(written by Chris) 1st November 2024 and it’s over, we have sailed across the Indian Ocean and made landfall at Richards Bay, South Africa.
I remember the elation of thinking,"It’s done and I’m still here to tell the tale". I would like to say we
cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate, but we were both so tired we just went to bed and slept knowing we wouldn’t be disturbed, though I did put on some dry clean clothes (or at least as dry as they can be on a yacht).
We had set sail from Lombok, Indonesia on15th September so it was a reasonably quick
crossing. We stopped for 5 days in the Cocos Keeling Islands, 5 days in Rodrigues, and finally 2 days in Réunion, we covered 8,986 km (as the crow flies or maybe that should be seagull) in 36 days sailing, (8,986 km sound better than 4852 nm).
I still wonder what possessed me to say I would crew. It was certainly a challenge and something very few people do. I don’t consider myself a sailor, although I do love the sea and have done quite a bit of sailing over the years. However, to really be a sailor you have to love the actual sailing, which, actually, I just don’t get. I keep thinking I’m sure there are quicker and easier ways of doing this. For me, sailing seems to consist of long periods of nothing interspaced with frantic moments of action and occasional fear. Financially, booking a round the world cruise may also be cheaper.
So apart from the challenge of doing something outside my comfort zone, what other appeal did the trip offer? It’s hard to describe but there really is nothing else quite like reaching in a strong wind. It’s a bit like being on a roller coaster, the thrill and the adrenaline, but on a rollercoaster you’re a lot safer than on a small yacht in the middle of an ocean. You can be over a thousand miles from the nearest land, no one is going to come and help you quickly, you have to be self-reliant and be ready to deal with any issues that arise. And they did arise.
When Tom set out on his around the world trip in July 2021, I was there as crew and I still have
memories of that voyage both good and not so good. Then in May 2022 when he wanted to bring the yacht back from Antigua to Spain he asked if I would be interested. At the time I was going through some major changes in my life and wanted some time away to think, plus I have always wanted to sail across an ocean, how hard could it be? What would it be like? Answer: In reality quite hard and very wet.
So, when Tom asked if I would crew across the Indian Ocean, and mentioned it was considered a challenging crossing, I thought, "Why not?" You only live once and a break from normal life sounded good. I trusted Tom to get me home safely. He is a very experienced sailor, we get on well, and as crew I do as I’m told, though I may grumble about sail changes. (For me, if code zero or little Pinky, a big asymmetric, are not going to be up for at least four hours, then I can’t see the point in hauling them out of the lazarette).
We kept a log book which we filled in every four hours and on sail changes (unless Tom was on watch). But do not worry, I don’t intend to give a blow by blow account of the crossing.
So, what are my enduring memories of the crossing?
The first one that comes to mind, and I spent a lot of time thinking about this, is why the toilet seat lid in the forward head did not have a latch to hold it up? I spent the whole crossing being wacked on the back by that toilet seat lid and was sorely tempted to rip the thing off and throw it overboard.
Early in the voyage there were lots of days when the sun shone and the wind was constant, allowing you to relax and just enjoy the feeling of the sun’s warmth on your body. I remember a day when the sea was like a mirror, but with a large long period swell which distorted the reflections of the clouds and sky reminding me of the distorting mirrors you find in fairgrounds. It was rather special.
The stars at night, with no light pollution, were so bright. You could see the Milky Way arcing across the sky and watch as the earth slowly turned under it. It took me back to my childhood. I grew up in the countryside and remember how bright the milky way appeared back then.
Seeing the Milky Way also meant that there were no clouds and a nice constant
wind with no sudden gusts or changes in direction, though I was always looking over my shoulder for that darkness creeping over the horizon.
As we got further South it became cooler and more unsettled. We could no longer sit about in
shorts. Instead, it was wet weather gear, first just at nights and then all the time.
I remember the days when the sea was rough, you’re reaching and the yacht is heeled over, cutting through the waves. It feels like you are moving so fast, the waves rushing past, you can physically feel and hear the forces of nature and they are immense. How can this small boat survive in such seas? But survive it did. I remember one day looking out the cockpit and all I could see was a huge wall of water, looking up I saw the white cap on the top beginning to break and thought, "This is it!". But Skyfall slowly rose up the face of the wave until it was perched on the top with white foam all around, before heeling a bit and then quickly sliding down the other side. Looking straight out from the cockpit was sometimes like looking into a chasm in the sea. Though I am not religious, at that point I was praying to any God who would listen.
On a stormy night, it’s hard to see anything. A dark grey sky with a dark, grey ocean and just the white caps to help differentiate between them. I’d stand at the helm holding the grab handles, just watching the instruments and listening as the yacht did its thing. It was a bit like riding
a bucking bronco in the dark except every so often someone would throw a bucket of water over
you.
