Saadiah
Freeman
(inducted 2007)
Dear King Neptune – I hope this story will entertain you and your faithful devotees!
With the exception of a few short, daytime cruises up and down the coast off my home town of Sydney, Australia, my first offshore sailing experience was the 2001 Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race, crewing on the 60-foot sloop Eureka.
With a Force 8 tailwind blowing for nearly the entire duration of the 330 mile race, we crossed the finish line just over 27 hours after the start of the race.
During the short but eventful trip, I learned the correct nautical terms for many parts of the vessel, for example “the f***ing kicker”, “the f***ing mainsheet” and, perhaps most notably, “the f***ing vang”, all of which seemed to acquire a particular urgency during the midnight to 3am watch.
I also had the memorable experience of emerging on deck at 6 am for the morning watch to discover that we were surfing at over 20 knots in a heavy following sea – needless to say, I made my way astern pretty quickly! Fortunately for my peace of mind, the helmsman, Hugh Treharne, had been the tactitian on Australia II during Australia’s only America’s Cup win, so I reassured myself that he knew what he was doing.
While the race was certainly exciting, we were all pleased to arrive safely in port – especially as we were greeted in a tender by the Gladstone Yacht Club race committee, who were very thoughtfully handing out cases of XXXX beer to the tired crews.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the howling winds, lack of sleep, lumpy seas and frequent yelling during my first race, I was hooked. Since that time, I’ve managed to log around 3,500 offshore miles in and around Australian waters on several different boats, including a number of other blue water races such as the Gosford to Lord Howe Island, (a particularly beautiful spot to finish a race), Sydney to Gold Coast, and Sydney to Mooloolaba.
I crewed on Sea-Change, a 36 foot cruiser-racer, in the 2003 Gold Coast and Mooloolaba races, both of which were characterized by a delightful alternating combination of gale force winds and dead calm conditions. While the windy periods were nail-biting at times, perhaps the most terrifying moments occurred while we were becalmed. I don’t think I’ll quickly forget the mainsheet trimmer’s rendition of “Copacabana” (complete with actions), or the sight of our very solidly built skipper steering the boat in his boxer shorts while munching on a chorizo sausage.
Unfortunately, the demands of work (including a stint in Luxembourg during 2005 – not much sailing there) have prevented me from getting out on the water as often as I’d like over the past couple of years, but I look forward to adding some U.S. miles to my offshore sailing log one of these days … who knows?
Respectfully, Saadiah Freeman - March 2007