Walking on the Walls

06/25/02

The View from the Companionway

 

    I awoke at 0545 this morning to the dreaded words “Bob, We’ve got to tie a reef in.”  We had been reaching all night and the wind had been steadily increasing.  Now it was a steady 25 knots.  We were able to get the reef in with no incident, but as I sit here looking at the inclinometer, it is still bouncing between 20 and 40 degrees.  We are, as Eric says, “Walking on the walls.”

    In hindsight, we should have tied in two reefs instead of one, in anticipation of the increasing wind.   But for now we are living with the decision, as it really is a big deal to do the reefing.  On the positive side, we are on the correct course and making tremendous progress.  We have traveled almost 90 miles in the last 12 hours.

    I just went up on deck with Eric to adjust the topping lift on the whisker pole.  We leave the pole rigged out to the side, and had to raise it so it wouldn’t dip into the water when the boat heels.  There are some big waves out there!  We are regularly taking waves over the companionway hatch, which we are keeping closed, of course.  We also adjusted course a bit so the motion is (just) a little more comfortable.

    This boat is certainly taking a pounding.  There is constant creaking from the wood joints in the interior, and a cacophony of whistles from the rigging.  And of course, this weather is nothing compared to what we can expect after Cape Town.  GULP!!  But, I guess if I learn to cope with this stuff first, it will be easier to step up to the really awful stuff.

    Overall, this trip has been a good introduction.  Any difficult weather we have had (so far) has not been too prolonged (never more than a day), and has been followed by mild weather to let me catch my breath.  Let’s hope that trend holds up.  Eric is taking a one-hour nap before baking the daily bread (which is quite delicious) and connecting to the Ham Net with Trudi in Barbados.  David is catching up on his sleep and I am alone on watch at 0900.  I think things are starting to feel better.  I must have smashed my elbow while reefing this morning, as I have a severe pain whenever I move it.  I don’t think it is serious.

    We had high drama this morning at 1100.  At the end of my watch, Eric asked David to go forward with the Allen wrench and check the screws on the ProFurl.  We have also been concerned because the headstay seems to have  been getting looser as we have been going.  When he went forward, and was checking the furler, I was watching from the cockpit.  He started back with an alarmed look on his face.  He said that when he was checking the furler he noticed a chain dangling form the bow sprit.

    As it turns out, the bobstay had broken.

    The bobstay is a length of chain (3/8” stainless) that runs from the end of the bowsprit, just under where the headstay connects, to a fitting on the bow of the boat, right at the waterline.  It’s purpose is to take the load from the headstay to the mast.  Without it, we are in danger of losing the headstay, the bowsprit, and possibly the mast.

    The wind is still blowing 25-30 knots and we have only one reef in the main.  We decided to furl the jib and set the staysail, which will take some load off the headstay.

    When rolling up the jib, the furler got stuck, apparently bent from the strain combined with the looseness of the headstay.  It was thus necessary for Eric to use a “strap wrench” to wind it manually.  A strap wrench is a steel handle with a length of what looks like motorcycle chain attached to it, used for plumbing applications to turn pipes and things with no grip on them.

    Eric and David teamed up to wind the furler, while I controlled the tension on the jib sheet, which was wildly flogging in the 30 knot wind.  Once the furler was wound in and secured with a short length of line, the next step was to set the staysail.  The staysail is a small headsail that is attached to the forestay, and has it’s own boom and sheet.

    Once we got the staysail set, we needed to ponder our next move.  We couldn’t trust the headstay to support the mast in it’s weakened condition, so we decided to look into using the spare halyard to reinforce the headstay.

    We had lunch first (you've got to have your priorities!), then we went on deck, put a second reef in the mainsail, attached a vang to the spare halyard, and secured that to a fitting on the bow of the boat, tightening the vang as much as possible.

    Now we are 700 miles from Horta, unable to use the jib, and with winds that won’t die.  It is a bit more comfortable with the second reef in, and less stress on the rigging too.  We still seem to be making good time.