8/2/2011

It is in a mixed state of exhaustion, surprise, disorientation & absolute euphoria that the crew of Me2Me post this final blog entry, from the penthouse suit of an apartment block on Copacabana beach front, Rio Janiero, Brazil. We made it.

EnviroDiesel Me2Me crossed (or crawled!) across the finish line just after midnight (GMT) on the 7th of February, after 23 days, 10 hours on the Atlantic ocean. This race is hard, right up until the closing moments. In fact, the final 48 hours of the race were perhaps some of the toughest of the race, fraught with heavy weather, frustratingly low winds & desperate mile counting!

Our last night on board was a strange one. Everyone had mixed feelings about their final Night Watches. In a way we were relieved & happy to know they were our last bights of broken sleep but once out there, it was a rather sad good-bye to the beautiful stars above & that feeling of pure solitude upon an inky black sea. As we got to within 300 miles of the Brazilian coast we entered the oil fields; the night was dotted with the eerie orange glow of Oil Rigs as far as the eye could see; dozens of them. These silent sentries felt alien & invasive, imposing on our friendship with  only the stars above & rolling waves below as companions. A rather ironic feeling for a lonely sailor who thought all he'd been craving  as civilisation. That night's sailing saw 25 knot winds for a good while, before dropping to calmer waters as we passed under the cover of Carbo Frio (Cape Cold).

The next day, our final at sea, was awakend with the cry of "Land ho!". From about 150 miles out we sailed happily within eye-sight of the coast, looming grey hills seen through the haze seemed a difficult sight to believe in. As we got right into the bay, shipping activity buzzing around us & buildings visible on the horizon, we began making contact with race organisers over the radio. Flying along at 6 - 7 knots, we filled them with excited estimates for our time of arrival. Silly us. We'd over looked the "Parking Lot". About 12 miles out, within sight of light houses, harbour walls, city lights & the famous statue of "Cristo Redentor" our wind just vanished and we sat. For fought desparately as the windex just spun donuts, changing sails, redistributing our weight & doing anything we could think of to get Me2Me moving. The sun was low & the prospect of another night on board, within sight of Rio, seemed very real. Eventually as if putting a humurous finish to a cruel joke, the evening breeze crept back to us & we inched over the line at 2.8 knots. The hooter sounded. The crew exploded. We'd finished the race.

To top things all off it was a matter of seconds before we heard the joyous voices of our support crew; family & friends who had flown all the way across to suffer the hours & even days waiting for us to arrive. These people have literally caught us as we collapsed off the boat, feeding us, cleaning us & returning the humanity to our lives. They are wonderful. In the final days, we were sailing to get to them.

So, before we wrap up this blog, a few closing remarks.

1) There are no mermaids in the Atlantic. We looked. There are lots of flying fish but assuming you are relying on a flying fish as your communicator to the mer-people, not happening. Sorry.

2) Beard growth is hazadous. We made landfall & found a mirror &, well, both us & the mirror are still recovering. It may improve your sailing but it does not improve your game. Fact.

BEARD STATUS: Murray - although growth was greater than expected (beyond bum-fluff), disqualification due to "ginger infringement". Quarantine officers still dealing with him. Alex - beard is a strong word. Decent length but we should have placed some rules of gluing yorkshire terriers to your upper lip. Mike - only one of the youngsters who may actually have testosterone in his body. The fluffy, auburn texture is very unfortunate but would make for sick lamb-chops.

Andre - most respectable! But far too short lived. It didn't even last 6 hours on shore. His wife gave a good exchange though; she provided zoo biscuits.

Saths - The silver back. Enough said. Respect.

See Below for the evidence. Feel free to comment on what you think & who has the most respectable facial growth!

 

3)Thanks guys. Thanks to all of you who joined us on our trip, from your desk-tops, couches, bedrooms & maybe even bathrooms (who knows where computers are these days!) .  To know people were interested, to receive their comments & faithful support; it helped more than you know.  Obragado! (thanks!)

