Dave doesn't go overboard on Rio

One of the crew had to resign due to constant seasickness

When Lancashire's Dave Paton retired from the fire service at 50, he wondered what to do next.

He decided to set himself a series of challenges - including teaching himself Portuguese and learning the guitar including playing a couple of songs in public.

But Dave is sharing his biggest challenge with us in a weekly article.

With his sailing experience limited to a week on a dinghy, he's now joined the Clipper Round the World race!

This week Dave tells us all about the race to Rio complete with tips on drinking the local cocktails!

PART FOUR - Friday 30 October 2009

Race 3 - Rio to Brazil

So that was Rio!

After seven nights in Rio de Janeiro we're back on the high seas and bouncing all over the place. We expected a few days of grace before the drive southwards led us to cold and windy weather, but in the event Brazil's reputation for sun and fun let us down.

We left in the rain and almost immediately ran into the roughest weather we've had so far. A week ago we arrived in t-shirts and shorts, now we're wrapped up in foul weather gear and getting about down below like not very good acrobats!

'Cork' had a brilliant start to this third race crossing the line well ahead of the competition. Tactics are now in play and, though we're showing as being in last place, we're racing south happily with only a lone albatross for company.

Rio is an extraordinary city full of happy, cheerful people. Despite its reputation only one of our 'family' was mugged and that was the race director who gave us the safety briefing! It was at knife point, so not something to laugh at.

Vision blurs

The real danger we were exposed to was the local cocktail. Caparinios are made with either rum or vodka and after four weeks at sea had entirely predictable results the next day. I really liked them, but my advice is to stop drinking them just before your vision blurs.

Rio had sadness for us, too. People sign up for those legs of the race they can fit in around their normal lives, so we had four crew changes in Rio.

We also had one of the 'round the worlders' resign from the boat due to chronic and unremitting sea sickness. She'd spent a miserable four weeks in mild conditions and realised she was one of the unfortunate few that never gets over it.

As we bounce south eastwards it is clear she made the right decision. But it's also amusing to see the number of the crew that are feeling unwell, but are sure it's not seasickness. Something else, bad food or water are usually blamed - just as the caparinios never really caused the headaches.

Characters

So we now have missing characters and new faces to fit into the team. We've met them all during training, with exception of a 20 year old South African who has joined us on a sponsored development opportunity. He started sailing at 15 and I think we may learn more from him than the other way round.

After three nights at sea we're back in the rhythm of four on four off - and we have fresh food to eat for a few more days. And best of all, this leg is just over two weeks so it should be easy for us hardened ocean racers!

How's that for tempting providence?

If you want to see how we're getting on just go to the website . You can take part in a virtual race on the website and see if you're a better at ocean racing than we are!

Dave Paton

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Dave's blog - part one

Dave's blog - part two

Dave's blog - part three