnaker, staysail, main and mizzen. Unfortunately there was a casualty during the night as watch officer Downey was killed in action by a life jacket in the nav. More fatalities have occurred as the day went on, including the mate killing the skipper in the head with a bucket.

The serving of lunch was interrupted by a pod of dolphins jumping around our bow, this quickly made the whole crew forget about the impending food and left them scrambling for their cameras. At this time the wind had increased to a F4/5, and we were averaging nearly 9 knots, which is still the case as I write this.We put up all sails possible, spinnaker,staysail,storm gib,main,mizzen staysail and main to gain maximum speed. Unfortunately we have been sailing in thick fog since midnight.

We were disappointed to hear that we have slipped to 3rd in class after a poor night when the rest of our class had more wind further north. However, we are hopeful that our decision to tack and head south will pay dividends when we reach the waypoint. At our current speed we should be reaching the waypoint in around 2 days.

Quote of the day undoubtedly has to go to Josh Warren, who when on the subject of marriage in international waters blurted out "you have to be 18 to do it gay", which in the context had the crew in hysterics.

I shall leave you in peace now as our dinner of meatballs and mash is not going to prepare itself.

Steve Jackson
White Watch

Leg 4: 21st July

Tuesday 21st July 2009: Position 44.34N,61.23W

Firstly all credit to Paul Steptoe who lost us the wind, so much so our speed was actually -0.2 knots, yes that is a minus sign, we were going backwards, and this not being enough he decided to call on the rain as well!!

There were two highlights of the day, firstly we saw AND made contact with a cargo ship that was steaming towards us, it was very kind and altered course for us as we had no steerage due to Paul's efforts and wind killing abilities.

Secondly while writing this very blog in the cockpit Andy Wright spotted........ drum roll pleasseeee...... a. SHARK!!! i have never seen the crew of Rona II move on the deck so fast! Everything was dropped, even the helmsman awoke and ran to the guardrail to gain a view. Within seconds cameras were flashing so frequently with everybody trying to get snaps of the shark they must have thought it was Britney Spears, if you squinted slightly it looked like her as it has the same shoulder structure.

Night Sailing:
According to reliable sources ( i would not know as i was sleeping soundly) the night sky was a thing of beauty, there were reported sightings of satellites and Shooting stars. The constellations of stars are amazing due to the lack of light pollution.... quite remote the Atlantic. At the sun rise bets were made on how long till it was bright in the sky, there were cries of 5 minutes! 3 minutes! 7 minutes! it was 45.

Quote of the day!

"That seagull is paddling faster than we are sailing" by Andrew Downey... yes we were being circled and mocked by a seagull bobbing around us.

The weather has been errrmm.... annoying i think is the most suited word. with the lack of wind we slopped about in the sea, then the rain but it was still hot so wearing oilies was uncomfortable.. Thanks Paul!!
Onto the important things... Food of the day!!

Mother watch was blue watch, consisting of Simon "terminator" Turvey, Jonny Wearing, Rupie roo, Tom, T man, Julian, Liam
Early in the day Liam used his Irish skills to create some herbed potatoes for breakfast, which filled a big hole. then yours truly (Rupert Edwards) unleashed some almighty culinary talent and made some absolutely fantastic buzzing with flavour perfect texture garlic bread. he then extended his skills to the pasta at lunch.

Tom and Jonny also added to the culinary skills of the day with crispy cakes and Tom & Jerry fairy cakes, getting in touch with their feminine side.

Oh we are also FIRST IN CLASS!!!!

Rupert Edwards, crew, Blue watch.

Leg 4: 20th July

Position: 44'' 25' 755N 62'' 40' 576W

Time: 20:00 local time, 20th July 2009

With Red watch as mother watch today we cooked up the breakfast of the day, pork burgers at 72% meat to get the day off to a cracking start. After washing up it was the final shower for about 3 weeks and hosing down the deck to get Rona looking the part.

Following the advertisement for an Internal Directorship Appointment, today saw the start of a rigorous and extensive competency and assessment based interviews. This was for the appointment of the Director of Renewable Resources and his two Deputies.

The Directorship post carries a reward package commensurate with that of a Watch Officer and a wide range of challenging objectives and accountabilities to ensure the effective management and supervision of Rona 2's recyclable and renewable materials. After shortlisting and a round of second interviews Ben Davies was appointed Director and Julian Pearce and Luke Almond Deputies. We wish them every success in their exciting and demanding roles in an ever changing environment.

Just before departing Halifax we received a welcome visit from the Red Bull girls and their multitude of cans which were enthusiastically received and made for a great photo opportunity.

