02:00.36N 80:12.91W Nearing the thin blue line, Neptune’s Parlour

Happy Easter Everyone!

The Equator is only 120 miles ahead of us and one of the presents we will send Neptune is the shackle Rob sawed off the end of the anchor, linking it to the chain so we can re-feed it through the windlass. It has served us well for 5 years, so it is a gift, and cheaper than a bottle of wine!

I suggested that for safety reasons we should send out the chain through the windlass so that we can stop it manually with the handle into the drum to act as a brake if necessary and lock it before we retrieve the chain, so if we slip up and Rob has to let go, only a short length will go back out and Rob’s fingers will not be near it.

We then thought that if we cannot get the windlass working we can run one of the preventer lines forward, connect it to the chain and pull it up on the winch by the cockpit. After all anchors have been retrieved manually for years before the advent of electric windlasses!