A Busy Intersection

March 13, 2019

Day 160

Noon Position: 52 16S  95 31W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): ESE 7

Wind(t/tws): NWxN 17-30

Sea(t/ft): NW 8

Sky: Overcast, solid slate gray

10ths Cloud Cover: 10

Bar(mb): 1011, steady

Cabin Temp(f): 57

Water Temp(f): 46

Relative Humidity(%): 81

Sail: Working jib, two reefs.

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 157

Miles since departure: 21,969

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

Days since Cape Horn: 103

Miles since Cape Horn: 14,328

Avg. Miles/Day: 139

Longitude Degrees Made Good (degrees minutes): 3 54

Total Longitude Made Good Since Cape Horn (degrees minutes): 334 02

Avg. Long./Day: 3.24

Miles to Cape Horn: 930

A photogenically dull day. For the sake of color, I have added an orange winch handle to the Mo header shot. Otherwise our world is slate gray above and steel blue below. We have a fast but cold wind. I can see my breath.

All morning we ran with the working jib poled to port and the big genoa free to starboard. After noon, I decided to shift from the poled-out sail to the main. Wind had veered into the north and was strengthening.

Three feet from the third reef, the main halyard jammed, and tug as I might, it would not budge. Had to climb half way up the mast and tie-in a down haul line, which I took to a winch. Pop. And down she slid.

I’ve had this problem before and thought I had it solved (halyard kinking at the sheave–I now check the line religiously). Today I don’t know. Maybe the load of wind we had over port side pulled the halyard out of its sheave.

I hauled the main back up. By this time it was blowing over 30 knots and looked to be building. Mo was overpowered. I hauled the main back down and lashed it up for heavy weather. Wind dropped to 25 knots.

It pleases me to provide such entertainment for the gods.

—

Today we passed within spitting distance of not one but two earlier waypoints. In the photo of the chart plotter screen, the blue “x” to the upper left is our noon position from December 16, 2017. We were on final approach to Cape Horn on day 49 of the first Figure 8 attempt. Within two days, we would encounter our first big blow–50 gusting 70; within four days, I’d be hand steering for Ushuaia.

The red “x” next to it is today’s noon position, and the red “x” to the upper right of the photo is noon on November 23, 2018, day 53 of our first approach to Cape Horn on this second attempt. We were five days from rounding and making fast time. That noon was 111 days ago. Since then we’ve made the circuit and returned and are possibly but a week from Cape Horn again.