Bunking down on a swirling sea

Bouncing around makes the team's domestic activities harder

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 why bedtime is not an easy time!

PART FIVE - Friday 6 November 2009

Race 3 - Rio to Brazil

It's not all fun times and foreign drinks.

In my last blog I mentioned the rougher weather we've been experiencing. Bouncing around makes all our domestic activities harder, but I'll leave most of those to your imagination. I'll try and paint a picture of what it's like to sleep in these conditions.

The first thing is the light. At night we use red lights just like on submarines - and for the same reason, to protect our night vision as there are no lights on deck. That means that if you drop anything on the deck - which is covered with sails in their bags - you can't find it.

Knot tying

Next, the bunks. I measured mine, one of the upper bunks, this morning and it is 6 feet 2 inches long, two feet wide with two feet of headroom. Imagine a coffin with the lid off and you won't be far wrong.

We have 14 bunks in the main sleeping accommodation arranged in pairs along the hull. They are all equipped with a system of pulleys which allow you to adjust their angle against the hull - as the yacht is almost always heeled over 15 or even 20 degrees.

Of course the angle we sail at is changing constantly, so you spend the off watch rolling from one side to the other of your bunk. That'll be why they're so narrow.

To stop you falling out the bunk is equipped with a 'Lee cloth'. This is a piece of canvas that you pull up from below and secure at either end of the bunk space. It is this that stops you falling out of your top bunk as you roll back and forth - my knot tying has improved very quickly!

There are disadvantages to the tilt of the bunk though. If you are on the high side of the yacht, you are now climbing uphill into a bunk that is moving all the time. This is usually when you drop something.

Sudden crash

So now you're in your bunk it's off to sleep is it? Well, not quite.

I've described the rolling, but the boat is also pitching from front to back - and sometimes dropping off the back of steep waves with a sudden crash. So there you are rolling back and forth, wondering about your knots, when suddenly you are airborne.

It's only brief. Shortly after the yacht makes a sound as though it has hit concrete you slam back onto the bunk - to find you are now 12 inches further towards the bow. So you push up with your knees and try to get flat again. And please note - I have not even described getting into my sleeping bag yet!

And as for getting back out of the bunk - or falling as it is often described - well that's another story.

No wonder we're tired! (and I did volunteer!)

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

Dave's blog - part four