A Big And Nasty Bowl Of Water
October 10, 2022We didn’t make it to the island.
The weather in the area worsened much quicker than we had anticipated. We had changed the course slightly, taking advantage of the increasing winds. We took aim for the main island of Tonga which turned out to be a good decision. The storm that we were able to weather would have really bashed us at Ata Island. There the 40+ winds are still raging and will be at least until Tuesday. They would have really caught us pants down! As usual, Maze and Ken were the ones that didn’t trust the weather forecasts, and I, clever enough, had been following their advice.
However, Cheyenne was scared to the bone. She didn’t have any experience with these kind of conditions. Although the worst weather we experienced were winds slightly above 30 knots, the swell was high and sometimes unpredictable. So for one day I ordered all souls on deck, and I can understand that these circumstances can alarm someone who never encountered the oceans as something else than a slightly choppier wellness pool. I guess she will find out one day, that the Pacific is nothing else but a pretty big and nasty bowl of water that is waiting for the right moment to kill you off. Especially South of the Equator.
But anyway…