Somewhere, Beyond the Sea

A little late on my (attempted) weekly post, but that's okay, because this one will be rather timely! Last weekend I had the opportunity to take a tour of a clipper that's participating in a round the world yacht race, including the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which started yesterday.

This was the first time I'd ever really been on a sailing boat (not including those tall ships they have on the harbor). I've been on fishing boats, and cargo ship visits, but not surprisingly, there aren't many yachts in Anchorage.

Not the boat I visited, but the same type and in the same race.

I got to visit the Henri Lloyd, shortly after it pulled into Rushcutter's Bay after being "borrowed" for a day outing. The Henri Lloyd is a 70 foot yacht...and I know there are more measurement specifics, but you can read about them on clipperroundtheworld.com.

This one's for you, mom. I can hear you shaking your head from here.

I was mostly interested to get a feel for how big the boat was, how the 20 or so people lived on board together, and how things "worked". The logistics, really.

As you might imagine, there's not a lot of room. But it's not like they put in at night, so people are on deck sailing at all hours.

Still, the bunks are not large.

That's where they sleep. And put all their stuff. It's like a bivvy sack!

And the kitchen -- well, can you imagine cooking for 20 people there? It would be a challenge!

The gourmet kitchen.

Here's where the skipper (captain) sits. I kind of thought he was up above, "driving" if you will, but he does a lot of work planning where the boat should go to take advantage of the winds and currents.

I unfortunately did not a get a demonstration of the weather software.

Dad will be disappointed, but I did not actually take a picture of the toilet. Unlike Dan and Heidi's "marine" toilet, it just gets dumped outside. So not that interesting. Also, I'm never going swimming in Rushcutter's Bay.

By the time you guys are reading this post, the Sydney to Hobart Race may be over. But if not, you can check it out on rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/. I'm glad I met someone who has a stake in the race; like the Iditarod, it makes it more fun to watch when you're following a team!