Too much of a good thing can cost you!

Well we're now on course for our way point bordering the oilfields off Cabo Frio, en route to Baia dos Ilha Grande. Fred passed avery stern test last night, so declared him fit enough to go south. We had really enjoyed a fabulous days run under the huge Genaker ; smooth, fast, quiet, and
comfortable, doing 6.5knots in 14-16kn0ts of wind. We were both able to sleep a bit during the day, and watched the sun go down on a lovely day. We were loathe to drop the kite, particlarly as the Gribs indicated the same conditions for the next three days! Well, they got it wrong, and so did I! I broke my own cardinal rule about not going into the night with sails that cannot be easily reduced by the person on watch from the cockpit! At 11.30, two little black clouds appeared suddenly, blocking out the moon, and bringing 25+ knots of wind from all directions! The crashing and banging caused Mary rocket out of her bunk to find me hand steering , running
downwind for all I was worth to stop us broaching! We had to work out a way to drop the bag in an orderly fashion, in the dark. Thank goodness the moon re appeared! During the day I had noticed a lot of chafe on the tack sheet, and had rigged a second one, inadvertantly trapping the genoa sheet. It was a good hour and a bit, before I was able to re rig the tack lines, and the
control lines for the sock from the front of the bowsprit, to enable us to deploy the genoa, and drop the bag in its shadow, and pack it safely away. We sat in the cockpit at 1.00am, like two stunned mullets, saying "stupid,stupid, stupid, and never again!" During this episode Fred was needed to be at his best, and he did'nt dissapoint! We went through the rest of the night under headsails alone, but the swell angle towards Salvador became very unpleasant. During my 3-6am watch I said to myself"Why wait", Freds done 2 days 18hrs on sea trials, what will another 6 hours prove? So I dropped down from 280degs to 255 ( course to Cabo Frio), and things
improved.
At first light , we put up the main with 2 reefs, and have remained like that all day. The wind has remained in the S/E 20-23kn range, and we are having a rather bumpy tight reach doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. We had a days run of 140nm, and can now look forward to staying on this course for the next 9/10 days, before turning to Ilha grande. During the next two days we will be crossing a box area 30w to 26w, and 13S to 16S, through which we expect any very fast Cape to Bahia cruiser/racers might cross our paths. While typing this, Mary has just asked me to help her take in a bit more headsail, as the winds were picking up again! As at 15.00(UTC-1) we are in pos 11,12S,23,09W. We have also just put up our bimini, as the sun is scorching hot out here, and we know it can withstand the winds !Till later!