When we saw that the grib file predicted winds of up to 30 knots for the weekend we already expected quite a breeze, but the squalls that moved every two hours over Pitufa brought gusts of 50 knots. We could clearly see the gusts approaching as high banks of whipped up spray, as soon as they reached the boat she was whirled around and pushed to the side with the wind rattling the superstructures. Once the windmeter went up to 60–the highest we’ve ever seen.
Pitufa endured the gusts steadily, the anchor held, nothing got blown away. At some point the wind generator stopped working though (I know we should have secured the poor guy). Fortunately it turned out to be ok, but a transistor in its controller had got fried.
Tomorrow the weather should return to normal, and we’ll return to our tasks ashore and aboard.
