Race 2 - Day 27
Crew Diary - Race 2, Day 27
12 October

Wow what an incredible 24 hours, we have had everything the ocean can give us and then some.

Yesterday over the course of the day the wind and waves had slowly built, going from a comfy 12 to 15 knots, where we felt like we were flying over the water, to 20 to 25 knots in the afternoon as the wind gained in strength, various new sails needed to be hoisted, the old ones flaked away and by the time our watch woke up from their sleep, we went on deck and were facing winds stronger than 30 knots of wind, the sea state a lot bigger with big Atlantic waves for the helm to surf down without broaching.

Broaching is where the wind overpowers the sails so that the boat slides around to the side the wind strength blasting into the exposed sails pushes the boat over on its side, a scary and stomach-churning situation that is fixed with some fast paced measures that quickly rights the boat.

As we came to the end of our watch we needed to drop our spinnaker and hoist our Yankee sails like with anything in big seas, everything takes longer. In the night with the fatigued crew, they fought their way to the bow to hank on the Yankee 3, the waves smashing over the bow, as well as the huge rise and full in between waves meant they were totally exposed. While they were doing that the midship team were putting in a Reef, meaning they were making the large mainsail smaller. Again a precaution in big weather to stop the overpowering of the sails and to help the helm control the boat.

Finally, our shift was finished and we swapped out with the other watch. We were on support watch from 03:00 till 06:00, this means we are ready to support the other watch with sail changes or changing direction. As the watch wore on there was no call for any support on deck the changes we made was holding. As we approached 05:00 we took the freshly baked bread out of the oven and made sure the coffee pot and teapot was ready to go. A full pot of porridge went on the hob its been interesting how a number of our team at the beginning of the leg were not porridge people and now most have found that a handful of raisins a good dollop of maple syrup and porridge isn't bad.

After breakfast we collapsed into bed the weather noticeably calming down, as we awoke we couldn't believe our ears absolute silence, nothing, popping my head up on deck we were totally becalmed the previous watch talking about the crazy experience of seeing a change in the sky coming to the clouds noticeably marking the edge of a front. As they approached it the 15 knot wind ceased dramatically to nothing, and from then on the team have been trying everything and anything to get the boat going. So near and yet so far.

This meant a frustrating watch over sunset seeking what little wind there was and trying to get some speed, to our joy we heard the now unmistakable sound of a marine mammal breathing out the blowhole. The shout dolphins went up and the limp sails were dropped in favour of seeing something, and there goes the call arms pointed in different directions as a school pilot whales swam past one twisting around another and had her tale in the air for a while. Just as our media guy got to the rail they were gone as if they had never been. A little while later we again were all treated to the briefest of glimpses of a large whale, too brief for us to identify.

Last night what made the difficult sailing easier was the nearing full moon and this reminded me how we left Portimão under a full moon and have slowly watched it wane, enjoyed some perfect new moon starry skies around the equator, and now over the last few weeks watched it waxing getting fuller. We are all hoping to enjoy a glass of wine on a full moon on the 13th.

Another striking fact we chattered through today, during our frustrating watch waiting for wind, is the fact that the lack of some colours in our life at the moment, we are constantly amazed by the different hues the sea can be from midnight black to moody navy and various shades of grey. The sky too a constant changing variation on blues, silvers and greys. The only different colours are at sunset or at sunrise, where we have seen reds, oranges, purples and pinks. We then started thinking about how we want to see greens, strolling in meadows, walking in thick woods and gazing up at the mountains.