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White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

In a Squall

In a Squall.

"By this time the Oban Bay had sensed that the squall was going to be heavier than he thought at first, as we saw the royal yards coming down. We had just got our top-gallant sails clewed up and outer jib down when there was a terrific flash of lightning, with a crash of thunder, and then the heavens opened. Something's got to go—crack! the main topmast staysail had split, and was flapping away to leeward. Then the main lower topsail went. How the Oban Bay was faring we had no chance of knowing, as she was completely blotted out in the first of the rain, and we were too busy with our own concerns to worry about her. At last the squall passed over us, the lightning dying away down to leeward and the wind dropping almost as suddenly as it had sprung up. What sea had begun to make soon went down again, and as the wind eased our taut little barque gradually came to an even keel, gently rolling to the swell the squall had left behind it. The Oban Bay had disappeared. Capt. Gourlay had probably put his helm up and run off before it. (This we discovered later was what had happened.)