Noon Position: L28^-45'N, Lo 076^-08'W, or about 230 nm east of Cape Canaveral
The Abacos are the northernmost of the Bahamas Islands, and I have
been told the most "American". They would be the first I got to, and
have been looking forward to going for the first time. People talk about
Marsh Harbour, Green Turtle Cay, Hopetown. I want to know what it was
all about. Maybe on the return trip. I went quite a distance east to get
out of the Gulf Stream and have been cheating towards the west so I
would come down on the Abacos. Last night the wind shifted to the south
west, exactly where I want to go. I tried all last night, but can not go
into the wind enough to get west enough to get to the Abacos. I will
keep going south. Sooner or later the wind will cooperate and I will
pull in. My next real destination is in the Exumas where I hope to do
some kiteboarding. I need to practice some before Normandie gets down.
If conditions had been better I would have made landfall tomorrow. Now
it will be several more days.
Today started sailing hard on the
wind trying to make it to Marsh Harbour. Then I saw rain clouds
approaching and thought I should get the big mainsail down and the
smaller trisail up. There may be wind in those clouds. In the spirit of
"The time to reef is the first time you think about it", I got the sail
change made just in time for the rain to start, and the wind to stop.
For the next several hours it rained, and the sails flopped and banged. I
had the sails tight, and was motoring, but still every wave made the
sails whamp back and forth. The reason I leave the sails up when I motor
is that the sails dampen the rolling of the boat. I roll in part of
the genoa so it doesn't chaff on the rigging. Motoring on a lumpy ocean,
even with sails up, is uncomfortable. After a few hours the wind came
back, and a beautiful 15 knot wind it was. I was no longer trying to get
to Marsh Harbour, so I stopped beating into the wind, eased off the
sails, and it was good sailing. The seas were large enough to be a
factor but there was enough power in the wind to keep the sails full. It
was nice.
This boat gets most of its drive from the genoa, the
big sail in front. Boats went from smaller jibs to the larger genoas
when roller furlers were developed. By pulling a rope in the cockpit
these contraptions roll the sail around the bowstay. When the wind blows
hard I pull the rope and the ProFurl winds up some of the sail. It is
an important piece of gear. I was enjoying the beautiful sailing this
afternoon, when I noticed some important pieces of this important piece
of gear was missing. What was missing was one of two brackets that
guide the rope onto a drum, and also holds the unit from twisting. The
unit will work with only one bracket, but not well and not for long. OK
Bill, what are you going to do now?
I very gingerly rolled up the
genoa, maybe for the last time. I said out loud, and I said it over and
over again. "When something goes wrong, it starts a chain of events that
result in something bad happening," "My job is not to fix the ProFurl,
it is to not get hurt. I don't really need the ProFurl. I really do need
to not get hurt." I said it over and over, out loud, during the
process. Fortunately all the parts fell into the boat. I added to the
mantra "and it will be real nice if I don't drop anything overboard in
the process." The good thing about the ProFurl is that it is fixable.
When the bearings go bad just go to the industrial supply house buy new
bearings and install them. Which is what I did a few months ago. In the
reassembly process I apparently did not properly lock one of the bolts,
and it fell out, with possible inconvenient results. But I found the
bolt and all the parts. I hove to, and clinging tenaciously to the bow
while it plunged up and down maybe 10 feet, and the sideways to the wind
boat rolled 30 degrees every five seconds, reinstalled the parts, all
the while repeating, "Your job is not to fix the ProFurl. It is to not
get hurt." After an hour of very careful crawling, bracing and hanging
on, everything was back together. After saying a prayer of thanks, I let
out the genoa, and have been sailing nicely since. Things don't always
work out. Today they did.
Reef Early, and check that bolt twice a day until I get a longer bolt so I can put a lock nut on the back side.
Bill Doar
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