Caroline vividly described the journey ’ s high and low points , but also the mundane aspects of life on board ; the growing importance of food as the one variable in the daily routines ; the struggles with maintaining the equipment ; the scale of victualling the yacht for the next leg ( Caroline ’ s role from Vietnam on ) and the sheer effort of repairing ripped sails ( three people for 10 days on one occasion !). I cannot find a better way to describe this than Caroline ’ s own words :
When you bump into an old friend it is always hard to do justice to your last year with a short sound bite . It is harder still to explain a year at sea , racing a 70ft yacht around the world with a crew of 15 , as part of the Clipper Round the World Race . For a year I raced across oceans , showered once a month and brushed my teeth with salt water . determination and resilience required , as I grappled with the possibility of failure .
My motivation for completion moved between a desire to “ achieve something remarkable ” and a fear of losing face with all those I ’ d shared my dream with .
As the race continued my confidence that I ’ d complete it grew as the toughest weather and passages were behind us , and I took time to enjoy the wonder of being at sea and travelling thousands of miles from land and other people .
Well , judging by the attention afforded throughout by the audience of around 50 CYC members , and the questions generated in the final part of the session , the “ short sound bite ” we heard was enough to put us in awe of Caroline ’ s achievement !
I didn ’ t see my own reflection , have my own bunk , have access to email or know what day of the week it was .
If you would like to see more , there are a couple of photos on the club Yogile site : http :// www . yogile . com / z04d92ew - 21t
There were points I wondered if I had underestimated the challenge , the
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