Maybe you didn’t get the chance to go aboard one of the Clipper Race yachts during the public viewing days, but still wonder what it’s like ‘below deck’?  Well here you are.  In one word: ‘cramped’, and there were only 3 of us when I was down there!

So many events have been held in Da Nang since the fleet arrived, and so much has been reported in DA NANG Today about them, but it really is an eye-opener seeing a crews’ onboard living space and it makes you appreciate how difficult it must be to function when the boats are under full sail. 

On Tuesday the public were allowed access for a guided tour on and below deck.  Even getting on board was not so straightforward as the Immigration officers were keeping a tight ship (forgive the pun).  Photo id was essential because it seems that technically that wide step onto the yacht was a step across Viet Nam’s border. 

The deck area seems strikingly flat, featureless, and seriously lacking something to hold on to – no feel of being ‘in’ a boat, more like trying to balance on a large surfboard.  Now try to imagine it at a 45^o angle with waves crashing over the bows.  The boat is quite wide, the mast is 29m high, and the keel under the boat means that a water depth of 3.5m is needed.  Despite the advance dredging of the river, apparently 2 of the yachts touched bottom on their way under the Thuan Phuoc Bridge last Wednesday.  Could be interesting on Thursday evening then when they sail up to the Dragon Bridge!

‘Below deck’ is reached by negotiating (backwards) a steep set of steps and you arrive in the central living area.  In the middle is the galley out of which, remarkably, meals for the 20 or so crew members are created on a daily basis.  The oven is stabilised to always remain level, but it must be awkward to say the least pouring the teas and coffees.  And the early evening cocktails must be near impossible! 

Around the walls are shelves full of dry food items, safely netted over to keep things in place.  They stocked up well before leaving Australia because of uncertainty about what would be available in Da Nang.  Chocolate items seemed plentiful, Cadbury’s drinking chocolate and M&Ms in particular.  There are no freezers on board so all meat and fish is freeze-dried before loading and rehydrated prior to cooking.  Before leaving Da Nang they will take on fresh vegetables and fruit – hope someone’s warned them about durians!

To the front and back (sorry, fore and aft) run 2 narrow parallel corridors alongside which are the bunk beds.  Narrow, short and with no bedside table for the morning tea in bed.  In total there are only about 12 bunks, but they’re always in constant use as the crew operate a 2-shift system.  The half of the crew not sleeping are working, and when they’re not working they’re sleeping.  Except, that is, for the 2 people nominated each day as the ‘Mother’ cooks – apparently their magical skills are rewarded by a bunk each for the whole night!

Now what everyone will want to know about – the, erm, ‘facilities’!  About the size of a typical aircraft bathroom, but without the free toothbrushes.  I only saw the one toilet cubicle (what, for 20 people?).  Now once again briefly imagine the boat tilted at a 45^o angle.  Mind-boggling!

The boat I visited was Mission Performance, and the crew members I spoke to were Denise Oakley and Gavin Reid, both from the UK.  This is 60-year-old Denise’s second Clipper Race.  Previously she did the whole circumnavigation, but this time she’s only doing Australia to China.  (‘Only’!)  She has been amazed by the friendliness of everyone in Da Nang and looks forward to returning to the city some time soon.  Gavin is, at 27, one of the youngest members of the present crew.  His company has kindly given him a year off work to complete the whole round-the-world experience.  He too has thoroughly enjoyed his time in Da Nang, and the ‘celebrity status’ all the crew members have been accorded.

So on Saturday the crews get back on board and set off on the 10-day sail to Qingdao, China.  The cooks will have been nominated, and those bunks will start to be perpetually warm.  It will be sad to see the fleet depart after bringing such an international flavour to Da Nang over the week, but I’ll be more than happy to have my feet firmly on the quayside and not very ‘unfirmly’ on that oversized surfboard!  I was flattered to be asked whether I would like to join a crew for the next Clipper Race.  Thanks but I’ll have to decline - checked in my diary and I’m busy throughout 2017-18!

Farewell Clipper Race fleet.  Farewell Da Nang-Viet Nam and the other 11 boats.  Thank you for visiting us and come back soon.  Perhaps next time you’re round-the-world?

(The photos below are intended to give you a peak at conditions onboard, not a sample of my (lack of) photography skills)

The deck area – in a level plane!

One of 2 parallel corridors

Rarely seen - an empty bunk

In nautical jargon – the ‘head’

Written by Ian Lister