Day 15 - wallowing in 12 knots with no headsails
Freespirit
Mon 11 Dec 2006 19:30
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We are getting very frustrated now. The wind
has dropped below 12 knots, we cannot set the spinnaker or genoa and it is
getting really hot....
I have just been up the mast to try to re-connect
the spare genoa halyard block but we do not have the right gear to fix it.
There was a U-bolt holding the external blocks at the mast head which has
sheared or come loose and now hangs twisted from only one of its two nuts.
None of our shackles will go through the holes so we have drawn a blank on that
option. We might try to set the spinnaker on the main halyard and topping
lift wrapped around the mast onto another block but this runs the risk that
we chafe through one or both of the only remaining lines to the top of the mast
and leave ourselves without the main. The more the wind drops the less
risk of this happening so, if nothing changes overnight, we will probably try it
tomorrow. Meanwhile, we are simply losing ground...
Hey ho. This is a long game and we are so
nearly there. 320 nm to go (less than a day and a half at our normal rate,
2.5 days at this pace). We are going to run out of beer.....
 500 nm to go celebrations
 Skipper trying to fix the halyard
problem
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