Wednesday 28^th January 2009

A SQUALL TOO FAR

Oh my gosh nothing happened last night with the spinnaker. She's still flying this morning & we've sailed a respectable 175 miles in the last 24 hours.  Malcs mentioned the boat had screeched along at 11 knots at one point with the combination of a gust of wind and a wave that scooped us up and carried us along. But then the wind returned to a modest 12 - 15 knots which warranted keeping the spinnaker up throughout the night.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS! I wrote the above paragraph at 0600 hrs this morning, when I came off watch.  It is now 1100 hrs.  The drama began at 0800ish. Ian was on watch up on deck, I was sleeping in the saloon with life jacket on in readiness for emergency lowering of sails and such like - given the past weeks twilight activities on the foredeck, Malcolm thought it prudent to have either him or me on standby sleeping in the saloon to assist whoever was on watch.

At about 0800ish I felt Quasar lurch and heel and noted that the mainsail had suddenly backed and was pulling on the preventer.  The wind had whipped up and was howling through the rigging.  I leapt from the sofa to assess what was going on and alas, zout alors, I was just in time to witness the tearing of our dear beloved spinnaker.

A benign looking rain cloud (a wolf in sheep's clothing, having deceived poor Ian) had crept up on us and had unleashed 30 knots of wind upon us including a 45 degree wind shift for good measure.  I jumped on the foredeck, closely followed by Sam and Ian and the three of us wrestled with the sheet as the tattered sail was lowered.  We felt sad and empty as we folded away our colourful, nylon friend.

The wind continued to howl at us and brought with it some rain.  We were speeding along at 8 - 9 knots with the mainsail up alone.  The boat was slewing and yawing as the waves tormented Quasar.  We needed to rig the Twistle rig; there was a little scuffle on the foredeck as the universal joint connecting the 2 poles misbehaved but after a few punches and expletives directed at the metal object, we were soon sailing at a steady 6.5 knots.

Phew!  We anticipate arriving in Salvador Friday evening now rather than Friday morning.  Malcolm promptly issued a cleaning and polishing directive that had the majority of us scrubbing down the decks and polishing the chrome.

Now turning to matters of more importance there was a code red alert this evening when we couldn't find any gin on board the good ship Quasar. A search and rescue directive was issued by Malcolm and you'll be pleased to hear that a bottle of gin was recovered from a deep dark cupboard.  You can imagine it was a little touch and go at one point with Malcolm mulling over possible punishments for the errant crew member whose task it had been to supply the boat with sufficient gin.  You see gin and tonic o'clock is a very important time for us seafarers.  We congregate in the cockpit as the sun slips towards the horizon, and reflect on the day's events whilst sipping our G n T's, waiting for our supper.  Speaking of which I would suggest that tonight's supper has been the only redeeming feature of today.  Young Samwise Gangee, also known as Jamie Oliver, smoothed his way in to the galley, sans shirt and with a tea towel over one shoulder looking very much the naked chef.  He prepared salmon pan fried in garlic, butter and lemon and a tartiflette (potatoes, cheese and bacon..mmmm)  with some spinach.  The amount of pseudonyms this boy is collating is incredible.  He's also known as Lawrence of Arabia, that's when he dons his sarong, wrapped around his head with some string, to protect him from the rays; David Beckham, when he wears his sarong like it should be?..and oh yes how could I forget, Crocodile Dundee, whenever he looks mischievous or wears his green shirt. You see dear readers, our Sam has a colourful past, having been suspended from school for assisting in the stealthy removal of a crocodile from a farm with the intent to relocate it in the school pond.  Apparently he and his peers thought the school pond needed a bit more wildlife than the existing goldfish and carp!!!

Don't worry, I'm going??goodnight everyone.