Liam’s Take
Left early. I wanted distance before the wind backed. Forecast showed 15 knots NW with gusts to 20 around the cape. PredictWind said 25. Navtex said 12. I trust none of them. The truth is always somewhere between the numbers and your stomach.
We were motor sailing for the first few hours. Swell from the west but manageable. I’d rigged the second reef just in case. I didn’t mention it to Ryan.
Around 11 we could see the cape — Cabo de São Vicente — rising slow, solid, big sky behind it. Fishing boats off the point, usual zigzag mess. I held us wide on approach. There’s a wind acceleration zone about four miles out. Everyone talks about it, but you never feel it coming. It just arrives.
One gust took us broadside. Boat heeled hard, rig groaned, Ryan nearly lost his footing going for the winch. I told him to sit down. Voice sharper than I meant.
We took it on the nose for a while. Engine laboured. Wind hit 28 apparent. Not a storm, not technically. But it felt like one. Cold air. Spume off the wave tops. Every part of the boat louder than usual.
It passed as fast as it came. Forty minutes of noise. Then just wind. We turned into Sagres after that. I didn’t want to push to Albufeira in that light.
Anchor held on the second drop. Ryan didn’t say much. I checked the rig. No damage.
But something’s shifted.
Ryan’s Take
It wasn’t supposed to be bad. Not by Liam’s standards anyway. We left early and he was calm, which usually means nothing terrifying is coming. I’d made coffee. I think we both drank it too fast.
The sea was low and wide for the first stretch. Big lazy swells that made it feel like the boat was breathing under us. I stood near the companionway and just watched the headland grow. It looked like a jaw. Something old and chewing. I don’t know if I said that out loud.
Liam kept tweaking things — sail shape, course, nothing major. Then the wind changed. Not gradually. Just bang. Like someone flipped a switch. Boat snapped sideways. My knees didn’t catch fast enough. I grabbed the wrong rope and Liam barked something. He was right to. I wasn’t helping.
Everything got loud. Not panic loud. Just loud in that way where you suddenly hear every bolt and hinge and can’t remember if that one noise is normal. I clipped in. First time I’ve done that without being told.
There wasn’t rain. Just cold and noise and this weird foam off the water that hit like dust. It got in my eyes and tasted of nothing. I couldn’t stop thinking about Da’s voice on the phone the night before. Like we’d promised something we didn’t know we were promising.
We turned in early. Sagres. Didn’t say it, just did it. The anchorage was quiet. I wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words that didn’t sound like I was making a fuss.
We ate cold pasta. I dried the chart table with my sleeve. Liam checked the shrouds twice.
I lay down fully clothed and didn’t sleep.
