Shenanigan - Are we in the English Channel?

25.11.2013 Nice weather but cool when we woke up.  Very quickly the sky blackened and we were in full oilies for a light squall; after which the wind dropped to less than 3 knots. We wore our oilies all day.  The wind picked up again shortly after and we began to make steady progress.  About 5pm another yacht came steaming into view heading from our port side and then directly towards our stern.  We called him on the radio to ask his intentions as he didn’t appear to be changing course.  There was no response after three calls.  We changed our bearing but by now he was so close we could’ve seen the colour of the skipper’s eyes if they’d been open! Two long blasts on our fog horn woke him up and frantic arm waving telling him to change course did the trick – a moment of panic but he acknowledged us with a wave! Sea state changed early evening with high waves from the east.  Conditions today reminded us of home and sailing in the English Channel!

Late evening and throughout the night the wind picked up and so did our speed.  We powered through the night, exciting sailing surfing the waves and watching the luminous phosphates (?) dancing in the wake behind us under a clear, black, starlit sky. We are pleased with our progress and Shenanigan’s performance.