All posts in January, 2014

At 2230 last night I had to take in a reef in the main. The wind was up to about a F6 dead astern. By this morning at 0630 it had picked up to a F7. We were running dead downwind too fast and I had to reduce sail. I pulled on oilskins and went out to take in a second reef. I loosed off the halyard and began to pull the sail down. It came down about a foot and then stopped. I pulled harder but it was jammed solid. The sail was still pressed against the mast and it looked like the headboard might be caught at the upper spreaders. This had happened to me once before about a month ago.  I could pull the sail up but not down. I slipped the halyard and pulled on anything I could to get more purchase but it was solid.

When I looked up again the loose halyard had gone behind the two upper mast steps. Now I couldn’t get the sail up or down. I went aft to round Elsi up more into the wind and after a while the sail had flogged enough to clear the halyard and it had slipped down far enough to let me get it all the way down and I was relieved to get a rope round it and get it stowed.

I’d decided to set a headsail by this time anyway. It was too much wind for the jib so I dragged out a staysail and got that hanked on. With Elsi rolling around so much it wasn’t easy to do anything. Even simple things are complicated when the wind is up and nothing is still for a moment. At times like these nothing is ever straightforward.
Sheets will flog around and jam and get caught and need to be freed, the safety line isn’t long enough when you go to free them so you have to go back and unclip and move and re-clip. Sails want to balloon out and lift off. Whether setting or bagging up a sail there is always at least one of the spring loaded hanks that gets caught in the netting for’ard. Patience is a must and there is no point in getting fraught. It’s just how it is.

I reached for the halyard and just as I was about to unclip it we took a big roll to leeward and the strain tightened the shackle.
I braced myself and as we rolled back again the strain eased and I got it loose and got it onto the sail. By the time I’d pulled the sail up the two sheets had flogged so much they were wrapped around each other like twisted barely sugar.

I got aft and sheeted in the sail and shoved the helm across to get us heading downwind again. The weather was still warm and by this time I was parched. I went below and guzzled down about a pint of water. There was a bleeping noise. It was the collision alarm on the AIS. I shut it off but when I got back on deck and looked around I couldn’t see anything.

The log line had gone to the wrong side of the Aries so I had to unhook it and take it round. I pulled it right aboard and when I got the spinner aboard there was a length of green bamboo wrapped round it. I’d thought it was under reading for a few days and this was why. There were goose barnacles on the line as well. Although they are a real menace on the hull I felt sorry for them on here. It’s a pretty poor existence for them being spun round and round unceasingly night and day.

So, that was my morning. The wind has stayed fresh all day. The barometer has gone down slightly but the wind has stayed more or less the same. We get the occasional bigger wave that either surges us forward or slaps into the side of us. We’re still heading dead downwind with only the staysail set. It’s not superfast but it’s safe, we’re on course and we’re making headway.

Alyson sends me in emails everyday (over the radio, I have no internet access) to keep me up dated on what’s happening at home and away.

At 2200 last night I heard the Genoa flogging in the lee of the mainsail. I got up on deck and had a look round. There were two options. I could either pole it out and run goose winged or drop it completely. Dropping it would mean a loss in speed of about a knot but Elsi often runs smoother with only the mainsail up. Poling the sail out puts a lot more strain on it. I dropped the Genoa and as I pulled the halyard to me to unclip it I saw it was badly chaffed where it ran through the mast sheave. It was just as well I hadn’t poled it out.

This morning I slipped out enough length to get the halyard inside the cabin and checked it over. The halyards are all braided rope. The outer sheath was broken and the core was exposed. At home I would have tucked in the core and put a good lashing out over it all. But here, if it were to break in a month’s time it would be a serious problem. I have a bit of spare length on the halyards so I cut off the bad bit and re-tied and lashed the thimble back in place. The halyards were all spliced before but this will be fine. I’ll have to keep a close eye on it in future.

With one spin of our planet the sun has passed from the south to the north of us. At noon yesterday I was pointing my sextant at the southern horizon to find our position and today I’ve had to turn right round and face to the north. We’ve helped a bit by sailing south but it would have passed us in any case. It’s on it’s way north for the Shetland summer! From now until September next year it will rise and pass over us and set always to the north of us. When we will pass it on its way south once more we’ll be in the South Atlantic again heading home.

Our noon position was two miles south of the Tropic of Capricorn and that means we have passed out of the tropics. It should start to get a bit cooler from now on and that will be no bad thing. I like the sun as much as anyone but in moderation. It can be a bit brutal in this part of the world.
Although we’ll leave the tropics today the sun never does. It doesn’t like change and always weaves between the Tropic of Cancer at 23º 27’N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23º 27’S. With the world around us changing as quickly as it does it is one of the few things we can absolutely depend on to be the same this year and the next ad infinitum.

The sailing is good today with a fresh wind and the sun highlighting the blueness of the sea and the whiteness of the many wave crests. We are rolling around a fair bit. Every now and then, while I’m writing this, Elsi will get hit by a lump of water that knocks us sideways and I have to stick my leg out to stop me sliding off the seat but are making good progress and that is the main thing.

Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to send New Years messages, it’s much appreciated.