I awoke at 11:40 as I heard an alarm and much noise on deck. Greg was fighting with the spinnaker and we had drifted slightly off course. The winds had picked up, but he had it under control.
At midnight we were all topside and decided to change the rigging. We went with the main and the genoa.
I started my watch and there was close to a full moon. What a difference the moon makes. It is like having soft lighting on the ocean. I settled in. I saw a ship on the bow horizon and it past us about 20 minutes later; well off on the starboard horizon.
It is 19 degrees out, but cool as the wind comes off the water. The wind picks up through my shift from a steady 12-15 up to 18 knots. We are doing 6-7 knots speed.
The moon started to wane and it went a beautiful orange-red as it dipped below the clouds and off to sleep. I woke Yves and went to bed. Before I do, we adjust the sails.
I woke again at just before 9 and Yves was about to go on the ham radio and Greg was topside reading his book. I made coffee for Yves and myself - Greg went for a nap. Yves made us eggs sunny side up with toast for breakfast. I read as he went for a nap.
Around 1 PM I went below for a nap. I must have been dozing when Yves came running down the steps into his room and started hurtling floor boards and other items out of the room into the main area. I was up like a bolt and Greg was yelling at me to check his floor boards. I thought maybe we had taken on water as we hadn't checked the bilges and we were doing good speed the last few days. I saw a bit of water, but nothing serious.
I quickly found out that we had just hit a submerged cargo container. This is serious and the odds are astronomical that we could hit one in this much water. It was about 1-2 feet below the water line and apparently left a cloud of rust brown in the water after we hit.
We examined the hull and there was some damage on the inside hull (port side bow area) around Greg's sleeping area. Luckily, although there was splintered wood on the inside frame, we don't appear to be taking on water. Yves has taken photos so that we can monitor any changes. We pulled the keel up as much as could to check for damage there, and that seems to be okay. Yves and Greg looked over the hull and above the waterline can't see any damage. Yves will try and use the tides when in port to see what it looks like under the waterline. For now, we feel incredibly fortunate to have escaped something that usually sinks boats.
Why can't they make these containers so they sink when they hit the water. This is a scary thing.
We put the spinnaker up and Greg is at the helm steering (too much for autopilot).
Yves takes over steering and Greg makes chicken salad sandwiches on his fresh bread. We have a Heineken to finish it off. The afternoon is quiet for the most part with everyone lost in their own thoughts.
I am awoken from a nap. Greg is telling me to grab my camera and get topside, there are a pod of dolphins of about 50 passing us. I groggily grab my camera and make it up, but the camera shot is lost and I only see a few under the water go by.
Greg makes meat loaf with potatoes and carrots and cream corn for dinner. We have tea and I do the dishes. Greg is off to bed, bagged and has the midnight shift. Yves and I watch the sun go down. There are no clouds and the moon is up and almost full. It is peaceful.
Yves catches an hour nap before his 9 PM watch (he is tired from driving the boat most of the day). I enjoy the peace and serenity before waking him up and going to bed myself.