Safety first and second and third is a good motto afloat. These words of wisdom were emailed to us by a 747 captain who was safely sitting in a pub with a beer. He wishes to remain anonymous, so we will attribute the good sense in here to Patrick, whose ego will now be uncontrollable:
We made Lisbon a week ago having been out in very rough seas and a couple
of days ago thought we had a slight weather window so ventured out. We got as
far as Cascais which is about 14NM west of Lisbon where we would have to turn
right and continue north to the tip of NW Spain. As we bounced west, it didn't
look terrific but we resolved to poke our nose into the Atlantic and assess it
from there. We had a 48hr window to get to La Coruna and hide from the next set
of gales and that was achievable if we could sustain 6kts. After 12 minutes of
timing our progress at 4kts in and knowing that the first 24hrs would be worse
before the second 24hrs got slightly better, it became obvious that discretion
was the better part of valour, so here we are in Cascais!
My crew have returned home; one to UK and one to Barcelona and will come
back for the next weather window, which may be in about 5-6 days. We shall
see!
It is often said that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a calendar and
I can confirm that! With me having five weeks off, my crew being retired (aged
61) and yet to go to college (age 19), it was an easy decision to turn round and
go to the pub! As if I needed vindication, Navtex gives a nav warning of an
11metre sailing vessel with two masts and no-one on board about 60NM west of
here, so I presume the crew have been rescued. It truly is awful out there.
Press-on-itis is alive and well and still dangerous! I envy you with your almost
infinite ability to wait for the right weather.
Seriously though, in addition to what I have already said is that the boat
is in no danger, but we fragile beings are! It becomes impossible to
move/prepare food/ sleep and after a few days lethargy sets in and a fall is
inevitable. Broken wrists are sore, broken ribs are very sore and a fractured
skull can be life threatening. In a previous, previous life, I flew helicopters
in the RN and picking up a casualty from a 12-15m boat in a force 8 is not easy
so dying is very possible. It's supposed to be fun, which is why I am sitting in
the pub with a Guinness keeping me company!
Good advice for other boating people from an experienced wise man (sorry, penguin). Patrick drinking Guinness - now we are in trouble....
