11/08/2023
Yesterday was eventful, but not what we prefer. 😅 It was haaaairy.
You can’t see from the photos, but behind us a storm was rolling in as we were headed toward our next destination. The wind was originally south-east on our favour, 15-20 knots. We decided to put the drifter up and leave the main down for safety. We knew it would be gusty and with the huge swell… and what turned out to be shifty winds after an hour of sailing… there was no need for the main. ⛵️
Well. The wind was shifting from different directions and, the drifter wasn’t staying where we needed it to be - time to take her down! Just in time as the wind gusts were getting to be a bit much and getting closer to the next YC (yacht club), it was time to switch the motors on.
Myself behind the wheel, I steered us into the wind to loosen the slack on the drifter - Mark on deck to bring it in. We had to move fast.. the wind was ripping, the swell was huge (boat was a rockin’), we were coming close-ish to shore and little 420 racers all around us (kids sailing school). It was DICEY.
Very fast, or rear drifter line flapped into the water under the boat and got sucked up by the prop! 🤦🏼♀️ FAK.
The engine stopped… I lost control of all steering and we were at the mercy of the water and the wind bobbing in the water, drifter still half out. We disconnected the sail from the line and brought it in fast, throwing it in the anchor locker.
We had brought our scuba gear thank goodness. Mark suited up while I would keep watch over everything else, including him. This was SCARY.
The waves would bring the boat up high, and then smash us back down. Not a great idea to be going anywhere near under a boat… but we HAD to. Especially given that Mark already suffers from a TBI, any kind of knock on the head would have been extra severe.. not to mention could knock a person unconscious. 😳
I let the life ring out and secured it to our rails so Mark could take breaks. I did a lot of praying!! ♥️ He managed to get the line off the prop without taking a knife to it.
We tested the engine and got it back on.
Sailed into port, docked up and then the rains started - thunder clapping.
It was a race to get set up for the quick storm.
Once we were secure, we started our engine checks and impeller checks from the interior of the boat. Saw that the impeller was dripping more than usual, which made total sense given our line was wrapped up right around the prop, pulling the impeller out more than it should have been. Minimal issue!!! Tightened that up.
Boom. Done.
Everything I’m working order.
We were good.
We ARE good! 💗💞
Did some provisioning once the adrenaline settled and, relaxed the rest of the evening.
It’s the following day… I’m exhausted 😉
Slept in, relaxing breakfast… we now have to walk fairly far back to the store with a dock cart to pick up 30+ litres of spring water for drinking. Then before we sail off to the next destination for the weekend (where there are no stores for provisioning)…. I’m going to walk my bare feet in the sand and do some grounding!!!
It’s been an eventful 24 hours 😂
Sailing is work. Lots of little jobs, some big ones, and some things you never know can just pop up out of nowhere. But, when it’s good… it’s really good.
The work is totally worth the rewards.
Loving this
𝔽𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕦𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕀𝔾 @ Starsea_d