Split Sail, Small Gale

May 29, 2019

Day 236

Noon Position: 41 14N  63 17W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): N 6 – 7

Wind(t/tws): S 20 – 30

Sea(t/ft): S 7 – 10

Sky: Overcast

10ths Cloud Cover: 10

Bar(mb): 1006+, falling fast

Cabin Temp(f): 70

Water Temp(f): 67

Relative Humidity(%): 67

Sail: Working jib, two reefs; running.

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 142 (YES, Mo can still pull miles)

Miles since departure: 31,128

Avg. Miles/Day: 132

Leg North Miles: 7,907

Leg North Days: 70

Avg. Miles/Day: 113

Wind still boxing the compass over a 24-hour period. Slow way through the water overnight, but we continued fast on a fast current setting to the N.

I came on deck at 2am to tack and noticed a strange shadow cast by my headlamp onto the #2 genoa. On closer inspection, the shadow resolved into a long tear in the sail from the protective cover at the foot all the way through two panels.

In the day was due a gale, so I hustled the sail down on deck, jammed it into a bag and hustled the spare into the sky, all before dawn. Winds were 15 knots from the south by the time I was done and 30 before noon.

All in all, I was lucky the sail didn’t blow entirely and that I could exchange it during a gentle phase.

Lumpy sea again today, but already it is relaxing. We’ve run fast and are now at the top of the low, which is rapidly falling to the east.

I’ve repaired Monte’s pendulum strut and pinion gears. The strut needed a bit of shaping due to burs on the gear I couldn’t access (or feel, for that matter), but that done, Monte is ready to go back together. Assembly is a ticklish business. One false move and the forty or so pieces that make up the strut and pinion go apart like a hand grenade. So I need a calm day for hanging.

4 Comments on “Split Sail, Small Gale

  1. Hi Randall. One of Josie’s K-8 classmates is attending the mariners school in Vallejo this fall. His first semester he sails through the Panama Canal to the Mediterranean. A component of his first year is how to be s machinist. Your Monte repairs brought this to mind. His mom doesn’t think he’s read the Master and Commander novels which makes picking out a present easy.

    I am looking forward to photos of you fresh shaven and rested in St John.

  2. Hope you have a good snug, pontoon, berth in Halifax, and are starting to catch up on sleep, repairs plan etc!

  3. “The violent wind and rain tore the sails and broke the masts and the towering waves flooded the deck.”

    “Ahab finally came on deck. The violent typhoon and the fire meant something completely different to him. He was more determined than ever.

    “Look at that fire in the sky!” he cried, pointing to the sky in the middle of the wild storm. “That white fire leads us to the white whale!”

    Reeves will be forever Reeves. Keep on, Captain!

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