Getting into the Drake Shake

In the early hours of the morning, the white watch worked hard to set more canvas lower to deck, making use of the 35 knots of wind from the NW. The courses were the last of a midnight flurry of sail handling, after which the crew went aloft to furl the t’gallents. Up high in the rig they moved quickly through the air as Europa rolled from one side to the other. The loose canvas flogging in the strong wind as the crew filled their arms with canvas to lose the wind, wrapping gaskets around the sail and yard to control it until Eric or Dan requested that we set it again. 

Throughout the early hours the morning, the wind would periodically ease to 25 knots, not convincingly long enough for us to set more canvas yet. We were beginning to leave the strong winds, which had formed where the isobars were compressed around Cape Horn, pinched beside the pinned high pressure to the north creating a corridor of sloppy seas ad strong winds at the end of the Beagle Channel. 

Bands of drizzle passed by with little notice as we focused on tensioning some of the halyards using a handy billy to crank the head of the sail taught. As the wind continued to ease, we welcomed more sail handling. The last 6 members standing from blue watch were called to the fore deck to help set the outer jib. With Sarah out on the bow sprit ready to release the last gasket, a team tiered themselves around the halyard, ready to pull in unison. 

Just before handover at 8am, we fitted in the setting of the t’gallents again and braced more square to adjust our sails to the veering wind as we set course for 175°.  

The handover was complete and the offgoing crew scurried away to their bunks. Night one on the Drake Passage was done.