Wednesday 12th May (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sun 16 May 2010 02:47
starboard and the seas had grown accordingly. Lying in the sea berth I
left my stomach at the top of each large wave until it rejoined me
abruptly with a huge thud when we landed back in the trough behind. I
frequently found myself suspended in midair then dropped with a
winding grunt onto my back. The exploding waves on the hull sounded
like they were breaking through and the rigging creaked and groaned
like me. Inside the galley cupboard flapjacks turned into jumping
jacks. At 4am I clipped on and took my seat on the roller coaster. The
wind was over 30knots, the seas were huge and I was a scaredy cat. Si
sat with me for a few minutes until I adjusted to life in a washing
machine, then my sleepy sailor went below for a rest.
First light was welcome indeed although the intensity of the never
ending approaching black clouds were now clearly visible and not just
shapes that obscured the pretty stars. As F7 winds continued I counted
my blessings that this was just a pressure gradient and I was thankful
for good visibility, no rain and no nasty yellow blobs approaching us
on the radar. Somehow there is something strangely satisfying about
being at one with the wild elements. It puts life into perspective and
with every blow I encounter my confidence and experience will improve.
We did have a couple of problems on Brindabella this morning
though. The port bow light was knocked off by a wave and dangling by
its wire was bumping into the cleat below. Si came up from his berth
to investigate the noise and had a most refreshing start to the day on
the foredeck tying it back on with cable ties. I did offer; really!
While Si stripped off his wet clothes and showered off the salt,
Brindabella was airborne for a couple of seconds and landed with such
a jolt all the cabin doors released from their magnets and slammed
shut. What we didn’t know until Si went for dry clothes was our cabin
door had managed to lock itself. I crossed everything that this was
not the first time the hatches were locked at sea. He found an
interesting attire for the morning until conditions improved briefly
and I crawled through the hatch to unlock the door. Si then found the
chart table awash as the dorade vent above was facing into the waves.
Good news though, Humph is steering us brilliantly and we are half way
to Bermuda after three and a half days which we knew wouldn’t be an
ideal trip.
Amongst the continuous whistling, roaring and crashing it was
lovely to hear Phillip’s voice when Si called them on the VHF at 8am.
This morning they are 12miles to our west. We were relieved all was
well on ‘Festina Lente’ too and the boys share thoughts that the winds
will be strong until this evening. Fruit and cereals weren’t too
challenging to prepare in the tumble drier but cups of tea needed some
caution. Not trusting our flimsy fiddles I held the kettle on the
stove in case it tried to leap off and I managed to get most of the
water in the cups. To drink, once back in the cockpit, I found it best
to hold my cup well out to the side when we bounced off a wave. Timing
was then crucial to get the cup well under the sprayhood before the
next wave broke over the boat and shot off the back of the sprayhood
over my legs and into my cup if I was too slow; a quick sip and
repeat……….
I went to sleep after breakfast; yes, sleep, for well over an hour
and I felt brilliant. Si had cat napped on deck then was in bed within
seconds of me leaving it. The winds had now eased to a remarkably more
comfortable F5/6 and after 11.15am it briefly ducked under 20knots
occasionally.
Nice spot for a picnic!” I said as waves crashed over the sprayhood
narrowly missing Si’s lunch box: But is was! The sky was bright and I
had that wonderful feeling that the winds and seas would continue to
slowly improve: Wrong! We had a call from ‘Festina Lente’ and the
later weather files that Phil had downloaded forecast no change until
midnight. On a happy note though we had a surprise call from ‘Ocean
Lady’ our next door neighbours in Gran Canaria while we both prepared
for the ARC. We three boats are all within 17miles of each other which
is good news if one of us has problems in this heavy weather.
True to the forecast the big seas continued to pound us with
Brindabella strongly cutting through what she could, while the wind
picked up again and the sky turned grey. It was a gloomy afternoon and
I spent some of it cosily at the chart table writing before taking a
watch so Si could curl up below for a snooze. It was one of those
afternoons to be snuggled up on the sofa with my sexy sailor in front
of a roaring fire watching an old black and white movie.
We ate chilli and garlic bread on a fair ground ride then I dug out
a fleece blanket to keep the chilly air from me while I tried to
sleep. Slowly during my second off watch the winds eased and the seas
lost their bite making sleep easier. It was a cold night on watch
however with long johns, socks, thermal top and a fleece under oilies:
Yes, Brindabella is moving north!