Packing:


Here my gear for Sydney: 

Most of it is for sailing. Not much room left for "civil" cloth. I hope I'll find a laundry close to the harbor.

And here the Flying Fish Packing list: (The comments are from me)

Breathable, offshore or ocean category foul weather gear. You might think this should not be necessary in a down under summer but check some Sydney-Hobart race videos on YouTube and it seems it is really a good idea to have this. 

Sleeping bag. I did buy a small one (for easy packing)  which is good for temperatures down to 12 degree C and with my loved silk liner I should be good for another few degrees. 

Sunscreen. Summer, I'm coming. 

Personal first aid kit. I have to check with my doctor friend Fuat. I'm sure he'll prepare a nice first aid kid for me. 

Swimming kit. Always with me anyway 

Micro-fibre towel. Proved to be very useful on previous races. 

Hat and beanie or balaclava. Just bought my sunhat today in a military shop. Latest fashion. 

Thermal base layer for cold weather. How cold will it get? 

Warm fleece. I start worrying. 

Comfortable trousers or jogging bottoms Warm socks. Hmmmm. 

Sailing boots Shorts and T-shirts for hot weather. Sounds good. 

Sailing gloves Small torch/flashlight/headtorch. Headtorch is sooooo useful. Never without it on any night sailing. 

Sailing knife. I just got one from Gerber. A foldable knife with partly serrated blade. Very good for cutting rope or lifeline....and it is really sharp. I played last night with it and believe it or not, I cut myself in the finger.... after some beers. But we are not drinking alcohol while racing. Lucky me. 

Carry your gear in a soft bag for ease of storage on board as space is limited. Brigitte, my wife, recommended to buy a 50 liter dry bag and as I'm always  listening to her I did. I hope it will not be too big. Flying fish is reading my blog too and if there is an disagreement I'm sure they'll let me know.

Brigitte is wonderful and as a birthday present she let me go over X-mas and new years eve to Sydney leaving her alone with our 2 kids in cold Germany.

                                    THANK YOU BRIGITTE.

For myself I add some more items like earplugs and eye cover and some sea sickness medication. 

Even though I only got  sea sick once - it was on a qualifying race for the fastnet and diesel was leaking under deck. I was the navigator working on the nav table and I got the full blast of the smell. Not nice. But our skipper Andy Hunt could fix the problem. How did he manage to work in that diesel smell? Well done Andy.

 Good news. MY VISA ARRIVED! It came with e-mail. The aussies are so uncomplicated and the visa is for free.

                                  
                             I love the aussies.



                              SPEED