The last few days have been extraordinarily calm with flat seas, bright sunshine and stunning sunsets, but sadly no wind, so we’ve been bobbing along with the engine on. But you know what they say about the calm before the storm…
As I made my way to the bridge at 5am this morning for my sunrise shift, I was met by some very unexpected lightning illuminating the dawn sky. An unamused Skipper advised we had been playing kiss chase with a storm system since 2am.
It was forecast to break up and dispel before getting to us, however the storm clearly had other ideas. With a cup of tea in hand, we watched the clouds darken and the lightning push closer as it battled with the emerging sun for pole position. As the storm headed briskly towards us, it conjured up a pair of waterspouts and some very loud claps of thunder for added entertainment.
By this time, we had dropped the mainsail, taken down the gennaker and put all our communications devices into the microwave in case of a lightning strike.
Like all good Englishmen faced with overwhelming odds, Skipper feigned a retreat while keeping an eye out for a chink in the storm’s armour. He saw one and skilfully guided the boat into the edge of the storm to circle around the back of it. Thankfully, it was only half an hour of unpleasantness as we battled 46-knot winds, torrential rain and more lightning, before popping out the other side, slightly soggy and displaced but still smiling.
In other news… off the back of this storm we do now have some lovely wind, so are sailing again and quite fast! Unless we have any further storm dodging to do, we hope to make it into Brisbane tomorrow!
Date: Wednesday 17th November
Total miles to go: 140
© Two Drifters Travel
*****
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
