On the schnozz

Paul Larsen brings us his latest animated account from on board Doha 2006 in the Oryx Quest

The good news is that the wind is back, the bad news is that it is in its now familiar guise of being hard on the nose.

We had a couple of blissful watches last night sailing fast to the mark in flat seas. It was fantastic to be doing over 20 knots again. As the conditions have been so mild recently we have been letting the standby watch stay in bed unless they are really needed. The cool and calm nights make for some pretty deep, dream-filled sleeps.

It was from this state that I was awoken last night by Karine who quickly told me that "weweredoing25knotshaddroppedthe'bigdog'andgonetothesolent.we'reoncoursebutoffcoursetostayoutofthewindshadowofthemountainsandthatweneedtogetreadyonstandbyincaseweneedtochangesails!" I tried to absorb this whilst still wondering where the slightly evil, talking blue rabbits which had filled my head only moments before had gone. So I got up and staggered forwards to the foul-weather rack while shaking my groggy head together.

"Righto, let's see, umm, gotta' get up, gotta' stand by..." Hang-on, it's not like I need to get changed or anything. Apart from a louder hiss from the hull, everything else feels and sounds the same. Smooth, warm and dry.

I checked on deck 'Hey Jonny, everything cool?' Jonny gives the thumbs up without emotion. Right so no need to pull on the survival suit and stand next to the mast with a fire axe. I went back to bed in my new 'stand-by' guise...a pair of sandals.

On the way I awoke Stan from his deep sleep and as soon as his groggy eyes opened I told him to 'STAND-BY'. His head never left the pillow as his thought pattern no doubt tried to blend this all into whatever it is that Stan Delbarre dreams about (probably the subject matter for many other popular websites). His eyes were shut before I could turn the light off. I still haven't worked out what that was all about (come to think of it, I never got to ask those blue rabbits either!!!)

During our last watch the wind swung onto the nose and increased to 17 knots. Within minutes, even in a still very flat seastate, Doah 2006 began 'chopping wood'. These boats are NOT designed with comfort upwind as even a distant option. The underwater shape of these cats is very distinctive with most of the 'rocker'(longitudinal curvature) being aft. This means that there is a long flat run from about the middle to the bow and when the boat begins pitching this slaps the water all at once. It's not gentle, pretty or fast.

All the romantic notions of savouring the last couple of days flew straight out the window. Once again we slowed down to barely double figures in order to preserve the boat while we gradually got headed off course by the breeze.

Ho-hum. With every slam we are reminded once more that we are not home yet. It looks like it is going to be mostly upwind to the finish. With a lead (ever dwindling as it may be) like we are currently enjoying normally there would be a point where you could win even if the mast did blow over the side. A half decent 'jury-rig' would see you there in due time.

This is not the case now as we it would be damned hard to erect anything that would enable this craft go upwind at a necessary rate. On the other hand it would be unwise to under-estimate the resourcefulness of this crew. It doesn't bare thinking about other than to remind ourselves to remain attentive and cautious.

It looks like we are going to be doing a long beat up to Iran before working the coastal breezes west along to the Straights of Hormuz. We should be there by tomorrow. Although Tony [Bullimore] is gobbling up our lead, he also will have to play in the fickle conditions of the North Indian ocean. Time is probably a more realistic determination of lead than distance at this stage. I hope that they are appreciating the ride that they got up the inside of that big depression. The other option wasn't much fun.

We are now relying on the rations we put aside to get us across the line. All other frills are gone. This here media computer is the only one still working which the crew has access to and it is being worked hard as everyone begins preparing for their arrival and re-acquaintence with normality. There is quite often a queue. The inverter that powers it is 'on the blink' and works when it wants to so the 'WARNING-LOW BATTERY' sign is constantly coming on... yep, there it is again (reach over, turn the inverter off and on again).

One of the most annoying things about bashing upwind again is that we have to shut the hatches again and endure the heat below decks once more. As mentioned, the romance has temporarily departed us once again. One of the frustrating things about these very fast boats is that you know how good it could be if only the weather gods would play ball.

Unlike alot of boats where the wind direction only affects the speed, hence ETA, by small factors, On such craft as Doha 2006, well based on previous performances, we could chew up this final 600 miles in 21 or so hours if everything dropped into place.

Nevermind, we must be thankful to be moving. All the signs of land are coming back. Planes are blinking overhead in the night sky as we cross under flight-paths, there is more shipping, the sea itself has changed colour, there is more junk floating in it and every now and then the breeze brings more earthly aromas. 600 miles, that's less than a Sydney-Hobart. I suppose that if this god-awful bashing continues all the way then we will appreciate stepping off all the more.

Paul.

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