Day 96: Friday, 15th February, 2008
Temenos (15.02.08)
A hellish night!
Aboard Temenos II the crew have lost count of the number of cargo ships, tack
changes, gusts and abrupt waves. Last night was really gruelling and the two
co-skippers welcomed the slight let-up in hostilities this morning with open
arms. A few hours went by with less than 10 knots of breeze, which left the duo
time to get things back in a bit more order on the boat and gave them an
opportunity for a very short siesta after two sleepless nights. By late morning
though, the wind was already filling in again. Upwind in around twenty knots,
the situation could not be more different though than the hell of last night,
the seas having settled down and the boat adopting a good heading. All this has
dramatically improved the living conditions aboard the boat and a delighted
Michèle spoke of the situation being “beyond our expectations. The routing is
predicting that we'll have to tack throughout the course of today, but for the
time being this wind is enabling us to make headway on a virtually direct
course.”
Even though the accumulated fatigue is evident, there is an overwhelming sense
of relief and good humour reigning aboard Temenos II today. “We’re happy to
have escaped this zone without damage, as apart from the batten car, everything
has held out well aboard. The seas were really very difficult, with the wind
gusting to up to 38 knots. When we dropped southwards, there was less wind and
the sea was stopping the boat. Equally, when we were on a N’ly tack the wind
accelerated and we had to rehoist the storm sail. The transitions were rapid and
we had to make a series of tacks and manœuvres throughout the night. It was
incredibly wet on deck and we even had to get the helmet out to helm. It’s very
stressful to have these cargo ships around us as some have passed within just a
few hundred metres of us.
We’ve already gone past Gibraltar in similar conditions, but it wasn’t after a
circumnavigation of the globe.
We still didn't get any sleep last night. This morning however, the wind dropped
off sharply with the passage of a small zone of high pressure and I made the
most of it to get in a bit of shut-eye. When Dominique tacked I didn’t hear a
thing and yet between the alarm of the canting keel and the winches resonating,
there's an infernal racket down below. It’s as if the unconscious mind is saying
no, I’m not going to wake up!
Between the cargo ships, the gusts, the current and the boat breaking seas, it’s
surely one of the worst places along the course. This is often the case for all
straits and already, level with the Cook Straits as we arrived in New Zealand,
we had up to 40 knots.
There is still a large residual swell but it's nothing compared to what we had.
This evening, the wind may well increase a notch so we certainly won't be
shaking out any reefs! We're going to make a thorough tour of the deck today to
really check the boat over and we'll also try to rest a little, as much as
anyone can between tack changes at least! (laughs) If all goes well we could
make Barcelona late this Sunday.”
Temenos (14.02.08)
A harsh entry into the Mediterranean
Though the weather forecasts can sometimes have some good surprises in store,
this was not the case today. As the files indicated, virtually without
transition, Temenos II left the calms for a strong gale, which set the
anemometer spinning as the breeze went from less than 10 to 35 knots in the
space of a few hours.
These harsh conditions were doubtless not strangers to the breakage of the
monohull’s indexsail batten car at the end of last night. And even though they
were able to replace it, Michèle and Dominique took this as a serious warning.
Tossed about by chaotic seas, the duo didn’t have to think twice about getting
out the 'heavy artillery', including the storm sail, in order to try to take the
pressure off the boat a little.
At the approach to the Straits of Gibraltar, which they are preparing to pass
through tonight, the winds reindexs steady and the duo is unlikely to see a real
calm before tomorrow. And even though the wind is set to ease progressively
during the course of the night, the big seas picked up by several days of rough
weather on the trot, will take a lot more than a few hours to calm down.
The day’s frantic pace resulted in the need to wait until the start of the
evening to have any news from onboard. The noise of the boat slamming through
the waves resonated down the telephone handset and left no doubt as to the
conditions encountered by the two co-skippers.
“We’re being ‘roughed up’, announced Michèle, “it’s the straits in all their
splendour. The seas are messy and very short and we’re slamming dramatically.
It’s a boat breaking sea. We cannot allow it to be fully powered up. We're
hoisting less sail than we should so as to preserve the boat. We’re not going
quickly. When you look at our trajectory on the computer screen it looks like
we’re making no headway and this passage of Gibraltar goes on and on. Conditions
are very laborious. Down below we're on all fours. We’re being thrown about and
are having to cling on, unable even to eat. We got drenched on deck and our
foulies are soaked. We haven’t slept since yesterday and we haven't rested at
all today and tonight will be difficult too. We're looking forward to when today
is but a distant memory. It’s not great having to face up to such conditions on
the way back from a round the world. The boat is tired as are we. We should make
it into the strait between 0300 and 0500 in the morning at which point the wind
should at last ease.
The cargo ships are being understanding. They change course fairly quickly once
we signal our presence to them. The watch is assured by the AIS in the index.
With the swell we're fairly low down on the water and the visibility is poor so
most of the watch is done via the screens.”
The night aboard Temenos II looks set to continue at this frantic rhythm then,
with the two co-skippers having to make a series of tack changes in what is a
channel less than 14 kilometres wide in places.
Given the monohull's difficult headway over the past two days, Temenos II is not
expected in Barcelona before late on 17th February.
Kate Jennings
Expression.
P.O. Box 26,
Dartmouth,
DEVON.
TQ6 0YG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7795 116699
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