02.03.2006
From: MOVISTAR LEG FOUR DAY 12
Sent: 02 March 2006 09:29
"WE ARE SINKING!!!!!!!!!! EVERYBODY UP".
I can tell you not a nice way to get woken up. "SLOW THE BOAT DOWN, THE WATER IS COMING IN VERY FAST, AND CLOSE THE WATERIGHT HATCHES".
A sailor’s nightmare is sinking, and this looked like a pretty serious
situation. If we had rats onboard they would have jumped off by now.
Mobilised some people on deck to drop all the sails, and when I went
downstairs again, I got a real shock. The generator box was already
completely underwater, and the water had spread now through the entire mid
compartment, and was close to washing over the index engine box as well.
And what a mess inside, sails, sleeping bags, food bags, you can't name
it, were floating around. In the mean time Spike (Peter Doriean) had
collected all the safety gear and put this on deck, just to be sure.
Capey (Andrew Cape) had already informed race-headquarters. After seeing
the amount of water, I decided to ask headquarters if other boats could
assist. Water and electricity don't like each other so much, so the
circuit breakers were popping off all the time.
With the personal torches on it looked like a scene that Hitchcock could
only dream of. Now Chris (Nicholson) was diving underwater to connect the
two emergency high capacity bilge pumps directly to the batteries, as that
was the only way of assuring power and running of the pumps. What else do
you do? Bail of course like mad, but I felt it was like watching
television where somebody is using one small water hose to protect his
house against a raging bushfire. Even though we knew we were on the losing
hand, strangely enough you don't give up.
Then the shout, PUMPS ARE RUNNING. Now we maybe have a chance to beat the
incoming flow rate, and get the level down.
To all our big relief, this was the case. Slowly but surely, the levels
went down, and we got the situation under control. We have made an emergency fix on
the leaking box, and the incoming flow is minimal. I’m proud of the boys
they did well, not just in this emergency situation, but how magnificently
they have sailed movistar up to that moment as well.
Now heading for Ushuaia (Argentina) to look at damage.
Bouwe Bekking - skipper
For media information on the Volvo Ocean Race, please contact:
Lizzie Green Press Officer at race headquarters:
Tel: +44 1489 554 832, Mob: +44 7801 185 320
Email: lizzie.green@volvooceanrace.org
Sophie Luther Press Assistant at race headquarters
Mob: +44 7956 285548 email: sophie.luther@volvooceanrace.org
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