Melodie Ridge Schaffer told Shellbacks of her time spent aboard as crew on the Southern Ocean Leg of the Clipper Round the World Race.. Melodie has documented her race in her blog "Life at 45 Degrees": https://www.instagram.com/threeoceansventures/?hl=en A couple of entries are included below. Life at 45 Degrees - Day 1 Early start to leg 3, as we had to be on the bus for immigration at 7:45am. Back at the dock by 9:15 for final boat prep and goodbyes to family. We were the first boat on the schedule for the official team photo. Well wishes were received from Sir Robin Knox -Johnson and we were the first to leave the pontoon. It is timed very precisely, so that every three minutes a team slips their lines. With the team's song playing, the drums beating and the crowd cheering, I was so caught up in moment that I forgot that this is it for land for 4 weeks. In the bay, all the boats organized themselves for the parade and media photos, and then final mock MOB's. A quick lunch and then were into pre race maneuvers. There are 11 boats competing in this race around the world. The race of this length, won't be won by the start but it can be lost. A strong start pin end with clean air. Several tacks with port crossovers that involved a quick tack to lee bow and then ducking under another on starboard. Not all the boats were so fortunate, with two boats having a major collision and had to retire for repairs. They will be in Cape Town for two weeks while the repairs are completed. Everyone had their assigned role on the boat and I was on main, with two crew on the coffee grinders to pull it in. I balanced precariously over the navigation hatch, feeling the angle of the boat and watching the skipper's eyes to judge when he would call for an ease of the main. We quickly developed a synchronicity. As we rounded the last real mark in the harbour, on our way to virtual marks on the mighty ocean, he complimented me with "I've been waiting 10,000 miles for this and you to be here". One boat had main sail issues an hour after the start. Three boats out of eleven now had problems. Nick commented that at this rate, we just need to finish to be successful! The breeze is strong and the boat finds her way at a 45degree angle. Life below deck is challenging and the waves take their toll. Throughout the night 7 crew are sea sick. (There are 16 crew, 1 media rep, the AQP (mate) and skipper). We switch onto a three watch system (On ,off and standby). Each watch is 4 hours long with two two hour dog watches mid day, which rotates the hours you are on by four hours each day. The first off watch sleep was rough. My 'coffin bunk' was on the high side and it seemed no matter how high the bunk was cranked there was the feeling of sliding out. I was too tired to logically improve the situation but resorted to becoming very small and sleeping perpendicular at the head of the bunk where there was some form of wall. It was a Houdini act but I was tired and desperate for a few minutes of sleep. All too soon we were awoken for the standby watch. We dressed quickly, gear on ready to go on deck, but we could wait below. The seas were rough and the low side was filled with all of the ill people toughing it out in their own silent miseries.. Three of us on our watch put a cushion on the high side floor and curled up to sleep. On the floor it meant we did not have to brace ourselves against the precarious angle. We were like a three puppies tired out from play, and had flopped to sleep. It was wonderful. 4 am we are on deck with 4 hours of sailing. The first night watch of many. We rounded Cape Hope at the end of the watch. Down below again desperate for sleep, I was delighted as we were on a favourable tack for my bunk - I would get a good sleep. South Africa and the last of land is behind us. We are now on the Indian Ocean! Life at 45 Degrees - The Mission "Now the mission begins" as heard by my crew mate. He had made a coffee and needed to take it to the skipper at the nav station at the stern of the boat. This simple task on land requires cat-like stealth abilities on the boat. Every aspect of what you do is planned. With the angle of the boat and the motion over the waves, you need one hand always holding on. There are grab rails around the boat so you move from one to another to get around. It's a return to our primate phase, like a monkey in a Often as the waves build, it becomes more of a drunken stagger. It's a challenge when both hands are free, and requires thoughtful consideration when you are holding something and limited to one hand. There are places of course with no handholds, which requires timing with the waves or leaning against a wall of bulkhead, and bracing yourself as you move. Crew mates offer a hand of support or a back-up in case the boat moves different than expected. It's timing, it's a dance but it's also essential. A mis-timing and a fall can be very unfortunate, especially when you are thousands of miles from shore. Last night we had squalls and some intense moments. Sailing on a broad reach, sometimes the power would build and the boat would head up. The helm would struggle to bear away. The prior shift helm, an 'around the worlder' who is a young strong guy, at one point cranked the wheel over and then literally seemed to be hiking off the leeward side of it to take it over further. It's a battle. The rudder can suddenly kick back to you like a rifle after it has fired. On our shift, the skipper was at the wheel and I stayed back at the wheel with him. When the wind would surge and the boat heeled hard and definately head up, I would drop down and brace myself by the main winch, ready with the main to ease it off. Sometimes it would be a few seconds but eventually it was closer to a minute with the boat charging like a freight train gone off its tracks. It was time for a reef. The first one at night. The standby watch was called on deck and the main was taken to reef one. The sail reduced and the crazed freight train ride ended. We had a beautiful day of sailing. A couple brief squalls but mainly blue skies and decent winds. We enjoyed the show of the albatross playing the winds behind the boat. Rein and I maxed out our time on the wheel, building up our experience and feel of the helm. It's now 3am. We are on standby watch. Fully dressed ready to go on deck. We tried to sleep for the first couple hours some on the floor and others on the bench. None of us managed sleep on our off watch so this was our chance but it wasn't forthcoming. My last sleep was an hour on the dog watch 12 hours ago. 5 more hours before I get another chance. We are called on deck to help with a reef. The winds have built so we put in reef two. It's 30-40 knots and a fight to get the sail down. There is wind, waves splashing and it's raining. Two of us helped with the task. When we return below deck, we are treated to hot chocolate and discover that bread has been made. It will rise and bake while we are on deck, and we will enjoy fresh bread when our shift ends at 8am. Small moments like these are very much appreciated. We've travelled 800 nmiles in 3 days. 4200 nmiles to go. Details on the Clipper Round the World Race can be found at: https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/. About Melodie Ridge Shaffer
Melodie is the daughter of Howard Ridge, a longtime Shellbacks member. She has sailed and raced out of RCYC on variety of boats from dinghies (Laser, 470, International 14) to keel boats (Shark, C+Cs, 8 Meters, J105s). She is a Crew member for the Clipper Round the World Race, 2019-2020. She just finished the Southern Ocean leg which was a three week race from Cape Town to Freemantle. And she will be racing two further legs – the Australia to China and the China to the US legs. She is an engineer by profession, is married and has three children, one in high school and two in university.
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