Night was approaching…and it was only 4:30 p.m. The wind was 22 knots with gusts up to 26. It had picked up over the past hour. Too much sail was making it difficult top control the boat. We talked about reefing the main so we could sail without putting too much pressure on our struggling autohelm. It had been complaining with loud groans for the past hour, and we felt it was just a matter of time before it packed it in again.
“Every sailor knows that just asking the question, ‘Should we reef?’ must always be answered with ‘Yes, good idea,’ Will pointed this out as a powerful gust of wind had the boat heeled over at an alarming angle.
“Yeh,” I answered. “But it is getting dark and what if the lines get tangled. No way any of us are going to venture onto the deck and out of the safety of the cockpit in these awful conditions. I say we push ahead without reefing. Besides, we’ll be in St. George’s Harbour, Bermuda, in an hour or two.”
Well, it turns out we should have reefed the mainsail. The winds picked up even more as we approached the eastern end Bermuda to enter the harbour. The waves were enormous and sending spray onto us as they crashed into the boat. Will was steering the boat. Jeff was intently studying the map with the complex system of lights and channel markers. We could see the flashing white lights on the reefs. “Stay at least a mile offshore,” instructed Jeff, still intently studying the the chart plotteras he plotted the course.
“Oh oh,” said Jeff solemnly.
“What is it?” I asked trying to keep the panic out of my voice. Nothing ever seemed to faze Jeff. That in itself was enough to send alarm bells running through my mind.
“The chart plotter has us heading for a man-over-board icon 831 miles to the south,” he explained. “The coordinates I put into the chart plotter were rejected. It wants us to head south, which would send us crashing into the reef.”
“That’s crazy!” I shouted above the roar of the wind. “We haven’t been south yet. Besides, we are all accounted for. There is no man-over-board……at least yet.” Will remained fixated on keeping the over powered boat off the reef by cranking the wheel to windward, and using the flashing lights as an indicator where to avoid. The seas were rough and the boat was bouncing back and forth as the wind continued to build. It was pitch black. “Lets take the sails down.,” I shouted. We headed the boat into the wind, and started the engine. The boat bounced up and down like a bucking bronco as we furled the jib. We released the mainsail halyard, but sadly, it only came 1/2 way down.
I tied my tether to the jackstay and crawled along the deck to the mast so I wouldn’t be catapulted into the raging seas. As I climbed up the mast on the steps to pull the mainsail down the rest of the way, the jib sheets which were only partially tightened began to whip across my back trying to flip me into the water. “Could you tighten the jib sheets?” I shouted into my walkie talkie to Will. Within seconds, that problem was solved. The rest of the mainsail came down and I crawled back to the cockpit.
“Whew,” I said to my crew. “You saved me from getting beaten to death from the jib sheets!”
“That might be the least of our problems,” said Jeff. “We have to find the entrance to the harbour in this pitch blackness with the boat getting beaten up by these waves.”
“You know what they say about entering an unknown harbour at night….. don’t do it,” I reminded them
Just follow the map……….……………………………………………………….. We did not see any of these buoys …to confuse us even further
Will and Jeff glanced at each other. “The alternative is to stay out here in this raging ocean all night and that’s not an option.” They said in unison. “We’re heading in. Are you coming?” We all chuckled at that thought……
“Aim for the white light that flashes every six seconds. That light is our friend. It will guide us into the harbour'” said Jeff. I aimed the boat for the flashing light.
“You need to go a little more to the right,” Jeff pointed out.
“I’m heading right for the light that is flashing. It’s to the left,” I countered. “I’m heading for that.” I cranked the wheel to the left.
“More to the right!” said Jeff now panicking as I didn’t seem to understand his staightforward and simple instructions. I continued to steer towards the flashing light.
I noticed a flashing white light on the port side as we motored by. I was confused. I checked the chart plotter. The flashing white light I had chosen to follow was a lighthouse warning mariners of a rocky shoal to avoid! I cranked the wheel to the right. The rest of Jeff’s instructions, I followed without question as he skillfully guided us past the narrow ‘Town Cut’ passage and into St. George’s Harbour. We found a good spot to drop the anchor.
“Ok,” shouted Jeff to Will and me, “Drop the anchor.” I grabbed the anchor control and pushed the contol to drop the anchor. Nothing happened. I pushed again-nothing. I ran to the cockpit and grabbed a winch. I released the clutch and the anchor dropped into the water. the powerful winds kept pushing us towards the shore. I felt the anchor lodge into the muddy bottom. We stopped moving backwards. I glanced around the boat. We were less than 100 feet from the rocky shore……
Breathing sighs of relief all round we went into the main salon of the boat and set the anchor alarm. Jeff had a Heineken, and Will had a shot of 12 year old scotch. We re-hashed the drama of the powerful winds and waves as we approached Bermuda; the lure of the lighthouse beckoning me to crash onto the rocks; and the anchor failure. We were safe now in the shelter of the harbour and happy to be here and not out there. This is what sailing is all about we decided. We all knew there would be problems along the way, but did not know what they would be until they arrived. The excitement comes form knowing we can overcome the problems and solve them as they come up. We all become better sailors and better people.
Oh……. The man over board icon that was screwing up our navigation was solved by updating the software. There was in fact no Man-Over-Board 831 miles away to the south….at least not yet.
Yikes, well done U guys. Fix the windlass?