30.22.65S

174.05.71E

Day 3.

We left Opua on Monday in light winds with a huge, confused swell left over from the gales. Our first problem happened just after midnight of the first night. There was a loud bang and the yankee was over the side. At first I thought the forestay had gone but thankfully it was only the halyard. What caused it to chaff through? Maybe it was all the slating and banging in the swell and light wind. It took an hour and a half to heave it on board, tie it down in some kind of fashion.

Why do these things happen in the middle of the night? After breakfast it took a couple of hours to wrestle it into a reasonable size and secure it on the foredeck. Today’s task is to try and rig the spare spinnaker halyard to use for the yankee. Unfortunately the mouse is twisted around something inside the mast. Oh dear, this looks like having to climb the mast.