Day 1 – Saturday 4 January 2020 – Race day!
By Dominic Holling
I woke up in my bed and realized that today we were to leave for the sailing trip to Rio that we have been preparing for. It was a hustle to get ready the last things, spend the last moments with family, before I left to the RCYC. We got there very early but there were already lots of people there hustling around the yacht club and getting everything ready for the race of a lifetime. It was a great vibe at the yacht club and it really felt like we were part of a family all working together. As our crew started we got the boat ready, and then that was a moment of appreciation, such a great privilege to be a part of this amazing crew. We headed over to immigration where all went smoothly. After that, back at the yacht club we got the last of our things ready amidst the hustle and awesome vibe at the club. There were then lots of people, friends, family, sailors all coming to see us and wish us good luck. I felt so cared about. We went and got our last proper nice meal, a buffet breakfast. We all sat together as a crew with our family, eating the last meat as we could all be going vegetarian for the next 28 days. Well I guess on the bright side we would be saving the environment! They started to call us for the blessing of the fleet, where the fleet are introduced and blessed off. Unfortunately Daniel was MIA for this, buying our last stock. It was really cool seeing and being introduced to all the yachts competing with us, all of them really nice people. We also heard about all the amazing causes and challenges the fleet were sailing for, such as sailing for peace or cutting out plastic. The fleet was then blessed and then the mayor of Cape Town gave us a talk and wished us luck, followed by him shooting a little canon to officially open the race. After that the goodbyes started and it felt very sudden. I didn’t want to say goodbye and it still didn’t feel real. There were so many people there for us to see us off and we started saying our goodbyes, seeing them for the last time.
My mom had gotten the jump seat ticket from the raffle to join us on the boat for the start and was going off with us on her birthday. Then it started to happen and we were soon on the boat and the motor was turned on. Commands started for us to cast off as we were saying goodbye to friends and family. Before we knew it we were smoothly cast off and on the water motoring out the yacht club, waving back at everyone. That’s when it started to kick in that we were doing a 28 day ocean crossing, but that feeling was shadowed by our excitement. We were all stoked. We headed out and towards the waterfront to do our motor past Quay 6 with the rest of the fleet. We went past saying good bye to more friends and family. Then we headed out and towards the starting line, preparing to start. We had our first ocean meal, having lunch on board. The conditions were amazing – clear skies and glassy, clear water. It was a great fun time and we all were very excited for the start. We raised our main sails in a beautifully coordinated way and then turned off our motor and we were officially underway. Before we knew it they were calling out 10 minutes, then 5, and then 1. It was a rush of adrenaline and we were all pumping. It was exhilarating. We were all trimming the sails and we unfurled our genoa as we started. We were going and then we decided to pole out the genoa and then we overtook a few boats. We rounded the mark off Sea Point. We had our very own Rotary Scout photographer boat following us with Jono and Robbie aboard who were there to support and pick up my mom from the jump seat. Then my mom jumped off into the icy water and was quickly picked up by them.
From there on we were off as we rounded the second mark and then headed out into the ocean, bound for Rio de Janeiro. The watch system then started and we settled in. A few of us headed into the forepeak for some well-deserved sleep. The wind was pretty steady and we were beating. When everyone awoke we were keen for some dinner. We heated our pre-made mac and cheese. The wind started to die down and the water was glassy. Our new light wind genoa went up. We ate our dinner on the deck staring into the sunset and table mountain well behind us as we were bobbing away. For the rest of the day there was little wind, about 2-10 knots. After dinner, everyone got some sleep before their watches. The wind stayed the same. We could still see Table Mountain and the lights on shore until about 2:00am the next morning. The bio luminescence was beautiful and we had our fishing lures out. For most of the time we were sitting like ducks and at one point in-between the shifts hand-over the boat was turned to Cape Town, but was shortly corrected.
No one has gotten sea sick yet which is amazing.
