Caught in a sudden storm.

36° 49’ 98.00’’ N, 30° 36’ 37.00” E

It starts with lightning, and then another. Then the wind arrives, howling, almost insane, whipping the sea into foam and creating high – disturbingly high – waves.

Then comes the rain, but mostly, we are preoccupied with the storm, tearing at the rigging and abruptly stopping Ronja’s progress as the bow is lifted high into the air and then hammered down into a wave trough, with water pouring over the deck, and the pitometer dropping from 6.5 to 1.2 knots.

It all happens so quickly that we barely have time to close the hatches. Just a moment ago, the wind gauge showed 0.0, and the wind direction indicator was spinning because it couldn’t find a clear wind direction. And now, the wind gauge shows 20, 30, 40, 50 knots, directly at us.

We are in the midst of a thunderstorm.

What do we do? Should we turn back? Seek shelter in a Turkish cove two nautical miles behind us?

We grit our teeth. Tell each other that this must be a passing storm. After all, the weather forecast promised good weather. Isn’t it also getting a bit brighter – just a little bit – far out to the right?

After an hour, it’s over. First, the wind subsides, then the rain stops, and after a few hours, the waves also calm down.

Ronja regains speed through the water. The rest of us relax.