Day 7
Cara of the South - Westward Ho!
Gary O'Grady
Sun 1 Dec 2024 07:20
Our boat is haunted. Lets start with a very unusual and mysterious tale. This happened a couple of nights ago. With our watch system I go to bed from 21:00 til midnight when I then go on watch for the next 3 hours. I was comfortably settled in my bunk when I rose at 21:25 and went to the companionway. I still have no idea what got me out of bed when quite rightly I should be taking the opportunity of sleep with both arms. I got to the companionway and noticed the mainsheet had slipped from its jaws and was about to go outboard to port, I went to grab the line and mainsheet when at that very moment the shackle retaining it to the traveler snapped off completely. It all happened in less than second. With a full main and fully loaded I was lifted from the companionway but there was absolutely no way I was letting this go with the consequences of an out of control boom and a mainsheet block swinging like a wrecking ball. I held on so closely and tightly like it was the winning lottery ticket. I held myself in place while David had the good foresight to scamper as quickly as he could to the mast to drop the sail and de-power it. With the shackle replaced we were soon back up to full speed.
It was certainly a bottom clenching moment but since then we have had more strange happenings. Stuff on board have begun mending themselves. AIS has started operating normally, the autopilot is now faultless, although we are now under Hydrovane self steering, The rev counter actually counts revs and displays them as per the original design brief. All sorts of things are now fully operational when we have just ignored them. We are now an almost fully functioning ship. Also Cara is sailing like a witch, I've never seen such performance from her. Someone's hand is on the wheel and ship systems but its not us! Maybe fortune is finally favoring us.
The astro nav is going superbly now even with the use of antique instruments. Now I can allow for the small errors in everything the final fixes are unusually accurate.
Making good use of antiques on Cara is certainly in keeping with her style. Her interior is reminiscent of a 1930s gentleman's club on Piccadilly, festooned with the detritus of pervious owners unfulfilled dreams. Ancient pilot books displaying the exotic wonders of sailing the Ionian or the north African coast. None of which were ever used but hopefully I can change all that and give Cara the adventures she deserves.
We've now about 2000 miles to go and it still feels like it has just started
Onwards!!!!