The one thing about being at sea for several days is that you miss the news. Little did we realise that the appalling weather which hammered us was simply the tail end of storms far more serious elsewhere in the eastern Atlantic. And whilst we'd left Lagos thinking we could make it to Gibraltar without too much bother, the weather had yet another twist in the tail.
Once again we found ourselves in diabolical following seas - in the normal run of things, the kind of conditions we look for. But here, whipped up by 25 knot winds, the waves were short and steep. The result, continuing to drive the boat manually after the autopilot had failed, was that we stuffed the bow of the boat several more times into large waves. The spectacle of watching the huge cascades of spray which normally accompanies such an event was replaced by acute anxiety. With every large wave, the cracks in our shattered windscreens were getting bigger.
Water was jetting in and running over the instrument panel. At one point we had no fewer than four pieces of equipment emitting loud beeping noises to indicate they were malfunctioning. Fortunately I have a handheld GPS receiver which I use to record positions as part of our submission to the Royal Yachting Association to substantiate our records, so we hastily set a course for Cadiz as an emergency bail-out. Luckily for us, as the sun went down, so the wind blew down. We decided to carry on for Gibraltar, taking turns to drive through the night. It was with a good deal of relief that we arrived at Sheppards Marina in Gibraltar, to be met by Wayne Warwick, our local contact.
The initial reaction of everyone that saw the boat in its sorry state, both windscreens shattered and bowed inwards, is that we were lucky to survive such a pasting. Certainly we feel that as 1200 mile passages go, it's the toughest we've ever done. A real baptism of fire for new boy Alan Carter.
Mind you, stories can sometimes become somewhat distorted. Skipper Alan Priddy was surprised and amused to receive a text message saying "just heard you've been struck by lightning. Hope you're all OK!"
With repairs under way, we had time to attend a reception thrown for us in the City Hall by the Mayor of Gibraltar, Judge John Alcantara, who told us that he is in fact visiting Cardiff next week. Alan Priddy presented him with a plaque and letter of greeting from Cardiff, and he reciprocated with a Gibraltar plaque.
Clive Tully
FACTBOX
Cardiff - Gibraltar
Time of leg: 3 days 17 hours 23 minutes
Distance covered: 1,200 nautical miles
Average speed: 13.4 knots
Fuel consumed: 2,244 litres
Average fuel consumption: 1.87 litres / nautical mile
Next stop: Malta
Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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