It all began with a locking turn in the Furling drum..........

Povoa de Varzim to Porto Santo. 27^th September to 2^nd October

It all began with a locking turn in the Furling drum………………….warning, this account may make you seasick or start to exude sympathy.

After waiting for 2 weeks for favourable winds to sail direct to Porto Santo 615 miles away [25 miles N of Madeira] we slipped from our berth at 10:15 on Thursday morning 27^th September. There was no rush as we knew we had to motor for a few hours till the wind kicked in which it did 2 hours later. We had a great genoa run under full sail. 8 hours later, at 10pm as we changed watch and with a brisk Northerly 5 blowing, Steve decided to roll some genoa away for overnight. At no. 3 genoa size the furling line fell in on itself inside the drum and jammed tight. With a dark night and a rough sea there was nothing to do until daylight.

Day 2 Friday September 28th

With a very rocky rolly boat down below my sea sickness came back. A combination of tension, tiredness, and lack of food we think. At 7:30 as daylight was just breaking Steve went forward onto the bow to try and untangle the furling line in the drum. No way was that going to happen and a perfectly good screwdriver pinged overboard almost immediately. We then prepared to take the genoa down and replace it with the storm jib as the wind was now well into a Force 6 with apparent wind at 25kn. As we turned and motored into the wind to lower the sail it was blowing 32 knots with a 4 metre swell. Steve was on the bow of the boat, clipped on with 2 tethers, completely engulfed by the huge sail. The boat was all over the place with the combination of wind, sea state and me at the helm! Steve managed to get the sail down and keep it all on the boat, though the bolt rope jammed in the foil about 8 foot from the head of the sail. Turning and motoring back down wind allowed us to get the remainder of the sail down, though the bolt rope was ripped in the process. Once down we had to bundle it up and move it off the foredeck back to just in front of the sprayhood so we could hoist the storm jib using the spare genoa halyard and genoa sheets. All this before 10:30.

Once this was done everything settled down a bit. The boat was sailing happily at 6 knots. This with a storm jib of 7.5 sq metres which is a smaller area than some windsurfer sails. Steve now demanded his breakfast!! However he had to get it himself [remember the seasick galley slave was out of commission] The sea and wind built all day and at 19:30 with 38kn of wind on the stern and a 6 metre swell, we went below, closed all the hatches and left the boat in the capable hands of George the autopilot. Throughout the night we periodically had a quick look around, but it appeared we were the only ones in this bit of the Atlantic. [Mind you it is difficult to see anything at the bottom of a 6 metre wave.]

Day 3 Saturday 29th September .

After a good nights sleep, [everything is relative] things looked a little better this morning. We appear to be gradually sorting all the knocks, bangs and rattles out. Thank goodness for bubblewrap, t-towels, and napkins. The sea and wind had quietened a little and Steve went up on the foredeck to try and untangle the furling line. He was there an hour, was successful but a little grey when he came back to the cockpit. We had the means now to use the genoa again. Unfortunately, with 22 knots of wind right on the stern it was too windy to put it up again. We were doing 4-5knots under storm jib and it was so frustrating that we had the wind we wanted and no sail to do the job.

Feeling better today this afternoon, I put together a beef and mushroom casserole for dinner. We tried and failed several times to get a weather forecast from our new sat phone and grib files. Abandoning this we used a new tactic and called up a passing tanker on the radio at 17:30. We had last seen “Atlantic Hope” in Coruna. We could imagine the radio operator running round for permission to respond to us. A very nicely spoken guy replied to us and acknowledged our request for a weather forecast. The forecast given for the area just south of where we were was for wind Force 5-6 with the sea rough to very rough, decreasing moderate to rough. We thanked them and they continued on their way passing us within ½ mile.

