Today started extremely badly - and got
worse! Yesterday we sailed the Parasailor (spinnaker) downwind all day and
made very good progress. The thing about the Parasailor is that it is
quite tricky and the helmsman really does need to be able to see it. So,
we made a deciion not to fly it during the hours of darkness and it was duly
taken down at dusk to be replaced with white sails, main and genoa.
Similar winds to yesterday were forecast for today and I got up at first light (
0530 hrs) to assist Blue Watch (Ian and Richie) to reset it in anticipation of
another fine day's sailing. Like many other spinnakers it is encased in a
tube of ligh cloth called a "snuffer". You haul it up the mast inside the
snuffer which is then withdrawn upwards off it by pulling a rope called the
'snuffing line' .
All was going perfectly to plan with half the sail
released from the snuffer when, suddenly, a small tear appeared in the middle of
the sail. Within seconds the small tear became a big tear and then the
whole sail split across. We recovered the shreds that were left in the
hope that some sort of repair may be possible but for this Atlantic crossing
it's "good bye Parasailor". We lost a previous Parasailor under similar
circumstances in the early stages of our East to West crossing in 2013 -
sickening! What happened this time was that one of two small hooks
attached to the bottom end of the snuffer had snagged the sail on the way
up.
And then - we noticed a small tear in the
foot of the main sail, which became noticeably bigger as the day progressed. It
demands urgent attention as we have concern that this could escalate into
another major disaster. However, it has had to wait a while we dealt with even
more demanding matters - toilets. Having had many previous episodes of
malfunctioning of the sanitation system aboard Free Spirit I am very familiar
with its anatomy, physiology and pathologies. Usually the source of trouble is
the macerator pump which chomps up the contents of the holding tank and
discharges the product into the sea. A new macerator pump had been fitted
recently and we had gone to a lot of trouble to protect it. Human waste only is
allowed down the toilets. Paper is collected in small brown paper bags
that are fed to the fishes. Despite these measures there wa a fault with the
new pump but the main cause of breakdown this time was a blockage. The
holding tank vwas overflowing from the air vent together with the horrendous
odour of its fetid contents. It took over 8 hours up to our elbows in sh1t,
and major surgery, to locate and eradicate the problem in the bowels. We do now
have functioning toilets again but the carbon air filter is no longer effect and
there remains and a faint odour of faeces persists.
That done it was getting dark. No time to fix the
torn main sail, which was furled away for the night to protect it and we are now
running down the wind - not altogether inappropriately - on the genoa alone
at a respectable 6 knots. Tomorrow we will get the main down to repair the
damage as best we can.
Log author Peter
Bad day...we don't like that! After the
demise of poor Mr Parasailor, who snuffed it as he flew out of his hat....so
bad...so sad....we really don't like that, Peter spent the whole day in
the bowels of the boat tring to fix the yet again defunct sewage system.
He found the "new" macerator pump broken and fixed it with a part from the old
one which he had wisely kept for spares. I have to say here that I think the
whole boating scene is a multimillion "cottage" industry....everthing is
expensive, special marine, but often not fit for purpose... I could go
on..
Anyway, with help from Ian especially, at the end
of the day, the system had been flushed through, put back together again and was
working. Richard put on the music - 'Always look on
the bright side of life' - which seemed appropriate for those who know the
words - life's a piece of ...you know what comes next!
The treat of the day was showers all round for
everyone. We all sat down together for dinner as the sun was
setting. Avocados with Balsamic Vinaigrette, followed by BBQ (sort of)
Pork chops with courgette couscous, then apple custard crumble.
Log author Carole