What a night. The squalls kept coming. One big one was heading our way and took the winds from 15 to 30kts in minutes and the squall was still 10 miles away. So Andrew went out on deck and lowered the already reefed mainsail. Tony was at the helm keeping Imagine pointed into the wind. Then a big wave and gust of wind and Tony couldn’t see Andrew any more. For Andrew everything had turned white. One of the lazyjacks had broken releasing the mainsail. It poured onto the deck knocking Andrew off his feet and burying him under the sail. Realising Tony could no longer see him, Andrew crawled from under the sail and into the light and gave Tony the thumbs up. By the time Andrew had lashed the sail down the squall was over.
Later on in the night the autopilot stopped working. It was too dark and rough seas to try and fix it before daylight. The wind died so we had to motor some more.
Daylight brought another beautiful day. The sea had calmed the wind was still low and we were heading in the right direction. With everyone being so tired we forgot to change over the fuel tanks, the motor ran out of fuel. Andrew changed over the fuel tanks and sliced his thumb. Tony was quick to step in as medic and clean and bandage the wound.
As the sea had calmed down Sue took the helm and surfed Imagine with the waves while Tony and Andrew repaired the lazyjacks, Andrew climbed the mast and reattached the lazyjack to the spreader. They then hoisted the main.
Back on course the next thing was to strip the autopilot and try to fix it. The gear engage mechanism was badly worn. We got it going again but it only lasted a couple of hours. So now it’s back to the old days and hand steer the rest of the way to NZ. At least we are quarter of the way.
Sorry this blog is late we have just spent an hour and a half trying to outrun three huge squalls. They were definitely after us, complete with light show and sound effects. They all joined forces and followed whichever way we went, so we ended up running back through the middle of the lightest one to get it over with quicker.
Yes we are all safe and getting back on track.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Later on in the night the autopilot stopped working. It was too dark and rough seas to try and fix it before daylight. The wind died so we had to motor some more.
Daylight brought another beautiful day. The sea had calmed the wind was still low and we were heading in the right direction. With everyone being so tired we forgot to change over the fuel tanks, the motor ran out of fuel. Andrew changed over the fuel tanks and sliced his thumb. Tony was quick to step in as medic and clean and bandage the wound.
As the sea had calmed down Sue took the helm and surfed Imagine with the waves while Tony and Andrew repaired the lazyjacks, Andrew climbed the mast and reattached the lazyjack to the spreader. They then hoisted the main.
Back on course the next thing was to strip the autopilot and try to fix it. The gear engage mechanism was badly worn. We got it going again but it only lasted a couple of hours. So now it’s back to the old days and hand steer the rest of the way to NZ. At least we are quarter of the way.
Sorry this blog is late we have just spent an hour and a half trying to outrun three huge squalls. They were definitely after us, complete with light show and sound effects. They all joined forces and followed whichever way we went, so we ended up running back through the middle of the lightest one to get it over with quicker.
Yes we are all safe and getting back on track.
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.
Wow! Lots of challenges this night. Sailing is not for the faint of heart! Thanks for sharing
Thank you for the updates. You are doing a an amazing job on the high seas. Thinking of you and seeing Imagine in NZ waters.
Good on ya as you guys would say..epic adventure it sounds..big ❤️ sent your way