Chafe, the enemy of all sailors
PASSEPARTOUT
Christopher & Nirit Slaney
Mon 9 May 2011 15:00
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Bermuda at anchor.
Acting on a piece of good advice from Jean-Michel Russo,
a French mast and rigging expert who checked Passepartout before we crossed
the Atlantic, this morning we removed our genoa halyard to shorten it
by a few inches. The idea being that after doing so, a fresh section
of the halyard will now be in contact with the sheave and thereby reduce
the chance of the line wearing through. The place which had been in contact
with the sheave looked a bit thinner but otherwise fine, the real problem was
further along. The halyard was about one-third chafed through in two
spots which seem to correspond to the distance between the mast spreaders.
Something out of sight inside the mast had rubbed against the halyard
for the last 3,000 miles. We have now threaded a new halyard and added
the old one to our ever growing store of old rope. The consequences of what
could happen if the halyard failed in high winds midway between here and Newport
are two awful to contemplate.
A low is passing to the north of Bermuda during the
course of the next two or three days. So far it has brought a welcome
shower and washed the deck and rigging from all the encrusted salt.
Departure for the US looks likely only after Friday.
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