can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Starblazer 16/01/14 – A close shave and a rude awakening



Don’t worry, the close shave was quite benign. Soon after midnight
Wednesday I felt a splash on my face and heard a slap, most likely I had
company in the cockpit! I searched around but didn’t find the culprit then
I heard a slapping sound from below. A flying fish had landed right beside
the saloon berth where John was sleeping. I removed it and threw it back
from whence it came. It could easily have hit me or, better still (let’s
see if the captain edits this), in the bunk with John.

We made rapid progress all night, passing our waypoint just before 0300, but
we continued on the same track because to alter course meant changing the
sail plan. The midnight UT fleet positions put us 15th in the fleet which
left St Lucia, our best position yet. We just kept charging onwards, in the
wrong direction as usual. We didn’t download the noon UT positions but we
did receive an e-mail from my brother Phil noting that a) we were 19th and
b) much further north than the majority of the fleet, especially those ahead
of us. Time for action. Thanks Phil, we need a gentle kick sometimes just
like a horse. After lunch we planned how to carry out the sail changes.

1: roll away the genoas; 2: stow the poles; 3: reroute the sheets; 4:pull
out a bit of genoa, both sails on the same side; 3: release the lazyjacks on
the leeward (downwind) side of the boom; 4: alter course to bring the wind
on the beam; 5: let the main boom out and pull it out with the preventer; 6:
heave up the sail, disentangling the battens from the shrouds as necessary;
7: alter course towards the waypoint, pull out and set more genoa and set
mainsail.

The order of operations was logical but it took nearly an hour. With the
genoas rolled away we were still making 6 knots in the same direction! The
poles were a bit of a problem. The uphaul on the port side had parted from
the shackle attaching it to the pole during the early morning and had
wrapped itself around the sail. John managed to retrieve it by pulling it
out of the mast, brutal but effective and a job for Shelter Bay Marina. It
wasn’t gear failure or chafe, the knot came undone. This meant the pole
promptly tried to go swimming as soon as the sail was rolled away. That
pole is an old one we were given and the only pole end we could find to fit
the pole and the loop on the mast track doesn’t quite fit the loop. It
needs a big hammer to remove it so we left it attached and lashed it down on
the foredeck. That means the pole permanently attached to the mast can’t
reach the steel loop it clips to when stowed so that’s lashed as well. The
sails pulled out, we altered course slightly, John released the lazyjacks
and the mainsail toppled out of its stack, burying the lazyjacks. Fun. It
took a bit of time to pull all the strings back to the mast, then we altered
course again to enable John to heave up the sail. We were successful. We
were sailing again towards the waypoint. It’s not that we are inept, but…
Normally we would motor directly to windward to pull up the mainsail, even
then the battens try to get tangled with the lazyjacks, however this race,
which is not a race, carries a motoring penalty and anyway I’d hate to have
to motor back into the big swells!

Since mid afternoon we have been making good progress in the right direction
in some of the strongest winds so far. The cross seas are evil.

Yesterday’s noon run was a stunning 205 miles of which 183.3 were through
the water, close to hull speed for 24 hours. The current helped, but it
helps all the boats. Dinner was chili con carne with one meal for 2 to put
in the freezer for the future.

Now for the second part of the title, not a good end to Wednesday. At about
2100 I was asleep, somehow, in a bunk that appeared to have more in common
with a tumble drier than a bed. Suddenly that ‘tumble drier’ became
‘washing machine’ as a deluge of seawater landed on me. John was at the nav
table at the time and said the water had splashed in through the
companionway. Several hours later it happened again, just as I was getting
ready to go back to bed. Someone had opened the saloon hatch to let some
air in a few days ago, it was closed but not locked down. The curtain acted
as a distribution point, sloshing the water straight on to the berths either
side!

More tomorrow.

Joyce



Previous | Next