Stopping at various remote islands was nice. Except, in reality, we usually had a a long list of things that needed to be done on the boat before we could set sail again. Though there may have been a little sight-seeing, from the crews perspective, we seemed to spend a lot more time trying to find this or that item to repair something on the yacht.
The hardest part of the crossing was the final leg from La Réunion, Tom spent a lot of time checking the weather forecast, corresponding with our weather router and trying to decide on the best route. As crew, I left him to it.
The worst incident on the voyage occurred in a near gale South of Madagascar. It was night and the wind rose quickly. We were trying to put in the third reef so we were heading upwind, but something was jamming the reefing line at the end of the boom. Tom was standing on the aft deck holding the main sheet, investigating, when a rogue wave hit. The boom swung and he was suddenly horizontal. Luckily, he kept hold of the main sheet or he could have been over the side. As the boom swung back, he let go and fell backwards onto the deck, but across a metal bar. He rolled into the cockpit in shock and agony. We managed to get in the third reef, but I could tell he was in a bad way and ordered him to go below and lie down. My main worry (apart from the fact I wouldn’t be able to sail the yacht on my own) was an internal injury. I felt it was important he rested as much as possible; I could see he was in a lot of pain and I started to feed him painkillers every few hours. Luckily, he could still move and the following day he was able to lie in the cockpit and push buttons. It was three days before I was really happy that his injury was not serious and he was recovering, but it was over a week before he showed real improvement.
When I have sailed with Tom before we shared the cooking, but Tom has spent so long on the boat he is now used to cooking with the limited facilities and turns out really nice meals. So, in the end, Tom cooked most of the evening meals, which was our main meal, and I did breakfast. We shared lunch duties. Provisioning in Indonesia had proven difficult so we ended up with a lot of pot noodles. Even with pot noodles Tom liked to go 'off-piste'. Sometimes he added fried eggs, cabbage or tomatoes and it certainly made them more interesting.
I had selected the pot noodles randomly, just on colour and picture. Now I can share some advice, based on our experience. If the picture on the front has flames, it is going to be very, very hot!
Since my last visit, Skyfall had acquired a stove top oven called an OMNIA, which we started to experiment with. We discovered we could actually make some really nice bread in it and we ended up making a loaf every few days. I even made a carrot cake which was delicious.
When I first arrived on the yacht I had noticed some weevils in the galley area. However, it was while sieving the flour to make bread that I realized we had quite an infestation. It seems weevils love flour and pasta. Though neither Tom or I were too bothered about a bit of extra protein in our diet, it was decided we needed to tackle the problem. We cleared everything out of the galley and disinfected all the surfaces, throwing out anything badly contaminated. It wasn’t until we
investigated the dried food storage in the rear cabin that we found the source. Someone had put
some open pasta packets back in the storage area and nearly all the pasta was contaminated, I’m not certain how they get into supposedly unopened packets, but they did. Much to Tom’s dismay a lot of stuff had to go over the side, though he did insist on keeping some unopened packets which
contained (limited) weevils. We would eat them first and just fish out the weevils whilst cooking the pasta since they tended to float. Every few days we would empty and check the storage area, repeatedly cleaning and disinfecting the surfaces. I was surprised at how effective it was. After a week or so, we were 'weevil-free'.
Meeting the other 'round-the-world' sailors was also interesting. They are a very friendly and
helpful group. Tom had met several of them before at various other points around the world.
They tend to be split into two distinct groups, those sailing with others and the solo sailors.
The solo sailors were quite unique and real characters. They tended to be mature and very independent. I did wonder what possesses someone to want to spend so much time alone. It must be that love of sailing which I seem to lack.
We had lost our satellite comms halfway between the Cocos Keeling Islands and Rodrigues. Tom
had already bought a Starlink system, so in Rodrigues we rigged it up. I was impressed by the speed and, once it was connected to the satellite network, the connection was remarkably stable. However, trying to connect in rough weather was an issue; it often failed. Ideally once connected you just leave it on, but it does consume a lot of power.
I was in two minds about Starlink. One reason for doing the voyage was to get away from the constantly connected, 'normal' life. I think they call it, 'digital detox'. Suddenly, with Starlink, it was like being back home. Everyone is busy staring at their phone screen or watching YouTube. I started getting messages from people who noticed I seemed to be back on line and I felt pressure to respond even though my intention was only to contact people when we were on land.
So, the big question is would I do it again? After each crossing I always say, "Never again!". But, after some time back on land and the chance to reflect, I find myself (potentially) tempted.
There is no other experience like it.
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