Day 2 - Passage to the Caribbean
Misterx
Wed 2 Apr 2025 23:44
02/04/25
8:30 pm
Day 2
South Atlantic Ocean
DTD : 3,540 NM (131NM)
First and probably not the last bit of drama today...
We have been romping along all day at over 6 knots, with peaks of 7, which is very good indeed, wind firmly coming from the rear and fairly consistent, between 9 and 12 knots, lovely. The clouds never really lifted all day and we had the occasional drop of rain. We both went through our little routines during our respective watches, had lunch, and afternoon tea... a normal day... I went down below around 5.30pm, a bit later on, I heard the sail flap wildly, the ropes and the rigging whipping and whistling, the normal racket i associate with shortening sail, nothing to worry about. The wind hasn't gone up dramatically, It is just the time we get ready for the night. It did however take a while longer than usual, long enough for me to wonder at it ... And then the call came... I need you up here! Now !!
This is a call you do not want to hear at best of time, but least of all when you are in the heads, taking care of some urgent matter! Panic sets in... I imagine all sort of catastrophe taking place above my head, and there I am stuck on the potty! it is simply impossible to end the business at hand so abruptly, so you concentrate, expedite the said business as fast as you can, reach for the toilet paper, pull yourself together, pump the toilets, because you know that if you don't there may be trouble later, agonise about washing your hands, all the while hearing the sail, the ropes and the rigging making that awful racket.... but no more call from Ian... which is just as chilling as him calling.
Finally scrambled up on deck and see him in the middle of a nest of ropes, helplessly pulling on one of them... looks like the furling line is stuck somewhere, he says. The furling line is thrown into my hand and off he goes, making his way to the bow, deck pitching and rolling under his feet, keeping his head low as both the sheets are still whipping, despite my effort to control them. Flat on his belly, Ian tugs and pulls at the furling line in the drum... i can only assume that we have a riding turn. But the line is still stuck fast, must be something else... Back in the cockpit, he is scratching his head, still with the sail flapping wildly and the assorted racket of lines and rigging whistling. There no overriding turn in the furling drum... looking up the mast, there is something not quite right up there. The top of the sail is all bunched up as if it has gotten caught in the furling system at the top of the mast... nothing for it, need to take it down... at least a little bit at the top if we can get away with it, see if we can free it. Amazingly, the halyard comes down a few inches and the furling line, which i am still holding, frees up. I pull at it tentatively and yes it does the job... pulling back the halyard in that wind with all the sail out is tough but somehow Ian manages. We had to furl the whole genoa to make sure it was back in working order before unfurling it again... the racket stops, all seemed to work ! A huge sigh of relief, although we will need to check tomorrow in the daylight that nothing has been damaged in the furling system at the top of the mast. Just another thing to worry about!
But for the time being, all is well, we are still eating the miles at a reasonable speed. I can go to sleep. Tomorrow is an another day!
M