Sally Andrew
2024
This was the moment we experienced our most hair-raising event, ever. While running dead downwind with winds of Force 10, a tremendously tall sea with a face many times longer than FellowShip came up from behind, lifted us bow down into the trough, pushing us along. My heart stopped. Would we pitchpole, submarine, or swamp from both ends? This rogue wave passed slowly under our keel until we were no longer horizontal but bow to the heavens and staring at the sky. OMG! Time stood still in a stretched-out frightening moment. Then, as if in answer to my prayers, I heard B.B. King singing “The Thrill is Gone”. The liquid mountain of water moved on and we kept rolling on. The thrill was still there. B.B. lied. Hail pounded noisily on the decks, decreasing visibility dramatically and flattening the crisp edges of the waves. The colossal swells were breaking violently along the shore and against the rocks of the narrow harbour entrance. Seals were playing in the rough water and foam rose and fell about them. Seabirds were being driven in from the ocean, seeking shelter from the shower of hail smacking their wings. Then suddenly, like magic, the hail stopped and we slid swiftly and silently into the protection of Lord's River. Anchor down. Huge sighs of relief. In the west, slanting beams of sunlight broke through the lead grey sky. The message: Be grateful. We had gone to New Zealand to avoid the season of dodgy tropical cyclones and instead we had discovered a dot of wilderness that must be one of the windiest places in the South Pacific. But the splendid isolation, the total wildness, and the challenge of sailing to a place far off the beaten track made it one of our best destinations, ever!
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