We slept in as much as we could, got up, ate, dropped our mooring lines, motored away at 9:31AM Monday 25^th August heading for La Coruna.  However this update is from the spot we had our water turbine stuck under our rudder 43:53.92N 7:58.51W 

The start to the day was absolutely beautiful, in fact the entire day was amazing with a lovely light wind perfect for the kite. As you do, I hoisted the kite up into the rigging and off we went. The day went on and as it did our speed gradually increased. As the wind got up we enjoyed the increased cruising speed as we were pretty much sailing down wind. One thing to note is that the relative wind speed is reduced considerably so we did not notice it at all to be honest. Before too long we were cruising at 6 knots very comfortably in fact Fi and I went down into the cabin and prepared a full meal for dinner, did the dishes and then went back up stairs and carried on with the sailing. We had decided that we would sail through the night seeing the weather was so good hoping to hit La Coruna the first thing in the morning. Me being me and being so greedy for speed I decided not to take down the kite and instead Fi and I practiced jibing through the wind with the kite up which is pretty cool as we knew we had to tack at about 2 or 3 AM. Once we new that would be fine we kicked back and watched the stars come out.

I streamed the water generator once again as it keeps the thirsty batteries topped up for the night hours while the solar panels rest. After all Artie needs to be feed and as we were traveling down wind the additional drag of the turbine in the water was negligible.

As the time ticked by the wind began to increase with gusts up to 18 Knots, which really meant about 25 Knots of true wind as we were sailing downwind at 7 Knots, very close to the theoretical hull speed. The thought of jibing through the wind with the kite was not really going to happen in fact getting the spinnaker down was not going to happen to easily either. So after another gust this time in excess of 20 Knots - we knew that if we did not get the kite down immediately we were going to be in really big trouble. I strapped myself on to the jack stay and went forward while Fi was responsible for the sheet line and the helm. As I tried and tried to pull the sock down over the kite it just kept on re-inflating itself. We needed to go to plan B, which was to winch out the main and use it to shield the wind while I stuffed the kite down the hatch. However, with the winds now at 25 Knots and both the main and kite flying the boat was propelled like a rocket ship not only forward but also side ways which in not a good thing at all.  The entire boat was being pulled down into the water at top speed and there was nothing we could do. I had water bubbling over the gunnels rails in the dark and freaking me out as I had never seen Silky heel over so much before. She was really working hard and moving like a steam train. While up the front in pitch blackness in howling wind screaming back and forth to Fiona dealing with the water filling my boots I prayed a little. This helped I am sure of it anyway I hope you get the picture.  This is the first time I have ever seen water venture even remotely close to the toe rail as Silky has a massive freeboard on her. Anyhow while Fiona managed to turn the boat directly down wind it gave me a split second to pull the kites sock down over it and get the thing on deck, which was mainly fuelled by the adrenaline being pumped through my body.  It was down and the boat was once again sailing down wind this time only under the main. Fi worked away at the helm while I secured anything that was not tied down by throwing it down the hatch’s and clawed my way back in to the cockpit. What a relief we had managed to get the kite down in such high winds.  Believe me my greedy need for speed will never again be stupid enough to fly the kite at night when everything is ten times more difficult, dangerous and just plain stupid.

Once my pumping blood had settled and I had gotten my breath back we considered our sail plan for the rest of the nights sail and funnily enough we were still doing up to 7 Knots with the gusts, so I knew the main now needed to be furled in and the front sail needed to be out just a bit to balance the boat.  So to do this we always face into the wind to take the pressure of the sail while we wind the thing in which we did about 9 miles off the coast of NW Spain. We then set a little front sail and we were off again or at least we thought we were, the next thing we knew while turning the boat to get the main in a little we had run back over the tow line for the water generator and it had gotten stuck in the rudder.  So now we are 9 miles out off the coast of Spain with a tone of wind blowing down on us with a little sail out and no rudder. SHIT is exactly what you should be thinking!  To top it off at the end of the line stuck under the rudder was a heavy turbine that was twisting the rope up into knots and sending a horrible vibration through the boat.

