A Magnificently Horrible Night

09/12/02

    It has been yet another magnificently horrible night.  First, at 1700 yesterday (the end of my watch) we decided there was enough wind (barely) to stop the engine and raise the sails.  That we did, and were cruising gently along on starboard tack, close-hauled, but still 30 degrees off course.  This continued through my 2200 watch, and it looked like I was going to have a good sleep.  Then, at 0330, I woke to a dramatically heeling, crashing world.  Eric called David and I to get up and reef the main, as the wind was blowing 25-30 knots.  This we did, without incident, but when we were done, we found we were sailing at 055 rather than the 085 we had been sailing.  We were contemplating tacking, but then the wind came back around.  I started my 0400 watch (it was 0430 by the time the reefing was done) with instructions to holler if the course goes back down below 060 for any length of time.  The first 45 minutes were uneventful, and I listened to the BBC coverage of the 9/11 observance ceremonies.  At 0515 I looked at the GPS and saw that our course had dropped down to 055 again.  I decided to watch for half an hour before alerting anybody, in case it was temporary.  After 20 minutes I heard the jib luffing, and when I shined the flashlight out I saw that one of Victor’s steering lines was hanging loose.  I immediately woke up Eric and went to the cockpit and began hand steering.  Shortly after, Eric and David were also in the cockpit and we were assessing the situation.  First, we decided to reef the jib, then we decided to tack to get a better course (the wind speed had also come up a little).  With the abbreviated jib we weren’t able to get enough speed to tack, so we had to turn on the engine and power through the tack.  The course we had on port tack was really bad for some reason and we decided to go back to starboard tack.  Once this was done, Eric gave the helm to me to steer while he and David worked on fixing the steering line.  It took at least half an hour to fix the line, and I was getting cold, having not bothered to wear my gloves.  I was also standing on the side of the cockpit, as we continued to heel dramatically even with double-reefed main and staysail only.  We were done at 0730, and I went to sleep, leaving David and Eric.  When I woke up at 1000, we were on port tack again, crashing and banging on the heavy seas, and my sleeping bag was covered with drips.  As of now (1130) we are still crashing and banging, and I am barely holding onto the galley table to write this.  The winds are blowing 20-25 knots.  We are certainly earning this passage to Cape Town.  The best we can sail is 185 degrees, but the rhumb line is 118.  We will be tacking again at the end of the day if the wind doesn’t come around. 

    These conditions will certainly effect our ETA for Cape Town.  I don’t think I have ever wanted to get somewhere as badly as I want to get to Cape Town right now.