The view from the foredeck

This is my recollection of the struggle into the Spitway. After dropping the sails, we tried again under motor alone. It was really hard to make any progress at all. The GPS told us our speed was usually between 0 and 0.3 knots over the ground. After a while we put the staysail up to try to steady the boat. Under full tension it was pushing the nose around too much but with the halyard let off to scandalise it we decided it was worth having. After what seemed like ages we noticed that the jib was coming lose in the forepeak and we had some lines trailing in the water. I clipped on and went forward to fix it. The seas were quite rough by now and I lay on the deck tying the sail down more securely. After about 10 minutes I had things stowed but I was thinking we really weren't going to make it and I was going to suggest to Alison that we give up. I turned to go back to the cockpit and saw the Swin Spitway buoy far behind us! While I was forward Alison had caught site of the Wallace Spitway buoy on the far site of the cut and this had given her the confidence to make progress. Suddenly going forward seemed as easy as going back.