27:58.15N 82:48.14w
The Big Adventure
Doug Gillis/Shirley Hunter/Chief of Security Rags
Sat 10 Mar 2012 23:06
for the first part of our journey they were correct. We had 10 to 15 knot
winds from the west and rolling seas so the trip was a little rolly polly
but we were flying along doing 7 1/2 knots with the jib and main up. Later
on in the early evening the wind moved round a little to the north and
dropped - we decided to bring in the jib before it got too dark - this is
where things started to go wrong. The jib was stuck and it took both of us
a lot of huffing and puffing to get it finally furled. It was decided to
leave the main sail reefed as it would 'balance' the boat - or so said the
Captain !!! The winds dropped and the sea became calmer so engine on but
we were still making 5 knots so thats ok. Around 4 am the winds kicked
round to the north east and picked up to a healthy 20 knots !! the seas
joined in and guess what - main sail would not furl in and was completely
stuck up the mast !! All we could do was hang on - We were 50 miles out of
Clearwater and the weather was awful. The waves were in the cockpit and
Able Sea Dog Rags was sea sick !! Poor thing. The below decks area was
trashed - everything that wasn't nailed down was on the floor broken. We
finally arrived at Clearlake battered but safe by 1.00 pm, on Tuesday.
When we called the marina the dock master said it was a bit windy and he
didn't think he could get us in a slip - I soon changed his mind about
that ! I was docking this boat ! After large amounts of alcohol and 24hrs
sleep we were back to normal.
Unfortunatley the trip has not help Doug's back and we went to see a
doctor who thinks he needs back surgery. It looks like we will be staying
in Clearwater for the summer while we get Dougs back fixed. Will know more
in a couple of days .