Position Update

Bonaire
Tim Dickinson
Wed 9 Dec 2009 06:47
Position "16:59 0N 38:32.0W" at 0400 UTC 9th December
We flew the spinnaker all day on another day of light breeze (generally 10knots NE), and at dusk agreed to leave the spinnaker hoisted in view of the benign conditions. All was well for a couple of hours but then the spinnaker collapsed and mega wrapped around the inner forestay. We spent the next 90 minutes battling to get it down, with Tim part way up the mast and me on the foredeck. The snuffer was stuck fast so we couldn't even part snuff the spinnaker, but we eventually managed to drop it through our cabin hatch. It isn't obviously torn but we'll have to wait for daylight before we know for sure if it's okay.
We drank tea and ate lots of chocolate to celebrate getting it down in one piece but will both be well down on sleep tomorrow (the boys will be chuffed as they'll probably get to watch some DVD's while we take it in turns to get some sleep)!
Fin and Sam are really happy and having great fun; I caught them in the dark in the cabins earlier with head torches on. When I asked what they were up to they replied "Looking for beetles"....do they know something we don't...?!
On that note I'm off for some sleep though I'll be sure to check for any creepy crawlies in my bed first. Good night!

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