One of the hardest aspects of my job here on il mostro would have to be getting out of the bunk after a snooze. Think about it, all the other guys on the team have a watch partner and an opposite. No one wants to be late on deck for their watch thereby denying their opposite extra minutes in the bunk and at the same time the motivation of being with a watch partner generally keeps even the sleepiest sailor more or less on time.
Now think about the MCM concept of time. You are theoretically on call 24/7, ready with a camera to record any and all incidents in real time as they unfold! There are a couple of problems with this concept in that a) you have to sleep and b) sometimes nothing much is happening.
So this morning I had just such a moment...lying in my bunk with all my work done the night before and not much camera-worthy action happening on the yacht, which is slamming along upwind in about 19 knots of wind. Clearly, it is going to be miserable on deck. I see guys coming down dripping wet and hear the spray on the deck above my head. I'm going through all the reasons for and against getting up. Check email, need to pee...just 10 more minutes...I worked late last night...etc, etc. The one that wins out in the end is guilt. I don't want to give the guys too much ammunition so I take five more minutes before reluctantly hauling myself out of the bunk. I'm really groggy but I push through and I really do need to pee. So I put my spray top on, grab a camera and head up on deck. Maybe I can shoot a sunrise or some nice cloud action. The guys on deck are all laughing and smiling about something. My immediate thought is that I must look really sleepy or have bed head or something. Incidentally I don't have enough hair to have bed head. First thing I do is head to the back of the boat and take care of immediate business, and then go and stand by the wheel where Nico, who is driving, flatly states "not much going on here Rick," me replying "yeah."
I hang out for about fifteen minutes before deciding to head down for a cuppa. One bonus to being an MCM is a level of freedom that the guys cannot even imagine (I plan to talk about that tomorrow). On the way down, I stop in the hatch to tell the guys a piece of news that I heard last night about some action in the Vendee Globe Race. The guys are usually desperate for any news but this time they are all waving at me. "What?" I ask impatiently. "Get on the high side!" Rob Greenhalgh informs me. Of course, I understand that me being on the high side helps the boat's performance but I am just about blown away he didn't seem to mind if I sleep all day so long as it helps the boat go faster!
It's a eureka moment and it's not going to make it any easier to get out of the bunk.
-Rick
