Don’t get your knickers in a twist - stick to the plan!
Medallia is running again, I am gripping onto the sides of my seat with my elbows while I type, trying to stay in it long enough to get this writing done, there is the familiar hum coming from my rudders, the sea is roaring as it whips past my hull and once again we making miles to the East. It feels good to be moving.
The temperature has really dropped in the last 48 hours. I am now wearing a hat and gloves all of the time and have two layers on under my foulies. One of the significant blows from losing a hydrogen is the fact that all of my diesel now must be reserved for power generation. I have a diesel heater on board which I had planned to use sparingly, but as my Southern Ocean comfort, when things got really bad and I needed a morale boost. No more dreaming of blown hot air for me, it is only going to get colder and I need to manage this with my clothing alone. I'm thankful at least that I did not skimp when it came to warm kit. I invested in merino wool underwear and thermals, I have multiple mid layers of varying types and the absolute rock bottom position is a full on woolly bear onesie, which though bulky fits under my dry suit and I have been warned will just make me too hot to sail. I think there will be days when I look forward to putting that theory to the test.
Of course I don't have unlimited clothing supplies and Medallia is an incredibly wet boat to sail. All of my foul weather gear has dry seals at the neck and at the wrists, but if there is a layer poking out from under that seal, I return below decks with wet sleeves and wet collars which I must take off immediately or they will make everything else wet. I use the engine room as a drying area and have t-shirts and socks hanging here on a washing line from the ceiling. I think my love of French cheese may be permanently quashed as the smell of a sock dangling in front of my face as I try to cant the keel is just too similar to a ripe Camembert or Thom. My dry new clothes are precious and I am trying to be strict about when I break them out. I have a bag a week with underwear and a full change of thermals every two weeks. Some people are marking their progress around the course in miles, others in time. Me, I'm counting it in bags of dry underwear - when it's gone it's gone so I need to sail as fast as I change my socks. On current progress I am a quarter of the way through the course... this seems to tally up with the miles so we are on track.