The Storm - Marina d`Arechie

We left Amalfi after having a great lunch prepared by Helene. In the morning the sea was still harsh and the wind in the 25kn.
Around 2:30 the wind had abated and the sea was ok. With full mains and 3/4 genua we were sailing towards Salerno at a good pace of 5,5kn.
Autopilot on, Helene went for a nap, I looked out.
Way behind there were some black clouds over Capri.

We were just at the level of  Torre d`Erchie when a terrible gust of wind turned the boat to the wind, at the same time the sea became wild.
I went to manual steering to keep the boat down wind. Wind going stronger and howling in the stays.
I was battling to keep the boat in the right direction and was not able to reduce the genua nor the mainsail. In little pulls I managed to reduce the genua to nearly rolled up, while the leads were battling in the wind making a huge big knot.
Suddenly the two sunpanels were ripped off and flew into my face, hanging limply in the cockpit. I tore them off en threw them inside.
The sea became wild, huge flying waves, battling rain, visibility became zero and the wind was pushing us towards the cliffs of Torre d`Erchie, a battle to steer away.
With my screams Helene woke up, came out and was astounded of the violence. Not much she could do, since the steering needed a lot of force and no mistake. Once in a while the boat flattened on the left side, to point that items in the bathroom ended up in the kitchen sink!
Water kept on pouring into the boat, soaking shoes, clothing and cushions.
The storm continued for another hour. In the mist I could make out some huge transport ships, seemingly all on anchor. On the left doomed a ferry going against the storm and advancing very slowly. The flapping cords of the genua exploded the left canopy window, the cord holding the beam disappeared with the French flag, in 3 places the mainsail started to tear up.
Finally getting closer to the marina d`Arechi the storm calmed and racing towards us came a boat of the Guardia Costiere, they came along side and asked if we needed assistance. I signed that I was going to the port and was ok. I got a big thumbs up from the whole crew.
Finally getting close to the marina I called in on the VHF and got the ok to proceed in the main lane.
They brought us to a visitor place and then we could assess the damage.
Next day we found a sailmaker who repaired the mainsail for just 50€ and the rest we repaired and dried.