The Countdown
Escapada
Andreas Haas
Tue 8 Dec 2009 21:27
14.22.39N 057.25.625W
With only 200 miles left to go to St. Lucia, the countdown
is on! Based on our current average speed of 6 knots, we expect to
arrive in Rodney Bay on Thursday,
10 December in the early hours of the morning.
As we continue our push through the Atlantic, today
saw numerous interesting and challenging situations. In an attempt to
arrive as early as possible, we tried
to gain more speed and improve
our sailing wind angle by once again raising the Parasailor. The
first attempt resulted in the sock twisting around the forestay
and
flapping uncontrollably in the wind, to such an extent that we needed to take it down
immediately. Once we untangled the mess, we tried again with the sail
readied
on the port bow. This time it opened nicely and we were
pleased by making good speed of 8.5 knots. Only a few minutes later, a strong gust of
wind sent us on a
severe heel with the Parasailor already touching the
water. We immediately released all sheets and recovered
from the heel, pulling a small portion of the wet sail
out of the water. As we adjusted
course, the Parasailor stabilized and we thought the
trouble was behind us, sitting down to a well deserved cold drink. Our peace
was short lived as within moments, the downhaul
shackle snapped open (just as
it had several days ago) and
the sail began violently flapping in the 20 knot wind.
As the adrenalin shot through all of us, the Captain
immediately sent Moses and Neil on to the foredeck
to swiftly pull down the sock
and secure the Parasailor on
deck. This time, we decided to tie the downhaul
directly onto the clew without the shackle to
avoid this problem. Once
again the sail went up, opened
nicely and
ESCAPADA finally regained course and the
speed.
THE
DAY STARTED WITH A BEAUTIFUL MORNING
SUNRISE CAPTAIN
FLAGPOLE IN COMMAND
After a late lunch of sandwiches and juice, we settled
back to a little relaxation. The autopilot was helming,
the sun shining, crew were reading and napping.
Suddenly, the autopilot went out! The Captain
immediately took control of the helm and the rest
of us quickly brought down the Parasailor. After investigating the
problem, it turned out that we had
a leak of fluid out of the autopilot main cylinder,
despite a full check-up and service back in the Canaries. Oil was everywhere in
the starboard stern locker. With no way to replace the fluid on board, this
means the autopilot is out of operation and we will have to steer by hand for the rest of the
way to Saint Lucia. Since this means more work load
for the crew, the Captain decided
to adjust the watch schedule. Now, it's 2 people
on watch for 6 hours, then
6 hours off. Watch leaders are Manuel (assisted by Bobbie) and the Captain
(together with Neil). We have certainly been lucky (and are very
grateful, in deed!) that
this problem did not occur much earlier somewhere in the middle of the
Atlantic, and with such a relatively short distance left
to Saint Lucia, it should not be a major
problem.
With all of these events, the day has gone by rather
quickly. The team is now getting ready for the last 2 days and nights at
sea. The count-down to the finish-line has
started...
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