UPDATE #2 Nov. 15th – Preparing for the next big storm

Donald is currently in 27th position and it sounds like the weather drama will continue:

“….been a busy day with little to no wind and could be why other boat got through.  But as predicted, it is picking up again and big blow expected tonight.  Possibly my biggest, but I’m very well prepared and already have my storm jib up.  And I’m hoping this will be my last big one.  What an adventure!  Prediction is that (the storm) will be dropping by 9:30 tomorrow a.m. GMT.  Weather has actually been quite nice today with sun shining.  Things should get easier and faster in a few days.  Part of yesterday and today a bit like that.  When things calm down a bit, I’m going to get writing.  The calorie intake has been a challenge, but easier weather should change that.  I have a Thai Curry with extra coconut milk busy brewing… “

We’ll see what tomorrow holds with the pending storm.  Never a dull moment!

 

 

UPDATE #1 Nov 15th: Holding his own without his wind autopilot…

Donald is managing to hold his own despite the highly unusual situation of having both the main AND the backup masterhead units “MHU” of his autopilot being blown off in an overnight storm.  (See my post UPDATE: “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.”) I’m still learning the mechanics of these boats, but the MHU is the part of the autopilot at the top of the mast that detects the wind and can steer the boat according to wind direction.  I liken it to an automated version of having another experienced sailor taking the helm and it’s a huge part of what makes solo sailing feasible in the modern world.  He still has the compass autopilot, but it puts him at a serious disadvantage in a race, similar to an automated version of a true novice taking the helm, so he’ll need to manually steer as much as he can.    We’ll see how long he can manage, but so far, he remains in 26th place (in a fleet of 53 at the start and a boat delamination that caused a pitstop in La Coruna, Spain for repairs.  (See UPDATE: Power Of One taking a beating! ) Always exciting! Here’s his most recent update:

“….had a good night’s sleep off and on.  Probably 9 hours together.  So needed it, was exhausted.  Glad holding my position.  think winds were very much in my favor last night, which should have helped.  Still had to get up quite often to re-trim the sails.  Hope I didn’t lose too much from being out of trim.  

Making some progress at last without being pummeled, which is nice!”

For those new to the blog, this has been one of the most turbulent weather patterns in the history of the Route Du Rhum (seems like a familiar theme with Mother Nature in the 21st Century).  The first week crossing the Bay of Biscay and Cape Finistere (France and Spain) have been a series of upwind, back to back storms with gusts of up to 55 knots.  It’s a turbulent time of the year in the best of conditions and is part of the race’s popularity.  Until today, Donald has been beating pretty much nonstop upwind for the entire 10 days. Many of the boats sustained substantial damage, including several that lost their mast or capsized, so, it’s been exciting to watch.

For those interested in a description of what these sailors are going through, I thought you’d enjoy a recent post from one of the American skippers in the Class 40 division:

“A tough race with brutal weather” – John Niewenhous

American skipper, John Niewenhous gives us an update from on board his Class 40, Loose Fish

“As you know this has been a tough race with brutal weather. I have waited until today to breakout my my new keyboard as the old one flew across the cabin so many times that several of the middle keys didn’t work, not to mention that the motion was way to violent to even consider typing.

The weather and sea state were like none that I have ever experienced before. As the bad weather hit the beginning of last week I reduced sail area again and again and the squalls started to hit. First I lost the vertical mast head wand so I switched to the horizontal. A day or two later in a particularly nasty squall the boat was knocked down with just the storm jib and the deep forth reef in the main and I saw the wind speed indicate 58 knots before the horizontal masthead wands literally left the boat. Both check stays broke at different times. I have been up the mast three times, which I hate to do off shore. The port deck around the pad eye for the the down haul for the jib lead ring cracked and the deck was flexing. I reinforced it from below but am babying it for fear of it breaking further. This has prevented me from pointing on starboard tacks. The violent motion caused the 10 litre reserve fuel container to break free and break the seal. I advised the Director of the Course. The violent motion in addition to tossing a lot of stuff around the boat even though it was in a secure spot has also caused the boat’s fresh water tank to shift it’s position and now leaks from the top fittings. Due to the boat flexing both water ballast tank’s inspection covers are now leaking causing me to spend a fair amount of time sponging up water. The port main vang line broke. The main sail third reef line broke. I am grateful that all of the huge seas and bad weather is behind us. So after getting through all of the past week and problems and finally getting the boat moving in the right direction at speed, a night ago in about 15 knots of wind under clear star light skies, around 3am as I was napping with the motor charging the batteries, a huge squall hit with no warning and probably 40 knots wind. I had full main and the solant out. I was not able to get the solant in and destroyed it. It is now a tater of rags rolled up around the head stay. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in myself and frustrated. I now only have the staysail for a head sail. I hope to pass the Azores tonight and look forward to down wind sailing.”