Today we found out we finished 7th overall! Pretty decent considering - us! The impact was not what one thought it would be though. It was telling the stories last night around an incredible dinner on a flat, still surface to people who cared & desperately wanted to know. That is what made every inch of 3600 miles worth it. Hope you guys think so too! This is the crew from Me2Me signing off. Thanks guys. We hope to follow the adventures & antics of your lives on your blogs soon ;-)

6 / 2 / 2011

POS: 22d 57'S, 38d 41'W

Wow Rio is ridiculously far away. We've been pottering along for 23 days now & still she lies beyond the horizon! Someone really should put that in the brochure. Team morale is good though! Only Dirty Dorris (chugging along next to me) is still rather temperamental about life, running fine for 40 minutes & then suddenly descending into a sullen gurgle before dying. Life is kept interesting by Bookie Derek's gambling fund. We've been placing bets on ETA; Murray going for an optimistic 17:30 (on Monday of course) while Mike, Andre & others going for the cautious 19:30+ times.

Good winds & big swell gave us a cracking 160 mile odd day yesterday & we're hoping the trend sticks around. Several crew members have read Murray's copy of "Life of Pi" & the general feeling is things could be far worse. Being short one Tiger, one Hyena & having our Life Raft firmly strapped to the Coach roof, out of use, are all factors that keep us smiling. No one has eaten anyone else either. Yet.

Last night Mike & Alex caught the last of the dreaded Time-Change-Shifts. Since we go through 5 different time zones during our trip, if you're on shift as we sail into a new time zone then the clocks get turned back an

hour regardless & you basically end up doing an extra hour of shift! The turn over inconveniently fell during the "Death Watch" shift - from about 9pm to 5 Am when you get to see neither sunset, sunrise or the better side of your pillow. So making the best of it, the guys decided to have a Time Change party; incorporating Jelly babies, coffee, Eet Sum Mor biscuits, super-C's & pretty much anything they could scrounge. It was all crowned off when they woke the rest of the crew to partake in the final offerings of Fruit Cake & Custard!

246 Nautical miles to go (that's 442.8km) & counting!

5 / 2 / 2011

POS: 22d 44'S, 35d 56'W

Me2Me is back up to being one of the fastest moving nations on the planet. Literally. We have left the pace of tectonic drift & are now cruising east at a whopping 7-8 knots in 15 knots of Breeze.Rather spifing.

Thanks for all the enthusiastic comments guys! It really helped us get through the quiet times, particularly since the baking heat just made everyone grumpy :-(

So we're within 3 odd days of Rio de Janiero & just in time too as the thin line of sanity seems to be taking strain out here. We're a little worried about Andre who seems convinced that every small, fluffy, cumulus

cloud is out there to rain on him. Every time he comes up on deck he tentatively pokes his head, scanning for condensation awaiting ambush. His paranoia does have some anecdotal support; of the past four rain squalls

we've been caught in three have been during his watch & for the other well we decided to call him up to drop the sails anyway. His reasoning is that they are after his swanky, multi-coloured, leather sailing shoes & quite

frankly we don't blame them.

Well I am afraid Dirty Dorris is being a little emotional again, despite Skipper D's kindest affections. So power is a little low & this one's going to have to be a shortie. We're probably down to our last 2/3 entries

in the next few days so keep an eye on our humble proceedings.

4 / 2 / 2011

POS: 22d 49.4S, 33d 35.8W

Winds are finally picking up as we get down into under 600 NM from Rio! The day counting & calculations until arrival are getting hectic, with everyone giving different estimates for average speeds & some serious weather chart studies going on. The widely accepted most realistic guess of arrival time is Monday night/Tuesday morning. Hold thumbs for us!

So our fishing record on Me2Me has been somewhat strange. It started off well in the early days, we caught our Snoek on day 2 (which was released) & shortly thereafter our first yellow fin Tuna, which did not meet the same forgiving fate but quite frankly tasted amazing. Then came a smallish.. thing (that'll have to do I'm afraid) who got given a second chance too & on that same day we caught our much exalted Dorado which, despite being quite possible the ugliest fish ever, tasted amazing! Alex & Murray then brought their element of magic to the sport, managing to lose a whole set of reel line & lure over board - each! Not only did they lose any lures but the two most successful lures we had! So we were down to two pink things (which Andre felt would only catch fish near Cape Town) & a blue number who swam with a rather impressive side step. We managed to hook a real impressive Dorado on one though, but in the process of waiting for him to tire on the line, the hook was bent & dinner just vanished!

Neptune then upped the stakes though & we lost one pink lure to some monster silver flash a couple of days ago. Then yesterday a resounding snap & colourful language from Murray announced the breaking of another line, as the swivel & trace shot back into the boat narrowly missing urray's head! We looked back to see an enormous Sail fish thrashing across the waves, swimming so fast he seemed to skip along the surface. It was an incredible sight, though it meant we were down to one lure & that the poor chap had the other embedded in his beak - not ideal!

