Light Winds and Fog
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sun 8 Jun 2008 17:33
Course: East North East Speed: 2.5 knots
Wind: West, gentle breeze
Weather: Sunny, light fog, cool becoming warmer
An uneventful 24 hours. More fog overnight which made me a little anxious,
sailing along at 5 to 6 knots and not being able to see more than about 200
yards ahead. My best defence is a listening watch, a sailing boat is quiet
and power driven vessels are generally noisy, also they should be sounding
fog horns. So should I for that matter but one person blowing a fog horn
every two minutes for several days is just not possible. Now the sun is up
the fog is burning off and visibility has improved markedly, about two
miles. Unfortunately the wind has eased quite a lot also, which makes for
slatting sails and a lot of wear and tear on the rig. One of the jobs I had
completed over winter was the repair my sail batten pockets, and despite my
work this morning I noticed the lowest batten was already threatening to
poke another hole in my sail. A few hours work with a screwdriver and a
patch of leather and I hope I have gotten on top of this one but
unfortunately when the sails slat in light winds the forces involved are
like hammer blows, each one is significant but generally not a problem,
except they add up - bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, . you get the idea, and
eventually something breaks. If this keeps up it will be down with the
mainsail and up with the drifter again.
Bob Cat:
I was trying to do my job last night keeping skipper Bob company but all
night he's up and down like a yo-yo, which seriously interfered with my
primary work so I had to give up and move back to my own bunk. There is no
pleasing some humans.
All is well. Zzzzzzz.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!
>From
Bob n Bob