March 20-21, 2004 - Klein Curacao or Bust!

On March 20, I talked with the helmsman, Mariah, on Saturday morning. She said that we would need to be on the boat no later than 8:00 am on Sunday morning. She also said that she was hoping to get the team together to do some practicing around 5:00 pm. She wasn't sure since she had not had time to talk with Hans to confirm. If we were going to practice, then she would pick us up in her dinghy. She teaches sailing to children and adults in Optimas and sunfish for the local sailing club. She is also in contention for the world championships for small boat sailing. Well, 5:00 rolled around and Mariah hadn't shown up yet. At 5:30, she came out to let us know that she had not been able to find Hans, so practice was canceled for the evening. We invited her on board for something to drink. While we were sitting aft talking, Hans came out to the boat, and invited us up to the sailing club for a beer or two. We stopped by and picked Jan and Daan up and headed up for "a beer or two". Five beers later, Hans decided we should go out to dinner. He knew this Venezuelan restaurant that was a couple of blocks away. So, we headed there. We had a great time at dinner, and a few beers turned into an evening out. We had a race to do at 8:00 in the morning, so at midnight, we finally returned to our boat. On March 21, Mike got me up at 6:30 am so I could make sure to fix us a good breakfast before heading to Han's boat. That way, when I got sick, I would have something to throw up. We picked Jan and Daan up around 7:40 in the morning to head over to Ninfa Di Awa. Everyone was aboard by 8:00, and we got ready to go. We cast off lines at 8:10 am and did short tacks around the start line. My job on the boat, along with Jan from Nerida (the only native english speakers on the boat, everyone else spoke Dutch, and about 5 other languages) was to be deck monkeys and ballast. This means that we sit on the high side of the boat, and switch sides every time we tack. You have seen the pictures of people in races with their legs over the side of the boat holding on? That was me! We were the first to cross the starting line after the start signal sounded! We took off sailing for the entrance to Spanish waters. We heeled over strongly (around 40 degrees or so). That took some getting used to! At this point, I seriously considered jumping over board and swimming to our boat (which we had just passed, so it wouldn't be a long swim), but then changed my mind. We sailed out of the entrance to Spanish Waters, and began tacking our way down the coast towards Klein Curacao. I found out later that we spent much of the time heeled over at 40 to 45 degrees! At the time that I finally asked how far we were heeled over, we were at 35 degrees! Wow, what a trip. For most of the trip, thus far, I had to go to the head. Finally, getting up my courage I moved down the deck to the cockpit. I carefully stepped in to the side of the cockpit (as the floor was at 45 degrees) and then worked my way in to the cabin. I went forward and quickly decided that I would rather pee in a bucket. There was a huge cooler in front of the access to the head, that was problem number one. Not insurmountable, until I looked in the head where there were three toolboxes on the floor, that was problem number two. The head was athrawt ships (on one tack, you could lean back and be really comfortable, on the other tack you would fall off on your face into the sink). I went back to the companionway hatch and asked Hans if he had a bucket. He did, so I crawled out and tried to use the bucket. I couldn't do it! We were heeled over to far, and I hate heeling over, I hate it, I hate it (Thank god Nightwinds doesn't heel like that)! I went back to my place on the side of the boat ready to burst. Everyone got a big laugh out of that! In the mean time, Marcello, another crew member, peed off the stern. This was pointed out to me. I was not brave enough to attempt that though. I decided to hang on. Klein Curacao couldn't be that much further, and down wind, I knew I could pee. It would be a more comfortable trip down wind, and the boat wouldn't be heeling over. My only concern was the fact that it was windy and rainy and uncomfortable. I could hear the individual drops of water torturing me by hitting the water loudly. My crew mates didn't help any by offering me something to drink on a regular basis. Jan even suggested that I just pee and get it over with without going anywhere since I was already sitting there wet anyway. The heeling over thing got me again. I just couldn't do it. We stayed close to the coast to avoid the current, and the larger seas. When we turned out towards Klein, the seas built to around 8 feet, with the occasional 12 footer. Finally, Jan went in and successfully used the head. If she could do it, I could do it also! So, when she was done, I went in. Unfortunately we had switched tacks, so we were on the wrong tack again. I tried to go standing and braced, but a wave hit the boat and threw me into the sink. So, next I tried to go sitting and braced. The bracing was interesting. I couldn't brace myself with my shorts on, so I took off my shorts so I could spread my legs. I tried bracing against the sink, but that was to far away. Then I tried bracing against the hull area below the sink, but that wasn't quite right. Finally, I braced myself against the access way to the v-berth, and the access way to the main saloon, and I achieved Nirvana! I had been holding it for almost 4 hours, and for the next 20 minutes, I went and went and went some more. I never felt so good. I came back out and got down to enjoying the trip. It was amazing the difference. The sun came out, the wind was strong, but not as strong as it had been. The ride became more comfortable. At any time, I was expecting to hear a flock of birds singing. After rounding Klein Curacao, we poled out the jib, and flew a second head sail and had a glorious downwind trip! We Jibed the boat twice, and it was a great learning experience for me to watch and help in jibing the main and then the poled out jib. The second jib that was being flown had to be dropped and raised each time. We had a great sail back into Spanish Waters, and as we neared the finish line, our strongest competitors were counting down. They beat us by 15 seconds on corrected time! After bringing the boat into the dock, and getting everything cleaned up, it was time to celebrate! Mike joined us on the boat for a little while, and then we attended the awards ceremony. We came in 2nd place, missing first place by 15 seconds after time correction. It was a long 8 hours from the starting to the finish line. Hans suggested we go to Sarafundy's Marina for dinner (the little bar and restaurant right on Spanish Waters bay). So, we ran back to the boat, changed out of wet salty clothes and went in to Sarifundy's Marina. We had a fun evening, finally returning to the boat around midnight