SailBlog - More Dorade!

Graham
04/12/2008, North Atlantic Ocean

Just finished an excellent Thai dorade fish curry with coconut rice courtesy of Mark T. Today has been somewhat uneventful; overcast, spots of rain, and a crossed sea making for a slightly uncomfortable ride for all. Still, that makes up for last night's excitement....Enthralled with watching the GPS read 10.6 knots over ground, it would have been far more sensible to have reefed in the sails rather than enjoying the high speed downwind experience of 2am this morning. Those below noted a couple of loud bangs, then the boat stopping practically dead in the water. Bongo and I were far more aware of the situation which was not good. The wind had been steadily increasing to 24 knots, and we were skimming along nicely at about 8 knots, enjoying some speed at last. Whilst contemplating reefing in the sails, the wind speed hit 28 knots twice, by which time it was all over! The boom, despite being held to one side of the boat with a gybe preventer, moved across the boat somewhat 'positively', or incredibly fast, in English, and the boat came to an abrupt stop from 10 knots. It seemed a really good idea to reef in at this point which we duly did and continued on our way at a more miserly 6 knots. Still, it was good fun while it lasted, and no damage done...we think...