Novice here.
Tell me, what does the term "pooped" mean in this nautical context?
Though I've never been in anything like Richard is experiencing, I'm pretty sure that under these conditions he CANNOT afford a beam sea even for an instant. Right??
Pooped means water has come in over the stern of the boat.
He has been changing course to keep the seas to his stern which is why he has moved to the east.
Richard sent me a text at 1416 EST and said the wind is SW at 16K. Waves were 12 feet are now down to 5-8 feet.
That low caught him for sure. This low is going up the west coast of Ireland and turning NNE. There are a couple of lows moving into the same area and it is going to be nasty up there. A 1501 UTC the low was at 52N12W. Currently Richard is at 49N10.8W so he is just south of the low. The low is at 995 MB and in 24 hours it will drop to 984 MB at which point it will be to the NNE of Ireland. A few days ago it was 1005 ish MB so it is getting worse. Hopefully Dauntless has already received been through the worst part of this low.
The winds should be, and seem to be, moving back from the south which is what Richard needs to make Ireland.
Later,
Dan