- Nov 09-10 2024 - Tasman Sea
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- Nov 09 - Feeling better this morning.
It looks like we might be getting in to Sydney a day early due
to favourable winds.
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- By mid day, I was feeling ill again
with the Oosterschelde rolling side to side quite a bit. I spent
a lot of time in bed today and didn't eat much at dinner.
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- Nov 10 - I slept solidly through the
night and the swell had reduced, so I felt invigorated. Weather
was good, a mix of sun and clouds. We were quite busy, putting
up one of the jib sails, then hoisting the main mast topsail
and a few other tasks. I managed to make it all the way through
the shift, no problem.
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- The weather started to deteriorate
in the late afternoon, and it was becoming clear that we were
in for a stormy evening (unrelated to the big weather system
that was predicted). We were close enough to the Sydney radar
site for me to use the Radarscope app on my phone to see the
storm.
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- Right before dinner, it started to
rain, so the hatches got battened down, and as we ate, it just
picked up more and more. When our 8:00 shift started, it was
torrential, so full rain gear was required. The wind was howling,
and there was thunder & lightning on both sides of us. We
(red team and all the crew) scrambled to take down the schooner
mast main sail and stow it temporarily, leaving just one topsail
in place. Even with just the one sail, we managed to break our
speed record for this leg at 10.3 knots. The rain just kept on
coming, but luckily the swell was not bad at all. We had following
seas, so it was manageable. Eventually, the clouds thinned, the
rain stopped, and the bright half-moon became visible. Soon,
it was mostly clear with stars and now distant lightning.
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- It was my favourite shift of the whole
trip. The sea really lets you know how small and insignificant
we really are.
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