We let slip around 1145 into the parade of sail giving three cheers to Halifax followed by mechanical and Mexican waves, pink sparkly cowboy hats included. This included sailing close to the harbour to give the crowds a good show.

After a long parade of sail we preceded out to the start line where Class A, the big square riggers, started at 1700, which was an amazing sight. Then at 1730 came Class D, including ships matched with Rona. Spinnaker up, Rona came tanking across the line as the horn blew and was first in class to begin. The boat and crew are now in full racing mode cruising at 8-9 knots enjoying steady westerlys.

Dinner of beef hash, perfectly browned in the oven, was followed by the delights of canned pinaple and custard. Yum! We're all happy to be sailing and in good spirits. The sun has just set over our main competitor, Peter Von Danzig who is just slightly behind us and that is where we hope they will stay!

Best wishes skipper and crew.

Leg 4: Halifax

Halifax, 19th July 2009

After a wet and soggy arrival yesterday today looks more promising as the fog starts to lift and the sun burns through. Red watch prepared our first breakfast - just like a real STV - eggs, sausage and beans.

We spent the morning sorting out our provisions and discovered the we have excessive food left over from the last 3 legs. The locals watched in amusement as we formed a human chain and picked up bags of pasta, tea and a variety of tins and transferred them from yacht to shore. With the help of our liason officer Richard Wood, the salvation army collected our excess food for their food bank. word got out to the local press and tv crew so once again Rona II hits the headlines.

Shore leave in the afternoon gave everyone the opportunity to see some of the square riggers. Rona II took up the challenge to play volley ball but with no other contenders the contest became interwatch with no clear winning side. Today has been a busy day in Halifax as thousands of visitors have come to see the Tall ships. The quay side has had a carnival atmosphere and four of our crew were invited to a fancy dress party, they went as a fairy, a classic Rona II beach towel and an 80's GYM theme, again Rona II two stands out from the crowd and makes a lasting impression. We are now getting ourselves into gear for the start of the race tomorrow. a special thanks must go to our fantastic liasion officer Richard Wood who's help has been outstanding.

Belfast here we come!

Best wishes Skipper and crew

Leg 4

Leg 4 has arrived safely in Halifax. Weather horrible, rain and fog but
morale high.
More news tomorrow.

Best wishes Leg 4

Leg 3: To Halifax: 14 July: Continued

14th July continued

Now that we are cruising rather than racing the pace of life has changed a little bit the skipper and watch officers are standing back a bit and the crew are running the boat when they are not busy trying to find new ways to murder each other. The weather today has been such that we have had to motor all day passing through the entire fleet of square riggers and a gazillion + dolphins and at least one shark ("we're gonna need a bigger boat") . This combination of circumstances, easy day for afterguard, motoring and being murdered early meant that I was able to bake my own birthday cake and cook and serve my own birthday dinner. Birthday wishes were received (a card from everybody here and one from home) during happy hour between oscar nominations and a coroners court .. How many people can say that!

Being a relaxed day I also got a chance to play with the star spanner and shoot the sun only about 60 miles out, I'll try again tomorrow.

With the help of Phil we managed to produce a dinner menu as follows
Starter: Avocado halves with chefs vinaigrette dressing
Main: Toad in the hole, carrots and cabbage
Dessert: Rich fruit and slightly alcoholic birthday cake

Unfortunately dinner was slightly late which means that I may be nominated for the Oscar not a pleasant proposition considering the number of previous winners.

15 hours later and no reported food poisoning.

Roy, the Ancient Mariner

Leg 3: To Halifax: 14 July: The murders commence.

14th July: The murders commence.

The first kill by Dan Kewley reported yesterday has been quickly followed by two more over night and this morning. John Winters was found this morning in the Galley with a large stab wound. The police have issued this statement; "At this early stage of the investigation we are still unsure of how John died but a fellow watch member Cal Gridley was seen entering the galley with him, police are looking for Cal to step forward for questioning.

The Mate, Roy died today on the steps out of saloon, a ruthless murder performed by a Simon O'Hara, who mercilessly attacked Roy with an oily Jacket in front of many witnesses. One of the witnesses tells us "Simon came out of nowhere with the Jacket, attacking Roy on his birthday - there was blood everywhere! What a senseless waste of life"

The death of a second member of the afterguard in less than 24 hours has put concern on the ships ability to maintain order and mutiny is a possibility, however the crew are all starting to become very paranoid.

In other news Rona II is still making way to Halifax and progress has been slowed by slack winds, we can now however motor since we are not in race conditions.

