The Squall Off the Point

Ines had watched the sky darken over the point for the last twenty minutes, telling herself it was probably just a passing shower. By the time the wind shifted hard from the north, she knew she had waited too long to decide.

伊内斯看着岬角上空的天色暗了二十分钟，一直告诉自己这多半只是一场过路的阵雨。等到风猛地转向，从北边刮来，她才明白自己拿不定主意，耽误得太久了。

"Reef the main, now!" she called to Rhys, already moving toward the halyard herself. The boat heeled sharply as the first gust hit, spray coming clean over the bow.

“快收主帆，现在就收！”她朝里斯喊道，自己已经朝升帆索走去。第一阵狂风袭来，船身猛地倾斜，浪花径直打过船头。

Rhys scrambled to the mast, fighting the flapping sail as rain began hammering the deck sideways. "How far out are we from the harbor?"

里斯手忙脚乱地冲到桅杆边，和扑打作响的船帆搏斗，这时大雨开始横着砸向甲板。“我们离港口还有多远？”

"Four miles, but we're not running for it in this," Ines said, judging the whitecaps building around them. "If we turned downwind now, we'd be overpowered before we got halfway there."

“四英里，但这种天气我们可不能硬往回冲，”伊内斯一边说，一边判断着周围越涌越高的白浪，“要是现在顺风转向，不到一半路程我们就会被风压得招架不住。”

Once the reef was set, the boat steadied slightly, though it still pitched hard against the swell. Ines held the tiller with both hands, watching the compass rather than the horizon, which had disappeared into gray.

缩帆完成后，船稳了一点，不过在涌浪中仍然颠簸得厉害。伊内斯双手握住舵柄，眼睛盯着罗盘，而不是地平线，因为地平线早已消失在一片灰色里。

"There's a cove just east of the point," she shouted over the wind. "Sheltered, if we can reach it before this gets worse."

“岬角正东边有个小海湾，”她在风声中大喊，“能避风，只要我们赶在风浪更大之前到得了。”

Rhys nodded, bracing himself against the cockpit rail as another wave broke over the side. "You've sailed in here before?"

里斯点点头，又一个浪头拍过船舷，他用身体顶住驾驶舱的栏杆。“你以前在这儿航行过？”

"Once, years ago. I remember the entrance is narrow, but it's deep enough."

“只有一次，好多年前了。我记得入口很窄，但水够深。”

They tacked twice against the wind, the boat groaning with each turn. At last the cliffs of the cove rose ahead of them, cutting the worst of the wind. The water inside calmed almost immediately, the roar behind them fading to something more distant.

他们迎着风转了两次向，船每转一次都吱嘎作响。终于，海湾的悬崖出现在前方，挡住了最猛烈的风。湾内的水面几乎立刻平静下来，身后的轰鸣也渐渐变得遥远。

Ines dropped anchor with hands that were only now beginning to shake. "That was closer than I'd have liked."

伊内斯抛下锚，双手这时才开始发抖。“这比我希望的要险多了。”

"You read that squall better than I would have," Rhys said, wringing out his soaked jacket. "I'd have tried to outrun it."

“你判断这场飑比我强，”里斯一边拧着湿透的外套一边说，“换了我，肯定想冲过去。”

"Running would've been faster, if it had worked," Ines admitted. "It's the 'if' I wasn't willing to bet on."

“要是冲得过去，那确实更快，”伊内斯承认，“我就是不愿意拿那个‘要是’去赌。”

They sat in the sheltered water until the worst of the storm passed overhead, watching the point they'd nearly rounded disappear behind curtains of rain.

他们坐在避风的水湾里，直到风暴最猛烈的时候从头顶过去，看着他们差点绕过的那个岬角消失在层层雨幕后面。