The last 48 hours of the crossing were probably the hardest
and most terrifying of the whole trip. The last two days seemed to last
forever, probably because so much happened. The wind was relentless and blew
over 40k. So much for ‘ fair winds and following seas’! We spent most of the
last two days overpowered and surfing down step braking waves.
Surfing' frothy waves
Because the rolling mechanism on our fore sail was broken
there was no way to take in the sail. We were stuck with it out in full power. This
caused us to heel over so far that the boom often splashed in the water. Under
normal circumstances we would never have left that sail out because it is much
too power to have out in strong winds.
The hardest part though was the massive waves! As the days progressed
the waves only built up higher and higher. I felt like I was starring down two
story houses when I saw the big waves approaching from the stern. By the last
night it was nearly impossible to steer. Darvil was the only person with enough
strength to steer. Dad would relive him for 15 minutes so he could get a drink
and go to the bathroom, and then he was back on. When the waves finally settled
down early the next morning Darvil’s arms were like mush. Waves were constantly
crashing over the front of the boat. At some point in the night a rope was
washed over the side of the boat and wrapped itself around the propeller, so we
had no motor.
By about 2:00am we could see the lights of land, and by
5:00am we made our final jibe to try and make the harbour entrance. This was
not going to be a normal arrival. We had two major problems. 1. There was no
way to take down our fore sail 2. We had to motor.
Here was the game plan. To get the boat into the lee of the
island so there would be no wind. Then we would take down the sail and finally
Darvil would dive under the boat to cut the ropes loose from the propeller.
Easier said than done …
With the wind direction and our “disabled” boat we could not
make the opening of the harbour so we simply had to veer off. We knew of a huge
rock called ‘Diamond Rock’ about a mile off shore and we headed a course for it
hoping there would be a lee on one side of the rock. As we got behind the rock
there was a reverse current that started to suck us in. Lets just say I we examined Diamond rock MUCH more closely we wanted to. That was terrifying. We realized that
because it was so windy there was simply not going to be a leeward side of the
island today. Dad called on the VFH for a tow boat. Meanwhile Darv was able to
jump into the water and unravel the ropes from the propeller. Now we had an
engine again. When the tow boat arrived there was no way to tow us when we had
a big powerful sail out. It had to come down somehow.
Diamond rock. This time from a safe distance.
The tow boat that didn't tow us. Yet still gave us a hefty bill
Trying to bring the sail down
We attempted to take it down several different ways but
nothing would work, as the wind was too powerful. The sail was violently
flapping and making a noise that sounded like thunder. I thought the entire bowsprit
of the boat was going to come flying off.
Darv eventually had to climb to the top of our 55-foot mast.
We had a topping lift and a second rope attached to him for safety. Keep in
mind the sail was still flapping and the boat was leaning hard from side to
side. Darvil jumped from the mast to the stay and with a knife strapped to his
hand and he ripped the sail as he slid down. He was the Hero of the day. We
lost of sail, but all we cared about was the safety of the family.
up up up. 55feet. He had a toping lift on as a safety hardness
My brave man!
Before Darv went up the mast he said “Em you better get this
on video, I’m never doing this again”. So I have part of it on video, but unfortunately
my hands we shaking harder than I thought so half the time the camera isn’t
pointed on Darvil. But HERE is a link anyways (around minute 1:54).
Safe and sound
