During the morning I visited Scream to lend Darusha my eBook where I had made annotations on her book. She is a science fiction writer and I’ve just finished reading her three books, the final one that she’s only just finished. She had welcomed my feedback on typos so my visit was to share these with her. I really enjoyed reading her books – particularly as it’s the first time I’ve read an author I knew personally. If you’re interested in them her books are published under the name ‘M Darusha Wehm’.
With light winds forecast overnight we (I) decided to leave before dusk. Good job we did as the anchor chain had fouled on some coral heads at 60ft. We only got out by sending Ben down with scuba gear on to untangle the chain from three coral heads. With that behind us we were still able to make it out of the bay and through the pass before it got dark.
And then the fun began. As soon as our radar was able to peer beyond the bay we’d been in we saw rain clouds all around us but mainly off to our starboard and slightly ahead. The winds were still very light so we motored to give us time to assess. We learned that although the wind was blowing from our port, the weather systems were moving from right to left. We dodged the first path of rain welcoming the increased wind on it’s far side. We raised the sails and killed the motor and sailed through the night. On my 8-11pm shift I ran into another rainstorm 6-8 miles across which I could not avoid. I reefed the main and plunged into it. This was to be the worst rain I’ve ever sailed through. While I stayed moderately dry in the cockpit I was still getting wet from the rain curling in over the bimini so I spent the latter half of my shift inside the cabin going outside to check the radar every 10 minutes.
The rains subsided before I handed over to Helen but both she and Ben experienced similar weather during their shifts. A very wet night. I began my 5am shift by noticing that Sea Mist were on our tail making a lot of speed. I contacted them on the VHF to learn they were motor-sailing with the same destination as us in mind. We had a brief chat and continued on our way.
Helen woke early and I asked her to cover me as I was tired having had very little sleep during my time off. I managed a short nap before the winds fell and Helen woke me to start motoring. The rest was uneventful. We’ve anchored in a beautiful spot of of Ha’ano. The water is beautifully clear with some interesting reefs nearby. After we’ve rested we’ve plenty to do.
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