Surviving the Squall

This is one of those stories you tell the parents AFTER it’s happened.

This is another story of not giving up.

We set out from Gozo on a beautiful Mediterranean afternoon.  We hoisted all 5 sails then cut the engine.  We were sailing.  It was quite and the winds were great and we were doing well.  We were heeled over quite a bit.  So much that we were almost walking on the walls.  It was a challenge to get out of bed.  One’s center of gravity tends to change quite a bit when one is constantly leaning for a long period of time.

Then things began to change. 

The wind started to pick up and so did the swell.  The boat was rocking.  Quite a bit.  Due to the waves, I started to feel the beginning stages of seasickness.  My spaghetti from the night before wasn’t sitting too well.  So I went outside to sit and have some fresh air.  I sat on the side of the wheelhouse outside so I could have something to lean against as I was tired of using all my ab muscles to stay upright.  The rocking continued and then it started to sprinkle a bit.  Then it started to rain harder.  And harder.  And harder.  The winds picked up with a heavy rainfall - hello squall.  

By definition, a squall is a sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm.  

It sounds less intense then it actually is. 

My roommate raced inside to close our porthole as the winds picked up so much, it was pushing the sails so hard the ship heeled over above the windows.  As she ran inside, we heeled over even more to the point of the deck reaching the water line.  Yes.  The side of the deck started to go under a bit.  It was time to go inside.

I got on my wet weather gear, (thank you 2 pound charity shop find) and went outside to see where I could help.   We had to get some sails down.  The squall was still with us.  After almost half an hour or so of this crazy squall, it died down and then the sun returned along with blue skies and it was gone.

Lunch was had.

My watch began at 4PM and it was looking quite nice.  We raised another sail and things were looking good.  The sun was setting beautifully and I was hopeful the worst was over.  

I was wrong.  

During that squall, there was a lot of damage done to the ship.  One thing that I had to take care of was taking the mizzen sail (the sail at the very back) completely off because the boom, (the long beam at the bottom of the sail) had come off.  How that happened, I will never know.  So as we were taking the sail off, the winds started to pick up again.  The flying jib started flapping which is a sound I’m not such a fan of and a slightly smaller squall came through, this time with no rain.  So that was nice.

Throughout all of this, the swell of the water was so high so we were still rocking quite a bit.  

Then, 1AM hits and then comes a force 10 squall.  That’s not so nice.  It was a mess outside.   We lowered all the sails in a hurry, harnesses and life jackets on everyone on deck, lines flying every where, the boat rocking back and forth, rains pounding down and wind rushing through.  It’s hard to describe in words.  Here’s a picture of the aftermath.  

Not a squall I ever want to experience again.

We got all the sails down and it passed and we were left with just the motor for the next day or so until we could reach a bay to lower the anchor and rest.  Thank the Lord the engine had no trouble whatsoever during this time.  However, the swell was still so big, the ship was rocking back and forth so much, it made walking, and even sitting, quite difficult.

We finally made it to a safe haven, lowered the anchor and we were able to rest.

The next day we got up to fix whatever the storm had broken as best we could.  

We then come to find out that we were unable to hoist the anchor using the hydraulics.  So we were quite literally stuck.  The only other option besides cutting it off and leaving it behind was to lift it by hand.  

Which we did.  

For at least 5 hours. 

It was a lot of work that had to be done only bit by bit.  

Through endurance yet again, we managed to get it up with a great shout of victory and off we went for another 17 hour journey to Piraeus, the port of Athens, which was our original destination.  It was easy peasy and I am so thankful for that. 

No squalls.

We made it.

With a beautiful sunrise to welcome us

What have I learned from this?

Not giving up.  There were countless times of fear and wanting to give up but there was absolutely no way I could give up.  It just wasn’t an option.  We were all pushed to our breaking points but we kept going and made it through.

Overcoming fear.  There is a lot to be fearful about while sailing.

Trusting God.  There were moments when I questioned if He was really there and if He was going to take care of us.  He did.

God is faithful and He is with us always.

Confidence in my sailing abilities.  I always worry that I don’t know what I’m doing half the time when it comes to sailing but I realized that I actually know a fair amount.  

Staying strong through the chaos.  There was a lot of chaos and somehow, I kept going because there were people counting on me.  

The list could go on and as I sit here outside a cafe in Greece writing this, more things keep coming to mind of what I’ve learned and what I will learn through this.  

If we don’t go through the storms, we’ll never grow strong.  At the time, they are pretty awful and scary and it makes you want to craw in a corner and give up, but when you come out of them, there’s a strength that you can carry that wasn’t there before.  

I’d be ok if I never went through another squall again but there’s no guarantee that won’t happen.

I'm happy to be on land again.

I am thankful for my Ladies of the Bridge.