Vendee skipper meets inky beast

Vendee Globe sailor Sam Davies, sailing Roxy, her Open 60, has had an inky encounter with a large squid.

Here is her latest log: ‘It is grey and rainy here. A bit colder too.
It seems that as the temperature drops, the size of squid increases as well as the intensity of its ink, thus increasing the overall mess on the deck!

‘Last night Roxy and I were attacked by just one rather large inky squid, who landed just aft of the cockpit next to the starboard tiller. That means he must have managed to cross the cockpit in mid-air? Lucky I was not out there at the time. I thought getting walloped in the face by a flying fish was bad enough, but I dread to imagine getting “squidded” in the face. It must be a bit like getting pooed on by a seagull in Lorient (yes, I have experienced that delight too).

Last night was the first bit of “rock and roll” sailing of this race. Windy, but not too much which was nice, just to get used to it. I dropped my big gennaker (sensibly) before dark and hooned through the night with the Solent on its jockey pole. 22 knots was the surfing speed. Although Roxy was totally under control (thanks to my super nke auto pilot), but I still found it hard to sleep. This will take some getting used to!

This morning’s wake-up activity was a gybe (1h30 minutes including stacking, pole, etc…), and now the front has gone through, we are wallowing in not enough wind – aaarrggh! Hopefully, it will be back soon enough. Sam x”

Sailing alone around the world