knackered
Imagine of Plymouth
Arthur
Fri 7 Dec 2007 16:54
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well after one of my last blogs we have had one
hell of a ride..............we have gone from a no wind situation 3 days ago to
continious rolling, strong winds and squalls. 2 nights ago we had a lot of
changes which means a lot of sail changes, gybes and course alterations to stay
on track. yesterday we had an awesome ride for 7 hours under spinnaker and
it went down when arthur and rudy got tired and started blowing 20 knots. the
risks then become too big for breakages and we want to arrive in piece. people
and boat. under goose wing configuration we still averaged 7.5 knots but it
rolls whilst under spinnaker the boat was very smooth although the transom did
kick out a few times but george our auto pilot cooped amazingly well. we
have chaged from the hydraulic to the electric version as this uses less
energy.
last night was probably one of the most severe
nights sailing ever. Arthur and Rudy certainly did not get any sleep as they
stayed on deck for most of the night. mark was being trown fron side to side in
the forepeak. forgotten how many squalls have hit us but it did not seem to stop
and size of them was enourmous. wind speeds in excess of 35 knots
regualry occurred altough generally 25 knots and very big confused seas.
during all this we lost our vhf aerial on top of the rig............now we have
an emergency aerial fixed but the range is very limited. lots of other boats
with much more severe damage.
down below this morning a huge mess of wet sailing
kit etc and also rudy attempt to construct a berth in the saloon added to the
devastation. this morning it finally cleared up and those who could caught up on
some sleep. we where still surrounded by lots of squalls. anyway the kite
went up as it was only blowing 15 knots. however this rapidly changed during
lunch time when a fast appraching squall hit us. kite down! normally a well
rehearsed routine but unfortunately on this ocaasion not everbody was at their
normal post and the spinnaker flapped violently sending rudy nearly in the air,
heas clipped on with lifejacket but lost sunglasses and rope burn across 4
fingers which hurts. sail is recovered and we are back in goose wing mode
sailing already one hour trough a squall...........now heading 360. better
gybe...........
regards
rudy
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