Sweet cinnamon rolls
Third day onboard Visit Finland sees light breeze and sunshine up on deck, inverter trouble down below.
Skipper Oli and Del have been troubleshooting our inverter since early morning. Last night both computer screens went blank, therefore we are unable to use not only Raymarine radar (nonfunctional since race start), but also our electronic charts and email. Search for overload failure in our electronics has continued ever since. Their latest innovation allows running one computer screen at a time powered directly by the generator. Paper charts have been unearthed and sequenced to follow our route from Singapore to China.
Light airs
This computer trouble puts us in disadvantage against other yachts in the race, so it is in our interests to fix it as soon as possible. Troubleshooting continues hectically in current light winds. Tomorrow the wind should increase, which is great for sailing, but bad news for computer troubleshooting as the heeling angle will make all efforts exponentially more laboured.
Today I am mothering again with Carl, the Swedish viking. We’ve just survived lunch – chicken soup and quesadillos for 15 people. For dinner we will prepare cous cous with chorizo, olives and tomato sauce. I’m about to bake some Finnish sweet cinnamon rolls, as conditions are so flat that even baking in the galley is like a walk in the park.
Hygiene above all
Mother watch has given an opportunity for some personal maintenance, namely hair wash, pedicure and a full body wet wipe wash. During this race 8 we have been allocated one wet wipe pack each, totalling 4 wipes per day. This isn’t nearly enough for maintaining everyday hygiene, therefore it is best to always buy couple of spare packs for personal stash.
It is quite remarkable that on land I have to remind myself that normal people take showers every day. (Fortunately I’m not the only sailor reporting this lapse.) Normal people also brush their hair at least once a day. Then again, normal people probably brush their teeth only twice a day.
You see, on the boat we do not usually shower at all in order to conserve fresh water. At times it also gets so cold that lukewarm wash is simply not tempting enough. Hair brushing gets little attention in constant on and off watch changes, where night and day mingle intermittently. I keep my shoulder length hair tied on a tight bundle day and night. My hair had a date with a brush last time three days ago in Singapore.
Hair may be washed once a week during mother watch, which is always great yet shampoo consuming, thanks to multiple soapings that are required for squeaky clean results. (Thanks Meg for the shampoo bar, what a lovely and useful surprise parcel it was!) If all this puts you off from ocean sailing, I can offer some solace disclosing that dental hygiene is much better onboard, as teeth may be brushed 4-5 times a day when getting off-watch and going to sleep. (Flossing should be daily routine too, says every dentist.)
If looks could shrill
Another empowering change from normal life is that not women nor men wear make up on board. In this environment I consider make up just dirt that I would not voluntarily put on my face, mascara being the worst smudger. The crew has already seen each other in natural state (even in complete disarray), so who we’d try to fool with make up anyway?
All this leads to a question whether the standards of land and sea will clash fiercely on my return. I wonder is there any correlation between being a sailor and being single? This just as an afterthought, if the efforts to woo a partner limit to taking a shower and changing into clean clothes!
Baking in South China Sea, 5 22′.467N 108 12.740E
