Change of plans...
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Wed 21 Sep 2011 20:22
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Tuesday 20th September 1124UTC 1224
BST
15:54.668S 005:11.662W
Wind: Easterly 17 knots, COG 265 Deg True, SOG 7.2
Knots
Now if you did not e-mail a friend recommending
them to read the blog yesterday I'm sorry but you cannot continue to recieve
this free service - my discomfort for your enjoyment!
Last night was a gruelling night. With my full
mainsail jammed out and the wind forecast to strengthen I had a slight sense of
dread and aprehension as it got dark. There was no way I felt I could have
safely got the sail down alone yesterday. That is taking into account not
only vessel safety but my own physical safety, its really heavy, and also
the safety of the sail.
I just had to gamble that the weather forecast
which was 2- + knots would as usual deliver about 25 knots with another
5 addition knots of gusts. As it had done the night before the wind cycled
up and down. The lowest was about 22 knots and the highest was 33
knots.
Up to 28 knots I carried all sail. You see there is
a balance to be struck between sailing very fast with the canvas pressed, which
lowers the apparent wind on the sails and the rig, or depowering
and sailing slower with higher apparent wind more slamming. However the
difference between the two is that if things do get out of control with all
canvas up it is much harder to recover. At 28 knots I decided to put another
roll in the genoa and put away the jib. I had no choice with the main... Wind
reached 33 knots and reminded me that if I really took a weather beating then
being stuck with the main up would leave me with few options.
As I was having to run deep down, away from the
wind I was pointing half way between St Helena and the course i had been
following so just after midnight I reconsidered my plan and decided to head
towards St Helena and see if I would be able to get help there to take the main
down before anchoring, assistance with the repair to the foil and most
importantly help with getting the main back up if I could fix the foil.
It was and is a bit of a gamble. If I got
there late today and couldn't get help then of course I will not be able to
anchor. The anchorage is known to be a very marginal anchorage. However I
could put in a circle and head off north as I was already planning to do and
will only have lost half a day or so.
However if I get the mainsail down and can't repair
the foil then I am without my mainsail probably till the Canaries. Now that
would be a bitch.
There was very little sleep last night and the
foredeck was a busy place putting in gybe after gybe to work Rhiann Marie what
was now dead downwind to St Helena. It has gone on all day too....
The spinaker was also cleared away as I had it
stowed on deck, ever optimistic that I would get to play with it again, it had
been on "standby". I am finding my back brace a good help. The basic
preparations to lower the mainsail are now being done and calls made to St
Helena radio and port authority. Arrangements have now been made to have a small
boat come alongside me near to the anchorage and put two guys aboard and I and
they will hopefully drop and secure the main. I will worry about repairs
tomorrow. There's still a lot of scope for things to go wrong before anchoring
securely tonight........
e-mail me on rhiann {DOT} marie {CHANGE TO AT} gaelforce {DOT} net
e-mail a friend with the blog link www.blog.mailasail.com/rhiann.marie
or they could google "Rhiann Marie blog" or follow the link on www.gaelforcegroup.com or www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk
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