Today started in a buzz of excitement as a regular 14-15 knot breeze raced us towards Rio. It all ended in fiasco though when, while running Dirty Dorris this morning, Derek suddenly realised there was nothing coming out of the water-maker exhaust pipe. Racing to turn it all off, we found the pressure had somehow spiked & the pump blown! After everyone settled down, a real mood of sombre reality hit as we all considered 4 days of limited water supply. We forgot though that we are in fact sailing this race with McGiver's grand-pa & now, 2 hours & one lid of a mussel tin later, Diesel  Derek the Magician has Dorris Running & fresh, pure water rolling out of the water-maker once again. The man is a genius. The University of Me2Me has honoured him with a DSc. in Mechanical Peanut-&-Paper-Clip repairs. NOTHING is stopping this boat from getting to Rio.

3 / 2 / 2011

POS: 23d 03'S, 31d 19.5'W

With 660 nautical miles to go, the crew are getting excited & active, cleaning up the boat, diving into the last of our comfort snacks & preparing for the increased winds in the closing stretch. We realise it can be a little silly to get too excited. You never know what tomorrow's weather could deal you & if the High does not totally lift when it's supposed to, well it could add another day! But hey, one has to stay positive & it's almost impossible to suppress this kind of excited anticipation.

We had a slightly more action packed evening watch last night when a ship crossed our path. Nav lights on & radio contact meant we both saw each other & everyone crossed with a hello & good-luck. Fun to hear another human voice! I think he sounded Italian, but Andre said Russian & Saths thought Ethiopian?!

One of the hottest topics of conversation on the boat right now is of course "What are you most looking forward to in Rio?" or similarly "What are you going to do as soon as you get there?" Aside from everyone's greatest desires to see family & loved ones, the responses have been... interesting.

Skipper has adamantly stated that after satisfying a 3 week thirst for a cold Heineken, he is going to get his hands on a Steak, Egg & Chips. And eat it.

Mike & Andre seem incapable of mentioning any other word aside from "Beer" after which they get a glazed look over their eyes & departs from the conversation. Mike has threatened to adjust out GPS finish line coordinates to those of the Heineken Beer boat which apparently awaits at the end.

Saths has developed an almost obsessing desire for a Creme Soda float. We're all rather worried because no one knows if you get Creme Soda in Brazil?! But he has been warned & agrees to settle for another if need be.

Alex has conjured up the desire for a large, ice cold pineapple juice. He has even mastered the Portuguese phrase "Suco abacxi por favor" which means Pineapple juice, please!

Murray is a simpler individual & only wishes for fruit salad. Lots of it. Oh, and beer.

The on-board chess ladder has also recently kicked off! Competitors include Mike, Murray, Alex & Skipper. Murray held the title first, having defeated Mike twice & even the Skipper (we're not allowed to talk about it) but he was recently very narrowly pipped by Alex who currently tops the log. We'll keep you updated!

2 / 2 / 2011

POS: 23d 12.5'S 29d 10'W

Ok so maybe Saturday/Sunday was a bit ambitious. This whole 7 - 10 knots of breeze thing is stretching the closing leg out & although conditions on board are good with respect to water, food & morale, the extended anticipation takes its toll on the crew.

We had some excitement yesterday when the boat jolted sharply and a loud snap alerted us to something breaking. I think each of our hearts sank with the thought "oh no, not another halyard/sheet" but rising to the cockpit we were greeted by a wide eyed Andre on the helm.

"Did you see that?!" he said, pointing at the limp fishing line off the back. A monster fish (Andre said) had just relieved us of one of our final lures, snapping the line halfway & jolting the whole boat in the process.

Wind has been frustratingly undecided as we reach the edge of the "high". Lots of sail changes confusing angles are slowing progress. Derek's repairs of the heads seems to have stopped us sinking at least & weather is still incredible with moonless nights, white with stars.

Oh yeah, & making the small things count; Saths managed to get 28 pancakes out of one packet of batter mix yesterday! On a small boat of hungry sailors this is Nobel Prize winning stuff & his popularity has been

accordingly raised. We're a bit worried Andre "van Helm" maybe losing the plot a little; he has taken permanent watch for attack from flying-fish, or as he calls them "gnimmels" (this is the plural of "lemming" backwards) as Andre has observed these fish seem to hurl themselves from the sea onto our boat, often into suicidal collision with the boom, mast, Mike's head or Derek's crotch.

