It is hard to describe the scale, fantastically professional organization, and event I witnessed in Portsmouth last week. Seeing it all made me feel much more comfortable with what Bill has undertaken and very, very proud and excited for his adventure. Let me walk you through a little.
We arrived in Portsmouth after a direct flight from Nashville to Heathrow, jumped on a bus with all the gear and bags for a 3 hour ride south to Portsmouth. After checking in at our hotel, we immediately headed down to Gunwharf Quays to the boat. It was such a typically British day — chilly and drizzly. You walk through a large, high-end, open-air mall area, that honestly could be in any large American city (globalization is real), to arrive at the pier under the Spinnaker Tower. Down to the boat!!
This is The Dome, located at the pier entrance. This will be traveling around the world and will be located at the pier in every host port. If you go to meet Bill at any of the host ports, go to The Dome. Worth the visit. A great short film with historical footage of Sir Robin’s epic first journey around the world, past racers chatting you up, swag, and cool take-aways.
We walked around a little. Portsmouth is home to a large British naval base, many historical ships at port, and is one of the busiest ports I have been to — commercial traffic, lots of ferries, naval traffic and recreational boats. The Old Customs House is located near the pier and is an authentic old English pub. It is also the favorite hangout of the racers. We spent a lot time here with Bill’s crew mates, Hannah (skipper) and Cam (AQP). There was also a lot to do. Lots of work on the boat and securing last minute items for the trip. We also made a few trips over to Gosport by ferry to get Bill’s name printed on his “foulies” (Hannah needs to know who she is yelling at from the back of the boat) and trying to remedy some uniform issues. We also really enjoyed our time together as, once we arrived in England, for the first time in a bit the stress of what we had been preparing for lifted. It was a really nice last week together.
On the right is Bill’s bunkmate, Dan (more on Dan in the post before this one). These two share a bunk together and are both circumnavigating. Bill, Dan and the other racers spent a lot time on the boat during the week. They had various errands to run, boat improvements to make, and I had things of my own to do (including trying to figure out this website thing). I also got to spend time with Jennifer, Dan’s wife. She is fantastic and it was so great to be able to spend time with someone going through the same thing. Putting your Husband on a boat to sail around the world for 11 months is not an easy undertaking nor for the feint of heart.
There were plenty of organized events during the week, including the Naming Ceremony on Friday. During that event we had one of the highlights of the whole week (and probably Bill’s life). Bill got to meet and visit with one of his idles, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. If you do not know the story of Sir Robin, I encourage you to visit with Mother Google. He is the reason the Clipper Race exists and he is so charming. When he found out where we were from, he immediately chatted us up about Dolly Pardon. He is a tremendous Dolly fan (let’s be honest — aren’t we all). The sponsors were in from DC, the crew got to bond a little, we got some swag and Bill got to (was made to) drink some Budweiser provided by the hosts. Raymond Bekkevold — that picture is for you!
Race Day! The weather was beautiful, if not a bit hot. Early day for us as we met Bill’s twin, Phil (pictured above), for breakfast and walked Bill to the boat at 8 AM. Hannah wanted everyone on the boat by 10 AM (even though they were not required until 11:30 — meany ‘ole Hannah). Bill was excited and felt like he had a lot to do. Enter first very hard good-bye. Luckily, I got a call around 9 to meet Bill back at the pier and we got to spend another 45 minutes together. Enter the second good-bye…
Just before the final good-bye.
A few hours later the festivities started. Hopefully, you got to watch those via livestream. If not, wander over to the Clipper Round the World website https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com for some great photos and videos. Jennifer, Phil and I were able to make it to all the various events: crew parade and send off, the blessing of the boats, slipping of the lines, parade of boats, and the start. Lots of walking. Lots of people. Lots of memories. Check out the the video below of Bill in the crew parade! We watched the start from shore next to the Southsea Castle. It literally went off with a BANG — Sir Robin shooting off his own personal cannon. It was so loud! Team DC had a rough start — record high tides in the solent and low winds but that’s okay — they did it. It was little tough for us to see everything from shore but I’ve included some great photos of Team DC and the start taken by another Race Supporter. And just like that — he’s off!
