29/04/2010 - The Man Flu

Average temp: 12ºC

I spent a fretful night last night desperately trying to breathe through my nose,.. yep, you guessed it, I have fallen foul of the infamous infection doing the rounds.  If my bunk and sleeping bag feel claustrophobic at the best of times, just imagine on top of that in the middle of the night, in pitch black being unable to breathe!  I am not a claustrophobic person, but I even got up and stuck my head out into the night air, just to take a deep breath!

 

Negotiating the salon at night is an interesting experience, the distracting noises emanating from people’s bunks apart, descending from a second tier bunk in the pitch black whilst trying to keep as quiet as possible is akin to trying to find your way home from the pub after a heavy night,.. you eventually get to where you want to go, but god knows how you managed it, and there are always a few unexplained bumps and bruises!

I have now found that if I part my curtains, push my forehead onto the ceiling, angle myself down a little and swing forward a bit my feet should hit the table,… then it is the small task of using my feet to feel my way around the benches before I drop to the ground and make my way across the room.  The inevitable collision of shin with bench or box is expected, but never correctly anticipated and the muffled groan of pain always escapes despite my best efforts.  When you’re feeling like I do this traverse is even more demanding!

 

Sleeping on board is very much like going camping in many ways, for those of you who have ever been camping in a forest the situation is very similar.  You lie there awake in your sleeping bag listening to the sounds of the forest trying to link the call to the animal. In the salon the situation is very similar, you can spend hours trying to guess who is making each snort, snore, sniff and cough!

 

Despite fully acknowledging that I have the legendary “Man-flu” (i.e. a sniffle) I still felt crap and so was glad when this morning I was reassigned a pet project of mine: the painting of the aft port cabin, this meant I was below deck out of the rain and wind, I could have my stereo and I was managing myself.  Even if I do say so myself, it turned out rather nicely and I decided to make the most of it and even took the door of its hinges to ensure nothing was missed! Maggie should be pleased (it’s going to be her cabin)!

 

In the afternoon, just as the weather closed in and it actually started hailing, we were ordered to practise setting the sails.  Maybe it was the man-flu, but I was incredibly slow and although not the only one, I grabbed the wrong line on more than a few occasions, I have decided that any spare time must now be spent dedicated to learning more about these lines and where they are, because if it is this hard to do when moored, I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like at sea with wind and waves to contend with.

 

Everyone still seems to think that we’ll be stripping off due to the heat within weeks, I remain unconvinced,.. at least this way I won’t be disappointed!

 

God I hope I feel better tomorrow!

 

Always rust to bust!

That's the T'gallant Yard being crossed!

2 Responses
  1. Hey Liam...

    My wife and I are traveling around the US and Canada in our RV. We ended up in Peggys cove and then Lunenburg over the weekend (Sat). We ate at the Grand Banker and ran into one of your sailing mates.

    She told me of your adventure and gave yours and her web addresses.

    SOOOOO looking forward to hearing about your trip. Would love to do it myself. As I find time, I'd like to learn more about what it takes to be one of the crew for a future Voyage.

    I'd be able to do an around the US RV trip, an across Canada motorcycle trip and an around the world sailing trip all in my lifetime.

    We left the rest and went back to the Picton to see if we could catch up with you to talk a little, but alas, didn't work out.

    will be following along as you sail.

    Best

    R


  2. Liam Tayler Says:

    Rob,

    If it was Saturday the First you must have seen the wedding on board. Would have been really interesting to catch up with you.

    Shame to miss you!

    Even though it's only been a month, I can really recommend this trip and I'll try and keep you updated as much as possible!

    Liam