GARY HEWITT is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

GARY HEWITT is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support

Level 1 Training - June 2010

Travelling down to Gosport in June 2010 was a journey filled with mixed emotions. I had grown up in Fareham, and spent a lot of time in Gosport. Coming from a navy family, Portsmouth is also a place I'd spent a lot of time in my childhood. It also represented the first time returning to Clarence Marina since scattering Dad's ashes. All this rolled in the excitement and anticipation of beginning my training for the Race!

I had tried to take in as much as possible from the 'training manual' we had received, so I understood the difference between a 'halyard' and a 'sheet'. I had been busy learning my knots as well as various 'nautical terminology'! I had seen the entire 'Hornblower' Series so felt I knew enough about 'belaying' and 'scratching stays'!

Walking into Clipper HQ at the Granary & Bakery was an exciting moment! Huge pictures of the racing yachts 'heeled' over, racing on through storm and swell! Our first day was to be spent learning First Aid (at Sea). We had a very straight-talking lady (ex-Royal Navy) who suitably scared us all with stories and photos! Still it's good to be aware of these things I suppose!

We joined our boat in the late afternoon, and were introduced to our Skipper - Adam Tuffnell, and First Mate - Alastair Duns. Our boat was the 60ft 'Ariel' Clipper yacht (one of the previous fleet that had circumnavigated the globe on a number of previous races). I met the crew I would be sailing with also, and it was a very mixed group from all backgrounds! To 'break the ice' Adam said about giving each other nicknames for the week. Rather than giving each other 'fluffy' names, he opted that we would be named after notorious/evil figures from history! So it turned out I was to spend a week in the company of 'Pinochet' (Mark), 'Hitler' (Dave), and various other mass murderers! I myself was christened 'Genghis'! (Most names would change as the week went on due to funny situations that came about, but my name stuck, and has done through some of my subsequent training)!

As we were given our tour of the boat, it finally dawned on me that it was all finally beginning! It had been nearly 6 months since signing my crew contract, and now finally it was seeming very real!

After a quick pint, we headed off to bed. We had agreed with Adam that we would be up early to go through our sail wardrobe and repack each sail, and inspect all our lines (re-coiling them as we went!).

5:30am, and we were on the dockside, in bright sunlight! Once we had gone through all our preparation, and had our crew briefing we slipped away from Clarence Marina and out into the Solent! We hoisted our sails and started to go through what it takes to 'tack' and 'gybe' this beautiful boat! Needless to say we were worked extremely hard! -And I loved every minute of it! We moored back again in Gosport, and finally got to bed at just after midnight, absolutely exhausted..but very thrilled!

Over the next few days we sailed around the Solent and pushed ourselves and the boat as best we could. Unfortunately, we had a small accident during a tacking exercise. Paul was furiously winching in on a sheet as we passed through the eye of the wind. 'Diggle' (Richard - one of our fellow crew members) found himself a bit too close behind Paul and caught an elbow to the temple! It stunned him instantly and took him off of his feet. As time went on it quickly became apparent that he had a minor head injury and was suffering with obvious signs of concussion. We moored in East Cowes marina and Al took him off to hospital for a check up. He ended up spending two days in having tests! As a crew we were bitterly disappointed to have lost him! He had worked so hard, and was my opposite number on 'Mother watch'! I was now cooking on my own! -Some people will do anything to get out of being in the galley!.

Diggle reappeared and we transported him to Ocean Village where a family friend awaited to take him home. He would be back in a month's time to re-do his training but for now his time on 'Ariel' was over. It was horrible to see him go early. As a crew we had been forged together through hard work and sweat. And now we were loosing one of our new 'family'!

Whilst in port on the Isle of Wight, we all took it in turns to 'climb the mast'. Now for someone who has a very real fear of heights this was something I had dreaded! Equally I had really wanted to do it! I volunteered to go first, and explained my fears to my Skipper and fellow Crew-mates. It took a bit of convincing, but once I started my ascent, I realised it wasn't that bad, and ended up loving it! The sense of pride I felt with 'conquering' this fear was amazing!

