(Brian Luster is a fellow nautical blogger and author of the excellent blog A Movable Bridge. Brian took part in the big Asian leg of the 2005-2006 Clipper Race. The current race is taking place right now and the crews are in Asia as I write this –Adam)
(Day 17) The angle of the dangle: 43 47N 172 35E, 2599nm to Victoria
We’ve been sailing on the same tack for several days, which means the boat has a constant tilt to the right of about 20 degrees. Twe
nty degrees may not sound like much, but imagine your house tilted 20 degrees to one side. Now, add to the tilt some forward and backward pitching and some side-to-side rolling, all at uncertain intervals. Life is a bit more difficult. Finally, imagine your house is 68 feet long, almost 19 feet wide and filled with 12 other people besides you. Welcome to a Clipper 68! Every move has to be planned in advance. As you make your way through the boat, your eye scans for handholds, things to lean against, and possible obstructions. Moving is difficult enough with two free hands, but you usually only have one. Going from the low side to the high side requires tremendous effort as you pull yourself up. Even lifting a foot requires extra effort. This must be what it’s like to live on Jupiter. It’s like some bizarre fun-house ride—Extra-Heavy Gravity Home. (Of course, you must also deal with unexpected moments of weightlessness as the boat drops off the backside of a wave.)
It also takes tremendous brainpower to move about. The brain performs myriad calculations to determine if your angle of dangle when hanging from a handhold is correct to drop you into your chosen space on the settee, for example. When you’ve determined the correct trajectory, you close your eyes, let go, and hope the boat doesn’t hit a wave. If you’re lucky, you hit your target. If you’re unlucky, you sprawl across your crewmates (and their dinners).
Pouring drinks is a very strange experience when on an angle. You hold the pitcher directly over the cup and pour, but the liquid goes shooting off to the side, missing the cup completely. This leaves you quite puzzled, because your brain has made all the adjustments necessary to fool you into thinking everything around you is level.