28:07.663N 15:25.497W
Bluetarn
Sat 15 Nov 2008 13:32
We had an interesting journey!
We planned to tryout our twizzle rig but it soon became clear that the wind did not have enough north in it and we were not going to lay Las Palmas. Getting it unrigged at sea was not easy.
Our next drama was the near collapse of our wind generator pole. One of the bolts worked loose and the side supports fell away from the pole. We managed a jury rig with two boathooks and a whisker pole. The generator survived and we can fix it now we are in harbour.
Our final drama occured as we approached Las Palmas. The furling gear jammed after only rolling in about one third of the sail. We resolved the situation by removing thesheets and motoring round in circles until the sail wound itself round the forestay. Now we are back in harbour we are confident that we can fix the problem.
We had expended far too much nervous energy and were pleased to collapse into our bunks.
This morning, Mike signed us in with the ARC office. There are only about 30 boats still to arrive out of 225. Everybody is very friendly and there is a great atmosphere.