1 / 2 / 2011

POS: 23d 10.5'S, 27d 38.8'W

The first of February, an exciting day on board, spelling the approach to the end of an incredible race. With still a week to go (& some of the toughest weather conditions too possibly) there's still quit a bit in it. These days many of the boats have recently had of lolling around in the windless region seem to have been good for us. Sounds like we may have pulled some back on the field & taken a spot or two up. We don't know though since we've stop receiving position reports so if you know, comment & let us know!!

Had a little scare this morning when Diesel Derek headed off to the Heads to do the morning routine. Suddenly there was shouting and spluttering as one of the intake valves fell off & a jet of water started to stream into the boat! We've managed to fix it for now, McGiver style (packet of peanuts & paper clip and all that...) so hopefully she holds or we'll be sinking - toilet first!

Alex managed to through one of the umbrella poles over board yesterday, putting him in the lead for things lost to Neptune (dinner spoons, fishing lure & umbrella pole). Saths' finger has healed up well & things are going dandily, despite rather little wind.

We're down to about 880miles to Rio!! Hopefully we'll be in Saturday night/Sunday morning, so keep your eyes on the race!

31 / 1 / 2011

POS: 22d 43.27'S, 26d 09.74W

So we've hit this meteorological phenomenon known as a high pressure cell or as the Yachties call it; "the parking lot". There is basically no wind (7 knots) & we're crawling along at 3 knots. The days of 8 knot cruising speeds & 20 knot surfs are over. Every now & then you hear an excited yelp of "Woohoo! 6 knots!" from the helm, so I suppose it's just a matter of lowering the standards. We can't race racing cars all the time. Sometimes you just gotta race snails.

The slow-down in sailing has had a corresponding effect on lifestyle. There's lots more reading going on (even by Mike) & when going really slowly like this we've discovered even the wheel does its own thing. This was realised when we caught Mr "van Helm" reading his book on watch & steering with his foot! The boat has a couple of spots crew members head for in their down time. The two most popular (aside from the cabin beds down below) have been nicknamed Club Mast & Club Lazarette respectively. These popular hangout joints attract different clientèle during different stages of the day.

Club Mast offers a beautifully secluded spot, away from other crew & usually in prime position for sunset & sunrise views. In the afternoon, wonderful shade is cast by the overhead spinnaker but sometimes the close proximity to the Heads' hatch results in interesting aromas & awkward confrontations. Being near the helm, complete with sound system & beach umbrellas, Club Lazarette is a real winner during the midday heat. Its popularity though is heavily dependent on who is the DJ on duty & though there's been little objection to sharing music time & trying different tunes, the line had to be drawn when one of Andre's play lists produced a 70 minute long "Best of the 80's Classics Medley".

Sixteen days at sea is still taking its small tolls on crew & equipment. One of the Tac-Tic instruments which give us wind speed, boat speed, wind angle etc. decided this ocean racing stuff is not for it & packed up yesterday. The other has found that simply feeding us gobledee-gook information is funnier & had everyone really confused for a while last night. Most depressing of all was the loss of one of the speakers in Club Lazarette. I'm afraid mono sound just does not do Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos justice out here.

In his relentless quest to provide delicious meals Uncle Saths managed to burn his finger. This was actually quite lucky when you consider how much of him was exposed at the time. Treatment was swift & efficient from Me2Me's young Medical Graduates; Alex & Murray. Lathering the wound in burn gel, they ingeniously covered the lot in the detached finger of a latex glove, taped up with elastoplast. I think the emotional damage from having to walk around with a large, gooey, white finger far outweighed the physical pain.

Alongside the Cape to Rio yacht race continues the quieter yet equally competitive Me2Me Beard Growing Contest. Unfortunately the blatant presence of excessive ginger hair in Murray's beard has disqualified him from the competition & word is he may be detained in quarantine at Rio. Alex's growth is, well, patchy and Mike & Andre are keeping up some stable development. Undoubtedly the tops for shear appearance thus far go to Mr Saths Moodley for his rugged "Silver Back" look. The Skipper is always clean shaven! But hey, someone has to maintain the standards!

