Captain's Log

October 20, 2002

Hello All,

It really is very difficult to be in port when all you have planned and organized towards is that you should be at sea racing to Cape Town; however, after reading the stories of life on Solidaries, an Open 60 with the skipper curled up on the floor in sail locker in a fetal position in 75 kts of wind as this is the safest place to be to avoid injuries from being thrown around the inside of the cabin, I believe being in Bayona is the right choice. Emma Richards has diesel fuel somehow sloshing in her boat and the smell must be nauseating. Graham Dalton on Hexagon has a mild back injury. I hope they continue to remain safe and pass through their weather system as soon as possible.

It is important to note that of the entire Class II and the one Class I entrant that have found safe harbour, we all came up with the decision on our own. This was not a collective " what do you think " process. I was the first, as it happened, to decide to seek shelter, with what became 6 more boats coming to the same decision as the weather picture became clear. Our position in the storm, being slower than the Open 60's, would have meant longer in these strong winds and furious seas as well as potentially dangerous drifting in the event of a broken mast towards the unforgiving shores of Spain and Portugal.

5:00 a.m. wake up call: So this morning at 5:00 a.m. a massive thunder and lightening storm comes through Bayona with 50 kts gusts. I am in a hotel across the street for the Marina, ( $ 25.00 per night and very comfortable ) with a friend and Around Alone aspiring entrant from Portugal, Ricardo Diniz staying on board BTC Velocity. He calls to say than in an approximate 45 kts gust, my boat has blown to one side and hooked it's forestay around the mast of the next door boat, and its caught and tangled.

Not good, Ricardo and Bruce Schwab from Ocean Planet are removing my forestay to unlock the boats, but perhaps I should come over !!! No kidding. When I arrived the boats were untangled and there was no visible damage to either vessel. Upon inspection after climbing the mast this afternoon, it was clear that only paint was scraped and all fittings are solid and no evidence of damage to the Carbon Fiber mast. The safety of being at a marina is quite relative when conditions reach these levels.

Having a good time ?? : It may appear from the photos on the Around Alone website that we are all having a great time in Bayona etc etc. We are spending time together with just the skippers and all enjoying the bonding process that takes place in events like this, along with having dinner at the Spanish dinner hour of 11:00 p.m. and all of this is good, BUT, in each of us is the undercurrent of the decisions made to get away from Mother Nature's fury and the cause and effect that will have later on. We are itching to leave and get on with the race. It is very stressful just sitting here doing small projects on the boats to fill time and trying to get re focused on what will be 40 days at sea watching this monstrous storm slowly moving off towards northern Europe. As well as spending half the day tying and re tying the boats to minimize the damage of being in a Marina in a gale.

I hope to be at sea again soon and getting on with the task of skirting the Canary Islands and finding those powerful trade winds to shoot into the Southern Hemisphere.

Alan in Bayona, Spain