Day 14

Shalan
Sun 4 Dec 2016 05:24
15:12N 50:16W

Good evening all,

We usually write the blog in the early hours as we like to get a full day/evening update to you, but yesterday we broke from tradition and submitted it early. As you'll recall yesterday was largely quiet and trouble free, however after submitting the blog things changed slightly....

We carried on into the night with main and code 0. Wind was averaging about 15-18 knots ESE and we were moving along nicely at about 10-11 knots. We had a few squally blotches on the radar and went through a couple with no major issues, some light rain and wind up to about 20 knots but all was fine. At around 2:30am we had another squall appear on the radar. The wind started to get up to 21 knots and we were just in the process of considering whether to furl the code 0 or not. Suddenly the wind speed had increased to 30 knots and the boat was starting to broach. We broached, the spinnaker halyard broke and dumped the code 0 in the water whilst we were right in the middle of the squall. Pitch black....sideways monsoon rain....35+ knot winds.....and a sail in the water! Everyone was up on deck and at the bow trying to pull in the code 0 back on deck. We eventually pulled the sail aboard and stowed it for safety in the forepeak.

All lines were confirmed as tied and clear and we engaged the motor to get out the squall. Something didn't sound right with the prop, suspecting a line in the water, before we had chance to look next thing the motor automatically cut out. One of the spinnaker sheets was not tied and secure and was now around the prop....marvellous!!! We pulled out the genoa and sailed out of the squall all absolutely soaked to the bone. On the plus side everyone has had a proper shower and smelling a bit fresher. The highlight of the evening being Eric's overly sensitive lifejacket inflating because he was so wet, he looked like the Michelin man!

So this morning was back to the usual!!! Repairs were taking place above deck. Richie took the honour to go up the mast to re-run the spinnaker halyard through the block. At the same time, further important repairs were going on below. Tom (Private Brownwater) was busy repairing the broken dental floss stitching in the backside of his shorts. Sadly throughout the course of the day, that repair hasn't held and we've all been subjected to the sight of his white buttocks once again.

Soon as the halyard was fixed, we hoisted the code 0 back out the forepeak to inspect it. Luckily it was fine so furled it back up and dropped back on the deck. We put the spinnaker back up and have been going under that all day. We do still have a sheet around the prop but there's nothing we can do about that at the moment apart from sticking a hook on it and try it as a fishing line. The sea state wasn't calm enough to jump in and remove it and nobody wants to get bashed on the head by the prop. So unless we get some flat sea to sort it in the next three days, we'll be crossing the finishing line with our own trailing line....Least we can prove we haven't used the motor the last few days! If we do that we'll drop the anchor in Rodney Bay and sort it there before going into the marina.

It's just gone midnight here now, and not fancying a second night of sails in the water, we've decided to run on the side of caution and just keep with the main and genoa sails for this evening.The mileage to Saint Lucia continues to drop, with 500 miles remaining being targetted for tomorrow if the wind holds!

Fishing Update: We've still got enough tuna to feed the entire ARC armada so dipping 'Seaman Stains' and 'Captain Hook' back in the drink seems a bit unecessary. Kind of regretting catching such a bloody huge tuna now...we're all getting bored of first class tuna fillets!

Pic of the Day: Well clearly showing Shalan's undercarriage as the pic of the day yesterday was a day too early and must have made her blush and object by wrapping the line round the prop. So we've got another pic now of her undercarriage with the addition of a lovely trailing line. We'll also break with tradition of sending just one pic and consume the extra satellite minutes to show you what Private Brownwater is subjecting us to throughout the daylight hours.

'Shalan Out'

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