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.

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