Should I stay or should I go

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Wed 19 May 2010 07:50
36:35.99N 30:34.2E

Tuesday 18th May

Radio net at 6.00am declared that although there was no wind, it was still due to blow up to 30 knots later and there was already a very large (2 metre) swell running outside, nevertheless it was up to all individual skippers to make their own decisions on whether to go or stay.

Along with all the other boats we chose to go and were under way by 6.30am and as promised found ourselves rolling pretty violently in the big broadside rollers. We pressed on and gradually the wind began to rise and by the time we reached the first big headland and a gap between it and a large offshore island, the wind was gusting 35 knots and the seas were mighty impressive.

The yachts just in front of us were now seriously over canvassed which meant that the combination of big waves and strong beam on gusts made them all repeatedly broach violently in front of us which was not too clever. However once we were through the gap and clear of the headland the seas dampened down quite a bit and the wind eased for a while. The problem now was that we had been given an arrival time slot of 2.30pm and we were way ahead of schedule as we powered along heavily reefed at 9 knots. We furled the staysail and cruised under just a scrap of main but this only reduced us to 5 or 6 knots and it wasn?t until the wind dropped away to just 8 knots that we finally slowed down to let the clock run down.

The wind then almost died completely so around midday we put back out all the sails and crept along at 4 knots, but true to form the blow returned and eventually we back flying at 10 knots through the water with gusts just touching 40 knots. We reefed the main but as we did so the bottom batten pocket tore mostly away from the main sail and this appendage stopped us from being able to completely furl the sail away. So now under just storm jib we were still making 6.50 knots downwind and enjoying every minute. We later heard that a Swedish Grand Soleil 43 had been making 5 knots under bare poles for a while!

We arrived early at Kemer, but fortunately the organisers were ready and brought our docking time forward and we were waved straight into the marina and docked stern-to, pretty much outside the marina office. No sooner had we moored up than the heavens opened and heavy rain poured down as the wind rose yet again. Docking was suspended while the wind was so strong and so we took coffee and waterproofs to poor Dave and Kath who were perched up at the marina entrance co-ordinating the arrivals and docking.

We then had two visitors whose boats are joining the rally here, both Najads, one a 570 belonging to Haaken and the other is a 490 belonging to Karl both of whom are Norwegian. In fact Haaken and his wife Ellen are doing very much the same as us this year and plan to cross the Atlantic a couple of weeks before us. Sadly we have just gone from being one of the most admired yachts in the rally to the smallest of three Najads!

In the early evening we had another rally cocktail party which was just drinks on the lawn by the marina office, but it was a good event and it is all becoming so much more relaxed and fun as we all get to know each other better.

Our group has an American called Rob as its group leader and he and his wife Kathy are sailing on their second EMYR in their 44ft catamaran Twixter. Rob is just great on the radio when we have our radio check-ins where we have to report in where we are and our ETA etc. I am having great difficulty in not calling him Houston when we call him as it all sounds so like the soundtrack from the film Apollo 13. Sadly today Rob lost a propeller today and possibly part of the shaft which may result in him having to drop out of the rally. He will know more tomorrow about the extent of the damage and whether he can get the spare parts shipped to our next port of call in time.