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| October 15th, 2011
We were absolutely thrilled yesterday to welcome Abigail Batchelor, the regional organiser for The Teenage Cancer Trust, to the factory where Leonie gave a film presentation and talk to staff who had supported her throughout her double crossing of the Atlantic.
Abigail presented Leonie with a beautiful brooch for her magnificent fund-raising effort of over £10,000, while Leonie pledged her continued support – even if that was only shaking a bucket, as she put it. No more of this?
What a wonderful day Wishing you a wonderful weekend October 14th, 2011 Hello everybody!
Well, I’m home! I made it! As I understand it my mother has been keeping all of you updated with my two journeys across the Atlantic Ocean. Firstly, I apologise for any ‘toilet humour’ that may have crept in, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to deal with. However, thanks to my wonderful fellow crew member, ‘Farmer’James, also known to all as ‘Daddy’ for his genuine and consistently good-humoured care of eveyone, we had a new toilet for the port side fitted in Rio, which made things a lot easier!
Secondly, I want to thank you all hugely for your incredible generosity. It was completely unexpected by me. As you may or may not know, I initially set out to raise in the region of £2,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Through your big-hearted donations you have helped raise £10,610.46 including Gift Aid. You can imagine my facial expression mid-Atlantic when I received an email from my father telling me the running total. I still can’t believe it. Thank you so much!
The experience that I have had on the boat is unparalleled – if you do find anything that may compare, then let me know….just don’t tell my father! Three years ago I never would have imagined that I have done what I have done today. Living on a 68 foot yacht with 17 strangers was nerve wracking to say the least, but we quickly became a micro community and had behaviours akin to a family. What was great on the boat, when the weather was particularly challenging, you never heard ‘I can’t do this’ from anyone, not one person gave in. The race tests you mentally and physically. Mentally speaking, it sounds odd, but the most testing times are those when the wind drops completely and not even the very light weight Windseeker sail can do anything to help. The Ocean turns into a mirror, you can quite literally see your reflection. During times like this, the biggest test of all arises, keeping frustration at bay and continuously trying to make the boat go faster. Another great mental challenge was that at the beginning of leg two, from Rio to Cape Town. This race we missed the start by 15 minutes due to Keith Pickering, one of WTY’s crew members, having a suspected hernia. So we had to drop our sails and motor back into the Marina do Gloria and sadly have Keith taken from the boat. Following this drop off, we motored back out to the start line and bearing in mind that we were still 15 minutes behind the other boats, we trimmed those sails like mad and sailed right to the front of the fleet, overtaking every single boat in the race. This is team work. This was ocean racing.
The physical challenge is obvious. Bringing the sails up from below deck, raising the sails, dropping the sails, packing the sails, trimming the sails and so on. The constant movement of the boat does however provide for a great toning exercise and can be highly recommended! My ultimate favourite part of sailing has to be the extreme weather, it makes you feel alive. The waves come crashing over the boat and there is nothing you can do to stop them giving you a royal soaking. Fantastic! The difficult times on the boat were generally brought about through heat exhaustion, sea sickness and sleep deprivation. All of the crew suffered from at least one of these at some point during the race. But like I said, every single crew member had the ‘get up and go’ that is demanded by the race and not once was anyone held back.
The best moments include being on the helm in bad weather, with the boat rising over the mountainous waves and crashing down into what looks like a big black hole. The wildlife too – especially seeing the dolphins swim alongside the boat at night time, playing in the phosphorescent surf, not forgetting the day time when you see the dolphins race towards you from what seems like hundreds of metres away. Other special moments include whales swimming alongside us, turtles, sea lions and the day before our arrival in Cape Town we even saw a shark, so you can imagine how careful every crew member was at that point to not fall overboard!Another poignant moment was after around 1,500 nautical miles of racing across the ocean, on leg two, our boat crossed paths with the boat sponsored by Singapore. You can’t believe your eyes when this happens. Thousands of miles of ocean around you and you come within metres of each other, we could almost see the colour of their eyes! It was very funny though as both of our boats upon spotting each other had the binoculars up on deck, spying to see what sail plan we had.
Leaving the family that WTY has become was emotional to say the least. Having sailed with a set of fantastic sailors who are indeed from all walks of life, the journey that I have been on has gone all too quickly, but I know that it has affected me for the better. Working in a team that lives together within 68 feet of each other was perhaps the biggest test of all, but has taught me to be more tolerant, more determined and ever more competitive. Now to apply these newly developed attributes to my everyday life.
Once again, I thank you all for your generosity and thank you for following me during my adventure across the Northern and Southern Atlantic. Leonie. October 13th, 2011 Before you all drop off the twig with boredom I thought I’d better take over – so, woof, woof. Pay attention.
First thing I notice about you humans, is that anything is an excuse to moan – take the weather…
Okay, I’ll give you that it’s not exactly whoop-de-doo at the moment in the UK, but what do you expect in October? If you’d only take a leaf out of my book and find the simple pleasures in life like rolling in a cow pat, you wouldn’t even notice the weather.
