~The storm finds the Misty blue ~<br/><br/>Maddi woke as soon as Kira put her hand on her shoulder, instantly alert and knowing exactly where she was and what was happening. She quietly said thanks and goodnight to Kira and then swung out of her bunk. It took her only a couple of minutes to use the head, slip on her cuts offs, and shirt from the day before and then tug a jumper out of the top her rucksack and make her way up on deck.<br/><br/>She sniffed the air and looked up at the mainsail, which they ran on at night.  Testing the wind and getting a feel of the run of sea.  While the rudder was lashed she took a quick turn around the yacht, checking everything as she went from the navigation lights to the tension of the stays.  The wind was definitely slightly fresher and she checked the barometer just inside the cabin, which had fallen just a little.<br/><br/>An hour into her watch she lashed the tiller again, and took in a reef, as it was still dark and the strengthening wind had picked up their speed.  She would take it out in the morning when daylight would give them more reaction time as usual.  But by morning the reef stayed where it was as the wind had eased on even more, the yacht skimming across the waves in the clearest sunshine, the water almost painful to look at with the dancing glitter from the path of the sun.<br/><br/>When Lizzie came up with a mug of coffee and a pastry Maddi was relieved to let her have the tiller for a while. She stood up and stretched and they chatted quietly about what they had been doing and how they both look forward to the break.<br/><br/>By the time Kira got up they had only a couple of hours lazing and soaking up the freedom before the wind had strengthened and Maddi wasn't too happy about the sky behind them the clouds boiling up and the sea running higher.  She suggested they have a cooked dinner while they could and Lizzie once again took the tiller while Maddi took more reefs in and Kira cooked lunch.<br/><br/>They took turns eating, but were all a bit subdued, they'd found out the radio was kaput so they had no way of getting a weather update or calling local shipping.  The wind was rising steadily and the sky turning a nasty shade of purple grey. What worried Maddi more was the rate of the fall in pressure on the barometer and the look of the sea.  She didn't want to frighten the two other girls too much but she started to take charge, and Kira's face showed she understood why Maddi was stepping in.<br/><br/>Within a couple of hours they had only a tiny reefed sail left, a storm anchor was out and they had to have two on the tiller.  They had no choice but to run before the wind and put all there energies into staying afloat and not breaching.  By the time the rain came, stinging gusting squalls that shut down visability around them to only a few yards - they all had waterproofs on, life jackets and safety lines.  Maddi had got the two girls to fill thermoses so at least they had a couple of hot drinks to look forward to, but even so it was going to be a horrendous night. They were all already hoarse with shouting across the howling wind, but they still stayed working as a team, cracking jokes and not letting any fear take hold in front of each other.  They'd been in tight corners before and they'd stick it out as long as they needed to.