Yachting World’s Jessica Daw settles into her spartan existence and prepares to cast off
Liverpool Clipper went back in the water at about midday Saturday. Provisions arrived mid-afternoon and the crew swarmed over the boat, stowing a variety of fresh and tinned items in every conceivable place; two of the bunks are full of provisions. The jobs list of minor repairs and replacements seems endless and I imagine that many things will have to wait until we are underway.
The advice to me was to get on board early on the day of departure to pack my ‘cave locker.’ Each crew member is allocated a locker which is essentially a hole in the bulkhead and these are not necessarily adjacent to your bunk. This is where you keep ALL your belongings, everything in bin bags or proper dry bags if you have them. It is not advisable to look too closely into the bottom of the locker or breath in deeply! We have yet to be allocated to watches so who I will share the estimated next 24 days at seas with remains a mystery.
We will cast off at 1000 local time, the start is at midday and from the start line just outside the Centro Nautico near the old fort, it’s first to New York. Bar one or two buoys we need to round for the benefit of the spectators in the yacht club, there are no waypoints between here and our first siting of the Statue of Liberty.