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14 Sep 05
Durban hosts DSC visit
A warm sunny evening as the blue sky began to fade and the dropping sun excited the high clouds with tones and hues of colour. The tall buildings of Albert Dock framing the scene. I focused on the passive beauty of the awesome clippers as they moored at rest. They lay tethered and leashed not with the pensive nervousness of thoroughbred horses tugging at the restraints ready to explode but calm with the medative peace of Samurai Warriors ready for any oncoming challenges quietly but supremely confident of their strength, power and prowess.
In a week when England succeeded in retaining the ashes I approached the prospect of meeting our new friends in the Durban team with the greatest of optimism, I can tell you that I was not disappointed.
We arrived at 19:30 and were taken straight on board as crew members talked us through the boat, the team and the Race. On deck the 68ft Clipper is all about function, heavy purposeful sheets and blocks, huge winches and rigging cables that glinted potently in the dying sun holding fast the 100ft mast. There are amazing feats of engineering involved, the rigging is not tensioned with bottle jacks but by pumping the mast upwards to achieve the thousands of pounds of pressure required to take the dynamic loads of open ocean sailing. It takes 6 people to bring the huge sails up through the forward hatch and out onto the deck! Down below as up on deck everything is about function, the bunks are only the size they need to be and personal space will be at a premium. Each crew has on open locker not much larger than a shoe box, fair to say I have got size 12 feet so it is not a small shoe box, but for all your personal stuff for 10 months, not really enough space to keep even the most frugal landlubber in hair gel and chewing gum. At the start of the journey every nook and every cranny not devoted to the purpose of carrying Durban to a chance of victory will be crammed with food and provisions. High energy food for the hard work ahead.
Skipper Craig Millar with the DSC Burgee.............. Nerve Centre
We were welcomed below to what would be home to the team for the next 10 months. Many of the crew only began sailing in the past few months, completely new to the sport. How fast they have learned and their willingness to share their knowledge with us was great. The skipper Craig Millar from Durban, South Africa is a tall man with a gentle strength and a quiet confidence, he described himself as fiercely competitive and that he expects a lot from his crew. I believe him, I do feel his demands on his team will receive willing enthusiasm because as a leader he will also fiercely protect their welfare. I think crewing for Craig will be arduous but in return a most rewarding experience.
Durban crew member Lucia............................The big wheel
There is a great many things planned in and around the Albert Dock for Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September. The start on Sunday will be from the pier head at 12:00 and the ten clippers will race up river around a mark and back past the pier head before racing out to sea. DSC will follow and report on the progress of our chosen boat Durban cheering every step of their way around the World.
Crew bunk with Lee Cloth............................100ft of mast
The foredeck........................................Crew member Steve and Mascot
DSC Commodore asks "where do I sign" daughters vow not to tell mum..
Crew members are either sponsored or self fund to take part. Some are signed on for the full voyage, others for a selected leg or legs of the journey. For their money they will be worked around the clock with 'watches' of 4 hours duty and 4 hours off. They will endure cramped conditions and extended discomforts. They will experience the best and the worst of the worlds weather in a most hostile and dramatic of environments. For some this is a dream of a lifetime and for others a great turn of fortune. For each and every one it will be a monumental experience, for them over the next 10 months every day events of the land, countries and mankind will cease to intrude and they will be enriched by it.
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