We had an eventful start. at the recommendation of a rigger, we added a soft shackle to the bottom of our gennaker to save metal on metal wear on falcon spirits bow sprit.
1 hour prior to the start, our water stopped working completely. as the crew circled inside of the breakwater, i checked for clogs, checked the motor and discovered that our water filter housing had cracked somehow after closing off our bow tanks to isolate 2 of our four tanks to protect from contamination. working theory is some kind of vacuum or over pressure.
New filter on and tanks opened, everything started working again 20 minutes prior to the start. Main up, gennaker up and ready to deploy, as we did, the soft shackle spun until breaking sending the sail 75 feet in the air.
The crew jumped into gear and got the swinging sail below as I deployed the jib at the start.
We got into the groove and settled reaching around Gran Canaria, getting ready for a spicy night.
We opted to stay north as much of the fleet cut south. Overnight we saw sustained winds in the low 30s with gusts reaching 38.
Falcon Spirit likes wind and we were making great speed with a double reefed main and double reefed jib. I would have liked to use the staysail but it’s a hank on and going up on deck wasn’t worth it in those conditions unless necessary.
Day 2 was a welcomed change with winds dropping into the mid 20s as we cruised nicely in the dissipating seas.
Part of the crew cooked all week prior to the start so all of our meals would be prepared and frozen on board which makes rough conditions far easier. We learned this leaving Holland in late fall.
on Day 2 as we ran our new generator, we smelled smoke coming from the lazeret. It turns out we have some kind of exhaust leak so we are charging with our primary engine for now until i am able to diagnose and repair the issue.
Day 3, saw dolphins, some evening squalls and most importantly the crew has really gotten into their groove.
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