Out came the spot light which only upset Fi a little more because she thought by shining the bright light into the water I would definitely attract a giant squid from the deeps of the Atlantic and we would never be seen again.  Anyhow the squid never came but I could see the rope dragging in the water. After several attempts to retrieve it with the mooring pole, a fishing rod and hook and anything else I could get my hands on I was ready to jump in the water. Thankfully Fiona would not allow it, come to think of it, it was another stupid idea, tying a rope around me while I dived into the water in the blackness out in the ocean.  What I thought I would achieve is beyond me. Anyhow I persisted and persisted knowing that day light was still another 5 hours, I did not want to be bobbing around all night. I some how managed to work the rope back and forth from one side of the boat to the other and then hoist the thing in and it worked, thankfully.

We were now free from the kite and tow line and ready to move on again but by now the wind had steadily increased to a force 7 and we were starting to be a little concerned, so we pulled out a disgustingly small amount of sail and ran off down wind at about 6-7 knot’s while the winds gusted and a full blown Force 8 gale engulfed us. Once again me being me I wanted to continue on as make our way into La Coruna, as sailing into port in a gale in the dark and without a radar is not that easy and very, very scary, However after consultation with Fiona we both decided it is better to be safe than sorry and we adjusted our course for the closest refuge. It was actually pretty much on the way so it was not a big problem and we knew we could make it by sunrise which meant we could see the cove we were going to enter.

It was by now about 5 AM now and neither of us had slept a wink so I went down first exhausted as I was to get an hour in, only to be kept awake by all the banging and clanging of everything being thrown around inside the cupboards.  It was not until the oven door flew open and the griller tray nearly cut my head off that I went back up to the helm and sent Fi down for a rest.

To add to the joy of night sailing we had now rounded the Piceos de Europea the second highest mountain range after the Pyrenees in Spain and were where the weather pattern splits and the water traffic turns from almost nothing into a traffic separation scheme for big boat’s. What this means if you have to watch every light you can see very closely, and that is what you do until your mind starts freaking you out.  Along the coast you have light houses and leading lights to deal with that always seem a lot closer that they really are and out in the water you have fishing boats and large tankers and cargo ships.  Finally having the night vision monocular on board paid itself off in one use allowing me to identify what I was looking at and to also see the contour of the land. Anyhow there were about 10 boats out in the water we were sailing through and when a big bastard of a boat comes out of nowhere and is headed straight for you it can be very nerve racking because you have no idea if they can see you or not, (they do about 20 Knt’s and you do a bout 5 so if you wanted to move out of there way you would struggle).  Luckily being on a yacht under sail gets right of way and twice large vessels altered there course to stay well clear of us.  It was not until the second time I tried to sleep that I was woken by Fiona asking for me to take a look at a boat coming in our direction. This time it was a huge fishing boat, well lit up and we were crossing its path so it just came right up close and stalled for a bit until we were out of its way, we could see clear as day the Spanish fishermen streaming the nets down in the cargo hold who were yelling some derogaratory cures at us. On this occasion Fiona was too tired for her usual boat rage and we just carried on.

We sailed for another hour closer and closer to wind to ensure we made the leading lines into the save harbor we were headed for and the whole time I was thinking how on earth would I put up the storm jib if we needed to in this weather, how would we manage in the weather for hours on end and what would we do if the sea state increased to its full potential. Anyhow we motor sailed into harbor and dropped anchor and went to bed at 9AM a much needed rest.  

Special comments by Fiona: I’ve mentioned that I don’t like night sailing, well this experience has not done me any favors.  I can only sum this passage as a very scary, freaking terrifying experience.  I’m learning to be tough and not let things bother me, but I tell you this experience bothered me and I don’t care to be so tough any-more!!!!!  It was such a relief to be anchored up in the safety of a beautiful bay.

Day 35

Destination – Cedeira

Traveling Direction –West

Wind Direction – East North East (Light breeze about 10 Knots until it decided to blow a gail)

Average Speed 4.6 Knots

Top Speed – 7.5 Knots Through the water

Total distance – 104 Nautical Miles

Travel Time – 22.56 Hours

Temperature – 32 degrees

Crew     - Fiona (Hating it more than ever)

Missing Work – NO

Expenses – €0

Next Destination – La Coruna