Day 9 (part 2): Sew, sew, sew your boat
After breakfast LC had a thorough check of her rigging and sails. She
needed some stitching to reattach the footing tape to the genoa, and Dave wanted
to attach a metal band to the foot of the mast to add extra support to the
riveted plate. (Sorry sailors this is a girlie understanding of the
situation), and to readjust tension in all of the stays and check stays.
The sail was first. We put up our cruising chute and then, with
military precision and controlled by Dave, we dropped the genoa and attached it
securely to the guard rails. The sail repair box was sourced and M-C’s
background in recreational upholstery came into its own and the guys had a
sewing lesson. The area of detached tape was approximately 45 – 60 cm
long, but several small areas where the stitching was starting to fail were also
identified. We sat in a line on the foredeck sewing and singing.
Last year in Scotland Cal had taught us the Irish sea song ‘Fiddlers
Green’. If you are not familiar with it its well worth looking it
up. The Dubliners do a great version. As we worked he sang the
verses and we all joined in the chorus. When we sing we have passion in
abundance, which somewhat makes up for the dubious tonal quality. Lets
face it there is no one else out here within ear shot to object so we can let
rip!
The sail finished and reattached and Dave moved onto the mast. He
tapped in some of the rivets that had become a little proud and attached his
metal band. The closest description is that it looks like a gastric band
for boats. He was happy with the added security, but as we are still under half
way we will take extra care and vigilance not to stress the mast and to control
the boom. We think the wind gusting 46 a few night ago and the one
uncontrolled jibe have played their part in them loosening. Life at
sea.
Talking abut life at sea we are still being accompanied by a stream of
birds. Its beautiful to watch then glide just above the surface of the sea
and circle the boat. They appear to rarely fly more than a couple of
meters above the surface and appear to delight in the uplift and winds that the
ocean brings.
Talking about life at sea we are really enjoying the daily jokes that Suez
is sending to us. She is the shore support and wellness consultant behind
yacht Nisida. One that arrived that was pertinent to us was ‘What do you call a
fish with no eye?’ ‘Fsh!’ Our version is ‘What do you call a boat with no
fish’ ‘Depressed and despondent’. Nine days in and still no fish.
Lots of hints that they are out there. We have had several lures bitten in
half or nibbled leaving just the imprint of teeth marks to tease us. We
thought back to our seminar of provisioning and Claire's wise words on fishing
came back to us; ‘You don't need a lure to catch fish you can do just as
well with the finger of a marigold glove’. Inspired by this fresh
potential to catch fish we sacrificed a glove, cut it to form a wonderful lure
with tassels, weighted it with a broken block, launched it and sat back and
waited. It was another stunning failure. Perhaps the fish don't like
pink! Tomorrow is another day and we will try again.
As I type its 2am. We are steadily making progress and hope to be
half way in another day or two at the most. Its all downwind from there!
The mid way bubbles are chilling and the sweepstake books have closed.
Apart from the gentle snoring of the crew and the lapping of the water on the
hull all is calm on La Contenta.