30 / 1 / 2011

POS: 22d 32'S, 23d 35'W

Some of you may be following us on the official Heineken Cape to Rio tracker website & you may be wondering why we're going we've come up north - again! (We're now at 22d 30' south when Rio is down at 23d 00) Well if you are super into the race, you'll have checked out the latest weather pattern files for this section of the mid Atlantic & starting today, at 23d S there is NO wind!! So we're hoping with this little mission to scamper over the top of the windless zone. Sailing out here has been beautiful. Last night was a perfect night of sailing as described by our skipper below & for the first time in a while there are even fish out here! Yesterday we hooked a HUGE Dorado & the boat was in chaos as everyone scampered to see it. The beast jumping around on the end of the line must have been a metre long at least & pulling it in by hand just didn't look to be possible. So we waited for it to tire out... and well, let's just say we may've waited a little too long. When Murray next went up to inspect the prey, it was gone. Vanished. Retrieval of the lure found a bent hook! Next time ;-) We estimate this time next week we'll be in Rio. So stay tuned!

It is not often that one finds the conditions so perfect for sailing that even at the end of a watch from midnight to 5h00 it is with reluctance that you relinquish the helm to the next watch. Last night was like that, coming on watch, I exited the cabin to be greeted with the magnificent canopy of stars that lit up the sky bright enough to read by, a gentle 15 knot breeze of warm air, perfectly  angled to make trimming of our spinnakers unnecessary, a flat sea completed the set. From behind the helm it was, well you can guess? - Skipper Derek Shuttleworth.

29 / 1 / 2011

POS: 22d 40'S, 20d 40'W

The 1AM-6AM watch this morning bore witness to an incredible sunrise. The inky black sea became was gradually crowned by layers of pinks, ambers & marine blues. A delightful finale to a rather terrible night. This is what happened:

Yesterday had been a day of rather tricky, frustrating sailing. The wind dropped badly & insisted on blowing in a direction that made it impossible to sail the way we wanted to. A little excitement happened when we spotted the vessel Perie Banou II on the horizon. We quickly made radio contact & they nonchalantly informed us that they were happily potting along, watching 1 or 2 movies a day & were currently having tea & biscuits!! This sport is rather strange at times. Another depressing hic-up was when the Destroyer (the main sheet) struck again & in one swift movement managed to whip our most valuable double handed winch handle overboard.

When night fell things weren't looking much better, despite Saths' effort by surprising us with Guava & custard pudding. I knew they had got a whole lot worse though when I awoke clinging to my bunk; the boat pitching & rolling frantically & Murray's voice yelling "Al! Quick on deck! We need to get the spinnaker down!". I followed him up into a torrential down pore & swirling winds, all cloaked in total darkness. By the light of the instruments I could make out the skipper swinging the wheel frantically this way & that as the wind chopped & changed at random; threatening to wrap the spinnaker around the forestay.

20 minutes later the spinnaker was down, Saths & Andre had returned to bed & three of us sat drenched on a glass still sea. There was no wind, no waves & without moon the starlight allowed us to just make out the

black, puffy cloud ahead; taking his rain & crazy winds with him. Eventually the wind came back to us, blowing slowly from the SW, turning S & finally again to it's usual SE. Our frustration at a slow days' sailing

had us toying with launching the spinnaker again but when another cloud burst struck an hour later we deeply appreciated the fact that we hadn't. It is impossible (I think!) to control a yacht when the wind has the

directional commitment of a 5 year old in a candy shop & the complete darkness is incredibly unnerving & disorientating, even making one sea sick. Eventually we crawled to dawn with our Genoa up & the comfort of sunrise brought with it a consistent 14 knot south easter. So begins day 14 of the Cape to Rio yacht race.

A little bit about Me2Me!

Check out our new page all about our boat, just click here!

27 / 1 / 2011

The middle of the Atlantic ocean is a rather remote place. Even albatross, which apparently do little else than fly around all the time, don't bother venturing out here much. So you can understand our surprise & excitement when we spotted a small fishing vessel steaming toward us on port side yesterday afternoon. As isolated men's minds are prone to wander, the crew were soon voicing thoughts like "Where on earth are they from?", "Are they trying to catch us?" & even "Maybe they're Somalian pirates?".

Isolation is no means of protection from us harming ourselves though & we've had a few more minor mishaps. The main sheet came flying across in a rather timid crash gybe last night & ripped the GPS & wind instruments off the helm  - again! This time The Destroyer (as it is fondly known) took no prisoners & our primary GPS is now properly deceased. We do learn eventually though & have relocated the rest of the stuff.

