Ups and Downs

Wednesday 21 July 2021

200 Miles west of Cape Reinga

It seems hard to believe we are two days down and going into our third night

On the UP-side, we have had the wind mostly going our way and the seas, whilst in the 3-4 metre range are not on the bow, but more from the beam or stern quarter. This makes for a rolly kind of action, with a permanent heal to port, (which is great for sleeping my bunk) with the NW wind of around 20 knots coming in over the starboard side. Our course is currently SW – as you should be able to view on the Tracker – which is roughly the direction of southern Australia – that’s what my Jacaranda Atlas says anyway.

On the DOWN-side, there was no sun today. No patches of blue, no real shadows as such. Just a multi-grey-shaded sea – with lots of foamy white bits – under a multi-grey-shaded sky. Another “Down” has been a progression of “squalls” which seem to have found us in their path – or deliberately lined us up more the point. The worst of these was at 3:00am this morning. I know because I was just about to come on watch and the commotion from the cockpit suggested urgent action was required.

I could already pick something was afoot, by the sounds of the boat, the speed through the water and the din of incessant rain, which sounded like hail, on the deck.

On reaching the cockpit, it was clear action was required, and quick. Sam, who had been asleep in the starboard cockpit bench-bunk described it later … “It was like the fire brigade had turned up and all of a sudden you were all doing stuff to put out the fire.”

We’d put a “preventative reef” in the mainsail at dusk, but it was clear, with winds now around 35 knots and our speed over 9 knots, another reef was essential. Next the jib was wound in most of the way, and the small staysail brought in altogether. – requiring an excursion up to the foredeck for Harm and me.

It was certainly an intense 20 minutes or so, not to mention wet. Wet from above, wet from the side and wet from pretty much every angle. 
Soon enough Chimere was back under control, while the lashing rain and building seas kept up their performance outside. Inside our snug and zipped up cockpit, life resumed in a kind-of gentlemanly manner. We all agreed it was an exciting time, but the animated way Sam described it, suggested he was up for some more of it! 

By now it was around 3:30am, and I stayed on watch, with Harm, Matt and Sam retreating below to get some much-needed rest – as for me, I’d been warm in my bunk for the previous 6 hours or so – luxury – so I had some “sleep-in-the-bank” from which to draw.

Whilst we never actually saw the sun, light returned once more with the dawn, Harm took over my watch, and then all four of us set about managing the sails and conditions throughout the day. 

At one point a very grey and threatening set of clouds developed astern which Matt was convinced … “… it’s going that we, we’re going this way … it won’t hit us”. Being generally an optimist, I was happy to go with his summation, but unfortunately, whilst that cell – which had lightening and thunder in it – didn’t clobber us, the next one a bit further west did. This time it was in daylight, which certainly makes for an improvement. We had also left the double reef in the mainsail – which was a blessing – and so the biggest task was bringing in the jib.

Distance covered over the past 24 hours has been around 190 miles, which is very impressive for Chimere, (an average close to 8kts) and at last count we have approximately 317 miles behind us.

On the food side of things … there’s been lots of vegemite on toast consumed. And Harm’s tasty pasta dish from two days ago was finally polished off around lunchtime. I’m thinking it might be crackers and cheese for dinner. 

The current weather forecast is for the wind to swing to the south, and lighten off, with Matt’s tracking model being updated to ensure we make the best time, but with minimal discomfort. 

Thanks again everyone for your interest and encouragement. It’s a shame I can’t add photos at this time, they will have to wait. 

Smooth seas, fair breeze and ups and downs

Rob Latimer 

PS Just as I was about to click SEND on tonight’s blog, bright yellow, brilliant light shone low through the saloon port holes, illuminating the wood panel at my head … SUN!! SUN!! We all reached for our cameras, making our way on deck. The Sam yelled out “WHALE … Two o’clock on the bow”. And sure enough the unmistakeable spray of their breathing could be seen illuminated in the distant light. A lovely end to the day!