Tanker Atlantic Hope helped us with a weather forecast

Day 4 Sunday 30/9/12

Up before daylight  with a plan to put up the mainsail with 2 reefs in. I was struggling to keep the boat turned into the wind while the sail went up and was very relieved to pull in the mainsheet. The next few minutes are a blur, but suffice it to say that I gybed the main sail. In the total utter panic that overtook me I then took it back. A double whammy. [Not my finest hour]. The shackle on the mainsheet traveller sheared and became a flying missile. Whilst taming the wild boom Steve fell hurting his back and lower ribs with a glancing blow on his head. I was lashed by rope but nothing worse than bruises to either of us thank goodness. A very tense half hour followed. I was devastated and not much use, not that I trusted myself to do anything at that time. Steve dropped the mainsail, scandalised the boom and then tied it down to the aft cleats. He then went for a lie down complaining he was a bit poorly. I was left on watch. At about 10:15 Steve came up on deck and noticed the wheel was not turning. I had been facing forwards watching Steve, the sail and the chart plotter. Our course was still good but the steering had failed. We then had to empty the aft cabin as the steering gear is under the bunk. We had the prospect of rigging emergency steering in the aft cabin and then removing the binnacle in the cockpit to check the linkages. Fortunately when Steve looked at the steering cables under the bunk he found they had worked loose and fallen off the rudder quadrant. Job done in 45 minutes. Good job George is connected straight onto the rudder quadrant!!

Flush with success we decided to have an early lunch. We were having more beef casserole with added tinned veg. As I turned the tin opener one of the cogs sheared. A moment of disbelief followed.  Fortunately we had a spare! Over lunch we chatted and tried to formulate a new plan. We could not make more than 4knots in 18kn wind. We needed the mainsail up and out secured with a preventer. Steve jury rigged the traveller using cord and we got the main up with 2 reefs as planned. We took the storm jib down acknowledging what a good job it had done. Unbelievably we were still only making between 4-5 knots.

Steve was beginning to get stiff and sore and went to bed about 10pm. We had seen no ships all day. I set my minute minder for 1 hour and lay down. An hour later it went off. I got up had a look around. Nil to see. Back to bed. An hour later same procedure, and again and again. I was getting tired but Steve was fast asleep. Eventually I forgot to reset the timer and slept for 3 hours. Steve got up next. No change and no boats seen. Monday morning dawned.

Day 5 Monday 1^st October.

We ran the engine to charge batteries this morning. The confused sea meant the wind generator was struggling to run and there had been no sun for a couple of days either so the solar panel was not giving enough power either. However the upside was with hot water we could have showers. Now ladies, I want you to imagine this. Having a shower in a moving boat is a bit like a shower on a 4 way randomly moving escalator; up and down and back and forwards. Add to this needing 1 hand to hold on to a grab rail and 1 to get the shampoo out of the bottle. All the while being aware not  to use too much water and to remember to switch on the drain pump so as not to flood the boat.  Hmm, you see it may be a little problematic at times. However, nothing beats the feeling of mastering all the obstacles and ending up feeling clean and fresh after all that salt.

Things started getting better on Monday. We managed to get the genoa off the foredeck, roll it along the length of the boat, hoist it back up and roll it away. Steve threaded the sail through the groove and I winched it up the forestay. [This was my Monday afternoon gym session] Steve found the problem with the furling line and moved the nearest guide to the bow lower down and now the line runs well. We shook a reef out of the mainsail as the wind was lightening. The winds remained too light to fill either sail. We ran under main doing only 4 kn. The wind could not be more on the stern.

We were visited by a large pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins. Unfortunately we were not travelling fast enough to interest them for long and they swam by.

Day 6 Tuesday 2^nd October.

Up at 7am to gybe the boat onto the other tack. Wind less than 10 knots on the stern. Freshly baked scones , yoghurt and coffee for breakfast. We attempted to get the genoa out but not enough wind to set it so rolled it away again immediately.

We made the decision to start the engine which would mean entering Porto Santo in daylight this evening rather than during the night. It was a good feeling to get sight of land and as the sun came out for the first time in 5 days we sat on the foredeck and absorbed some vitamin D. We entered Porto Santo Harbour at 17:15 and within ½ hour were tied up to a mooring buoy and enjoying a well deserved beer. On Wednesday morning we moved to a marina berth and began the process of washing 6 days salt off the boat. She scrubs up rather well. Well done Chewsy. Well done us!