The last two days were spent out in the Solent

Then suddenly I heard those infamous words shouted -"MAN OVERBOARD!". This was my signal to 'spike' the Spinnaker. It instantly peeled upward (still fully powered). The crew on deck feverishly gathered in the sail as it returned to deck level! My next job was to point and indicated where our casualty was. Thankfully it was 'Bob' (our mooring fender tied to a coiled line)! We had done this exercise some many times this week we all knew what to do. 'Bob' was duly recovered and then it was time to head back to Gosport for 'tea & medals'!!

As we slowly motored in past HMS Ark Royal, and  HMS Victory I sat on the toe-rail with my 'mooring fender' in hand, filled with emotion. I had had one of the most physically demanding weeks I had ever known, I had got to know a group of people who I now trusted with my life, and now it was all coming to an end. Our Skipper Adam came up to me and quietly said a few words about how proud 'My Old Man would have been'. That was it, I was in pieces! I think a lot of 'repressed' emotion came out that I'd been holding onto for a long time. It is what I'd needed, and by the time we'd moored up I felt like a new person.

Once back in port we had a few hours to undertake the 'deep clean'. Every surface that can be removed it taken out and cleaned! 'Ariel' looked like a new boat by the time we'd finished! All that was left was to get our 'glad-rags' on and head out for a well earned night out!

Our crew dinner was quite a party! We headed to G's (a very nice Italian restaurant next door to Clipper HQ), and had a great night! After a fantastic meal, and a generous amount of Vin rouge & Peroni we 'crawled' back to 'Ariel'.

The hangover did nothing to help us through 'sea survival' training the next day. Half of which was spend in the classroom, and the last half in the pool. It was absolutely brilliant! We all enjoyed it, but all hoped that we would not have to abandon ship and 'step up into the life raft'!

Thank you to the Crew of Ariel for an amazing experience!
Adam, Al, Dangerous, Pinochet, Tax Boy, Diggle and Punchy! 

Clipper Interview - January 2010

On the lead up to my interview I had become an avid fan of the Clipper website. On this site there was a'Race Viewer' showing the progress of the current race (09-10). In January 2010 the fleet had just left Western Australia and were making their way up to Singapore. On the morning of my interview, I checked the website to see that the 'Race Viewer' had been 'suspended'! A brief press release confirmed that one of the boats - 'Cork' had run aground and the crew had taken to the lifeboats! Apart from deep concern for the crew of cork, all the 'romanticism' of sailing the oceans had been swept away in an instant! All this on the morning of my interview to take part in the next race!

Upon reaching the Clipper stand at the London Boat Show, Catherine and I begain talking to current and past crew who confirmed that all 'Cork' crew were safe. It turned out that 3 of the nearest boats (other Clipper yachts) were on the scene in a matter of hours and had evacuated the crew from a small island not far from where 'Cork' had run aground.

For some reason this did not change my mind at all on wanting to take part. In my mind it had been an excellent example of the level of training the crew had gone through. Catherine's opinion had somewhat changed though, and I could see she was deeply concerned! I think she took a lot of reassurance from talking to some of the crew whilst I was in my interview.

My interview was with David Cusworth, who is the Recruitment Manager for Clipper Ventures. I talked about my reasons for wanting to do the race, and we talked about some of the challenges I'd be facing. David was fantastic, and had a wealth of knowledge (having completed the whole circumnavigation in one of the previous races). One particular concern was my food allergies. I had a fear since having a 'close shave' in Malta in 2005 about cross-contamination in the galley area. David reassured me that this should not pose too much of a problem as menus would be worked out prior to departure and allergies/dietary requirements would be duly considered/planned for.

I have often wondered if David had been around in the 18th/19th Century, would he have put the 'press gangs' out of business? I'm sure he would have single handedly talked all the required crew into signing up without need of force.

By the time I'd finished the interview I was so excited! I was ready to set sail immediately! Catherine could see that Christmas had come again, and listened to me patiently 'babbling' on about this great adventure!

The only thing now was to await 'confirmation' that I had been accepted. Would they turn me down on medical reasons? Would I have the right personality to take part?

On the 18th January 2010, I came home to find a large envelope on the door mat from Clipper! The first paragraph made me jump with joy!

"Dear Gary, We are delighted to confirm that your application to take part in The Clipper 11-12 Round The World Yacht Race has been successful and therefore have much pleasure in offering you a berth on the race".

My first challenge...complete a huge 'Race Crew Agreement'...in duplicate!