allround
Heerenxvii
Fri 3 Dec 2010 08:45
15:17n 37:10w
Not sure if I told you this as I feel a bit jet lagged, but we almost ruined the PARASAILOR yesterday. We suddenly had the idea to hoist the main sail while we were aready sailing downwind with the PARASAIOR. This meant it was tricky to get the sail up while the wind was already blowing in it, and it created turbulence. This resultedin the PARASAILOR twisting and turning and eventually getting stuck in the radar dome. With lots of care we managed to get it loose and there will not be more experiements like this till we can see St Lucia :)
We did get the tuna on the hook as I promised yesterday, but once it was close to the boat, it fell off. It would anyway have been a strange catch, as the fist did bite only close to the boat, after we reeled in the line... So, we did not need to use the self made gaf. Getting a fish on the hook usually results in some logistics issues, close to panic & chaos.When the fist dit bite, we started the engine and switched it in reverse, so that we would immediately slow down, and not break the line. Hn went to the foredeckt to get the PARASAILOR down, while H grabbed the camera to record E fighting the fish. A tried to release somne lines for Hn, but 1 line got entangled in itself, and another got 'connected' with a lure, one with 7 hooks. In the meantime E was shouting he was going to throw the fish in the cockpit, while asking who was there with gloves on to try and hold the fish (probably an arms length fish, but then 10 times as think. In the seconds thereafter the fish got away, we got the PARASAILOR down and back upm and switched of the motor. E was then supplied with a glas of whiskey to deal with the loss :)
H swapped a gas bottle while it was raining, as ofcourse boiling water is more important than waiting for the rain to stop. It was anyway a rainy day, squalls as they call 'm, with a steady 26 knots of wind. 'Ofcourse' we were prepared with reefed sails, so we could enjoy a tea and coffee inside, while watching the waves and the drops slamming the boat. An hour later sunshine was our part and things were back to normal, except that the waves were now quite steep and bumpy, limiting our speed, as the boat slows down significantly each time it 'slams' into a wave. Changing course was no option, as we are now fully focused on being in St Lucia sooner than later :) I read we are 7th in our group at the moment, and hopefully we can tick of another place.
The VHF (marifoon) itself turns out not to be broken, it is the wiring between the unit and the outside connection. We took the unit apart and tested some stuff, and now at least the inside unit is consistently working again. Outside we now use the (waterproof) handheld version.
H baked a bread which was very nice as usual, and we are not having to throw any food overboard anymore. This is because we figured out that we have to double check it all stays dry, dark, cool etc.
A changed the water tank and diesel tank. That is, each have two, and we used for each the starboard tank, now we use the port tank for both.