The southerly came through as predicted and settled some
time during the second night. At 8:30 on the 2nd of November we
refueled and motored out in nil wind awaiting the arrival of a predicted strong
northerly to push us all the to Charlestown…
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| Motoring out of Atlantic City in nil wind. |
Five hours into the motoring and the northerly arrived. Up went
the main, out went the screecher and before we knew it we were averaging 15 to
17 knots. It wasn’t long before we were over powered and in came the screecher
and up went the self-tacking jib. We maintained the 15 - 18 knot average. The
land disappeared over the horizon, the sea started to grow and we began to
surf. Once again Will entrusted the helm to me and explained at this stage how
you flip a catamaran and how to avoid doing so… and went inside to read a book!
This little Cat has a great hull which seemed to relish the
conditions. We had to stay just inside the Gulf Stream coming north as a 35
knot wind against a 4 knot tide makes for very uncomfortable sailing. However,
when you get to Cape Hatteras, the US equivalent of the Skeleton Coast, you
need to squeeze yourself between the land and the Gulf Stream and it was right at
this point about 30 minutes to sun down that we heard a loud BANG!
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