26.27S 157.19E
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Sun 16 Oct 2011 04:29
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We have just come though a much tougher 24 hours in
every respect. Our following wind became a headwind late yesterday afternoon as
it moved around to the north-west and intensified. We started seeing winds
strenghths of 24-25 knots and gusts up to 30 knots. This was making our
progress difficult and slow. We were unable to hold our line to Brisbane and had
to accept sailing much further south than we would have liked.
As dusk approached we were seeing clouds
develop further to the west.Throughout the night we noted some thunderstorms well to the south of us
and were happy we had managed to avoid them.
At 3am, however, we ran into a very large storm that we had no chance
of avoiding. The sky above us became black and lightning bolts were visible
along the full length of the storm. We downed sail and started to motor to the
west so as to pass through the storm as soon as we could. We did not see any
great increase in wind speed but came into some heavy rainfall and were at times
surrounded by lightning. Several bolts came fairly close to us but we were not
struck and were very happy to see to other side of the storm around and hour
after entering it. It is a wonderful feeling when you come out through the other
side of a storm like this. We usually sit down, relax and have a cup
of tea and watch the fireworks you have left behind as they move towards
the horizon. Into the last two days of this journey the thought of having all
the boats electrical devices fried was not too appealing.
The rough weather has stirred up some seasickness
for Gerard. It started yesterday with the increase in seas and has plagued him
since. He has fed the fish several times but now has nothing left to give. To
his credit he did all that he could to help me through last night but it is
tough when you are feeling the way he has. With luck a shift in the wind to the
south will see an easing in the conditions and his seasickness.
All day today we have had a westerly
headwind which has forced us south, preventing us from being able to close
the gap to our destination. It is now 3pm and we are starting to see a shift in
the wind towards the south but we are still a long way from being able to sail
directly to Brisbane. The forecast is for the wind to turn south and when
this happens we should again be able to take off towards our
waypoint. This is the third westerly I have
faced since Tonga and I am over them completely.
We sailed 115NM over the past 24 hours to
close within 225NM of Brisbane but unless we see a large shift to the south
we will not make anywhere near that distance over the next 24 hours. I do not
want us to be slowed to the point that we cannot make Brisbane before dusk on
Tuesday. Much of this will hinge on just how soon we see a change.
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