Landfall at last - 51:38.00N 08:40.50W
Moya
Doug Smith
Mon 27 Aug 2012 12:23
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Hello All,
I headed my previous entry as "race for time" and
warned that we would be busy later in the week because of a big low threatening
to catch us in the Western Approaches. Well, it caught us and we had to
take the option of heading for an Irish port,so this comes to you from a dry and
stable platform,at last, as we are safe and sound in Courtmacsherry Harbour, on
the South coast of Ireland.
Last Wednesday (22/08) we were 400 miles from Cork
and still maintaining 6 knots over the ground with fingers crossed we would stay
ahead of the depression with the barometer showing a pressure of 1023 and
starting to fall. That registered with me with Jean's warning firmly in my
mind, and I crossed my fingers and kept a close eye on the glass. We were
motorsailing to maintain speed and raised more sail to help us along, at times
approaching 8 knots. We continued all night, making more Northing than I would
have liked in order to maintain our speed. By 0530 on
Thursday morning we had just topped the 1000 mile point from the Azores and
had only 200 miles to go to Cork, keeping ahead of the depression but with
the glass now down to 1016, we knew a blow was coming. I was now able
to maintain 7 knots without any engine assistance, so shut down the Ford
Lehman and continued under sail alone - I was pleased to do this as the engine
had been racing from time to time and Andy and I had identified a strange noise
coming from somewhere in the engine bay, which luckily disappeared as we
listened and with it, our concern. Moya was loving the increasing wind
strength and with the sea on our quarter, the log steadily climbed to 9 knots by
1500 in the afternoon. I had already dropped the flying jib but now it was
time put a reef in with a wind speed of about 25 knots. This slowed us a
little with only 130 miles to go to Cork. We started to calculate when we
would see the Fastnet Rock, or raise the loom of the light and decided it would
be in the early hours and with evening approaching, decided to put a deep reef
in the main.
Despite the furious onward rush, Moya remained
comfortable and I cooked a meal for us all - a rare event and worthy of note -
as we prepared for what looked to be a nasty night ahead. Andy and I took
over the watch from Rick and Dave at 2200 with the barometer now down to 1010
but had a fairly uneventful time - with simply me worrying - as we sat in the
cockpit, running down the increasing seas at a regular 9-10 knots. By
0100 on Friday morning,the rain had started and the last hour of our watch
became uncomfortable and we were pleased to see Rick and Dave take over at
0200. During their watch the seas became worse and the rain heavier with
drips and occasional streams of water finding its way into the boat at any
opportunity. Then Rick came below to report to me that a wave had just
come into the cockpit and washed Dave across the boat - he was clipped on
but described the moment later as a "near death" experience. Rick of
course was unmoved, it hadn't shifted him, but it worried me, so I came on deck
early because the sails needed trimming and the whole boat was vibrating as she
dashed onward in what I estimated to be a full gale with winds in excess of 40
knots. Still Moya was unshaken but the crew - me included - definitely
were, so I decided to run with the waves for Cork rather than maintain the
planned easterly course for the Tusker Rock. I decided to drop the main
completely and continue under the jib and mizzen alone and give us all a break
whilst I decided what to do next.
At this point the centre of the low started to
come through and we were left with heavy seas, our speed dropping to 3-5
knots. Visibility was very poor, no more than half a mile, with a
continuous drizzle to make things worse. My course was the shortest
possible route to Cork, but the tide was pushing us into Courtmacsherry Bay and
I became concerned about clearing the Old Head of Kinsale and its overfalls
extending to a mile off shore. So I turned East, with little effect,
then South East, but despite not being able to see land, we were not
opening the Head with enough clearance, so I turned South West and turned the
engine on to motor clear. We made little progress, approximately 2 knots
into the still heavy seas and increased revolutions with no alteration in
speed. I noticed the rev counter was surging - which we had previously
discounted as the prop coming out of the water in the waves - and
looked into the engine bay to see the engine running fine but with little onward
transmission from the gear box. We immediately made sail again and started
to sail slowly clear.
To me this meant the end of the trip. I
thought I could sail clear, but what was I going to do next. The wind was
forecast to turn northerly and increase, I would have difficulty beating up
the Irish Sea in heavy seas under reduced sail and I
certainly would not be able to lock into the Coburg River entrance in
the Mersey without assistance, and that would be sometime in the middle of next
week, when we all needed to be back at work. I also had a tired and
wet crew and I knew I might be able to sail into Cork, but I might not still
clear the Old Head. So with all these factors weighing heavily, I decided
the best option was to put out a Pan Pan and warn the Coastguard that we were
not in imminent danger but would like to be kept an eye just in case things went
wrong and before we became a real emergency. The Coastguard responded
promptly and decided to send the Courtmacsherry lifeboat to tow us in - a
decision of theirs we gratefully accepted and we entered port, escorted by a
fleet of harbour porpoises, at about 1130 on Friday 24th August.
Courtmacsherry is a fabulous little place, very
pretty and whose population were more than helpful, making us celebrities for
the day, helping us with our onward travel arrangements and having the
facilities to repair the boat - the person holding the agency for the gear box
was part of the lifeboat crew! We also found that we had a rope around the
propellor, picked up somewhere at sea and possibly the noise Andy and I heard
earlier. We were boarded by the customs, narcotics division, so it appears
everybody knows where we have come from, almost before we were ashore. We
will be staying for some time, the journey considered over, as we are now only
220 miles frome home - a weekend's sale!
The three photos attached show Moya's crew for the
leg Horta to Ireland, Courtmacsherry and Moya at her pontoon berth at the town
quay.
Doug.
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