17th September

Seaspray
Wed 17 Sep 2014 12:02
Position: Bayona, Spain. 42 07N, 08 51W. We set off from La Coruna expecting a force 6 from the SW/SE and we found a force 7, gusting force 8 after Cabo Finisterre and we were down to a deep reefed yankee, second reef in the main and a reefed mizzen. Sea Spray was sailing along well doing between 5 and 7 knots but gear failure is plaguing us again. Both halves of the stack pack came undone at different times due to chafe, the first reef pennant came undone (bad knots?), the new tricolour light failed, the rudder angle indicator failed but most significantly, she is leaking like a sieve. All but one of the hatches are leaking and after twenty hours of the decks being awash, half the atlantic was in the boat. So, we are going to dry out and move to a drier location to dismantle the hatches and make them watertight.
Despite the challenging sailing, the crew did well to sail the boat in a force 7 even if on reflection we were slightly over canvassed.