 

Notes from other competitors – “Life onboard during a storm”

A very well written article on what solo sailing life was like during last night’s storm.  This sport is not for the faint at heart!

Michael Hennessy, of Class 40 “Dragon” takes you through a minute by minute blow of last night’s storm

UPDATE from previous post: And “he’s getting up :)”

Here’s the most recent text from Donald:

“I’m feeling a bit better.  Finally got a weather routing through so I can see what’s coming next and prepare.  I’m also exhausted and must try and get some sleep.  Tonight should be a bit quieter.  I’m still wigged out that both masthead units have been wiped out.  Very unusual for one to go, and I’ve now done three.  And to sail without wind autopilot and no info on direction or speed of wind is very difficult.  And layer that on top of these storms, it becomes that much tougher.  But I think we have one more big one tomorrow and I’ll be prepared for it with storm jib and 3 reefs.  It’ll be for about 16 hours.  This is an adventure, but I’m getting a bit over it.  Each day that goes by, there’s less chance of another low, so I just tick them off.  Oh yes, I checked the repairs thoroughly and despite the hammering last night, they’re in good shape.  I thought I heard the one give in the early hours of this morning, but it’s fine, thank goodness.  I’m going to try getting some sleep now.  Will catch up later.”

UPDATE: “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.”

This posting is from Debra.

Hi All,

I’m finally back in Savannah, had a day to regroup, woke up to Donald’s latest text, and decided this is my day to learn how to post a blog.  Our friend, Bruce, walked me through it and I was just sitting down to ponder the title of this post because it’s a good one.  At this point, we’ve been gone for four months and you can imagine the pile of mail that has stacked up.  While I was thinking of a title, I had to clear the mail off the desk so I could focus…, and I had to laugh.  Right on the very top of the stack was a Restoration Hardware catalog and the page had fallen open to a bedroom set with a nautical theme.  Above the bed was a large poster with these simple words:

poster

Me, being a non-sailor now married to one, I’m always surprised by the number of life metaphors related to sailing, possibly because, more than any other endeavor, it seems to present more than its share of challenges.  Last night was no exception, to say the least. However, Donald is the most resilient person I know, so we’ll see what’s in store for him and how he handles this most unfortunate turn of events.  Read on for his most recent account:

“….I’m a bit beaten up today.  Wind came whistling through last night. Not much different to crossing Bay of Biscay.  I was down below when AP (autopilot) put us into a tack. Suspected it may be the masthead unit (MHU) and it was. Had no idea where wind was coming from. Hove to so I could shut everything down and switch to back up MHU (not as good but does the job). Wind increased some more and despite best efforts to slow her down, she was pounding badly.  Couple hours later, autopilot puts us into another unintended tack. Sorted it all out and it’s same reason. MHU failed. I checked masthead at daybreak and both MHU’s are gone. Simply blown or whipped off (you can imagine the snapping rapid movements at the top of the mast). Now I’m a bit screwed because I have no wind information, strength or direction. And worst of all, I have no autopilot that can steer by the wind. The only sensor is me.  This is hugely frustrating and there is absolutely nothing I can do.  It puts me at a massive competitive disadvantage. I was determined to get into top 20, which was a stretch but now really difficult. It pretty much means I’ve got to be hands on deck 24/7, not to mention hand steering most of the time.  Maybe a bit of sunshine and a tailwind will boost my spirits. The breeze died a couple of hours back and shifted, so I tacked but it’s headed badly again. Picking up again now, so going to check things out. Hopefully lifting on starboard now.”

 

Finally, for those interested, here’s an exceptional article written last night by skipper Michael Hennessy telling you what last night was like in a churning storm. It gives you a clear idea of what these skippers have to deal with and no matter the standing, all of them are brave and skilled beyond words.

What life what like last night as a Class 40 solo sailor during a turbulent storm

 




	


	





	

		
		
UPDATE – Some more background on the repairs
	


	
	
	

		
Hi All,




When Donald was in port in La Coruna, Spain for repairs, I was able to communicate with him and get more information.




 As previously mentioned, this event took place during an unusual weather pattern of turbulent storm after storm that essentially pummeled many of the Class 40 boats, Donald’s included.  Several days ago, Donald noticed a large crack in the support ring in the middle of the boat directly underneath his mast.  After satellite discussions with the boat manufacturer, to proceed without fixing this crack would have put him and the boat at serious risk, so the only logical solution was detour to La Coruna for repairs.  These repairs took place over the weekend, but right before Donald set sail again, another crack was discovered in the bow.  This repair was completed but resulted in a later start on Sunday afternoon.




