A Stormy Passage Part 2 42:34.73N 22:58.77W
Ellatrout3
Wed 6 Jun 2012 12:00
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Hello again, shortly after my fun with jib changing
my wind instrument stopped working again so when the storm came I could only
estimate the wind speeds.From a lovely sunny breezy day through the afternoon
the clouds rolled in,a classic low, it was a stormy night. All three reefs in
and my small jib half rolled away she coped very well. Unfortunately she
still has a leek somewhere which in six years I've failed to find, but it only
shows itself when there is heavy water coming over the deck. Part way
through the night I had to tack especially so that I could bail her out,
nevertheless my on passage bed got wet and we got generally very wet
below.
The Half Wet Bed
On passage I sleep on the main cabin seat which is
made up of two cushions. The one on the aft end in is nearest the companion way
and next to the chart table so gets wet from oilies from above and bilge water
from below. When I lay on the bed from the waist down it was wet
and above it was dry. So for the bottom half I slept with my sailing boots and
trousers on covered with a large towel as a blanket and for the top half I wore
a jumper covered with a fleece as a blanket. My half wet bed
technique got me through a rough night.
In the morning the wind instrument had disappeared
from the top of the mast, which explains why I got no readings below. From
previous experience I'd say the wind was at least force 7 and may have been gale
force? The thing that was different was the confused state of the
sea. There were at least two sets of large waves going in different
directions with other smaller ones super imposed on top. It occurs to me,
you sailors and maritime buffs that the low brought strong southerly
swinging to westerly winds which certainly partly apposes the ocean currents
rotating clockwise around the Azores. Was it wind against tide caused the
rough sea. I definitely had more water going over the boat than I
experience going to America in much stronger conditions.
It was probably still blowing force 6 in the
morning and we remained fully reefed all day and into the next night shaking out
the first reef at midnight and carrying the next until 11.00hrs Thursday
morning. We were finally full rigged at 1300hrs so it was quite a long
blow. The good thing was we could lay Terciera and weren't forever
tacking. The sun shone all day and we got dried out.
It is now Friday 01.30 hours and needless to say we
are beating against the wind again waiting for a favourable wind shift to head
us towards Terciera.
That has got you up to date, now I would like to
thank everybody for their e-mails of encouragement. when I get in I hope to have
time to respond to everyone, which was not practical out here.
Thank you for all your support.
Roger/Dad/Poppa
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