It can be said that everyone has their own " personal mountain " to climb. My mountain was a part in the BT Global Challenge, aboard Yacht 29, alias " Save the Children ".

We set sail from Sydney bound for Cape Town, amongst a sea of spectator boats on a glorious sunny day.By nightfall we were baptised by a thunderstorm which lasted until the next morning. I soon parted with my breakfast, setting off a chain reaction with a fellow watch member.

We spotted various breeds of wildlife as we headed down the Tasman coast; whales, flying fish, dolphins and the odd shark fin .

As we rounded Tasmania my seasickness had subsided. I was ready for the rigours of the Southern Ocean, or so I thought. Nothing could have prepared me for the following weeks, the winds were relentless, the waves spectacular and the temperature dropped. We went from one storm to the next, each blowing 55 - 65 knots of wind over the deck .

The first storm knocked the yacht onto it's side for a few seconds, as we caught the full force of a monster wave. I woke from my bunk and spent the early hours cleaning chicken curry from the galley ceiling. The damage mainly affected our communications equipment and unfortunately for us, we lost the ability to receive weather charts .

Life onboard took some adjusting to. During the weeks of storms we spent our time heeling at 30 degrees plus. Every taask was an enormous effort. Cooking for a party of 14 at mealtimes required precision timing, balancing each saucepan. My pet hate was climbing into or out of my bunk, nicknamed the " coffin " bunk due to it's construction, or so they told me !

It was the trip of a lifetime but you are more likely to find me on an Everest expedition than back in the Southern Ocean .

Anne Waslidge
BT Global Challenge Legger