A NASTY DAY OFF OREGON

Last night I was becalmed for the third time since leaving Neah Bay.  I drifted until nine this morning when a wind filled in from the south.  At seven I wrote in the log “ barometer falling and no wind – something will happen soon’.  It did!

At ten I had all sail set and we were moving along nicely at around five knots in a light breeze.  By eleven I had the first reef in the main and the wind was building quite quickly.  Then when furling the jib to a riding turn on the furling drum after two  wraps and it was stuck.  Now the wind was gusting twenty five knots and I deeded the sail off.  First I dropped the main.  Then dropped the staysail.

Then, after some thought, I tied off the fulling drum and stripped off the line, remembering how many turns to put back on.  All the time I was doing this I was running north off the wind and getting very wet.  After a couple of hours I had it sorted, by this time the wind had increased to 35 knots.  The barometer dropped nine millibars in ten hours.

The radio forecast was still giving five to fifteen knots.  I called a passing tanker the ‘Polar Adventure’ and asked them for the wind speed, they confirmed 30 knots.  So, its been heading west all day towards the coast where I hope to pick up a shift to the south west.  Very uncomfortable, noisy, bumpy and wet all day.

Its proving to be very hard work getting to San Francisco.  I fear that we may be further away tonight than we were last night.  Something good will come out of this I am sure.