Dirty Dorris the diesel engine was acting up again today, but some TLC from Skip & a fuel filter change got her purring happily again. Our only standard size Spinnaker left has been taking some strain over the past week of non-stop use & the patchwork repairs are getting rather extensive. This has the advantage of offering the crew a creative channel through which to practice the craft work as Saths has almost perfected the cutting out of circular patches & Murray has decorated the Spinnaker extensively with smiley faces, angry fish & Pac-Man action scenes.

Weather prediction say we're in for some really light wind on Sunday/Monday. It's going to be a seriously psychologically testing patch this deep into the race & the sailing will be frustrating & hard work!

POS: 23 21'S, 16 49'W

26 / 1 / 2011

All is well in the Republic of Me2Me which, unlike most small nations, will be halfway between switching continents at 13:00 today. Obviously such a prestigious occasion as reaching the halfway mark must be celebrated accordingly so at lunch we will have the official "Turning of The Chart" ceremony. You see our skipper (Diesel Derek) keeps a chart on the wall with which he monitors the progress of the whole fleet. The wall is only big enough to show half the chart so as we pass halfway she must be turned. The crew will be wearing their Sunday best (probably a sarong & a vaguely clean shirt) & the moment shall be commemorated with the momentous & much anticipated opening of the only box of Zoo biscuits. How we ever managed to leave CT with only ONE box of Zoo biscuits still baffles me & our lack of Zoo biscuits has undoubtedly been our greatest

downfall in the race.

One of the most intimidating & challenging aspects of ocean racing is that it is going on all the time even at night. Helming a sail boat is hard enough as it is, with subtly shifting winds, rolling swell & very temperamental spinnakers but at night the difficulty increases exponentially as one loses all sense of one's bearings. Not being able to see the waves approaching or the horizon, it quickly feels like the boat is simply spinning in circles & one is hard pressed to have faith in the compass & maintain the slight of hand to keep her on her bearing. We were fortunate in the beginning to have a full moon about 3 days into the race, making those cold nights of sailing up the west coast far easier & less intimidating. The moon is waning fast now & increased cloud cover is making night helming a real challenge. Of course, Murphy dictates that since things can go wrong they shall do - at night! For those poor crew members who are off duty at the time, stumbling half asleep onto a heaving, rolling deck & being showered in sprays of water & urgent commands is, well, an understandably traumatic experience.

Night watches though are also the settings for some of the most valued & beautiful moments at sea. In the early days the neon glow of bio-luminescence in the boat's wake & cresting waves was beautiful & the clarity of the silver moon & stars out here is unsurpassed. Watches are done in pairs on these quiet evenings & afford a good opportunity for crew to get to know each other properly; though conversation may eventually run dry & has been known to turn to many things from General Relativity to how we're going to avoid flying-fish attack or even Andre's 5 minute monologue on how a pair of clouds looked like two dancing bears. Though cloudy, night watches are now warm & calm & over a cup of coffee they will undoubtedly conceive some of the best memories to be taken from this race.

25 / 1 / 2011

This morning was the first day of what the Cape to Rio is supposed to be like - apparently! We're right up North, skirting the South Atlantic High Pressure cell & are firmly in the 12-15 knot breeze fondly known as the

"Trade Winds"; with baking sunny days & warm, cloudy nights. This does mean an end to our awesome 180 mile/24hr runs for now, but at least we're sailing at 270 degrees - straight to Rio!

Adjusting to the Trade Winds was not all that easy though. We got into them yesterday & so for the first time decided to hoist our very light (0.5 Oz) spinnaker. 10-12 knot breeze made it hard to keep the bag flying

& so helming a 2.5 hour shift in the baking sun was hard work. It was then no surprise when poor Mike lost concentration for a moment at the helm & wrapped the spinnaker around the fore stay - thoroughly! Lots of exotic

language was used as we fought to try unwrap it; the wind wrapping it tighter & tighter at every chance. Eventually after 45 minutes of struggling & rather crafty manipulation we got it out, flying perfectly save for a few pin prick holes around the top of the bag. Apparently that was enough though when 20 minutes later (poor mike still helming!) the bag just tore through at the top & came drifting down to deck. Just to top it all off the halyard somehow got jammed too & the shredder frame of the bag refused to come down. So in a mass maintenance manoeuvre the main was dropped & Murray was once again hoisted 15m up in rolling seas to free the trapped halyard & fix the mast-head halyard block which broke about a week ago. The hour long session of delicate work while swinging back & forth through an arc of at least 5m proved too much for Murray's stomach & soon we were all treated to a spectacular show as he projectile launched his lunch from the top of the mast. The crew unanimously agreed that at 15m up & using the roll of the boat this must be a record distance for this type of thing. Neptune seemed equally impressed as shortly there after the winds picked up to a handsome 15 knots.

