Leg 5 ~ Ras Al Khaimah to Zighy Bay in Oman ~ via the Strait of Hormuz
Our stopover at Six Senses Resort, Zighy Bay, has been an amazing slice of heaven, and a much-needed rejuvenation. The resort is beautiful, serene and eco-friendly. I highly recommend it, and will definitely be visiting their resorts in the future!
Leg 5 was long, and sometimes painful, but we made it after nearly two days and one night. This leg includes the internationally famous Strait of Hormuz. The start, leaving Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), was a nightmare. Two of our passports had been incorrectly stamped somewhere in the process, which when we went to leave, caused an 8 hour delay! The Race Committee had arranged for an early morning start – so we were up at 5:00 am – only to wait, and wait, and wait until 2:00 pm to finally leave the dock. Really frustrating. It was upwind the coast of UAE in a good, but quickly clocking and dying breeze. Early in the night we were on spinnakers heading up to the top. Going through the strait in the dark (again), under spinnaker through a little hole and sheer cliffs, allowed us to not have to circumvent the strait entirely on the outside. Once we popped through to the other side of the gulf, the wind died for all competitors. It was a restart, with all of us floating around. Luckily for us, we were positioned in on the shore, and were able to grab some zephers and move along with a couple of other boats. Others were not so lucky, and hung around for hours before they could move. At one stage we were in 2nd! The wind was fickle, however. Although we were moving, EFG Bank grabbed another piece of wind, and were able to sneak by us – knocking us off the podium. Argggh! But being fourth was a great move up for the team, and the girls were very happy.
Did I mention that on this leg we saw a ton of sea snakes? During this tour I have seen more sea snakes than ever before, but on this leg it was amazing to see the amount, and the variations! (Most of the 62 species grow to between 3.9-4.9 ft in length, with the largest, reaching 9.8 ft. Despite the venom being highly toxic to humans, sea snakes usually present little threat.) National Geographic Photo
The girls struggle with night sailing, and not sleeping. At this stage of the race they are tired. Light air sailing requires immense concentration, but very small and nuanced movements. This is hard for new sailors who are exhausted, but they kept trying, and although they would zone-out, and require prodding, they kept good attitudes. Intisar did a tremendous job at trimming in light air, wavy conditions – she has really come a long way. All the girls have come a long way. One of the things that we have continued to work on is to drink enough water, and go to the bathroom on the boat. If one doesn’t drink enough water, performance suffers greatly, plus it is simply not healthy. So to incentivize this, in the last port I announced a competition. The Omani girl who drank the most bottles of water, and used the bathroom the most, would get a spa treatment of their choice at Six Senses Resort… and I would pay. It worked wonders! I have to go up to the office shortly to pay for that. 🙂
Today, we leave on a very long leg to Mussanah, Oman, which is where the training facility of Oman Sail Keelboat Teams is located, and essentially has been home to the girls. Their friends, and old instructors will be there. It will be quick, as we finish in the afternoon, and then leave the next day for the final leg into Muscat. It has been such a good journey for the girls thus far. There is much to reflect upon, but they have really taken it on. Yesterday’s in-port race in Zighy Bay utilized the full Omani crew, with coach Niall and Dee onboard. The race was not counted, but it allowed our Omani girls to do it all, and own it. A good experience – although Tahira told me later, that she missed having the coaches onboard, and wanted us back on – pronto!
Here’s hoping to keeping the wind today, and tonight!
~Katie
Photos by Lloyd Images & National Geographic
