Page 19 - Yachter Spring/Summer 2022

just stand up.Andrew stationed himself in the cockpit to keep an anchor watch, and sheltered in the cockpit tent, I was down below for the most part of the early hours of the storm.
Midnight. I sent another message to my family, informing them we were ok, but
it was now getting worse.The noise from
the storm was something we had never
ever experienced; and mind you, I had the aftermath of Hurricane Bob when I sailed in the US back in 1991.The immense pulling of the chain to the buoy made Venthe fight in the wind, but we were very, very glad we had chained ourselves to the buoy. By midnight channel 16 was in constant use.With the incoming Mayday calls, we realised others were not so lucky.
By now, St Mary’s RNLI has requested support from Sennen Cove all-weather lifeboat.The crew battled horrendous conditions described as some of the worst they have ever experienced, taking them just over 3 hours to reach St Mary’s and Tresco. Falmouth coast guard reported a total of 22 incidents throughout the night, and both crews from Sennen Cove and St Mary’s worked together with HM Coastguard helicopter and local teams to respond to
the stream of incidents, battling storm force winds and rain to reach the vessels in need.
The conditions were horrendous.We heard yachts to the right of us were dragging onto the rocks and dragging onto each other. It was carnage.Andrew was thrown across the cockpit, bruising him badly. Although it was right on top of our mast, we could not hear the helicopter,but it did look like something out of Star Wars with all the lights flashing.
Alexander slept, for the most part, typical. Listening to Channel 16, I tried remembering the names of the boats near us to see if anyone was coming towards us. I also was praying that Venthe would not be too badly damaged. At one point, Alexander sat up in his sea bunk during the night, and I asked him if he was scared? No, he said, I know you and daddy can handle this; and promptly went back to sleep. How he did that is beyond me.
As the night became the early hours
of the morning, more and more boats
were struggling.The VHF was alive with desperate calls for help.These are some of the comments I remember.“I had 4 mooring lines attached to the buoy three have parted”, “our anchor is dragging”,“our buoy is dragging”,“we are on the rocks”,“we are crashing into other yachts”, “we have dragged close to the shore and are abandoning our yacht”, “we are taking in water”, “if you
want to be airlifted by helicopter, it has to
be now!” – “yes please”. Listening to the conversations that night made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
The wind had eased somewhat with the dawn, although still very windy and choppy. We could see a lifeboat aiding one yacht that had dragged ashore.We later heard that there was no serious damage to her. Others were not so lucky.
Once the wind had settled further, we could assess our own damage.Apart from the bruised captain, we were glad to see we
had escaped with only a broken wind sensor. Later that day, when the sea had calmed,
we took the dinghy into New Grimsby. Walking there was interesting. Spotting tired, exhausted and in some instances bruised yachtsmen was easy, we all looked like we had gone through Armageddon, whilst the staying holidaymakers on the island had faces of excitement and thrill.
As quickly as Storm Evert came upon us, it quickly left, and we were back in paradise.
Details:
The day before Storm Evert hit Scilly, there had been a complex area of low pressure
to the west and a Met Office forecast of unsettled conditions but nothing exceptional.
The 05.00 Navtex bulletin on Wednesday 28th July predicted a maximum of Force 6. However, at 14.20 BST, it had changed to ‘cyclonic 6 to 8, possibly 9 for a time’.
The 05.00 bulletin on Thursday 29th
July ‘west or south-west 3 to 5 becoming cyclonic 7 to 9, possible 10 later in far west’.
About us and our boat:
Our yacht, Venthe, a beautiful Vindö32, built by traditional craftsmen in 1978 on the Swedish west coast.This Swedish lady has been loved by us since 2016; both Andrew and I have sailed our whole lives in waters such as the Baltic, US East Coast, Caribbean, Mediterranean Australia, New Zealand and of course, the English Channel.Alexander is 11, who first went aboard a boat at 3 weeks old, has enjoyed sailing in the Baltic and the English Channel.
Katarina Lister
CRUISING REPORTS 19