I kid ye not, gentle readers. I was woken by the sound of somebody murdering 'Let it Be' by the Fab Four in a karaoke bar somewhere across the bay. Lennon would have shot himself if somebody hadn't already done it. Anyway, it was midnight and the boat was rock steady. Action stations!
The illustrated guide to using the ascender shows a relaxed, fit chap halfway up a mast and looking like he is enjoying the experience. I personally am not a lover of heights, strange for a (ex) pilot perhaps and even stranger when you consider in my college days I went rock climbing. I don't remember any bad experiences which put me off heights, perhaps I've blanked them out? I also did a small amount of 'parrot-chuting' and spelunking. Obviously trying to live down the old genetic heritage mentioned in the last post! ANYWAY, this unfit chap, by the light of the silvery moon and to the strains of what sounded like a good impression of a cat being castrated by a blunt knife, inched his way up the rope. The idea of the ascender is the legs do the work, so why are my arms aching this morning and my right hand covered in blisters (NO Andy!!).
So, I had taken a boathook with me to snag the gennaker halyard and managed to do that without dropping it or stabbing myself in the eye with it. The slider moved down the furling foil....about two feet then stopped, dammit. Right, pull the halyard down from the top of the mast to form a loop so I could reach it from the deck. Yes, there was a stopper knot in it so I avoided pulling the bloody thing all the way out. and I had checked that! I've played a similar game before, you see.
Then, and it seemed like a good idea at the time, I thought that if I attached the extended boat hook to the loop in the halyard I could reach it from deck level. In the event I couldn't but more of that in a moment.
The other thing about the chap in the illustrated user's guide. He didn't appear to be suffering from cramp. I did, about fourteen metres above the bloody deck. Tricky when you need to take the weight off the top rope clamp with your feet. I'd better explain that. The seat of the ascender is attached to the line by a spring-loaded locking slider and there are stirrups also attached the same way. You stand in the stirrups, take the weight off the seat clamp and opening it slide it up (or down) the rope). Tricky with cramp. I admired the view, the bay glistening in the moonlight, then remembered that I,if not exactly scared of heights, wasn't a lover of dangling fourteen metres over a hard surface supported by a slightly suspect 12mm rope.
I got back down to deck level at a sedate rate and managed to throw a line through the loop in the halyard. This allowed it, with one tug, to slide all the way down the furling foil.Only one problem, the boat-hook was still attached to the halyard, at the level of the first crosstrees! Sigh. Back up again, this time favouring my left hand (still no Andy).
Success and so back to bed. Fortunately the karaoke bar had shut.
So this morning is the welcoming ceremony which I will attend, then I'll buy some more 15/40, acquire a pump and tend to the transmission this afternoon. No David, haven't had time to look at the alternator yet.
Free meal tonight but right now I have zero enthusiasm for it. One of the rally participants has written of the wonderful night market food stalls here. I do remember arriving at an anchorage with no problems, thus being able to go ashore with a clear conscience. Not recently though.
