Well, this blog could almost read pretty much the same as the last one! We lurched from the last windy low pressure system straight into a secondary low that had formed in its wake, as is often the case.

It is also usual that a secondary low is more intense than its parent, and this was no exception.

When it appeared it was forecast to be quite mild, but taking no chances and not really wanting to pound upwind in 40 knots, we dived south to reach around below it, as it was forecast to go north above us - but it had different ideas!

We again finished off running before 40 knots of wind, then 45, and at the finish 50 to 56 knots. The sea state was now really big, with again, torrential rain and lightning. The waves would hiss by and the boat would slide down their faces as the tops occasionally slammed into the side or broke over the boat. Pretty dangerous conditions to be on deck, all in all!

As the wind was building and we were trucking along quite nicely, there was a big bang. I came up on deck to find that the large stainless steel eye that the vang attaches to had ripped itself out of the deck, leaving a hole going into the water ballast tank as big as a £5 note.

You could see that the pad eye had been moving around a small amount for a while, but I didn't expect it to rip out like that. It had an aluminium backing pad, so with the stainless steel pad eye, stainless steel bolts and aluminium plate all swimming in salt water 'electrolyte' in the ballast tank, it had just fizzed away like a giant battery and dissolved the backplate!

Poor boat. We were both really upset that it now had a hole. I am going to have to fill it in later when things calm down, and then open up the ballast tanks and repair all of those pad eyes on both sides properly when I get home before we do any corporate sailing. No rest for the wicked!

At 0730 this morning I woke Sam to gybe the boat and turn to the east for home. It was 11.30 by the time we left the deck, with the boat set up on its new course! We waited and waited for a lull, found the pattern with the waves to wait for a couple of quiet ones, and went for the gybe. You guessed it: of course, the pattern went out of the window and we were hit by 55 knots
again!

I had been downstairs to start the engine and pump ballast up for the new gybe, but had to turn the engine off to get on deck and found that I had to climb up the sink to get out of the boat which was laid flat! All pretty hairy, I can tell you...

Then, when we had gybed and settled down, it took a
couple more big wipeouts to realise that the sea state was not going to allow us to carry as much sail on this gybe as the last one, we were just getting knocked about too much. We reduced sail to four reefs in the main
(very small!) and the staysail, all in 45 to 55 knots, and still managed 18 knots of boat speed, but it was much calmer and nicer downstairs!

After a tidy-up on deck we had to tackle things downstairs, and it was utter carnage.

Where we had been knocked down there was diesel and water in the bilge. Two boxes of food had taken a fall across the cabin and kindly soaked up some of the diesel! The place stank. Sam took all of the contaminated food out of its bags... some of it we were able to wash, but poor old Ainsley Harriott's soup had to go in the bin. I can eat most things, but not soup a la diesel!

Worst of all, Sam's sleeping bag had gone into the bilge
and got soggy. It is drying out now. The wonders of man-made fabrics!

Sam took some video footage of me fiddling about on deck and pretending to know what I was doing for the archive, which we can use later during the Vendee Globe. We'll put it on the website I think - the waves were pretty
impressive!

The low has quietened down now, so we have increased sail again and are trundling on now towards home, with only 1,300 odd miles to go to the Scillies. I had hoped to have had a nap, make some pasta for tea and then put up more sail, but the wind is switching off as we speak, and we will have to attend to boat speed first.

It has been a busy and stressful day, with our boat handling really being put to the test under these conditions. Not what I had envisaged for a nice leisurely downwind delivery trip - which was how I sold it to Sam.....