The only thing I have to moan about is my human taking endless photographs when I’m taking her for a walk – just so she can moan to you about the weather. Go figure, as my friends across the pond like to say.
Yep, you guessed it, ‘Tree. And yet another dismal view’ What’s wrong with this woman? For goodness sake, let’s go home so I can have my yummy chew and you can think up something ‘uplifting’ to write in your post tomorrow.
Blimey, Charlie – it’s a good job her books are more cheerful than my human’s outlook on the weather. I have to live in flipping tropical temperatures here, what with the Aga and the log fire blazing – You have no idea what I have to put up with – And as for the rest of this crazy family – It’s a good job they’ve got me to keep them grounded. How are they going to top those adventures on the North and South Atlantic? I’m just waiting for the news that one of them intends to Bungee jump off the North Face of the Eiger! Take my advice, you more sensible humans and do your best to find a cow pat to roll in – and if you have a spare you could do worse than send it to my human! October 12th, 2011 Let’s hear it for the working man
Okay, let’s get this straight – my heroine might be up to a nifty bit of DIY and rolling up her sleeves so she can join the boys on the building site – but unless an animal is involved, this author is not. I need a man. Sorry, ladies, but that’s the honest truth. Practical, I am not. Thanks to Dave, my trusty Aga man, who pointed out that I am currently trying to ‘do myself in’ with a wood fire and an Aga going full blast. The room might be huge, but without air grates and a CO2 alarm, I am taking, er, alarming chances… Did you know that wood fires kill more people with CO2 emissions than Gas? (or is that just a rumour being put about by Gas suppliers?) Bring on Keith, my handy handyman, to install air vents – and with a new CO2 alarm on order, I may well be with you for some time longer Thank goodness for all these wonderful men who know their sucker pad from their thermo-couple –
Have a great safe day, ladies. October 11th, 2011 I put a spell on you – only wish I could put a spell on the weather!
Yes, it’s that time of year again – almost, so naturally, we’re getting warmed up for some witchy fun Which is just as well, because, what the heck is happening to our weather?
Out on the moors this morning someone told me there were wind gusts of 100mph on Moor Top. And I heard on the news that snow is on its way, and we can expect temperatures of -20 in some parts of the country. Yikes.
No wonder my son warned that I must change my cute little four-wheel-drive for one of those monster tanks if I don’t want to end up in another snow drift this winter – So if you see Mrs Toad behind the wheel of a gurt big off-roader – get the heck out of her way! Parp! Parp! Sxx October 10th, 2011
I promised myself I would never bore with ‘exciting’ tales of me sitting at a desk pounding away on a keyboard, but I will say I adore what I do and sometimes realise that I’m sitting here pounding with a great big smile on my face. So it is as I get stuck into the penultimate book in my Acosta brothers series – this time I’m writing about the youngest brother, Kruz Acosta and Grace, a girl who is running from something, but is she running fast enough. Sometimes I don’t get the whole story straight away and have to write until I really know the characters and then go back and write the whole darn thing again. This time I can not only see the book laid out in my mind, but the final book in the series, featuring the omnipresent Nacho Acosta, as well as what drives the next family I will be writing about. I was thrilled to be asked to write about a second family when I finish writing about the Acosta’s, and can reveal that this will include books set in South Africa, Spain and Italy, with more than a passing reference to friendships in Argentina – so although I will be leaving the Acosta brothers and their sister Lucia to live out their lives without my interference, I can promise that they won’t be forgotten as their friends and contacts come under the spotlight for the next few books. As soon as I have a title for Lucia Acosta’s story, I will of course let you know, but for now it’s on with Kruz and Grace, and finally Nacho – who even frightens me a little Wishing you all the best of weeks with only sunshine in your heart. October 6th, 2011
It’s hard work sailing the Atlantic Well, I suppose we can allow them to chill out when in port We are back in the UK after a fantastic trip, leaving the Clipper fleet to continue on to Geraldton in Western Australia, braving the Cape of Good Hope on the way – though currently many of the boats are stranded in a wind hole just off Cape Town. The good news is that Welcome to Yorkshire was the fastest boat over one of the two ocean sprints (second in the other) and second through the scoring gate on both legs. Go Yorkshire!!! Before I leave South Africa completely, I thought you might like a few recommendations for your own visit to this wonderful country… I can’t possibly recommend the Cape Grace Hotel down on the waterfront highly enough – great rooms, interestingly furnished with the largest collection of Cape antiques of any hotel in the world, with each floor having a different historical theme. More importantly, perhaps, everyone was truly welcoming, from the General Manager, Nigel Pace and the Operations Manager, Andrew Rossettenstein, to Quanita, the gorgeous Breakfast Manager – I’m not sure I can face the day without Quanita encouraging me to eat all sorts of wicked goodies, washed down with a glass of champagne