Ocean sailing is tough

It's been a long time since I last blog... it was all the work and sailing that took away all my time. Yeh yeh...It's a lie.

Well, I have been sailing almost every weekend since I met the Uniquely Singapore Clipper crew and I've just returned one month of training in UK. My verdict.... ocean sailing is very tough and I made it. I'm pretty proud of myself for surviving the tough training.

Why tough? It's physically tiring and mentally challenging. The hard work of sailing - changing sails that weigh 5-6 times more than me whether in the day or night, grinding those loaded winches, getting drenched while on the deck, moving swiftly on deck with the boat heeling to an angle; the challenge of living together with 17 crew and our skipper within a confined space - all that snoring which can be extremely melodious, those smelly socks/shoes that are lying every where, all that differences in living habits, temperaments and personalities and diet habits; the dreadful wind chill and cold of ocean - cold beyond description until you personally experience it; the torture of seasickness and not being able to sit in the cabin to rest. The worst of all is overcoming seasickness in cold... you are torn between sitting on deck for fresh air for seasickness and the need to keep warm in the cabin. Let's just say that I had seasick and had to be on deck and yet it was so cold that I wanted to stay in the cabin. Naturally the best cure for seasickness is sleeping. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury to do that otherwise it won't be fair to my team mates. I can't possibly be sleeping throughout the whole sail when your team members are doing all the hard work and suffering in the cold.

26 days flew by very quickly. The actual race will yet be another test for my determination and perserverance. Now that I'm back in Singapore and sitting at my desk in office, I miss the days of sailing. Being away from reality is always welcoming and tempting... and being back in office and home is dreading. After 3 weeks, I still can't adapt to the normal life.

On hindsight, what I miss most.... is both sailing and living together with the crew. The Singaporean and international crew were a fantastic bunch of people. It is the team work and togetherness that helped me to survive the trainings and I believe this team spirit will help us all survive the race. The CREW, the jokes, the nonsence, the drink parties, the dances, the cheers, the funny things that happened during sails etc formed the fond memories and these are all that I remembered.

Look out for more updates and photos of my sails...