It's a Feast 33:32.29N 014:09.37W
Lady Corinne
iain and gaynor macalister
Thu 20 Aug 2009 18:13
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"Iain the wind has picked up I think we need to get the
cruising chute down" these were the words that Gaynor greeted me with at 0230
this morning and were in stark contrast to her tone the night before when she
had used "I've made you a cup of tea, it's lovely out there the breeze is warm
and the sky is full of stars" I'd been on watch at 2300 and handed
over to Tristan a boat that was ghosting along at a steady 5 knots under a
cruising chute and mizzen that had been set for three days and which,during that
time had called for the minimum of attention. We weren't expecting a major
change in the weather until tonight. We had a spectacular end to the day
when the pod of dolphins that went straight past us the other day returned. I
think they felt guilty for ignoring us and had taken a note of our position and
had gathered all their family,friends and relations and come back for the show
of the century. The water teemed with them showing off their
acrobatic prowess as they criss-crossed under the bowsprit (big pole that sticks
out at the front of the boat, fortunately not the one I forgot) and surfed in
the waves all around the boat ,two of them swam directly under the front of the
boat, belly to belly mirroring each others moves in the most blissful display of
talented choreography.
I dragged myself from my warm bunk where, if it
wasn't for the change in the weather, I should have been able to remain for the
next half an hour before my second watch started at 0300. You are
never off watch on a small shorthanded passage and remain on call, as Tristan
too was about to find out. Concerned about damage to the sail I
hurriedly dressed and went into the cockpit where I could tell immediately that
she was absolutely right and we needed to act fast. We discussed the plan
and decided at this point to leave Tristan asleep (he always looks so
peaceful,even if he does have his eyes open) I leant out of the cockpit and
clipped the spare end of my 3 point harness that was attached to the lifejacket
I was wearing to the jackstays (two lengths of strong webbing that run the
full length of the boat, on the side decks, so you can be clipped to it for
safety as you move about the deck) and left the cockpit,feeling glad that we had
fitted a deck light to the mast to illuminate the foredeck which
would mean I wouldn't have to do the job in total darkness. The pitching
foredeck of a small boat heading into a storm at night is a strange place
to find yourself straight after waking up and one could be forgiven for wishing
you were somewhere, anywhere else. I started getting the chute down,
it goes into a very long thin tubular cover which is about 40 feet long and has
a device which I can only describe as the sort of collar you would put on a dog
or a cat's neck after it has had an operation to stop it biting its
stitches.When it's up all the tube and the collar, or snuffer is at the very top
of the mast and you haul on a rope that is attached to it that draws the
plastic collar down with the tube behind it and puts the sail neatly away.
Simples? Well it should be but everything last night conspired against us and
even with Tristans help once we got him up (he was very good natured and just
loves it when it's rough - he's a real adrenalin junkie) the
sail change which should have taken 15 mins took 1 hour 30 mins. We
put up triple reefed main and mizzen as the wind was now gusting 24 knots and
had a lumpy night. Hence no blog 'till now as today has been a bit
of a white knuckle ride with big following seas and wave heights around 15
feet. The Buena Vista Social Club are calming me at the moment as I sit in
the saloon to write this.
We ran downwind in heavy conditions most of the day and
the roll was horrendous with the waves passing under us and it made sleep
impossible as the bunks heaved and rolled in every direction. The
sun has come out again but the sea is still big and the wind is fresh. We
have just tacked the main over to the port side put on a gybe preventer and let
out a bit of the genoa. Set like this we are making our way down wind with
the breeze coming over the stb beam and plan to sail downwind in a series of big
zig-zags to give us a more tolerable movement below. We are pretty sure
that we will be arriving in Gran Canaria on Sunday morning but Saturday night is
still a possibility depending on how much more strong weather we encounter
- hopefully not too much as I know we all (except Tristan who seems to be able
to sleep in any conditions) could do with a comfortable night.We will get the
weather when this goes off and hopefully some more messages - don't stop doing
it they're great. From all the hard pressed crew aboard Lady C
xx
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