New Zealand - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 330

Drama at Sea
The same could not be said of boats at sea. Unfortunately, the storm tracked farther west
and built larger waves than expected. Consequently, many sailors who thought they would
be in safe territory were now directly in the path of the storm or in the squash zone. Most of
the fleet on passage reported the likes of fifteen foot waves and sustained forty knot winds:
taxing, but not life-threatening. However, the worst of the storm brought thirty foot waves
and fifty knot winds. One yacht, Windigo , a thirty-eight foot Beneteau, issued a mayday,
reporting injuries and water ingress after being rolled. The nearest vessel, the sturdy thirty-
seven foot Tayana, Adventure Bound , endured a punishing overnight beat to windward to
offer support until a diverted freighter could reach the scene and take the crew of Windigo
aboard. In the meantime, an unregistered EPIRB went off roughly one hundred miles south
of Tonga, setting off more alarms. Later, this was discovered to originate from a fishing
boat that had lost power but was able to ride out the storm safely on a drogue.
Thankfully, other yachts at sea did not suffer such dramas despite miserable conditions and
a number of breakages, from torn sails to broken autopilots and dislodged dinghies, not to
mention frayed nerves and general exhaustion. But they were not yet home free. A calm set
in after the storm, preceding yet another low sweeping toward New Zealand from Aus-
tralia. Crews who had already played their fuel joker were forced to sail through the calm
at turtle pace, eventually making landfall under another assault of wind, rain, and heaving
seas. However, most crews were able to view the experience in a positive light, gaining
confidence in their vessels and in their own abilities.