A few quick updates
Mustique
Fin McGurran
Wed 26 Sep 2007 06:57
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We expect to be along side in Gibraltar around
midday today (Wednesday), even though the engine is back on and we are motoring
there - wind has dropped again and is not expected to reappear until
sometime tomorrow afternoon.
After we had rounded St Vincent yesterday, the wind
dropped a little to a more manageable 16 to 17 knots from the NNW, which,
coupled with flat seas and hot sunshine, made for some really nice sailing -
that was until the sun went down and the wind dropped with it. Two funny
incidents happened around the same time though - we heard a weather forecast,
transmitted on VHF from Cadiz - and I quote "Wind - Force 2 or 3 from the west -
Sea State - WRINKLES". You cant get more discriptive than
that.
So, after the wind had died, we decided to drop
sails just before we all had dinner - so there were all four of us on
deck. It had turned dark already, althougth there was a full moon in the
sky. We were all busy with the sails, when Lizzie spotted what
looked like a fishing vessel off our stern - but only about 50 meters away and
heading directly for us. The worrying thing was that this boat had no navigation
lights displayed at all. Once he realised that we had spotted him, he came
closer and hung off our Port Quarter, about 5 or so meters from the boat.
He made no attempt to make contact and just sat there looking menacing.
We had no idea what or who is was (were there
pirates operating in the area of the Med approaches). One thing was clear
- it was no fishing vessel!. At thins stage, I had enough, and went below
and grabbed the radio and hailed the vessel on our Port Quarter, and demanded to
know what his intentions were.
This was responded to immediately, with the use of
a large search light, directly at us and blinding us all for a while. At
the same time, a voice crackled over the radio saying "Coastguard" in either a
Spanish or Portuguese accent. "OK, so your the coastguard - what do you
want. "
This direct approach seemed to startle him a little
and he became a little more responsive, asking us for details of who we were and
where we were going. He was still shining this high intensity light right at us,
so whether it was a good thing or not, I'm afraid that I answered him in a non
too friendly tone! Well, the upshot was - the light went off, and
eventually so did they - making their way back into the darkness - still with no
navigational lights!
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