"No Panic"

I thought he said, "I'm a sailboat; don't panic". What the French-accented voice on the vhf radio said was: "This is the sailboat, "No Panic". Ørnulf took over the conversation , practicing his French. It seems we both are heading to Flores, then Horta. Nice to meet another boat on the high seas.
Then the next callling from "No Panic" comes.

We've just sailed by them, I've taken photos of the little, blue-hulled sloop. There is a man at the mast in all the pictures. On "Babette" we decide to take in a reef as the winds are climbing up the 20's. That's when "No Panic" calls us up again. The problems at their mast are caused by a broken forestay. That means the wire that holds the mast up from the bow doesn't function. Fortunatly for "No Panic" they have an additional smaller stay, a "Baby Stay". That will have to do in this emergency. But this means only a well-reefed main to sail on, and double the time to reach the Azores. We promise to relay their message of the delay when we arrive at Flores. They give us an e-mail address to a friend. We radio them again and ask if they are sure they can sail on to Flores without assistance. Affirmative to that.

And as we go into the night the winds increase. We're seeing 30's now. Waves are growing. Rather, transforming. Once they were pointy, cake-icing decorations on our happy blue sea. Now they're boarders between deep valleys,shaky watery ridges. "Babette" climbs and plunges along, double reefed. The genoa is rulled in. As we continue to roller-coast along, top speed.

A bumpy night. How are the "No Panic" sailors doing?