31:07.993N 016:16.560W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Sun 28 Oct 2012 16:09
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"Good and Bad - 28th October"
Yesterdays passage started well, and we made good
progress south, we put in a reef before dusk, just in case the wind should get
up, although the forecast was for calm winds. Later we had to reef in the
headsail as winds were gusting 16 knots or more. The wind continued to
increase so we went to put in second reef in the headsail as the wind
was now up to 24 knots, but the furling line had broken and jammed in the
drum, so we were unable to roll the sail in. We sailed on until
daylight, by which time the headsail had let itself fully out. I then had
to motor round in circles whilst N physically wound the headsail by hand using
the wind to take the sail foreward around the forestay. All this in heavy seas
and strong winds. It was exhausting for him as conditions were rough and he has
not been able to have much sleep because of the unexpected bad weather and the
problems it has caused.
We then set up the inner forestay and
hoisted the storm jib, but even with the engine to help we could make no more
that 2-3 knots against the wind and seas. There is a storm approaching this area
from the west, so as we are closer to Madeira than Tenerife we took the
deceision to turn back, as we now cannot make Tenerife before it
arrives.
Two delightful things about this trip are that we saw three Pilot Whales
yesterday and today we have a dear little bird hitchhiking a lift with us.
When he boarded Whisper we were heading South, he is still with us, but now
we have turned back to Madeira so he is heading North. I hope that he will
know which way to go when he finally leaves us. He has been in every nook
and cranny looking for insects (he didn't like the boat rations I served to
him), he found an earwig which he couldn't quite reach, so I fished it out
for him and he devoured it - it was dead by the way!
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