Newsflash! A double murder has just been reported, Dan Smythe-Moore was found on the saloon roof bludgeoned to death with a winch handle, and our resident yank Cal was also brutally choked to death with his own book in the cockpit. The ferocity and rate of these attacks leaves you wondering is there going to be a crew left to party hearty in Canada?

Leg 3: To Halifax: 13 July: Back to sailing

Monday 13th July 2009 : Back to sailing.

6:10am, everybody up, everybody working, everybody shattered. This morning was our last in Boston Harbour and to be fair we were all ready to leave. The crew had been showing the Americans how to 'rock the boat' all week and a nice relaxing cruise up to Canada sounded like the perfect break. There was no time wasted and we were sailing out of Boston by 09:00am.

Team America were on Motherwatch and were being led by Jonnie Setterfield because their Watch Officer Nelson had been promoted to Skipper for the day and the usual Watch Leader Ali Findlay was Watch Officer for the day. It was clear from the get go that Nelson clearly couldn't hack the heavy pressure and responsibility of being Skipper as no sooner had we entered Marble Head to pick up the repaired Cruising Chute and he was running off to Hospital complaining about a sore elbow. To be fair he was lucky it wasn't infected as the swelling in his arm was alarmingly big and was causing him a bit of pain. Only a little bit though. During his departure to the mainland the crew had a chance to go for a quick swim in the bay and jumping off from the swung out boom seemed to be the way to do it. There were swan dives to canon balls before the water balloons were whipped out and people were ducking for cover.

Later on in the day Watch Leader Liam KGA was given the responsibility of organizing 23 places and 23 weapons by which and where people may be murdered. This was of course for the routine game of 'Killer' or 'The Murder Game'. For those of you not aware with the rules of the game it's fairly simple to follow. Each member of the entire crew, so that's After Guard included, is given one name, one place, and one weapon, each written on a separate piece of paper. For example Joel may be given these three different pieces of paper, Chris, Oily Bottoms, Heads. This means that somehow Joel has to give Chris a pair of oily bottoms whilst in the heads. As soon as this exchange is made, Chris would be classed as 'murdered' and Joel would inherit Chris' target.

It's effectively last man standing and peoples' competitive sides are becoming very apparent. 23 paranoid boys on a boat may not seem like a great idea but only this game allows people to kill the skipper with a spoon in the sail locker. At the time of writing we have already experienced one death as the craftiness of Watch Leader Dan Kewley proved too much for rival watch officer Lou as he was brutally ended with a pack of cards whilst in his bunk. End of update, hopefully I will still be alive to write the next.

Joel F Smith.

Leg 3: Boston, "Shipwrecked Party", July 9 2009

Rona II – ‘Shipwrecked’ Crew Party
When a party date had been decided we knew we had to make Rona II’s party the best of all of the Boston parties.
Nelson had made the invitations out of the image of the navy Lynx helicopter in front of Rona under full sail. Invitations on their own however were not going to get us a good party, so small groups were formed to look after everything from music to drinks and food.

As the day went on the various groups of people arrived back to the boat showing Chris what they had spent their precious budget on, first back were the boat dressers who returned with various materials to make fake palm trees, by wrapping tarpaulins around parts of the boat. But most importantly 24 bags of sand, which was used to make our own private beach on the pontoon which went down very well.

The speakers for the party did not arrive until 10 minutes before the party started. After searching the whole day for speakers Lloyd came up with the goods. The speakers were so loud that the harbor master commented we could be heard across the other side of the harbor! The cockpit was filled with water which became a main attraction of the party especially when the Captin of Peter Von Danzing did not realize there was water in the cockpit. Once he had stepped into the pool he continued to dance in there which was very funny.

The boot on the back of Rona was filled with ice and water and then loads of beer where we had beer bobbin.

The bow of the boat became a dance floor as the night progressed the deck was full of people from many of the boats. The party ended at around 11pm where a mass clean up began. The event was a great success and the feedback from the party was all very positive.

Leg 3: Boston, July 8 2009

The Day According to Bam…
The day consisted of fixing the heads (3 times), having to go to the liaisons house to machine some new reefing pulley bearings, getting back at 10pm, missing the crew party & having about an hour in the waking day to myself. I have decided that I hate the heads so much that I have to get up early in the morning because there aren’t enough hours in the day to hate the heads. I hate the heads so much that it gave me energy. How was the party guys?

