Sometime I find this blog really hard to write. People often ask how do I cope when Rorygoes to sea, and the honest answer is.....I carry on like it is any other day. And then every once in
awhile, on days like today, I will have a quiet moment of concern.
It has been a tough 36 hours out there. Sunday morning the sunrise was ablaze, and as the old saying goes........"red sky at morning, sailor's warning". And sure enough, shortly after sunrise, the front started moving in rapidly, with the skies growing darker & darker by the minute and unlike anything Rory has seen before.
He triple-reefed the main and put the storm jib up (which has had very little use over the last 15 years!!) and Cookie jogged along steadily.
By mid afternoon the wind was blowing 40-45 knots, so he put the sea anchor out, which instantly helped in the big seas.
Bang on 9pm the rain started and the winds eased, but the waves were very everywhere. Rory decided to hove-to, and hunkered down for the night and just rest up.
Around 5am and the wind started picking up again, and it has been howling all day When we spoke at 7.30pm this evening (Weds) it was still blowing 25-30 knots, and Cookie was taking some big hits. But...she is as brave as ever and was jogging along with a very small sail area, at 3 knots.........with Rory safely down below. I am exhausted just sat at home listening to him!!!
Yesterday's 24hr run was 110 miles and today, under sea anchor, 30 miles. Here is their latest
position:
Rory's Spot
Latitude:39.22513
Longitude:-51.02978
GPS location Date/Time:06/16/2010 13:31:53 BST
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0eU7hBIn3zf3pdPunKi3eP4m0RUyAZreC
Ocean Race Track:
http://www.oceanracetrack.com/evtChart.aspx?id=34&ent=663
(NB: Above photo is not Rory but he took the picture on board Cookie!! This was taken
sometime in 1997, I believe in the Indian Ocean, when he managed to convince Toto
to go sailing with him!!)
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