Sailing south in rough seas...

We left Victoria slowly, wishing to conserve fuel, and not wanting to be at the mouth of the Juan de afuca before dawn, as the forecast showed strong winds there, we motored on an oily sea past Race rocks, where the barking of the sea lions in the low moonlight and ominous purple green sky gave us a kind of mournful farewell to Canada. Regis had been up the mast fixing the vhf antenna to the spreader as we left, but as we cleared race rocks in the cold rain and light wind everyone filtered back down below to get some rest. The wind was flukey up the straits, us mainly beating with the engine staying close to the Canadian side, and making wishes for a good passage as we spotted many shooting stars. As Dawn broke we were at the entrance, with Anne Marie's head being lifted for the first time in many years to an ocean swell. Wishing to avoid US waters, we continued west under power. There was an uncomfortable sea as we turned to the south west, the remnants of the strong wind which had been blowing there just a few hours before, and we were all slightly nervous, excited, and in anticipation of what was to come. Was Anne Marie going to be able to cope with this arduous passage? Was the work we had done in the yard sufficient to get her across a notoriously difficult stretch of water past the Oregon coast? Most people we had met in Canada, although impressed with our intentions and work ethic, didn't give us much chance in following through with our claims of being on the way to Panama, quite rightly thinking the passage south being too difficult in November for a craft like ours. The forecast we were leaving on was minimal at best, giving us a 24 hour or so window to make as much ground to the south west as possible, reaching a spot some 150 miles southwest of the entrance of the straits, where a vigorous southerly would engulf us for 24 hours and we would sit hove to, before the wind turned westerly and we could make progress south again, hopefully using the westerly for at least 24 hours before the weather closed in again with another southerly blow. Not a great forecast, but possibly as good as we were going to get at this time of year, and so long as the boat and crew could manage the strong wind, we would be 300 miles to the south in a few days and within a stones throw of the california coast and the zone where we would escape the northern winter and southerly winds, and reach sunnier climes where we could expect northerly wi nds and calmer seas.

I was on watch with Guillaume, Oz with Iain, and Regis with James. It was a hard enough sea to make domestic chores difficult, and the galley quickly started to fall into quite a state. As a southeast wind picked up we made better progress with the jib and staysail up, never pushing her too close to the wind, but motorsailing free, easy, and as fast as the contrary sea and swell would allow us. The wind built steadily through the night until we were down to one reef and the staysail, but by 0500 we were hove to as the beating the boat was taking was not worth the course we were making. The sea was big and Anne Marie was making a lot of water, heaving to made a huge difference and my confidence grew to see the pumping ease. We took a few big ones and the skylights which we had omitted to seal with sika let plenty of water in. Guillaume took three big ones in succession leaving not a stitch of his clothes, skin, or sleeping bag dry. We had already moved the runners around a couple of times and were using minimal tension on everything as the deck was lifting clear of the sheerstrake pretty much all round the boat. This was letting a lot of water in whenever we were heeled. I could have got a pretty good photo of the sunset had I thought to get my camera, straight through the side of the cabin! We started the motor for drying purposes and to raise morale, as the weather was pretty miserable with heavy rain and pretty cold. The next evening gave a bit of work as the main sheet snapped, and dawn broke with the furling line for the jib snapping in a bunch of wind and giving us that to deal with. We dropped it and stowed it, and settled down once again being hove to, taking around 200 pumps per hour. The weather was obviously worsening, and the point to switch to the trysail quickly disappeared, so we were stuck with the double reeled main and staysail as the wind built to force 8, then 9. At the height of the blow everything was distinctly borderline for the rig, due to the various old fixtures and fittings on the spars and deck, but Anne Marie kept her head up beautifully, and after many hours on deck I felt comfortable enough in the easing wind to hand over to Oz and go and get some rest below. The wind shifted into the west as the front passed, and by early morning we were sailing south in rough seas. Unfortunately this course could not be kept for very long....