With lunch complete and the dinghy winched aboard and tied down, we raised sail and departed from Baie de Lampoul beating west against a stiff NW. The Atlantic waves rolling in were enormous, but Sipadan rose above it all, climbing each wave and then whizzing down the other side.
The forecast was for initially NW, then gradually backing and turning W and strengthening after midnight into the next day. We planned for a beat out due west of Ouessant, then a tack and a beat out to the NE, skirting the TSS to the East and relying on the backing wind to bring our course around to the Isles of Scilly.
As usual, the Traffic Separation Scheme north of Ouessant was busy and care was required to keep clear of shipping. The conditions however were perfect and Sipadan was hurtling along at more than 8 knots, now directly on course for the Isles of Scilly. From 10pm until change of watch at 2 am, the wind strength crept up though the sea state remained smooth. At 15kn wind we put in the first reef and when the wind reached 17-20kn, the second reef went in.
I went off to bed at 2 am, craving sleep, but 30 mins later after a near broach and aware of the strengthening wind and building sea state I abandoned sleep and got my waterproofs back on to come back on deck. At this stage the tide had changed giving a. 1-2 kn easterly current and the wind against tide with 2-3m swell was creating a dangerous breaking sea.
We had all hands on deck, harnessed in, with the companionway closed, just in case. Once approaching the Isles of Scilly we could see a line of white foam as the seas broke over the cliffs of St. Mary’s and St. Agnes. We decided against our planned south facing anchorage at St. Agnes and made for Hugh Town, which was familiar, relatively well sheltered and had mooring buoys.
We arrived in a very fast time converting 115nm in 18h and arriving at Hugh Town around noon. After a well earned rest we had a lovely meal at The Atlantic and a pint at The Mermaid and we were ready for the final leg of our trip home.
