More drama
Sarah Grace goes to sea
Chris Yerbury and Sophy White
Mon 4 Jun 2007 09:20
Position 34 31'
N 52 58' W
I always thought that this
sailing lark was supposed to be relaxing, just sit around all day watching for
the occasional ship and reading books while eating nice meals. This trip has not
only been one of the slowest on record for Bermuda to The Azores but must hold
the record for the most incidents encountered. First we had the mayday scare,
when one of the yachts that we were in daily contact with reported picking up a
Mayday call from a yacht that had reportedly hit a semi submerged container,
while simultaneously losing contact with a yacht that left Bermuda at the same
time as us with a family on board. Needless to say we were deeply concerned.
However after a couple of days involving the American coastguards with spotter
planes and finding the container and wreckage, the boat and family were
found safe and well. They were having problems with their radio. We then had the
ship incident and last night on the daily radio schedule we heard that another
yacht that we are in contact with was suffering rudder problems and required
help. As we were around 100nm ahead it was decided we would turn back and render
assistance. Needless to say no-one on board was overjoyed at the prospect of
going back over our hard earned miles. Fortunately by the time we had made
contact to establish exactly what help was required the problem had been solved,
we were also contacted by a yacht that we didn't know and who was slightly
closer with an offer of assistance. Once again an example of the sea community
looking out for each other. Roll on going back to work for some peace
!!!
The past 30hrs have
given us the best sailing of the whole trip, with the exception of the run over
from Cuba. We are now cruising along at a reasonable speed and for once almost
in the right direction. It has been a long uphill struggle but if the wind stays
fair we should make Horta early next week, as Karen has pointed out thats three
incidents and hopefully the last.