A final highlight was the capture of our first Dorado yesterday. Wow those fish are ugly. But under the magnificent preparation of the (near naked) Chef Saths Moodley it made for exquisite eating.

24 / 1 / 2011

Partial cloud cover is bringing us some relief as we reach the warmer section of the race. Foulies are being put away & the sea water is a wonderful temperature. Things have got a little more tame too, with a calmer sea & good consistent winds of about 17 knots.

Perhaps it's time we updated on some of the crew dynamic. For those of you who don't know, we have recently declared the boat a republic; "The Republic of Me2Me". Like most republics somewhere between Africa & South

America, our little nation seems to be somewhat more of a dictatorship rather than a democracy, but hey, the struggle continues. Eventually we will get to choose which cereal we open! :-)

The republic comes complete with a young University, headed by vice-chancellor Moodley. Graduates thus far include Andre van Selm (a.k.a Andre van "Helm" due to his obsession with driving) for out smarting all three engineers on board & coming up with the design to repair our broken spinnaker pole. Andre again displayed his quick-on-the-feet thinking skills the other morning when during breakfast we broached & everyone rushed up top, leaving Andre holding all the breakfast bowls. Realising his importance to the cause but not wanting to spill anything, Andre promptly drank the milk from everyone's bowls & raced up to join the action!

The fishing is going full tilt with two lines out the back; one pulling a bright Orange lure (a.k.a the Ginger Ninja) & the other more successful lure is a black sparkly number recently christened "the Tin Roof" lure as it seems to attract rather rotund takers. The fish are not going down without a fight though, their first wave of attack being when Mike got hit in the head by a flying fish last night while helming in the pitch dark. I am of the firm belief that they're simply doing reconnaissance & that the full frontal charge is yet to come.

POS: 23 46.668'S, 6 54.944'E

23 / 1 / 2011

So the sailing has settled down somewhat (touch wood) & now with the new watch schedule Derek (a.k.a Skip) implemented, life's a little less monotonous. Then again there are always nights like last night to destroy monotony. Last night sucked. The chaos began late afternoon when a 27 knot gust caught mike up on the helm, spinnaker and all. Luckily we got things under control again without any casualties but half an hour later we were

crawling along with no wind. So up came the sleepy crew to help shake out the reef etc. 12 pm saw another emergency waking of some crew as it seemed we may be crossing paths with a large ship spotted off port side & wanted to be ready to gybe; but again, false alarm. Shortly there after, quiet weather make the Skip decided to launch the bag again, so the now very tired & grumpy crew were brought up again to launch. It didn't go well. The bag came up with a big twist in the top - luckily! We dropped the bag & awaiting the re-pack, a 30 knot gust came ripping into the boat. Murray & Alex were in total confusion on the fore deck; one second launching the bag, the next bringing it down, then suddenly the boat spun up to wind & waves came flooding over them. Of course at this stage communication was rather tricky too & no one seemed to know which sails were going up or what was going on. Eventually the reef was in, the drenched crew back in the cock pit & things back to some form of normality. The damages included a broken battern in the Genoa, a lost set of gloves & a smashed GPS screen. The reef was shaken out about 30 minutes later - sailing!

Undoubtedly the merriest aspect of our current position now is the full cooperation of Dirty Dorris our Diesel Engine. You see, Dorris is vital for recharging batteries & making fresh water. So when she refused to start on days 2 & 3 it was a little more than worrying. Diesel Derek (as we call him) spent each morning for about 5 days hauling out the staircase & giving Dorris some TLC, always getting her to start & inevitably having her die in a spluttering cough a couple of minutes later. Her ills are fixed now though & today for the 3rd time she ran seamlessly. We love you Dorri!

Other little highlights include a new max speed reached by the boat! Mike clocked 20.7 knots with a reef in & Genoa up the other night! (Before the death of the GPS) & everyone is now 100% over sea-sickness.

