Monday 28th November
Nowcrew
Mon 28 Nov 2005 07:02
23 degrees 02.51N 34
degrees 19.64W
THE PERFECTLY
HANDLED STORM
Saturday evening was
the hardest most extreme storm any us has ever endured.
We celebrated our
first third of the trip with a can of beer each and some crisps and peanuts as
has become tradition. Last orders was called an hour later as we hit another
milestone 1000 sea miles covered.
As we settled down
for the evening the last weather report read force 7 to 8 - we'd all experienced
that before and although no one was looking forward to it we all new what to
expect and more importantly that we'd cope.
The winds soon built
up to 35 knots (force 8) the trouble is they just kept building. Andy was on the
helm first and handed over to Simon at about 2am at that point the highest wind
speed had been 46 knots and we we're still on course.
Simon took over and
the wind built to 55 knots. For all Sunbird readers Simon was a real hero
helming Now3 on a route balanced between making towards St.Lucia and running
with the seas and storm.
The waves we're
crashing over ferociously from every angle. Sea water was getting in through the
aft lockers and we were having to bail out the master cabin at hourly
intervals.
At about 3am Tollers
woke Andy up, the sunbathing cushions were being washed overboard and the
horseshoe life rings were both adrift. Charlie and Andy hooked on and clambered
over the aft deck to sort out the problem waves crashing over
them.
At about 6am Ron,
Tom and Nicko came on duty, the wind at that point was touching 60 knots and the
seas looked like rows of semi-detached houses hurtling towards us - grey and
ominous.Waves on top of waves with greenies (patches of green that appear when
the water becomes so aerated it changes colour).
Ron took Now more
downwind as the seas and wind built under a fully reefed main alone we were
doing a constant 11knots with surges over 12.7. The boat cracked, banged and
whined. Down below it was like being in a cement mixer, Charlie was thrown out
of bed as a lee-cloth broke doing anything was impossible.
"Welcome to tropical
storm Delta"
A tropical storm is
the start of hurricane and although we'd been tracking this one we had no idea
that it would turn and track us. Unbeknown to us, the low that we'd been taking
advantage of had suddenly decided to change course due east and accelerate 18
knots straight into our path.
At 6.30am Andy came
on deck to notice a horseshoe and danbouy had gone missing (a horseshoe life
ring is what you'd through to a casualty in the water and a danbouy is a 6 foot
inflatable fluorescent pole with light that marks the sport). An email was sent
to Falmouth MRCC (Maritime rescue coordination centre) to inform them of the
loss just in case someone spotted it and thought the worse. It was also an
opportunity to let the MRCC know where we were how many people were on board and
that all was o.k.
It was decided that
although we were currently heading on a Northerly course bound for Greenland it
would be better to wait until light to jibe (turn the boat
around).
Tom broke the ice,
as only Tom could, by shouting at the storm at the top of his voice "come on is
this the best you can give us". And "Welcome to Cheetham holidays we promise the
trip of a lifetime".
At about 8.30 Ron
decided to go for it Nicko, Tom and Andy were on deck, Ron picked his moment in
between the mountainous seas and we executed a text book controlled jibe. We
were now heading South and away from the storm albeit back in the direction of
the Canary Islands.
During all this
Ian's chest infection had developed into the flu and he was suffering hot and
cold sweats and a fever - just the place to be when all you want is your own
bed.
At about 10am we
spotted another yacht looming out of the grey. After a brief radio conversation
we established it was "Spellbound" an Oyster 56 also in the cruising
class.
They'd had a similar evening and would be our partners
for the next few hours.
One of the nice things about the ARC is that although
you might not be able to see any other boats out there you know they'll be one
close enough to help if there was a problem.
The wind and seas calmed as the morning went on and by
lunchtime life had become much more comfortable. Time to tidy up, take stock and
assess the damage.
The rest of the day passed without event - we were too
tired to celebrate the 7 day mark - maybe tomorrow!
So looking back - are we glad we went through it?
...Yes. Would we want to do it again? ...most definitely
NO!!!
As we speak there's another low building to the West of
us....Gulp.
Quote of the day: What on earth are we doing here!
(toned down for our younger readers)
Biggest thanks go to the Raymarine autopilot that
steered us through it all without falter.
Bye for now.