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Assignments
Watch:
Port or Red |
BOR: Jaffar, Santiago, James Rtn: Michael L., Eric |
Watch: Starbord or Green |
BOR: Paul (Watch leader), Mike, Jon Rtn: Ed, George |
Shore contact |
Chad Collect public domain weather data and sent it to
us by email twice a day. Talk to us at pre-established times and
dispatch the information by email to our relatives and friends. |
Communications & Weather forecast |
James, Jon, George, Eric Talk to Chad and exchange
email and data with him. Get additional data with Ocens Weathernet and
by VHF in the Bay. Talk to other boats and to the race committee. |
Navigation & Log keeping |
Jaffar, Santiago, Mike, Michael L., George Define a
route and input waypoints into the navigation computer, the Nexus system
and the handheld Magellan GPS. Keep an hourly log on the digital voice
recorder and transcribe it on the computer and on paper. |
Strategy |
Jaffar, Jon, Paul, Michael L., Ed Eastern shore or
Western shore down the Bay? How far to deviate from the Jenifer Clark
optimized route if the weather does not conform to forecast. |
Food |
Mike, James, Michael L., George Coordinate food
preparation and groceries purchase. Assign daily kitchen chores (mostly
reheating of frozen meals and preparation of sandwiches) on a rotation
basis. |
First Aid |
Mike, James, Eric, George Be prepared for a medical
emergency prepare the medical kit and stay in touch with our medical
assistance MMA. |
Safety |
Jon, James, Eric, Ed Bring the safety aspect in all
tasks during the preparation and the race. Review safety equipment and
procedures. Review and practice safety maneuvers (MOB, heaving-to,
etc.). Prepare a ditch bag. Bring the liferaft from its storage place in
front of the mast to the cockpit in case of emergency and getting it
ready. |
Helm |
Jaffar, Santiago, Paul, Michael L., Ed Everybody will
get his share of helm time, unless we encounter difficult seas or heavy
weather. |
Foredeck |
James, Mike, Ed Decide if it is safe to use the fore
hatch for hoists and douses. |
Sail changes |
Paul, James, Ed Prepare the maneuver verbally and make
sure that all tasks are taken care of and each person knows what to do
and when. Double check everything before a hoist, douse, reef taking or
headsail change. Then direct the execution. |
Sail trim |
Jon, Santiago, Michael L. We need constant attention
to sail trim 24 hours a day during the 5+ days and nights to be
competitive. |
Movie |
Santiago, Chad |
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The Preparation
Personal gear:
Here is what comes to my mind. See also:
http://www.bermudaoceanrace.com/faq.shtml#crew3
- Breathing 'ocean-', 'offshore-' or 'coastal-' rated foulies.
- Boating shoes. I do not like the regular boating boots because you cannot
swim with them. I prefer to use my snicker-type deck shoes with neoprene
socks, if necessary if we have blue water on deck or four continuous days
and nights of thunderstorms, like we had during the 2002 return trip.
- One good set of middle layer clothing, like polartec, for protection
against the cold nights.
- Two or three sets of good underwear and additional socks.
- Remember to avoid cotton in ALL clothing items (particularly underwear) because cotton looses all
thermal properties when wet.
- Gloves, hat, sunglasses, rigging knife, sun block, chapstick, one
individual small waterproof flashlight, preferably the headlamp type with a
red screen
- toiletry items, towel, swimsuit
- sleeping bag and pillow case (to be filled with a piece of soft clothing)
- weight is a major performance factor for us, so remember to pack light
- earplugs and sleeping mask (important because the boat is noisy when you
try to sleep)
- small camera, MP3 player with headphones
Additionally:
- I will have 400 pills (two packages) of Stugeron, the best European
medicine against sea sickness (the preventive dose is one pill of 25 mg
every 6 hours). We will try it during our practices. However, you could also
ask your doctor for a prescription for the seasickness patch, although it
did not help us too much last time. If you prefer seasickness wrist bands or
anything else (ginger-based food or drinks, for example), please bring them.
Seasickness may be our biggest risk.
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From Jaffar To: team
Subject: Return assignments
Sent: 02 Jun 2004 |
Team:
It is time to discuss
assignments for the return. I need volunteers for the various
assignments
below that are an extrapolation and simplification of what we are doing
for the race. I assume now that my friend Billy is not coming and that
we will only be five, which is still a good number for us. It makes us
slightly lighter (and thus safer offshore) but complicates the watches a
bit and will necessitate more often waking up the off-watch team for
sail changes or spinnaker hoists and douses. We will have two watches of
two people and I will be off-rotation, balancing my time between the two
watches. We were five for the return last time and it
If anybody feels a particular skill is not used properly, please let me
know.
The watches will be:
- Port or Red:
Michael L. (watch captain), Eric
- Starboard or
Green: Ed (watch captain), George
We will rotate watches at 12 noon, 6 pm, 10 pm, 2 am, 6 am and 12 noon.
Each watch will have a helmsman, a sail trimmer and the jobs will rotate
periodically within each watch in order to maintain attention. The main
meal will be around 6 pm.
Positions at the start and at fully crewed sail changes:
- Helm: Jaffar
- Main trim: Michael
- Genoa and Spinnaker trim: Eric
- Mid-boat: George
- Mast: Mike
- Foredeck: Ed
Specific assignments
will be:
- Shore coordination and contact point: Chad
Collect public domain weather data and sent it to us by email twice a
day. Talk to us at pre-established times and dispatch the information by
email to our relatives and friends.