The Same day according to others…
We began the day in true Rona style cleaning up the boat and making her look pretty dressing the top sides with flags and banners, we managed to block up the heads in no time leaving us with only the shore as an option…we didn’t tell Bam who did it…he’ll never let it go. After another lovely breakfast with fresh bacon, eggs and milk, we had shore leave and some toured the city, others rested, read books or chatted to our new neighbours on Fazisi

A Night at Cheers Bar
Today was the first main crew party where the crews from all the boats were invited to Cheers bar in central Boston. The bar was very busy when we arrived and the Russian crew of Kruzenstern made up majority of bar. There was a buffet which consisted of chicken wings and more chicken wings. After some time at Cheers we dispersed to different bars around the city. The under 21’s had difficulty getting into any of the bars but a good time was had by all in the end.

Leg 3: Boston, July 7 2009

Today we arrived in Boston, and boy am I relieved. The quick zip over from Marblehead was less then enjoyable however, due to the cold lashing rain. The squall did make for good winds though and we arrived in Boston to quite an impressive sight. Picture this: Nova watch has the deck. Since the rotation has been a little quirky, Nova had been going for twelve hours straight. Huddled around the aft mast we are cold, hungry and tired. Ahead of us, looming out of the dense fog, is the Boston Skyline. The skyscrapers living up to their names as the tops emerge from above the clouds.

Things only got more interesting as we suddenly realized that we had no idea where in the harbor we belonged. After an interesting ten minutes of “Sightseeing” we were led to our Mediterranean mooring conveniently located in the back corner of the harbour, around the dock, around the derelict house that is curiously perched in the water and of course, right between two of our competitors with barely enough room for fenders. Oh, did I mention we had to do it backwards? With a few attempted and copious amounts of pure skill from our first mate Roy, we eventually slid into our space.

Leg 3: Marblehead, July 6 2009

July 6, 2009

Monday, the beginning of week 4. Marblehead was so far proving to be an extremely pleasant two day retreat and a well deserved rest for the crew. The day kicked off with a breakfast bursting with fresh ingredients as the crew tucked into Nova watches egg and bacon sandwiches as well as a variety of cereals and fresh milk to start with. After breakfast a routine clean up of down below, up above, and generally anywhere that was dirty or that needed to be kept in ship shape ensued. The crew got all of this underway immediately as Cal Gridleys friend Jason provided a nice reminder that we were in fact in the neighborhood of Mr. G and that we could all look forward to being treated for food and fun at his house later that day.

En route the crew found time to admire a small $120 baby cannon and pictured how nice it would be to be able to sail into Boston with a fully working broadside in action. Dreams were quickly quelled however as Skipper unfortunately had his sensible hat on that day and thought otherwise.

Walking on we soon found ourselves in the garden/yard of the kind and welcoming Gill and David Gridley. There was food in the masses and all shapes of balls that were soon being played with by some of the more energetic of the crew. Team America’s Stuart ‘McLovin’ Jackson wasted no time in emerging himself into the gaming underworld of Cals basement and he was in full ‘ass whoopin’ mode when it came to Guitar Hero. Those who had been put in their place by the lightning speed fingers of McLovin on the guitar rallied together and decided to head over to the nearby field for a game of American Football. Patchy rules were established and a very enjoyable game was played in the setting sun of Marblehead.

Once back at Cals house eyes quickly widened as they caught sight of what was for dessert. Four different flavours of ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge brownies, giant M&Ms, Smarties and whipped cream. Pudding was made that extra bit sweeter with the arrival of the photo to beat all photos on Chris Nelsons laptop. If you haven’t seen it already words cannot do this masterpiece justice; Rona II in full sail, Team America on deck, and a big helicopter up above. After the crew had awed over the photo people started to assemble into the garden as the day was drawing to a close. Almost everyone made it into the garden bar one or two individuals. Firstly Watch Leader Alistair Findlay managed to unhinge the mosquito net door that led from the lounge to the garden through a lack of vision in the dimming light. What a muppet eh? Unfortunately minutes later and the door was wiped clean off the frame and on the floor as I myself followed my Watch Leaders example and marched on through. Laughs were increased as apparently a sign was put up to warn people about the partially invisible door. I’ll admit I saw nothing.

After thanking the Gridleys for what was an extremely pleasant and relaxing day the crew headed back to Rona where it was an early night in preparation for sailing to Boston tomorrow.

Joel Falken-Smith, Crew, Team America

Rona II crosses the start line in Bermuda

Photo by John Wadson, Sail Training Bermuda

Leg 3: Race 4: 5th July: End of Race

Marblehead update - end of racing for Leg 3.

Well the racing is over for us, and you could not believe the variety of conditions we have experienced in the last 3 days. Squalls, calms, Force 9 gusting 10, and wind in the wrong direction at the wrong time! We knew that Rona II could cope, but the crew proved that they could cope with all conditions and react instantly and expertly when required. There may not be so many boats on this leg, but this crew deserved to be 1st in class however many we had.

