Day 34
leeonsea
Lee Price
Mon 30 Jun 2008 20:04
Heading 055T Wind, yes, very.
Be carefull what you wish for. Today was a Big day. Made Bermuda look like a sunday sail.
Around midnight the wind began to pick up and I was able to set downwind with the main only, 5-6kts! Brilliant. I downloaded a weather chart this morning and sure enough, there's that other big Low just off the coast of Ireland, worked itself up into a bit of a frenzy it has, Storm force and everything. Big cold front running right down to the west of me.
I woke early, was on deck by 5am. Didn't feel sleepy and besides, the wind had picked up over night so I desided I'd put the first reef in the main, wind was about F4-5. By 1030 I was putting the second reef in, F5-6 and by noon I was thinking about ropeing in the third, F6-7, I only have two reef lines so the last one has to go in with a line round the boom by hand. I desided I'd drop the main altogether and just run with a spill of foresail instead.
After dropping the main and wrapping it up in line round the boom, I didn't fancy the bungy's holding, I sat back in the cockpit and out of the corner of my eye something flicked, I looked and sure enough there was another mast. I thought it odd cause there no way anyone would be sailing to wind would they? And I couldn't think I was catching anyone up, so it must be someone Hoave Too. That is to say, with the sails backed and stalled against the wind just sitting it out. But it was someone going to windward, beautiful racing yacht gliding over the waves, so effortlessly, I was jealous and in the mean time i'm begining to struggle.
Heading downwind all the while in the right direction, it was getting blowy and I was running but atleast I was running home. By 1430 I was under bare poles alone F7-8 and as the day wore on that's how it stayed, by 1630 it was F8-9 and the heavons had opened, the rain, much like before, was hitting so hard. All the while I'm stood in the companion way, nothing I can do, the boats got nothing to do with me, everythings tied down and put away, the Hydrovane is basically holding the stern into the gale and we're trucking along at 4-5kts. But much like watching a car accident I couldn't just go below, had to stand and watch this mayhem unfold. I had in mind what I could send out over the stern if she began to surf, two 75ft lines with a length of chain between them, this'd slow me down, I'd worked this out before I left Nassau. But it wasn't necessary, she's so well behaved even when, as today, the waves were coming in from the left and right too. I got very wet and had a few breakers over the cockpit. One wave, about the size of a semi detached house, came right upto the stern of the boat, bold as brass, my eye's went very wide and involenterily in a little quiet mouse voice I could be heard to utter 'fuck' then the wave promptly callapsed all over the aft cabin top, into the cockpit and all over me, it was awesome, in a bad way.
Then, in an instant there was an almighty great gust for a few seconds, could have easily nudged F10, then Wind moderated and veered 30deg, the rain stopped, the front had passed.
I let things settle for a while then went forward, I'd tied in my third reef and was going to get a little main up. Only the main Halyard had somehow gotten through the spreaders and wrapped itself round the radar reflector on front of the mast. My last boat had this problem when I bought it and I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't work out how it could happen, I'm still none the wiser. This was a blow though as it renders the line useless for pulling up the main.
I had an idea, went below and picked up the old spinika line that had parted the other day, I attached this to the topping lift, that's the line that holds up the back of the boom, I had an idea I could pull the heavyer spinika line through on the topping lift (which is only light weight) and use that as my halyard till I could get up the mast in the next calm and get the old one down. End to End'd them at the mast opening and went back to get the topping lift off the boom. You have to remember now that the boat is pitching wildly, the winds may have eased but they've also veered and so the waves are all over the place. Concentrating on staying onboard I unhitched the line and moved forward to the mast, looked up ready to start pulling the new Halyard through only to see that the topping lift too had hitched up round the radar reflector!
Still I'm none the wiser as to how this happens but god now I'm screwed! I have two boat hooks, I strapped one to the other but with the wind I couldn't hold them steady enough to hitch either line, I was really in a pickle. I thought, If I can get two ends of the spare spinika halyard over the spreader, then tie the ends together round the Main and Topping lift lines, I could then pull back through and then down and un hitch them and pull them back through to the back of the mast.
I tried a number of times to haul the line over the spreader but with the wind and the fact that i'm a big girl, I couldn't get it over. Jesus, this is a real issue, no Main! and still 850nm to go, I'll have to head back to the Azores!. Then, in one final attemp I had an idea, I doubled up the line and tied off the end with a loop. The in one of the lines I tied a bigger loop. I took the topping lift and snapped the small loop into it and hauled it up above the spreader, just as I had hoped the bigger loop was able to be swung over the spreader and drop down the forward side. With the two Boat hooks I was able to hook the big loop and pull the double line, and the topping lift, forward of the mast over the spreader. With the open ends I tied off round the Main halyard then pulled in the doubled up end, pulling the now joined line up over the spreader and foward of the mast with the Main Halyard inside it. Pulling hard I was able to get the Main off the Radar reflector and back through the stays to the back of the mast. Then, I slipped the knot in the double line and pulled it back through down the front of the mast. I'd sacreficed the topping lift to get the Main back but thank god it had worked. This all took about 3 hrs and I'm just sat now writting it feeling very wind burned but what a day I've had. I'll never tie the Halyard off on the mast again I know, it'll always come down to the toerail well astern in the furture.
And isn't it a bit late in the year for Gales too!?! 7 days I've been out here, 6 days of too calm weather, 3hrs of glorious sailing and one hell of a gale to work through, there's something wrong there surley.
I have the main up with the 3 reef, I have a tiny little bit of headsail out and I'm sailing home at 5kts in a very lumpy and uncomfortable sea. But all is, just about, well.
L.