Another Night on Drogue
January 28, 2019
Day 116
Noon Position: 42 51S 125 23E
We’d done 102 miles as of noon.
As it turns out, I was over-cautious with this third low.
I deployed the SHARK drogue again at 4pm and then slept until 10pm, when weather started to come on. I then made a cup of tea, dressed in foulies, and sat up with the low until 3am, well after the forecast called for it to peak. Winds never got much above 30-35, and they were more in the high 20s. All good sailing wind, except for the heavy, lunging sea. And it was too late; the drogue was out.
At 3am, I hit the sack and slept till 6am.
Winds now were a steady 20 – 25, and the barometer had come up a couple points. After coffee, I hauled in the drogue.
Just as it had yesterday, the drogue line had twisted and wound up the bridle, but as before, only to a certain point. Thus, the swivel on the drogue and the swivel I added on the bridle appear to have failed; or maybe it takes quite a lot of twist to activate them.
In a previous blog I reported that retrieving the SHARK is moderately easier than the Jordan Series Drogue. That should be amended: it is MUCH easier. Still, 300 feet of line takes time to get in out of the sea.
We resumed sailing at 10am. Our course, The Snares: 1778 miles at ExS.
Lots of wasted motion in the last few days; now we’re very far north of New Zealand and my precious average daily miles have taken a big hit.
I’m eager to get moving fast again. 
Randall, so glad it was not as bad as it could have been!!! Nevertheless, you were prepared and that is what is important. I am sure a stainless steel swivel would work much better that galvanized, and a drop of Harken McLube One Drop would make it spin even easier. But, glad it is easy to retrieve. I once made a video of a bunch of different drogues and the Shark was the only one for me! Glad to know it was a lot easier to retrieve as that is very important point. Love your every single Post, thank your for using those hands to send these logs and keep us all on the edge of our seats!
Thanks for the feedback on the Shark drouge. How about a swivel at the 150 ft. Better safe than beat to heck, I say good planning.