Aborted Azores trip in Karuna
On the 20th June me and dad left the Exe heading southwest aboard Karuna, his Rival 34, with a vague plan to sail to the Azores. By sunset the tide was turning against us as we approached Start point, and after beating into the southwesterlies all day we pulled in and anchored off Salcombe until 3am when the tide turned. We then continued on to St Maws, where we dropped the anchor and caught up on sleep. The next morning we set off, tacking out into the Channel. By midnight, we had reached the French shipping lanes so changed tack and headed more west. At this point me and dad had been cooped up on his boat together for 3 days and the novelty was begging to fade. On the fourth morning the wind began to pick up and the boat set into a horrible slamming motion, making living much more difficult. Anything from cooking to going for a pee was horrible and we avoided going below unless to sleep. By the next morning the wind had picked up and was accompanied by a relatively short, choppy