Oh, my word!!! Thursday Was just the longest day! At around 3 am The beginning of my second watch of the night when we noticed a flash in the distance. At first, we thought not much of it but as we continued to watch it, it started to get closer and the flashes more regular. We had been in the “rinse cycle” of the dark washing machine that was the now a building sea for about an hour when we decided the storm was getting a little too close. So, in an attempt to slow the boat down and let the storm pass ahead, we put a reef in. This seemed to work however the lightning was still visible several miles away and The wind still strong!

Nobody got much sleep over the next few hours, as we spent the night monitoring the angry red shapes drifting across our radar, and as the day progressed the clouds around us darkened once again and several squalls full of heavy rain Began to build into more storms. During this the winds would Shift and alter direction, the swells between 4-6 m with wind speeds varying from 4-30 knots And by around 4 pm the skies now black And the radar showing the ominous activity surrounding us We turned all our electrics off and Mike steered a 275-degree course for St Lucia.

Torrential rain, persistent lightning and visibility down so low we couldn’t see much beyond the bows except the murky greys of the sky and sea, we waited. This lasted for around 2 hours before the skies started to lighten as dusk fell. The winds and sea state calmed but the lightning continued until about 1-2 am this morning.

As the sun rose behind the last remaining clouds There was a sigh of relief from everyone, the storms had gone and we had sustained no damage!

Rachel.