Piccolo the wind instrument in tune again!
Piccolo
Andrew Yates
Sun 7 Dec 2008 17:20
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Piccolo, the wind instrument, in tune
again!
After an uneventful night the breeze picked up
again after allowing us to finish our Sunday morning bacon and egg breakfast
sarnies. This was godsend as during that period we went through the process of
nearly setting up every kite on the boat, from the light to medium to
heavy.
We finally decided on the heaviest kite with the
wind on the beam and heavy rain giving us a much needed first warm shower in
days (that Skipper had no say in). Having hoisted this kite, over the next
half hour the wind steadily picked up and moved aft. We found ourselves
running heavily downwind. Immediately after setting a record speed for
this kite the inevitable happened - a round up of immense proportions, laying
the boat flat in the water and sending the off watch crew below into a fine
imitation of flying fish. The most spectacular was Paul who rose to the ceiling,
flew across the cabin clearing the galley taps in his headlong rush to save the
snacks as he finally landed upsidedown in his watchmate's crotch as Chris
crouched on the floor by the cooker asking, "Is this a squall?"
After some profanities from the foredeck the kite
was snuffed and stored with only a 3 ft tear to the clew. It was
replaced with a poled out heady and a reef in the hope that this would calm and
steady the boat. But with building swells and bigger gusts this was not to be
the case. Sustained gusts of 30 knots plus made for an interesting
ride as Piccolo whistled westwards.
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