Stormy Seas

To all whose e-mails I haven't responded to, please forgive me. The urgency to put miles under Whisper's keel has preempted almost everything else. The normal pleasures of cruising have been subsumed as has good seamanship. To whit:

Yesterday Whisper departed Cleveland mid-morning with a 20 kt SW wind. Perfect for getting "down east". The wind stiffened to 25 kt as the morning wore on, and seas were getting up a bit, but all was well aboard ship.

In mid-afternoon a line of thundersqualls blew threw. I shortened sail and we rode it out comfortably.

Later in the afternoon another line of squalls appeared astern. Again I shortened sail and battened down. Suddenly the wind dropped, veered to the west and a train of huge, slab sided waves rolled in from the northwest, confusing the already big SW waves into a froth.

When the wind returned it did so with a vengeance. Whisper, wearing only 30% of her genoa, was stood on her beam ends and stayed down. Waves as big as 12 feet were breaking everywhere.

Then I saw something I had only ever read about. The wind was tearing the tops off these monster waves and hurling them sideways as horizontal water cannons.

Lightning was striking all around and close! Visibility was zero. All I could do was hang on and wait.

Slowly Whisper righted herself. Slowly the storm abated leaving a huge, confused sea in its wake. We arrived in Ashtabula, OH well after dark, shaken but OK.

Early this morning, with a more moderate forecast, Whisper made way. The cruising guide only mentioned one suitable anchorage east of Erie, PA, that being Barcelona, NY.

After a relatively easy sail Whisper had to find her way into a keyhole entrance, with submerged breakwaters on a moonless, dark night. That was a real nail biter. Once inside, the anchorage turned out to be much smaller and shallower than I had expected. Desperately needing sleep, I will take a pillow and blanket on deck tonight in case any trouble occurs.

Early tomorrow Whisper crosses Lake Erie for the second and last time as we make for Port Colborne, Ontario and the Welland Canal.

As for milestones, we have now made good 750 miles on the journey which mean over 1000 miles through the water.

G'night all.

Don