Sneaky Squall

Wed May 28 1200 GMT 3914N 3255W Wind SW 8 Cloudy Motor sailing 085T at 7.5kts

Approaching landfall is at once exciting and slightly disappointing. First, we are looking forward to the Portuguese culture in Flores, to a good dinner with local fish, vegetables, wine and cheese; and to the people of these distant islands, who are reputed to be both friendly and civil to us yachties. On the other hand, this passage is over and it has been almost all fun. The good thing about this passage is that we still have the third leg up to Falmouth to anticipate and plan.

This morning just before dawn we were hit with a sneaky squall that looked innocuous enough on the radar screen, until just before it arrived. Then an eight mile deep cloudburst suddenly appeared on the radar behind its puny first line of showers. Bang! We were blasted with a downdraft of 40 knots plus (not sure how high it went as we were too busy handling the boat to look much at the wind instrument)and, although we already had two reefs in the main, we had out all the jib. It was a strong blow for a bit, but we managed to get two reefs in the jib: it was hard work and the boat was on her ear a while, but we came out unscathed. The lesson here is: when it's dark and there is some rain about, you better be ready for a nasty surprise. The skipper was at the helm, and as the crew came tumbling out of bunks and up into the cockpit, no doubt they were a bit apprehensive, but very glad that we were not caught with our pants down (sails up!) while on their watch!

This rain lasted about an hour and a half, and after the first blast, the winds in it were down to 15kts. Then, as usual,as the skies cleared we lost our wind. So now we are motor sailing along about 80nm from Lajes, and we expect to arrive at the anchorage there just before nightfall.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave