This is it! 18 Months ago I made the decision to go on this “Race of Your Life” and the day has finally arrived when I leave for my trip. It’s scary but exciting. I will miss friends and family, particular my amazing wife who has always encouraged me to follow my passions and has supported me in all my crazy adventures.
So, what am I taking on Leg 5 of the Clipper Round the World Race? I thought I would share with you all the items I’ll need the next few months. I tried my hardest to keep the amount of gear to a minimum. I do have a tendency to over pack.
Outer sailing kit: Foul weather – MUSTO HPX Smock and Salopette. Cooler weather – MUSTO BR1 jacket and fleece mid-layer.
Footwear: – Foul weather – MUSTO GORE-TEX Ocean Racer Boot. Warm weather – MUSTO deck shoes, Crocs and flip flops.
Clothing: Shorts – 5, trousers – 1, underwear – 6, pairs of socks – 8, long-sleeve tech t-shirts – 3, short-sleeve tech t-shirts – 4, t-shirts – 2, Seal Skinz waterproof socks – 1, board shorts – 1.
Accessories: Baseball hat, full brim hat, beanie, sunglasses, croakies, hat clip, various waterproof bags, MUSTO knee pads, sailing knife, and GILL sailing gloves.
Personal Items: Sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, silk sheet, towels, cooling rag, toiletries, cell phone, portable charger, personal electric fan (for the bunk area), GoPro camera and accessories, Garmin watch, headlamp, headphones, metal water bottle, personal log book, and biodegradable camping soap.
I can’t believe it all weighs only 43 pounds (19.5kg)! Hopefully I didn’t forget to pack anything!
The official Clipper Race YouTube channel has just posted their video from Leg 3, where the yachts traversed the Southern Ocean from Cape Town, South Africa to Fremantle, Australia. I thought I would share it with you as the footage is pretty epic!
So what’s happening from here? It’s only a 14.5 hour flight to Sydney. I’ll spend a few days checking out the city before flying up to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays and then ferry over to the mainland. I’ll be spending the next week and half in Airlie Beach.
On Monday, January 13th I join my team, WTC Logistics aboard CV23. We’ll spend the week preparing the yacht for Leg 5.
On Saturday, January 18th we depart the Coral Sea Marina in Airlie Beach. As mentioned in my prior blog post, we will only be starting the actual race on January 19th, just offshore of the Great Barrier Reef.
This may be a good time to talk about time. The Clipper Race does all of their communications based off of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It is often referred to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If UTC is 0000 then the Pacific Time Zone (California) is -08 UTC. So, when it is noon in California it will be 2000 (8pm) in England.
Airlie Beach, Australia is +10 UTC. So, Monday at noon in California will be Tuesday at 0600 (6am) in Airlie Beach. This is 18 hours ahead of California.
Our stopovers in China and the Philippines will be +08 UTC. So, Monday at noon in California will be Tuesday at 0400 (4am) in Zhuhai or Subic Bay. This is 16 hours ahead of California.
I don’t know the exact time we will be starting the race on Sunday the 19th, but if you go to Facebook Live for the Clipper Race they will be streaming the departure from the Coral Sea Marina in Airlie Beach on Saturday the 18th. Slipping of the lines is at 1200 local time, so in California it will be 1800 (6pm) on Friday, January 17th. Make sure to watch!!!
Due to the limited connectivity during the race, I will not be posting on this blog until my return in early March. But don’t worry! You can always keep up to date the following ways.
The Clipper Race Viewer – This is a map of the race that updates the yachts positions regularly. It’s interactive to the extent where you can select a boat and see their course over ground, speed, and distance to the finish. There is also a wind overlay so you can see what type of weather we are experiencing and what the forecast is.
The Skipper Blogs. This will be by far the best way to follow along daily on what is happening aboard team WTC Logistics.
I now have an Instagram account! My handle is regularmike10. Who knew there were that many Regular Mikes?! I’ll be posting photos to this account during my travels.
Team WTC Logistics also has an Instagram account, click here for it. This is kept up to date during stopovers with many crew posting to it. It’s a good way to see all the action in port.
Upon my return I will start writing blog posts and sharing all the amazing experiences I’m sure I’ll have. In addition, my plan is to take a lot of video during the race. When I get back I’ll be editing it into videos and then sharing with you on this blog.
Please check out my fundraising page. I am raising money for UNICEF UK, which is doing some amazing work for children all around the World. My goal is to raise $1000 by the end of the race and we are 10% of the way there. Special thanks goes to those that have donated already, I greatly appreciate it.
I want to thank all of you that have been following along these past few months. I appreciate the feedback that I’ve received and am touched by how many of you I have had a positive impact on. I encourage you all to constantly challenge yourself and grow from your experiences. It’s what makes life so amazing!
Now, let’s go sailing!!!
Regular Mike 