Dee Caffari battles 50 knot winds

by Dee Caffari on 13 Jan 2006 I got well and truly beaten up last night! 50 knots true. The barometer dropped like a stone from 989 to 980 in 4 hours. I had my heart in my throat. I didn't battle that hard with anything or so I thought, however I ache today. It is also so cold. Once the sea abates tonight I might be using up those heater hours I have spare.

I ended up with the staysail furled away and eventually I had probably only the last third of the headsail out and a three reeefed mainsail. That wasn't too bad. The waves were the worst, they had the whole deck on the leeward side underwater quite a lot. I sat watching the aft lower through the galley window swaying with the force of the water and the breeze, not a friendly sight. I shall check all the terminals when I can move around the deck.

The pilot did well but it was also a complete nightmare too. I guess I wouldn't want to drive either in those conditions. About five times the 103 fault came up and I cleared it and it went back to work. From what I can remember at the time most of them were with big waves or with the boat rounding up with a flogging headsail and it not getting her back again. I also had it on wind for a short time but it didn't like that I would guess at too much movement at the top of the rig.

The worst was when a big wave rounded us up and the pilot didn't get her back in time and we tacked. I had already tacked in a lull of 45 knots and it was hideous, so now I was pinned. It took me 30 minutes to get the boat back and tack. The waves stopped me most of the time, I was just cringing at the rig with everything loaded the wrong way or shaking around. Good job we always have both runners on with three reefs. Now that should be written in the manual.

I am hoping as conditions moderate during the course of this evening that everything will be okay and I may be able to get some sleep, food and warmth.

INSTRUMENT READINGS - TELEMETRY (LAST REPORT 12/01/2006 - 14h19)

SPEED OVER GROUND (knots) 7
COURSE (°) 345
APPARENT WIND SPEED (knots) 38
TRUE WIND SPEED (knots) 31
TRUE WIND DIRECTION (°) 242
SEA TEMPERATURE (°C) 7

STATUS (LAST REPORT 12/01/2006 - 14h46)

STATUS UNDER WAY
LATITUDE S 52° 28'
LONGTITUDE W 94° 51'
DTF 16,278
CMG 320.1
SMG 7.2
24HR RUN 134
24HR SPEED 5.6

DTF - Distance To Finish: Distance from last reported position to the finishing line
CMG - Course Made Good: Course in degrees between the last two reported positions
SMG - Speed Made Good: Speed between the last two reported positions

Event website: www.avivachallenge.com