| At sea. Volvo Ocean Race: Should ABN AMRO TWO's Scott Beavis get a Musto Seamanship award |
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| Monday, 10 April 2006 | |
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Seb Josse Skipper: Scott Beavis showed utmost most seamanship to bring some level of humanity back on board. With temperatures soaring into the 40’s and dehydration and heat stroke an imminent and likely danger, all the cooling fans went down onboard ABN AMRO TWO today. Without any thought of self preservation, Beavis dove into the sweltering cabin armed with nothing but his Kiwi ingenuity. Finding a faulting connector at the back of the starboard lower fan, he proceeded to remove the troublesome plug, strip the ends of the wire with his teeth and hard wire the fan and supply back together with his bare hands. It should be noted that the whole system was live and throughout the ordeal shocks of a heart stopping 12 volts were being experienced by Beavis. At one stage, the entire 12 volt domestic system shorted out and went dead onboard, threatening even further the yacht and her crew. Luckily it was during the hours of daylight or the crew could have found themselves plunged into the frightening uncertainty of darkness at sea. Further risking bodily harm, Beavis went forward into the galley area where he was met by a crowd of hot angry men, sweat and body odour. Locating the correct breaker was difficult as by this stage he was covered in sweat and it was running into his eyes. Thankfully, he quickly remembered the safety briefing about which breaker was what, four down two across. Upon switching it on, the fans sprung to life with a cheer of relieve from the crew, but the drama was not over. During the short period of over heating downstairs, the glue holding the plastic mounts onto the carbon fibre hull had melted. Now some of the fans hung perilously down from their wires. One particular fan caught Beavis’s eye, the one above Hans Horrevoets’s head. He knew that if the fan and Hans’ chocolate locks combined, it would be a nasty medical incident. Quick thinking Beavis grabbed some 3mm Dynex Spectra line and lashed the still spinning fan to the bunk. It was somewhat like watching a man dealing with the head of a weed whacking garden tool. After what can only be described as one of the most death defying and spectacular feats of seamanship I have ever experienced, life at the extreme onboard ABN AMRO TWO, the street fighter continues. Regards, PS. This did happen but is not a serious nomination. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 10 April 2006 ) |
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