Gale x 2
Day 19
Stats - 9/18/2023
Time: 2300
Trip Miles: 2,170
Weather: Clear, no rain, barometer rising. We are now past two gales.
Wind: 23 Knots blowing from the W
Sea State: 8 to 10 foot rolling swells at 6 second intervals. Lots of post storm cross swells.
How Far North: 240 miles to Kodiak Island
Propulsion: Sailing N at 5.5 to 6 knots
Sea Temperature: 49
Wow….I am sure glad that is over. I am trying to think, what did we expect? Head to Alaska in late September and enjoy the good weather? One gale is par for the course but two? Really? Interestingly the conditions for these gales were not that bad. Waves rarely got over 20 feet and the cross swell was manageable. It tended to rain before the gale, not during. I’ve been in plenty of wind in the 40’s but the 60 knots we experienced was certainly a step up.
What made these gales difficult for me was the violent rocking the boat experienced for the period that we deployed the drogue. 48 hours! I am guessing that a rock cycle is approximately 14 to 16 feet meaning the distance from when the windows on one side of the boat touch the water as we are blown or pushed over until the windows on the other side of the boat touch the water as we rock back and fourth. Constantly. Jorun had advised me to take a helmet (I didn’t) and I sure could have used one. Cans and pans flying about. Cooking was hilarious but we still had appetite and took turns at the stove. I was most scared that I would lose my grip while cooking or cleaning and slam into a wall. The gravitational forces were unbelievably strong.
For some reason, sleep was not a problem. It took me a bit of time to figure it out, but what I needed to do was to completely pad myself in my bunk - I made a big “V” with couch cushions on one side and my lee-cloth on the other. It was a tad claustrophobic but as long as I was not getting thrown about it was actually cozy and fun. When I closed my eyes I was on the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland all night long - or at least for the three to four hours of my off-watch.
It was abundantly clear, however, that during the storms, we were on borrowed time. MŌLI, no matter how tough and strong she is, can only take so many knockdowns, so many poops, so many rocks and so many rolls. Our lines, even though Randall watches and adjusts for chafe, cannot hold up indefinitely. We were taking in water no matter how hard we fought and we ran out of towels and rags. Dorades were flying off their bases. Our brand new canvas and visqueen cover to the doghouse entrance was destroyed - the first poop blew out the zippers and the second one ripped out the stitching.
We lived to tell this tale and we are now on our way to Kodiak Island if the wind will cooperate. With any luck we will arrive within two days.
Randall would occasionally crawl out to adjust the drogue so we would continue to face directly down wind. This would minimize the chases of being pooped or knocked down.
Towards the end of the second gale, I could come up for air with out fear of sneaker wave attack .