Worst things happen at sea.
LIBERTAD
Paul Huntley
Thu 4 Dec 2008 16:13
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Good after noon to all our blog watchers,I am a
little late today because of the weather ,more later !
Yesterday afternoon passed with little to report,
dinner being the highlight of the day cooked by Dave, We started with knuckle of
pork with carrots boiled potatoes and peas, followed by a Birds packet creation
,creme caremel.mixed by yours truly. A very pleasant end to the
day.
We have been running down wind on poled out Genoas
for several days now and as winds were light we decided not reef as we do
normally at night.You have guessed it, the wind increased during James
watch to prompt him to reef, at about 02:15 I woke up to a howling wind ,Nick on
watch and the boat running at more than 7 Knots out of control. I called James
on deck to help reef yet again,settling the boat down to a 6 to 6:5
speed.
I handed my watch over to Dave and briefed him on
the conditions, His watch had nearly ended at 08:00 with Bob taking over when
these ominus black clouds came marching towards us from the north
east,Bob responed very quickly by furling all sails and starting the main
engine,this brought me from a fitful sleep and the aft cabin in seconds. Bob
explained the situation and noticed the wind was boxing the compass but, within
a minute or two the wind came screaming down upon us at 30 knots with high
seas to match, as this nightmare unfolded the seas grew to waves in excess
of four metrs with the top being blown off, we clocked the wind at 40
knots, For the non nautical that is a full gale and a bit.With Bob on the wheel
we motored into wind and seas for more than three hours before the wind began to
abate, James cooked some breakfast while I went on deck to survey the damage, a
broken up and downhaul tang in the pole and that was it .We were very lucky that
Bob acted so quickly,well done Bob, an extra Bonio for you to night! seriously
thanks Bob ,but for you I could be writting a different story.For most of the
crew this was the first time they had been in a full gale in a small boat and I
am sure it was frightening experience for them We had a call from a french yacht
on VHF just now on our starboard quarter by seven cables say that the
squall had blown there Genoa to ribbons, the are bound for Martinique.I have
decided to return to the two person watch tonight to ensre we can cope with
similar squalls.
We have achieved 1405 miles on the trip log at noon
and have declared Thursday the 4th December 2008 our halfway day, so weather
permitting a party tonight to celebrate,I hop it.s all down hill from here
on.Libertad did just fine once again, took it all in her stride,at the height of
the Squall I likened Libertad to an old lady : she is a liitle smelly and leaks
a bit, she has a wealth of experience after twenty years at sea,we call her home
for the moment.I did manage to keep our SSB radio net and logged our position as
of noon today.
Bob is sitting oposite me writing in his note
pad furiosly his version of the perfect storm, I will just throw a bucket
of salt water over him to get him in the right mood.He is waiting to use the
computer so will blog again tomorrow ,Enshala, best wishes and love to all
Paul.
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