Friday 11th June – Day 5 At Sea (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Wed 23 Jun 2010 16:36
the day the pressure dropped seven millibars all together as the wind
peaked at 30knots and it rained heavily on and off. Naps were
impossible with Brindabella bouncing at 60° to the wind and waves
smacking into the hull. Gradually the wind veered and at 4.30pm when
Si went below for Herb’s weather net we were bombing along at over
8knots on a beam reach in a super F6. Yeehah! For now we maintain our
course south of east until sure of the long term forecast.
Good news emails came today from Hallberg Rassy to say our steering
squeak is no cause for concern. Great news also came of ‘Alleria’s’
safe arrival in the Azores after a horrendous trip from the BVIs and
‘Festina Lente’ have only 300miles or so to go too. Looking up from my
journal to driving rain, ten tone grey and howling winds, Flores seems
a very, very long way away at present. Good job there’s still umpteen
audio books on the iPod to listen to.
Things turned a little hairy just after I’d plonked two sealed
containers of hot stew into the cockpit for dinner. Our world
diminished rapidly to a hundred metres or so and things were wild:
Screaming winds on the beam suddenly drove sheets of rain horizontally
into Brindabella and Humph was struggling to keep us on course as we
were over canvassed. Safely clipped on in 32knot winds, Si ventured to
the mast, dropped a third reef in the mainsail and with a deeply
reefed jib Humph resumed his alternating nod and a steady course. In
the shelter of Brindabella’s wonderful sprayhood we tucked into supper
watching the seas levelling under the force of torrential rain. “Not
quite Tobago Cays is it?” I quipped trying to transport my mind back
to better days but somehow enjoying that similar feeling of camping
with rain hammering on the canvas above as you lay snuggled with a
book in bed.
The skies behind gradually began to part until tiny patches of blue
broke through high up in the distance. Our world expanded and as I
collected my goodnight kiss a pale orange sun was just visible behind
the thinning cloud on the horizon. The strong winds had left us with
big seas and now lighter winds were insufficient to punch us through
the waves. I had my very grumpy head on as I was rolled and flipped
around in the sea berth despite being wedged in with pillows. From
every cupboard things that were previously securely stowed now made an
attempt to escape. Luckily, just before I was driven to insanity, the
wind then picked up a little and was steady through the rest of the
night. We made reasonable progress with just a reefed jib.