SUNK BY A WHALE
Yachting World|November 2020
A PACIFIC CROSSING BECAME A DRAMATIC MID-OCEAN RESCUE FOR PETER NIELSEN
PETER NIELSEN
SUNK BY A WHALE
It’s noon on Sunday, 23 August, and just another day in the life of our small crew sailing across the Pacific. The Atlantic 46 catamaran One Tree Island is making a steady 6-7 knots, heading south-southwest under a reefed mainsail and genoa, both well eased in the 12-knot south-easterly. It’s less sail than we’d like to carry, but we’ve learned to tailor boat speed to sea state, and the 2m swell is topped by smaller whitecaps that make for an uncomfortably bumpy ride if we push harder. Panama is 2,500 miles astern, we’ve been at sea for 18 days, and even if we keep to this modest speed we’ll be in the Marquesas, 1,500 miles away, in less than ten days.

Shoals of flying fish erupt, startled, from the water around us and scatter among the waves. Willy Stephens, One Tree Island skipper and owner, is asleep in his bunk in the port hull. I’m hoping he wakes up before too long to bake another loaf of his rather good bread. His wife, Anne, is below decks, rummaging for a book. I’m mentally planning next year’s cruise from Florida to the Bahamas and onward, reading a page of Bruce van Sant’s Passages South between each lingering look around the horizon. Not that there is ever anything to see; we haven’t had an AIS target in days, and only a few seabirds enliven our watches. There is only ever the sea, huge and indifferent.

Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av Yachting World.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra November 2020-utgaven av Yachting World.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA YACHTING WORLDSe alt
5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER
Yachting World

5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER

As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC
Yachting World

SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC

Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter - Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region

time-read
6 mins  |
December 2024
NIKKI HENDERSON
Yachting World

NIKKI HENDERSON

SEARCHING FOR MORE SPEED? BEFORE TINKERING WITH TINY ADJUSTMENTS, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS RIGHT THE POWER DRIVING THE BOAT

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
Yachting World

MATTHEW SHEAHAN

WHAT WILL THE BOATS OF THE 38TH AMERICA'S CUP LOOK LIKE? THAT'S THE $20 MILLION QUESTION IF BRITAIN OR NEW ZEALAND DECIDE TO DEPART FROM THE AC75

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race
Yachting World

60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race

The 45th running of the Mediterranean offshore, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, saw a spectacularly random mix of conditions - even for a race which is famed for its variable weather patterns.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
Italy win first Women's Cup
Yachting World

Italy win first Women's Cup

The first ever Women's America's Cup was won by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after a single, twoboat shoot-out final on 12 October.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 2024
'Three-peat' for ETNZ
Yachting World

'Three-peat' for ETNZ

As Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand came into this year's 37th America's Cup as clear favourites. But the Kiwi camp has far more than just the structural advantage of being the ones that wrote the Protocol for the competition, and the originators of the AC75 concept.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024
ROOM WITH A VIEW
Yachting World

ROOM WITH A VIEW

SWEDISH DESIGNER GABRIEL HEYMAN POURED A LIFETIME OF IDEAS INTO THIS PILOT SALOON CRUISER, WHICH INCLUDES ARGUABLY THE LARGEST COCKPIT AVAILABLE AT THIS SIZE

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2024
LIVING HISTORY
Yachting World

LIVING HISTORY

THE ICONIC SEASON-CLOSING REGATTA LES VOILES DE SAINT TROPEZ WAS AN IMMERSIVE HISTORY LESSON FOR CROSBIE LORIMER

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2024
CHANGE OF PLAN
Yachting World

CHANGE OF PLAN

LEAVING AUSTRALIA, MARIANNE URTH NEVER PLANNED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS MAGICAL

time-read
9 mins  |
December 2024