Prior to this we had a perfect run up the gulf stream, although it is good now to have normal humidity and to feel comfortable.

We have seen whales, dolphins galore, sailfish and many strange seabirds. Marblehead harbour is today bathed in glorious sunshine and we are about to start shoreleave.

Well done to all the crew.

Bill Jermey

Skipper

Leg 3: Race 4: 4th July 2009

4th July 2009 1700 hours. Our Position is: 42 16N, 69 48W. This will be the last report before we hope finish this leg of the race in Boston. We are still holding first in class but have moved down the fifth overall. Fazisi (another vessel in our class) has not reported her position in two days and if she has not yet made Boston and maintained her position behind us we will have the added bonus of being the first vessel across the finish line in the entire race.

The conditions are similar to yesterdays low winds which saw a crew swimming challenge off the stern of the boat. Proving only to well that you will never catch a boat doing over one knot buy swimming after it.

Our first cold night since the trip began saw the night and early watches in full oilies with a chill wind making deck conditions less pleasant than the 30+ degrees we have seen in the previous three weeks.

After an uneventful nights sailing, the wind conditions lessened to a virtual standstill, with happy hour being postponed to take advantage of some rare breeze. The day temperatures have remained high with the breeze being the only relief. Happy hour resumed and we heard the days Oscar nominations and saw the T-Shirt change hands from yesterdays looser Lou, to todays - McLovin' - for attempting to throw uneaten tomato overboard but instead hitting JJ. The food has been good today with a fantastic breakfast of soft boiled eggs and sweet soldiers, and lunch of pasta and a strong but tasty lemon sauce.

As happy hour progressed the wind steadily increased seeing the mizzen stay-sail drop and the cruising shoot up. I hope these winds increase as we are frustratingly close and seemingly unable to make any headway towards the finish line. I am personally taking advantage of the calm weather to catch up on photos and to mend any ropes warn or broken through use since Bermuda.

This report was prepared by Simon O'Hora, Crew, Pipe Watch, Rona II.

Leg 3: Race 4: 3rd July 2009

3rd July 2009 - 0900

Yesterday was an eventful day with a magnitude of weather conditions; we went from sunny calm conditions to storm force 9!

As the sun rose in the morning the southerly was quickly replaced with a squall turning the winds northerly in a few seconds, and increasing to force 7, this caused some entertainment on deck with a quick drop on the cruising chute for Team America.

Battling on during the day, Nova watch, were caught with even stronger conditions managing to reef the main sail but also drop the mizzen whilst riding the storm out.

Wave heights were between 10 to 15 feet and Rona kicked into her groove hitting speeds of 15 knots through the water and a record 20.1 knots over the ground set during Team America's watch, something not likely to be repeated for some time.

Today the conditions have once again changed dramatically with the sun out in full and not a cloud in the sky, the wind has also dropped to average 4 knots giving us a dreadful boat speed of 1-2 knots. To cope with these conditions we have dropped all sails apart from the light cruising chute, hopefully the conditions will improve as the day goes on.

Nova watch are today on mother watch once again and delighted the crew with fried eggs, beans and bread for breakfast. More fresh bread is to be prepared throughout the day for dinner.

Our current positions is 39,44N 68,53W

Stuart O'Connor, Crew, Nova Watch

Leg 3: Race 4, 1 July

1st July 2009 - 0840

Since the last update a few things have happened, the most notable being the burial at sea of our most loved stowaway, Ermintrude.

Ermintrude joined the crew during the girl's leg and had travelled thousands of miles with them in safe hands. His safe journey during leg 3 and onto Halifax was bestowed upon Watch Leader Liam, unfortunately this was a duty far above Liam's ability and Ermintrude died within several days due to malnutrition.

The burial at sea consisted of Ermintrude being fired (via slingshot) far into the sunset, hopefully not killing any dolphins. This was followed by a millisecond of silence before the crew burst into cheer and celebrations.

For those who are not aware Ermintrude is a head made from a pair of tights filled with soil and hair made from grass.

Today Team America is mother watch and they have prepared breakfast which was not only served on time but was also edible, this consisted of eggs, beans, sliced cheese and bread.

Throughout the night we have been flying the spinnaker, mainsail, mizzen and mizzen stay sail, this has given us good speed and we await our positions within the race today as we have been averaging over 10 knots.

Our current positions is 35,02N 74,42W

Stuart O'Connor, Crew, Nova Watch