12th September

Friday 12th September 2008, day 55. 40° 08’.84 N, 008° 51’.59 W. Figueira da Foz.

After fog and wind, today’s challenge is waves. The only thing between us and Newfoundland right now is sea, so whatever weather is going on over there (currently the remains of Hurricane Gustav) ends up with us sooner or later, in the form of swell. We seem to have left behind the short chop of Biscay and the Channel, so the waves, however high, come in at well-spaced intervals. Tomia rides them unconcerned, rising and falling as they pass under her, as buoyant as a plastic duck. But they cause us to roll and pitch, which in turn makes sailing awkward. The wind angle changes as the sea comes in from the starboard quarter, we lift up and heel to port, then the wave passes underneath us, we roll back to starboard, the wind disappearing as we go down into the trough of the sea, the sail collapses, before filling again with a crack as the next wave comes through. All rather tiring, and music to a sail-maker’s ears, so we end up turning on the engine to give us some progress through the sea. If there was any decent wind, this would be different, but there’s not really enough to get us going.

We did manage to sail with the engine off for the last hour approaching the landfall, and then had the harbour entrance to contend with. Waves that are benign out at sea, however high, are a different matter approaching land. They have nowhere to go, and, like any other thing which is trapped with limited options, become frustrated, noisy and destructive. All that energy, which has rolled unhindered over the ocean for thousands of miles, is suddenly corralled by the harbour entrance and the rapidly rising sea bed, creating a rush of water to catch the entering boat and race her forward, just as if we were on a surf board.