Saturday, November 25, 2006

Squalls, Squalls, and More Squalls

We are heading south to Madeira to weather the storms and to swap out our shredded mainsail. The seas today remained turbulent, but Bud (yes, we were so impressed by its performance that we named our drogue) and Bob kept us on course. Although the winds were not as strong as yesterday, we were constantly bombarded by squall after squall. We would unfurl the big jib and then moments later have to take it down when 40+ knot gusts hit. All day long we tended to the sails, constantly trimming and changing them. Finally as the sunset, the seas calmed down and we pulled Bud back on board. The winds continue to shift to our front and fade as the low pressure system falls on the Azores. We are making slow, but steady progress towards Madeira. We'll probably arrive early Monday morning at this pace. We are really looking forward to stepping onto solid land.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shane, "Calm the storm, Lord, and please hurry!" has been my constant prayer lately. It looks like weather conditions are really going to change today(for the better!)and it might be smooth sailing again, for a change, from the marine weather site. We explored the terrain and ports of Madeira with Google Earth last night. It looks like there are a lot of vacation resorts and beaches! Hope you have a little time to enjoy this bit of Paradise after making repairs and before heading out again. You two have really become accomplished sailors through these last days it sounds like. Good job! Love and God's speed, Mom

Sunday, November 26, 2006 8:30:00 AM  

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