Race 4 - Day 21
Crew Diary - Race 4, day 21
08 December

Neptune’s Wrath

What we’ve done to anger Neptune we cannot know, but perhaps the coffee grounds we offer each day are disagreeable. Having done a spell at the helm and taking the highway back to the companionway on the low side jackstay on a short tether, I stopped to chat to Mark who asked how I was. My reply was “broken” as I’d taken the helm for around three hours of the watch.

This was the moment that a rogue wave was delivered. It lifted me two centimetres from the cockpit floor and I looked down. I did not see the sucker punch, which hit me squarely in the chest a moment later. All I remember was intense pressure as it tried to fold me backwards over the cockpit combing. I finished up two metres down the cockpit on all fours with the lifejacket inflated and the AIS alarm sounding aft. I feebly tried to deflate the jacket, first with a finger and unsuccessfully with the cap. Hugues was quickly on deck and switched off the AIS beacon and helped deflate the jacket and take me below for replacement (not me, the jacket). Three days later and I still hurt. I only know that deep breathing and sneezing are no longer on the cards.

Later Hugues described how he watched it all unfold on the camera monitor. The wave was described as being two metres high and not the fluffy foam-filled kind we’re more used to but solid green water. He said that everyone on deck had been rearranged. Bettina managed to wrap an arm around a winch and held on with the first wave. I don’t know whether any crew could hold on against the force of water pressure with the second.

We’re back to sunshine now and with a fair wind are making good progress towards the finish. We hear from our Skipper that some of the competition are already there. We may have three more days to go with 600 nautical miles left to go. All are looking forward to a drink, square meal and shower.