Hot hot hot

I am sitting down below at the computer and it is not a pleasant experience. As we near the equator and the temperature keeps on rising conditions below decks in my airless carbon sweat box are only just bearable.

Heat and moisture rule the environment near the equator anyway so we are hot all of the time even in the middle of the night. My black carbon hull has set the dial to bake and is slowly cooking anyone who ventures below decks.

As you may not wish to imagine the lack of air due to no opening hatches makes our environment somewhat pungent to boot and of course we need to continue cooking, running the engine and of course making tea which all adds to the unpleasantness.

We are having to look after ourselves a lot in these conditions, we’ve shortened the watch systems to ensure each of us can take time out in the shade on deck, we are making a few more litres of water per day and ensuring we drink them. Sunscreen, hats and long sleeved t shirts cover the tender bits of us but skin can be affected in other ways by these conditions. Due to sitting in the wet and constantly sweating it is really easy for small abrasions on the skin to turn nasty, rogue hair follicles which rub constantly against a salty seam or sleeve can develop into sores and just sitting on your backside and feet which remain damp can quite quickly deteriorate.

We are having to be meticulous about changing clothes, applying both sun cream to exposed skin and sudocreme to anywhere that is starting to feel raw. My shoes come off when I am able though I would never consider doing a maneuver or leaving the cockpit without them. The sweat is dripping off me while I write this blog and as soon as I am finished I will pick up a bottle of water and drink to put something back in.

After having a really low day yesterday I completely understood I was dehydrated and am now on a mission not to let that happen again. We shook up the watch system last night and are now sleeping for shorter periods but more frequently which has really worked for me and we had a great night. The last 12 hours have been intense. The breeze has been up and down, and ‘4 my planet’ always within sight. We have worked tirelessly shifting between the modes to get any edge ahead. This in itself is a lot of work, dragging our water laden sails (easily over 100kg each) backwards and forwards on the boat for best trim, moving the keel, trimming sails, changing sails. Because my boat still has an old sail wardrobe we are having to work that bit harder to get the boat to move. But it seems to be paying off once again we are edging ahead. The trick is going to be; not to burn out, rotate often, sleep, eat, drink, sail.