Arkyla - L2D13: weather!

And we were going so well! But, alas, the weather gods insist on toying with the good ship Arkyla a little longer. First they throw us a huge squall filled with equal dises of exhilaration and torrential rain; we are drenched in the scramble to furl the headsails, but what joy to then ride the surf in the 35 knot gusts! But what happens next sinks our hearts lower than the deepest depths of Danté’s Inferno… the wind veers. Not ten, not twenty, not even thirty, but 40 degrees… we are now heading for Miami! Not only are we making way for Florida, but we are making way very slowly to the old music hall favourite tune of slapping headsails! Grrrrrrrrr! Our charge through the pack is pulled to a sudden halt.

We hold on drifting along under twin headsails willing the winds to change and, by early evening, our promised sacrifices of souls to the devil are met with a backing to 260 degrees and 20 knots of the huffing and puffing stuff.

The night is one of playing ‘Frogger’ with the squalls on the radar screen. ‘Furl in, surf the front, furl back out’ becoming our established routine. We are averaging 9 knots and a Friday landfall with honour intact is again a possibility. 200nm to go; all we need to do is keep the damaged rudder in one piece, and not crash into Bermuda… we can taste the rum punch!