Passage to Rio Grande - Day 4
08/11/11 23:51 Filed in: Brazil
Early this morning the wind started to back. It had been forecast to back and increase to force 6-7 but not until tomorrow. I don't like motoring on passage but here I was faced with approaching strong head winds. By motor sailing I could maintain my course and with good speed reach harbour before the worst arrived.
The engine went on.
Motor sailing hard on the wind around 14:00, 2 hours south of Rio Grande. Getting rid of Piriapolis dust.
Approaching Rio Grande channel 40 minutes out. Car carrier "Canadian Highway" proceeding in.
Approaching the breakwaters about 20 minutes out.
Roly poly in the channel.
At this point the wind had eased to 18 knots from 25. We were running at about half revs with one reef in the main and half yankee. 6.6 knots on the meter, depth 16.3 metres.
Almost in. The sea has eased but the swell is still there.
Entering the breakwaters and a lovely calm.
Further in near the container berths I had the sails down but was going very slowly under motor. This was a very strong ebb. I hoisted about 2/3 yankee and gained a couple of knots.
By the time this swinging ship was passed the wind was around 25knots gusting higher.
Then it became a dour slog. The channel curved bringing us head to wind and on a strong ebb. Yuk. Speed dropped to less than one knot. No fun. I tried tacking back and forth across the channel but even with the motor running we trod water. Nothing for it but to take the one knot and edge up channel.
After about two hours we finally turned into the sheltered link channel. Speed picked up and I could prepare lines and fenders.
Last year there was a burnt out Turkish ship here. This one is the new "Petrobras 58" fitting out.
It was getting dark as we passed "Canadian Highway". A pretty ship she is not.
Out of the link channel we turned into the old harbour and rocketed along the channel with the wind, around 20 knots and increasing, astern.
Our previous berth at the Museo was vacant so I was able to point into the wind, ghost alongside and leap ashore with two lines. We were safely all fast at 20:45 but just in time as the wind reached 27 knots gusting higher a wee bit later. I had calculated 2 hours for the harbour passage. It took nearly 5.
With the wind from the NE the old fender pop-out problem I first saw in Holland back in 2006 was again an issue. A strong wind pushes the boat hard onto a berth. With sufficient fetch the water is disturbed causing the boat to move up and down in a short jerky motion. If one is not very careful with fender placement they will pop out leaving the hull to grind against the dock.
I collapsed into my bunk.
The engine went on.
Motor sailing hard on the wind around 14:00, 2 hours south of Rio Grande. Getting rid of Piriapolis dust.
Approaching Rio Grande channel 40 minutes out. Car carrier "Canadian Highway" proceeding in.
Approaching the breakwaters about 20 minutes out.
Roly poly in the channel.
At this point the wind had eased to 18 knots from 25. We were running at about half revs with one reef in the main and half yankee. 6.6 knots on the meter, depth 16.3 metres.
Almost in. The sea has eased but the swell is still there.
Entering the breakwaters and a lovely calm.
Further in near the container berths I had the sails down but was going very slowly under motor. This was a very strong ebb. I hoisted about 2/3 yankee and gained a couple of knots.
By the time this swinging ship was passed the wind was around 25knots gusting higher.
Then it became a dour slog. The channel curved bringing us head to wind and on a strong ebb. Yuk. Speed dropped to less than one knot. No fun. I tried tacking back and forth across the channel but even with the motor running we trod water. Nothing for it but to take the one knot and edge up channel.
After about two hours we finally turned into the sheltered link channel. Speed picked up and I could prepare lines and fenders.
Last year there was a burnt out Turkish ship here. This one is the new "Petrobras 58" fitting out.
It was getting dark as we passed "Canadian Highway". A pretty ship she is not.
Out of the link channel we turned into the old harbour and rocketed along the channel with the wind, around 20 knots and increasing, astern.
Our previous berth at the Museo was vacant so I was able to point into the wind, ghost alongside and leap ashore with two lines. We were safely all fast at 20:45 but just in time as the wind reached 27 knots gusting higher a wee bit later. I had calculated 2 hours for the harbour passage. It took nearly 5.
With the wind from the NE the old fender pop-out problem I first saw in Holland back in 2006 was again an issue. A strong wind pushes the boat hard onto a berth. With sufficient fetch the water is disturbed causing the boat to move up and down in a short jerky motion. If one is not very careful with fender placement they will pop out leaving the hull to grind against the dock.
I collapsed into my bunk.