International Rescue
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Wed 8 Dec 2010 18:34
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Well hardly. But today we came within sight of and
overtook another yacht going our way. We noticed that rather strangely it had no
foresail set - odd in these seas going in this direction. After a while the sole
occupant who turned out to rejoice under the name 'Big Dog' came on the VHF
radio in a broad Trinidadian accent. It transpired that he was rushing home for
his son's firstbirthday on the 16th and had been carrying too much sail for
these rather boisterous conditions. As a result he had shredded his foresail and
had had to take it down. Then as he was sorting out the mess he managed to gybe
accidentally and not under control (to gybe is to put the stern of the boat
through the wind, the opposite of tacking). This is a potentially dangerous
manouevre, as indeed it proved on this occasion. The boom shoots across the back
of the boat very fast. If it hits anything (your head, or the rigging) then
serious damage is likely to be done. Big Dog broke his boom, leaving him with an
appalling mess of broken rigging all over the deck. This happened while we were
passing, rather luckily for him. He was able to raise us on the radio (range
only line-of-sight, say 9 miles) and although he didn't require physical help he
asked us to contact his wife to advise her that he was OK, but going to miss his
son's birthday. I sent her an email and am awaiting her reply. We left him busy
fixing up a jury rig (a lash-up from whatever bits he can salvage) to get
him slowly home to Trinidad.
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