At 0715 local time this morning, with only some 30 miles to go to Halifax and while writing an email to Jurrien, the boat suddenly hit something. I heard a soft bang, followed by the sound of something rubbing along the boat and then the sound of one of the rudders folding backwards. A lobster pot? The boat didn't slow down much (in fact, I was motorsailing as the wind had died after the rain stopped).
I rushed outside to put the rudder back down, so as not to strain the autopilot more then necessary. When I looked aft, I saw a whale, possibly a small humpback (?), wildly splashing with it's fins and tail. It seemed to swim in tight circles. I saw no blood, but I didn't stop and go back to look at the damage. There is not much I could have done for him, anyway. And taking him on tow into port to sell at the market is probably not a very good idea...

Those whales are so slow moving. I've seen many the past few days, and it is little wonder that 18th century people managed to have them almost extinct in just a few decades. Especially as I was motoring, you would expect the animal to hear you coming (at only 4 knots). I can imagine that they can not outrun the racing 60' trimarans that dash the Atlantic at 25 knots or more, but my slow and noisy boat should have been easy!

By the way, the rudders are designed to fold backwards when they hit something. If you have twin rudders, like me, there is usually one rudder well protected deep under the boat. The other, the windward rudder, hangs about and, when heeled well over, only occasionally touches the water with it's tip. Anything afloat that passes along the boat, is likely to rip this rudder straight off the transom. It is a spring-loaded mechanism, and all I need to do to put it back is give the blade a push. It happens once or twice a year to me, and I am glad to have made them so, especially having seen Katie Miller's boat and having heard La Promesse losing one rudder 400 miles off Finisterre.

Bart

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