(sung to the tune of Do The Hokey Kokie)
You put your main reef in
Your main reef out
In out in out, you're shaken all about
The wind blows a hooley and you turn around
Thats when we all throw up
Squall Hooley hooley hooley
Squall hooley hooley hooley
Squall hooley hooley hooley
Thats when we all throw up
You get blown North
You get blown South
North, South, North, South, zigzagging all about
A wave dumps you down and your thrown about
That's when we all throw up.
(repeat verse)
You get soaked left
You get soaked right
Left right left right then one in the face
Dripping to the pants, steaming all night
(repeat verse)
This crossing started with such promise; flying the Parasailor all day and into the first night, keeping up with boats we would have expected to leave us in their wakes. Then at about 11pm we were hit by the first of the squalls, forcing us to drop the kite and head South under white sails - all very frustrating. But the last few days have probably been the most challenging so far.
The first night and most of the next day sent us south (precisely where we didn't want to go) with the squalls lining up to spin us around and dump rain on us ALL DAY. When we did manage to claw our way up North, the wind got up and so it was up to the mast to shorten sail as far as possible (the first time we've had to) by setting up the third reef in our main.
Yesterday was a day of letting the wind and waves do their thing and try and not stare at the wind indicator too much. However the most wind we recorded was a 39 knot gust, with it staying around the early 30's - so not so bad I guess. The swell made life interesting and we took on a few of waves over our gunwales - but Matilda handles such things beautifully and seems to actually enjoy it, with a motion that reminds me of getting a horse into a comfortable canter. Our cockpit remains pretty snug due to the hard dodger and the soft top arrangement (bit like a soft top car) that keeps us dry, but makes it all the more difficult to leave to do stuff at the mast etc.
Some of the other boats are not faring so well. One boat lost its autohelm on the first day and with only two of them on board, life must be very difficult. I remember when we had the same problem in the Caribbean but we only had to do it for a few days. The concentration and physical aspects required in heavy seas came as a bit of a shock - they have my maximum sympathy and respect.
Another boat has a crew member with medical issues, but fortunately the doctor on Gunvor has been giving advice via the SSB and we are all monitoring their progress on the daily net - another reason to do this sort of thing in a rally.
Today the weather is much improved - clear sunny skies and 20 to 25 knots, which is Champagne Sailing Weather as the Galah Boys would have said.
At the moment Jonathan is making bread - what a guy. We have had mixed results with bread making (damper bread fares far better) but this loaf is looking good so far; obviously needs a mans touch. We have also currently got the water maker filling up the tanks. We only have a low powered emergency one (makes around 8 litres an hour) but since our Duogen in water mode has got the batteries up to 100% we felt we might as well let the water maker have a workout.
To steer we have been using both the Hydrovane and the Autohelm in unison. An approach probably not recommended, but we found if set up correctly, it takes a lot of the strain off the Autohelm when a strong gust or wave collects us. At the same time we benefit from the fine course tuning that the Autohelm can deliver, minimising our cross-track error.
Extreme cross-stitch update. You may remember my embroidered interpretation of Possums Up A Bottlebrush Tree has been resumed after a gap of some time. Yesterday I took it all a stage further by attempting it in heavy seas. Extreme ironing must be a doddle by comparison but my wounds may take some time to heal.