Thanks Mike, Jens and Markus for providing us with additional details for today’s weather ! Your help is really very appreciated.
We asked especially because in our grib files we couldn’t really make sens out of what was coming. And guess what: It was quite different anyway. Here’s what happened:
In the morning I started my watch with an early and XXL-sized breakfast to be fit for a rough day. And right after putting my oatmeal away we make out some really nasty looking clouds in front of us. We reefed the sails and soon later it hit. But instead of 25 knots it came with 40 knots – and lasted the whole f****g day only with some short ‘breaks’ where the wind was only 30-35 knots ! So we were running with both sails in the third reef, on the wind and against some very rough seas. Breakers, spray and white whater everywhere, some waves reaching towards 5, 6 meters. Well to put it short it was not that little front that was announced. But then again I wasn’t too surprised as nearly all our friends ran into some nasty weather on their way to Tonga. And so did we.
But despite some minor leaks and a wet, salty bed in the aft cabin the Suvarov and her crew did quite well. About two hours ago the wind died down and now we’re stuck again in a calm. UAAAH !!
So we wait for the wind to come back and take rest in shifts. As usual, the only ones making the best of it were the kids: Not afraid at all they were using the floor as a slide and were cheering with every wave that heeled us over to the side. What great kids !
So to sum up: The weather is still full of surprises despite infrared sattellites, weather buoys, high performance computing and all those experts sitting in their cozy offices. And we still know how to sail and are all well. And despit me swearing a lot today, I’m sure once we arrive I will look back and say: ‘Oh, it was a great journey, we had !’
LATITUDE: 17°28.12S, LONGITUDE: 170°57.01W, COURSE: 276T, SPEED: 2.6, WIND: SSW2, TO GO: 187nm