- Communications, weather forecast: ?
Talk to Chad and exchange email and data with him. Get additional data
by VHF in the Bay. Talk to other boats and to the race committee.
- Navigation and log keeping: Jaffar and ?
Define a route and input waypoints into the navigation computer and the
handheld GPS. Keep an hourly log on the digital voice recorder and
transcribe it on the computer and on paper.
- Food coordination and stores: ?
This is an essential job. I need somebody to help me purchase frozen
food and groceries in Bermuda. During the return, we will rotate daily
kitchen assignments
(mostly reheating of frozen meals and preparation of sandwiches). If you
have any special diet requirements please let me know.
- Medical and First Aid: Eric
Be prepared for a medical emergency and stay in touch with our medical
assistance MMA.
- Safety: ?
Bring the safety aspect in all tasks during the return. Review safety
equipment and procedures. Review ditch bag and emergency
assignments.
Bring the liferaft from its storage place in front of the mast to the
cockpit in case of emergency and getting it ready.
- Helm: Everybody
We have no autopilot. Everybody will get his share of helm time, unless
we encounter difficult seas or heavy weather.
- Foredeck: Ed
Decide if it is safe to use the forehatch for hoists and douses.
- Sail changes: ?
Prepare the maneuver verbally and make sure that all tasks are taken
care of and each person knows what to do and when. Double check
everything before a hoist, douse, reef taking or headsail change. Then
direct the execution.
- Sail trim: ?
We need constant attention to sail trim 24 hours a day during the 5+
days and nights to be competitive.
- Movie: Who can bring a video camera? (Santiago will bring his camera
back with him. The deck camera will stay onboard but have to be
connected to a VCR)
Please let me know your preferences and what you think you are
comfortable doing.
Jaffar |
From Jaffar To: team
Subject: Assignments
Sent: 01 Apr 2004
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Team:
I have been working on this email for longer than usual because I did
not find the perfect combination of watch and duties
assignments. I
have talked to many of you and changed several assignements in the
process of putting everything together on paper. I want to have two
balanced watches and to balance the
assignments
between the people and the watches.
Here is the result of my cogitations. This is not final and needs to be
optimized, in particular during the practices. If anybody feels a
particular skill is not used properly, please let me know.
The watches will be:
- Port or Red:
Jaffar (skipper), Santiago and James
- Starboard or
Green: Paul (watch leader), Mike and Jon.
We will rotate watches at 12 noon, 6 pm, 10 pm, 2 am, 6 am and 12 noon.
Each watch will have a helmsman, a main trimmer and a genoa-spinnaker
trimmer and the jobs will rotate periodically within each watch in order
to maintain attention, one major key to a silver finish. We will use the
red shift after the start and the green shift will take over at 6 pm.
The main meal will also be around 6 pm. When off-duty the priorities
will be 1) feeding, 2) sleeping, 3) making a positive contribution to
stability (meaning ON the rail), which can also be combined with 1).
Positions at the start and at fully crewed sail changes:
- Helm: Jaffar
- Main trim: Jon
- Genoa and Spinnaker trim: Santiago
- Mid-boat: Paul
- Mast: Mike
- Foredeck: James
Specific assignments
will be (first name is the leader):
- Shore coordination and contact point: Chad
Collect public domain weather data and sent it to us by email twice a
day. Talk to us at pre-established times and dispatch the information by
email to our relatives and friends.
- Communications, weather forecast: James, Jon
Talk to Chad and exchange email and data with him. Get additional data
by VHF in the Bay. Talk to other boats and to the race committee.
- Navigation and log keeping: Jaffar, Santiago, Mike
Define a route and input waypoints into the navigation computer and the
handheld GPS. Keep an hourly log on the digital voice recorder and
transcribe it on the computer and on paper.
- Strategy (down the Bay): Jon, Paul
Eastern shore or Western shore?
- Food coordination and stores: Mike, James
Coordinate food preparation and groceries purchase. Assign daily kitchen
chores (mostly reheating of frozen meals and preparation of sandwiches)
on a rotation basis.
- Medical and First Aid: Mike, James
Be prepared for a medical emergency and stay in touch with our medical
assistance.
- Safety: Jon, James
Bring the safety aspect in all tasks during the preparation and the
race. Review safety equipement and procedures. Review and practice
safety maneuvers (MOB, heaving-to, etc.). Prepare a ditch bag. Bring the
liferaft from its storage place in front of the mast to the cockpit in
case of emergency and getting it ready.
- Helm: Jaffar, Santiago, Paul
Everybody will get his share of helm time, unless we encounter difficult
seas or heavy weather.
- Foredeck: James, Mike
Decide if it is safe to use the forehatch for hoists and douses.
- Sail changes: Paul, James
Prepare the maneuver verbally and make sure that all tasks are taken
care of and each person knows what to do and when. Double check
everything before a hoist, douse, reef taking or headsail change. Then
direct the execution.
- Sail trim: Jon, Santiago
We need constant attention to sail trim 24 hours a day during the 5+
days and nights to be competitive.
- Movie: Santiago, Chad
Comments are welcome to optimize the matrix.
Jaffar |
This site was last updated
09/03/07
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