At 1pm Australia time we left the dock at Airlie Beach. There was a lot of excitement among the crews, but not a lot.

Now, after a few maneuvers to refresh our memory of how to steer these sailing monsters, we are sailing by motor to reach the customs for permission to leave the country. We will motor about 70 miles, this means about 10 hours. Tomorrow around 5 am we should arrive.

The worst of my nightmares showed up just 2 hours after we left. A profound uneasiness enveloped me and I flew to take the first and hopefully the last tablet against seasickness. It’s incredible, I’ve never felt seasick and I assure you it’s a terrible beast. Despite this I participated in almost all the evolutions. I stopped at the last 2 because I just couldn’t do it anymore.

The weather has been kind so far, it’s hot but there’s a 23kn breeze blowing from the east and, at least on the deck you can breathe. Different thing below deck. The next few days will be complicated to put it mildly, but I am not giving up, in fact this state of affairs has always encouraged me to do better and, above all, always move forward.

The discomfort seems to have passed, but since I’m on watch (later I’ll try to explain the complicated rotation system that has been adopted,  just because I haven’t understood it yet)  I won’t go below deck for the next 4 hours. I sit at the stern, looking at the sea and feeling the wind.

Even if the humidity has caused a thin mist that does not make the horizon clear, the landscape is stupendous.

I just finished my shift at the helm. Bow 133. Obviously it was decided to hoist the Yankee 3 as soon as I left the helm, and so on with the winches!

We are sailing at 7 knots downwind. Wonderful evening.

The crew is very nice and they are all willing to help others. In short, you feel good even if it’s hot.

We’ll have dinner in a bit and at 10pm I can go to sleep for 6 hours. The advantage of having a large crew. Below deck it is very hot even though we opened the bow and stern hatches to create a bit of current. You get used to everything, even sailing at night. I remember the first time I did it. It scared me a little not to see anything, relying on the instruments alone is an act of faith that is quite difficult for those who are not used to it, also because there is no radar reference at the helm which is only found in the nav station below deck.

So the first day at sea is about to end, the first of about 35. All in all, despite a very annoying seasickness in the first hours, everything is wonderful.

I think I spoke too soon, the long off as they call it here, that is, the shift where you rest and which lasts 6 hours, which started at 0800pm and ended just now at 02.00am, was a kind of torture. The heat below deck is indescribable. Your body tries to defend itself by constantly sweating. The fan that each of us has with us does little or nothing, but it is better than football in the Netherlands so to speak. The bunk, then, has the same dimensions as my shoulders and turning over is impossible… in short, a good test of resistance. The incredible thing is that I still managed to sleep for a few hours.

January 27

Now it’s only my turn on the bridge. It rains intermittently but at least you can breathe.

We’re going astern and rolling a little. The sea has not stopped but there are still waves that were created by Thursday’s typhoon and which have not yet subsided. The sky is overcast and the moon can no longer be seen. You can see the lights at the masthead of the other Clipper boats, like me at this moment there are other people who are sharing exactly what I am experiencing, and perhaps some are already starting to wonder why she is here.

Apart from the moments when you are manoeuvring, at least when there is no heavy sea and strong winds, you have a lot of time to think, remember and probably take stock. Of course life on board boats like this is hard, it doesn’t compare with that of cruise boats, 5 star hotels in comparison.

On boats like this everything is very heavy and difficult, the downside is that if you do what you need to do, it’s much safer.