when DH wasn’t looking! We only had one evening meal in the Signal restaurant at the Cape Grace, which was a mistake, because it was definitely one of the best meals we had, and we should have used the restaurant more. If you are there, you must try the afternoon tea in the library, or just outside the library on the covered veranda – sandwiches, scones, cakes and a selection of loose leaf teas for about £8.00 per person. For a casual, cheap and cheerful lunch, go to Primo World on the V & A on the waterfront and try the Tiger Prawns with the lemon carob sauce, and chilli, and garlic dips, washed down with a bottle of house Sauvignon and ice (a melting spritzer if you like), a great, casual lunch for a lazy afternoon. Further afield, towards Franschoek, there are two fabulous recommendations amongst the many excellent vineyards- Grande Provence (book first) and Dieu Donné- I don’t remember the food at Dieu Donné- just the view from the restaurant window, which was phenomenal. Back to Cape Town : For fine dining try Sevruga on the V & A Waterfront – the Kingclip (local fish), is unforgettable. For a nice cool beer, try the Belgium restaurant, Den Anker- again on the waterfront. (DH didn’t think the food was great, but Leonie and I disagreed, which probably had something to do with the giant-sized portion of vanilla ice cream covered with hot Belgium chocolate sauce and whipped cream…) The crew dinner was arranged by Welcome to Yorkshire crew member Jamie who hails from Cape Town . Jamie arranged the most amazing display of African drumming, which was followed by a lesson for all of us – and it certainly was a lesson for all of us – proving that what appears relatively straightforward is in fact a complex art form with endless nuances of sound extracted from drums we could only bang.
The evening was held at the Africa Café and was followed by a feast of 14 ‘authentic’ African dishes – hands are duly washed and you are encouraged to eat with them. There was a display of dancing and singing in the middle of the feast and then face painting for those who wanted it- great fun after some excellent Cape wine. The Spier Wine Farm restaurant called Moyo was also recommended, but this ‘authentic’ African restaurant which includes learning to dance African style, is a little way out of town and we did not have enough time to try it. Someone else recommended Panama Jacks on Quay 500, but again time was against us. If you want to do a bit of local travelling, book Yolanda Bekker on +27711162026, or by e-mail info@pgtop.com, she is both a professional guide and driver. If you book Yolanda,= ask her to take you to the Ostrich farm and to Boulders Beach to see the penguins, and perhaps Cape Point – definitely Hout Bay for the view. And of course Table Mountain and Robben Island are amongst the many places of interest that should not be missed. Needless to say, none of the above recommendations come with a money back guarantee!!!!! Once again, huge thanks to everyone who has supported the Teenage Cancer Trust through Leonie’s Just Giving site. You have raised over £10,000 including Gift Aid, which is a truly amazing amount. Sxx October 5th, 2011
All the crews on the Clipper Round the World Yacht race have my utmost respect, but none more so that Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, which has transplant patients and representatives from the various transplant teams amongst its crew.
Their voyage across the South Atlantic from Rio to Cape Town had been complicated by a food-poisoning bug caught in Rio. It must have been quite a sight when HMS Edinburgh loomed out of the night to bring gifts as well as medication and rehydration powders for the crew. They might have been the last yacht to arrive in the harbour today, but I can tell you they received the loudest cheers from the other crews. What courage, and what an incredible achievement. It is a wonderful sight to see all the yachts safely berthed in the harbour again, and I wish them all fast winds and a safe passage to Australia on the next leg of their round the world trip. Sxx September 30th, 2011 Welcome to Yorkshire arrives in Cape Town
Not that we were keen or anything, but we were dockside at 2am – only to find we weren’t the only Welcome to Yorkshire supporters not able to sleep that night. It was freezing cold, and there was much swopping around of jackets – but nothing to the cold in the South Atlantic, I’m quite sure. And then, at around 6.30 ish WTY finally came in to loud cheers and much waving of flags, ballons and banners – Can’t even begin to describe the emotion when we saw the crew all lined up on deck wearing their WTY jackets
The sun shoots up here, and this shot was taken in brilliant sunshine moments after they had berthed And, of course, the proud parent shot Our first stop? Sxx September 28th, 2011
So, here I am back in one of my favourite countries in all the world, South Africa. The people, the food, the friendship, the music, the scenery, the animals – I could go on and on. I just love this place.
And here I am at the Ostrich farm with Yolanda Well, I never could resist a challenge This has to be my most exciting trip yet. I have never met anyone who has crossed the Atlantic both ways, let alone met their yacht coming in. I’m so proud of my youngest, I can’t tell you. And, yes, my mascara is definitely waterproof today!
On this occcasion Welcome to Yorkshire has had to conceded victory to the Unstoppable GOLD COAST – here’s one of that winning crew – who happens to come from Brighouse in Yorkshire, by the way Wishing you all a wealth of interesting sight and encounters, and of course, friendship. |