22 / 1 / 2011

It's been a sizzling few days sailing. Things were at an all time high yesterday as we approached the longitude of Rio & began to head further west, hacking down the miles to go. But things never stay easy for to long out here when this morning (21st) while Mike Bisset was at the Helm we were caught in a sudden 27 knot gust of wind while the big Assymetric sail was up! Chaos ensued as the boat spun out of control & broached; almost turning on her side. The rest of the crew had just made breakfast!

In a couple of minutes things were back under control but the serious damage had already been done. Water got into a few cabins & the bow spit (a spike off the bow used to fly the assymetric sail) had been bent in half! The patchy wind then continued to bug us for a couple of hours, leaving us unsure which sails to fly. Now, at lunch time, we're back on track & hoping to cover our anticipated 180 miles for the day. We've also just crossed 0' 00" lattitude so are now officially on GMT! I think that calls for a celebratory biscuit :-)

20 / 01 / 2011

We're writing to you in the wake of chaos. It's been a busy couple of days. Two days ago we had a truly disastrous dropping of the spinnaker - again! But this time we paid a serious price when the spinnaker pole got

bent 90 degrees, almost snapping in half. It was heart breaking as now we're reduce to only two possible head sails, the genoa & assymetric. From there things seemed on a downhill spiral; we lost another spinnaker sheet

& almost lost the all important spinnaker halyard (the rope that pulls the spinnakers & the assymetric up the mast) were it not for Murray's brave trip up the mast in 20 knot winds during which he managed to fix the spinnaker halyard block. The swell was at least 8 metres while Murray was clinging to the top of the mast, no surprise he brought up his breakfast 15 metres above the boat! His closing comment was still "the view is

spectacular up here."  The most worrying aspect of it all was still our engine which cut out on us again yesterday. Without our engine we cant charge batteries or make water which would quickly turn the trip into a survival challenge. Hence the euphoric mood when skipper "Diesel Derek" got it running again this morning; everyone had a quick shower & filled the water stores & things are looking much better! The crew morale is back on top.

The sailing is also going remarkably well. Averaging about 7 or 8 knots, we've been doing well over our hoped 175miles/day & reached a total of 747miles today at 12:00. We're erring on the North side of things, to avoid getting stuck in a high without spinnakers! But otherwise the race continues - to Rio!

17 / 01 / 2011

It's been 48hrs since we left Table Bay in high spirits with family & friends waving us off. Since then, things have been... busy! The staring wind was great, a SW breeze whisked us up the coast, but soon after dark things went somewhat pear shaped! The wind started to pick up quickly & before we knew it we were fighting for our lives to get the spinnaker down. Just when we thought we'd done it, a loud crack told us that the spinnaker halyard block had burst off the mast! This was the start of an action packed 48hrs. Since then we've discovered a leak in our diesel tank, having lost about 25lts of fuel into the bilges. Then mid afternoon on day 1, while stuck in a patch of very light wind, our beautiful big mast head spinnaker blew a shackle at the top of the mast, plunging us into more chaos. Last night the wind swept from a pleasant 18 to 26 knots in about 20minutes, causing us to again fight chaotically to keep our spinnaker, though we lost a guy rope in the battle.

But it hasn't all been problems! It is incredibly beautiful out here, the sea displaying an amazing range of temperaments in the only 2 days. We've had dolphins off our bow often & managed to make 175 miles in day 1 & are

up to 340 today. Alex caught a fish off the back - two in fact! The second was a yellowfin tuna hich made for delicious eating after preparations by Saths. We've had naked bottoms on the stern during shower hour & aside from the usual struggles of sea sickness everyone is doing well. Sea a bit of a rodeo show today, but after another 7 odd degrees N we'll start peeling off - to Rio!

Setting off!

Just some pictures of the team at the launch! 

Opening!

Greetings all family, friends & fans! (well, we like to think so...)
It's here. Believe it or not, it is here. After all the chaos of organisation, Me2Me is finally setting sail for Rio at 12:00 on Saturday the 15th of January 2011 from Table Bay, with 6 valiant crew members! This blog (alongside the FaceBook group) will serve as our during-the-race info portal. We will try update it as often as possible. Our capacity for Web connection is VERY limited on board, so any correspondence will have to go via our "on-shore" correspondents. These people will do their best to relay comments left on the site to us out at sea. Alternatively, important info can be sent to me2me2011@gmail.com which will then be relayed to us ASAP. Adios amigos - and enjoy!