Misterx
Wed 28 Jun 2023 17:29
We had a bit of drama, a few nights ago, the genoa tore up along the seam,
right in the middle of it. One minute we were looking at a vast expanse of
white cloth, the next an equally vast expanse of starry sky... didn't hear a
sound, not even a whisper of ripping cloth... fortunately the wind was
slight so it was relatively easy to roll back, not neat, but rolled back
safely. The wind just died then, so we were spared the gruelling
task of getting the other genoa out of the back cabin and a night hoist!
Would not have been much fun with the swell we had. In the end, we even had
to drop the main as it was just slating against the rigging, not taking us
anywhere... we bobbed the rest of the night, keeping an eye on the glow of
distant fishing boats, never quite far enough for us to rest easily, as a
few of them do not have AIS. The next morning didn't bring the wind, but the
swell was much less so we could change the genoa to our spare, which is much
bigger and much lighter cloth. After reflection, Ian was keen to get the
wings out, the wind should change soon and the wings will give us much more
stability in the swells. So down went the torn genoa, up went the wings.
Although it took us the best part of the morning as we had to rig a line to
extend the luff of the sail to prevent the halyard getting wrapped on the
roller furler.