Safe

La Coruna as the first destination port after leaving Falmouth proved very elusive as the skipper decided to push ahead another twelve hours to get around Cape Finisterre to arrive in Baiona.  The first mate spotted the vague shadow of land far off on the eastern horizon about 6pm.  About that same time the sea swelled despite a harmless "maritime" 13 knot wind.  Hour by hour the height of the waves increased as well as the wind.  The last recorded gust before all the meters stopped working in the pitch black of night was 53 knots- which is gale force 10.

Ignorance can be bliss, and there were times that night that I wish I had been ignorant to the severity of our situation. Knowing your life depends on the strength of every single line (rope) holding... under more than the maximum stress and load allowance... or if one single thing had gone wrong or broken, we would almost certainly not be here today to write this blog. I can only describe it is that it's like being on a roller coaster for twelve hours that never stops and only increases in speed and severity and you can't get off.

That experience forever burned several impressions into my mind - the power of the sea, the power of prayer, (the first mate said it was the first time he had prayed in forty years) and how preparation, planning and flexibility are absolute requirements to sail, never mind long passages at sea.   I can honestly say the horizon of my life has been truly put into perspective.