I received a text from Donald after he set sail again, and he was somewhat discouraged with no wind (which, if you’re an adventure junkie is the ultimate worst!), his AIS (automatic navigation system) wasn’t working and the navigation system froze, so he ended up staying awake with probably toothpicks prodding his eyes open while he manually navigated the Southern European shipping lanes.  If that wasn’t enough, the forecast indicated several more days of pounding upwind.  But, despite it all, he said that last night produced one of the most stunning skies he’d ever seen.  What a metaphor for life…in the rearview mirror, sometimes the most challenging days are often the most beautiful.   To read it in his words and to see the short video of him setting sail from La Coruna, go to the other updates on this blog:













All for now,


Deb

	


	





	

		
		
UPDATE: from aboard – a quick one
	


	
	
	

		
“...just got to get out of this maelstrom 😅.
It’s tough out here. I think it's 8.30ish tomorrow when things may improve. Can’t wait. Haven’t had an easy day yet.
I’ve made good headway to finish today and hopefully, my route will start paying dividends tomorrow.


Above was yesterday. Today at around 12:30pm our time, he finally came out of that gale he had been in for 24hrs or so. Below is his current position and now in light wind and trying to head South to stay in a narrow band of NW wind that is heading down towards Madeira.


On coming out of a, “..screeching South!“, as he put it, his message was, “Wind has dropped to about 10kts and veered from 177 to about 270. Going straight into swell, (that would be the swell coming from the South gale he’s just come out of), so hardly moving. I’m heading 160 now. Is the breeze set to strengthen?”


The breeze is set to strengthen from the NW, so hopefully he can stay in it and ride it South for a day or two.


Donald’s latest messages were, “It’s vicious out West 🙂 I’m plodding south. Maybe catch a nap. Was a long exhausting night.” 


“Sails and course set heading S. Not much more I can do ;)”


It’s TOUGH out there! I feel for him.


Tracker 20181114 1400

	


	





	

		
		
UPDATE: from day 2 back in the race
	


	
	
	

		
So you may be wondering where and why Donald’s been heading to where he has since he rejoined the race after repairs in La Coruna? See his update from aboard below:


Power of One position on Race Tracker
Power Of One day 2 after rejoining race


 Was an inauspicious re-entry into the race yesterday. 
I discovered that the shackle for the mainsail tack had broken, so wasted a lot of time having to lash a replacement so I could get the main up properly. And then the next few hours were really light airs in a massive confused sea. 

 At times we were doing less than 2 knots. And when some breeze did come through my AIS, the device that provides my position, bearing and speed as well as for all other vessels in the area, (so it’s a must have for solo sailing), stopped working. Then Adrena my navigation and routing software froze and wouldn’t re-open.

 In the middle of the Atlantic, I’d be more chilled but this was as I was coming up to the Finisterre shipping Traffic Separation zone (TSS), one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. I tried everything to get them going again but without success. Bruce also tried to help me but drew a blank too. It’s difficult trying to communicate techno stuff via satellite comms. So I spent the night up watching the radar and fortunately no major drama, except fatigue.

 I’ve also figured out how to operate Adrena in a kind of safe mode so can at least do some routing. The wind continues to be on the nose. in fact, it is blowing directly down the Rhum line so it’s more full on beating. At least gusting only 20 and not 46 😊. But my poor girl is still pounding and I wonder how much more punishment she can take, as tough as she is. The forecasts are indicating more headwinds for quite a way to go still.

 At least the sun is out and last night produced one of the most beautiful night skies I’ve ever seen. Given my AIS challenges I’m going to keep a more westerly bias to stay away from the shipping lanes unless the routings are clearly otherwise.

 Today I’ve been trying to get some rest in. Bit frustrating to see I haven’t progressed much further than last Wednesday. The pendulum must swing.

	


	





	

		
		
Meanwhile, at the head of the field…
	


	
	
	

		
…the massive Ultime Class trimarans are rounding the islands, just a few hours from the finish. They’re currently in the lee of the island so tacking upwind at just a few knots. Must be so frustrating being so close and then there’s no wind in the shadow of the islands! Francois Gabart on MACIF is in the lead with Francis Joyon on IDEC SPORT having closed to within 10nm of him.


 
 
 
  
 Francois Gabart on MACIF passes Tete a l’Anglais in the lead 
 
 
  
 
  
 Francois Gabart on MACIF smells victory! 
 
 
  
 Francois Gabart on MACIF passes Tete a l’Anglais in the lead 
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 Francois Gabart on MACIF nearing the finish 
 
 
  
 
  
 Francis Joyon on IDEC SPORT passes Tete a l’Anglais in 2nd 
 
 
  
  

	


	



	
		

	



	

		


		
	




		
		





	

		

	

	

	

		
		

		
		



		
	


	
	
						
		
		
	










		
				
		 


		 	
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