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86 Knots in the Tasman SeaRED crossed the Tasman from Eden, Australia to Nelson, New Zealand in February, 2004. Now, this is the summertime, and you wouldn't expect any really significant weather. Beth was in the States with her dying father so our friend Peter Cook, a professional skipper and experienced sailor from Hobart joined me as crew. Friday, February 13th, we were overtaken by a low pressure system of about 1008 millibars and found ourselves sailing into about 20 knots from the NE (we were heading roughly east, so we were beating again). We shortened sail to a double-reefed main and the staysail and pressed on. The forecast called for 30-40 knots, but we weren't concerned; we were ready for it. I went to bed about 1830 and fell asleep almost immediately. About 1900 I awoke because we were heeling hard to port and I realized we'd gybed. RED is so quiet down below, I couldn't hear the wind and was unaware of what else was happening... When we didn't gybe back after half a minute or so, I got up to see what was going on. "Hey, Pete, what's up?" "You'd better come up" he replied, " I've got a bit on right now."Now, THERE'S a masterpiece of understatement!. I got dressed, put on my foul weather gear and safety harness and was up on deck in about a minute. It was blowing much harder than I'd ever seen. There was so much spray in the air, it looked like a blizzard.Pete had gybed back by then and was running downwind at probably 10-12 knots or more (we were too busy to look). I clipped on and went forward to start getting the staysail down and Pete came up to help a few minutes later when a gust caused us to round up and we were more-or-less hove-to. It took perhaps 45 minutes to get the sails down; usually be a 5 or 10 minute job. Once the sails were down, we turned downwind to reduce the apparent wind and Pete had the great presence of mind to grab the video camera and record some footage. I asked Pete what the wind was and he replied, "86 knots!"Watch the outboard propeller. The wind was blowing so hard the propeller was spinning furiously! Video of 86 knots (4.8 megabytes) After an hour or so, the wind dropped to about 50 knots; that seemed like a gentle breeze after 80 knots. We went down below to rest and Pete shot a little footage while I discussed the episode. RED's strong steel hull and the foam insulation really cut the noise. Notice how quiet it is. You'd never guess it was blowing 50 outside, would you? Video of interview (aftermath) (3.7 megabytes) Pete figured that we heeled about 70 degrees when the first gust hit us and caused an accidental gybe. Most boats would have been knocked down in this kind of violent gybe, and a dismasting would be a distinct possibility for many boats. Our preventer system kept the boom where it belonged and we were never out of control in spite of the sudden weather change. DamageWe suffered about $15 of damage; the top batten in the main was broken. That's all.
April, 2001: Rikitea, Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. This is the cathedral built by the Mangarevans under the influence of Pierre Laval, a Jesuit priest who converted the group to Catholicism. The cathedral is the largest in French Polynesia (including Tahiti). Depending on who you believe, Laval was either a saint or a tyrant who decimated the population of the Gambiers by forcing the people to work on projects like this instead of obtaining food. There are large churches on all of the major islands in the Gambiers, as well as a very large (abandoned) convent compound on Mangareva. It's remarkable, really. |
