It was the morning of April 18th. Distant Horizon made less than 100nm noon-to-noon the last two days. I was tired of the light winds and rolling seas.
The winds were finally picking up again. I noticed the change during the night.
The stars quickly disappeared. Then, without warning, there was a torrential downpour. It wasn’t a squall. There was no change in the wind, but it did rain hard enough to flatten the sea state noticeably.
The rain stopped. The stars reappeared as quickly as they had disappeared 40 minutes before. It was a crystal clear starry night afterward.
The Sky started to brighten; the sun started to rise; the stars slowly fade away. That clear sky now appeared to be hazy. At first a layer of high-level clouds. Then, a general overcast. The winds picked up to 18-22 kts. I set a reef in the mainsail.
Later in the afternoon, the winds built to the mid-’20s. As the sun set, I already had a reef in the main. There was no indication of the weather deteriorating any further. I was anxious due to the lack of progress the past couple of days. So, I decided to continue with the single reef in the main.
In hindsight, it was not the right choice, but no foreshadowing here. It all worked out just fine. As the gusts started to build higher through the night, the steady winds remained 24-28kts. I simply furled the jib a little when I felt the boat was overpowered. This is the equivalent of reefing. It slowed the boat a little bit. Since I had the heavy weather staysail up, it did not affect the boat’s performance (balance) otherwise.
Through the night and into the next morning, we were hit with three squalls. The first came in the early morning light. It was huge! Winds were over 40kts, rain poured down. It lasted almost an hour. In squalls, I hand-steer. There is little room for error.
I was exhausted!
A Squall Behind This Wave. It Would Pass In-Front of Distant Horizon
The weather follows the True Wind. So, knowing that, you can ascertain a projected path of a squall, or know where your weather will be coming from.
It’s funny how things happen sometimes. I was trying to take a photo of this squall. I knew it was going to miss Distant Horizon. You can see from the perspective that I am looking up at that wave while trying to capture the squall in the distance. Still, I am above the water in the distance.
About two hours later, the second squall hit. It was more typical… 32kt winds and rain for 30 minutes. A half hour after that the third. It was smaller… 20 minutes of 30-32kt winds and rain. After that, the sky brightened but was still overcast.
The winds were back down to the 18-22kt range. The wind was on the beam (directly from the side). Distant Horizon was sailing well with one reef in the mainsail, the heavy weather staysail, and full jib. I didn’t bother shaking the reef out.
I must have been in a major shipping channel. During the day and that night, I crossed paths with five ships.
Passing Cargo Ship
A Tanker Crossing Astern
I had reached 32 degrees north latitude. So, I was trying to go more east than south. I didn’t want to tack because that would head me more north… towards the storm.
That was a good decision. By lunchtime, the winds were up again. They were only 22-24kts, but building. I had been in 3-4 meter waves for a couple of days. These were big rollers. With all the signs of being close to the storm, I set the second reef in the mainsail. I wasn’t going to wait for things to get worst because that could happen quickly.
Now was the time for another reef!
Good choice too! Before sunset, the winds were just under 30 kts and gusting to the middle 30s.
That second reef didn’t slow Distant Horizon down at all! That’s because we were surfing down the rollers. They were not breaking. So, it was safe to do so. It only meant that I was hand-steering. I was happy to do so. It was an exhilarating change of pace!
I managed to keep the boat surfing all night. By daylight, I could see the rollers had built up quite a bit. I did my best estimation and came up with 4-meter waves with the occasional 5-meter wave. In 3-meter waves, I can see the horizon over the waves when standing. I could only see the horizon when Distant Horizon was on top of a wave. It was time for some rest. The Hydrovane took over the task of steering.
A Ship Just One Mile Away Partially Obscured by the Waves
Due to these conditions at 32 degrees north, and still a long way east to travel, I decided to continue sailing southeast. I was not going northeast.
Two more days of these same conditions, well … almost. The next day was the same winds; almost 30kts. The waves were now closer to 5 meters and started breaking, but only small crests just at the top.
The other change was the dreaded squalls. Each morning, just before daylight, We were hit with one or two squalls.
On the third day when the sun rose without a squall, I could see the waves were back 3-4 meters. Distant Horizon was now at 30 degrees north latitude. It was time to start north. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped in a High-pressure area.
Atlantic Sunrise
I made the turn north and headed toward the Azores.