Crew Makeover
Preparing for ARC Party. We had a look through the Halloween collection
Year: 2013
Ball of Chute
Having arrived in the marina we have sorted out our giant baseball of a sail, rebuilt the furling drum and started sail repairs. The headsail leach was showing wear but then we noticed the boltrope on the luff was parting so this job couldn’t wait. Pictured below is the Marina Lanzarote under construction. Focus on meeting ARC safety specs continue with Flare dates and types being assessed.
Lanzarote
We entered Puerto de Naus expecting an anchorage but this has now been superceded by a new marina which is under construction. On Day 1 we had no services on the pontoons but by day 2 water was flowing and the pontoon electricity pods were all enabled. This is now called Marina Lanzarote and it has huge potential. It is based in Arrecife.
Boat on the Run
..…..to the Canaries, a 4.25 day 550nm journey to Lanzarote, with 24 hours under engine Under our A4 cut North Sails runner which gives us a smooth ride at 160 degrees. Another sunrise Then the halyard broke and we took we think an hour to haul the chute out of the sea and into the cockpit which it then absorbed. After
60 miles to Lanzarote
About 490nm completed and now closing on Arrecife. Weather is cloudy and the coolest we have experienced in months. The mainsheet winch decided to repair itself after a 24 hour layoff. New issue is play at the foot of the boom vang which looks like it is going to wear rapidly if left as-is. Under motor as wind dropped to F3 at first light giving us just 3kn under sail. First tuna landed yesterday. Lots of shipping traffic over 2nd half of the route. Pictures taken under cruising chute before it fell in the sea.
Rolling towards Canaries
All was going well for a full 24 hours as we glided south under cruising chute in 12 knots wind. At about 3pm yesterday after gybing to keep our course all went completely silent. Not a sail noise, hull sound or rope creak. Silence was not a good thing. We watched with fascination and horror as our cruising chute dropped to the sea beside us. The halyard had chafed through. So started a long arduous recovery of a sea anchor into the cockpit. Now 180 miles to go or 24 hours of rolling under mainsail only. Headsail furling drum still
Back to the grind
Another leg, another surprise. 60 miles south of Portimao our mainsheet winch gave it’s last hydraulic wheeze and stopped dead. We are now back to winding the pepper pot and finding out just how many yards of mainsheet there actually is! Passed by ARC boat Luv during the night on a tighter course to Gran Canaria v.s ours to Lanzarote. Hailed them but they may have been out of range. Looks like a 140nm mile day and back to motoring as wind drops to F2. The sunrise is good enough.
Hank On
Following our Furling Fiasco we have moved to our Norah (named after the benefactor), our hanked on staysail. The headsail was lashed to the toe rail and on inspection the battens had vaporised. The batten pockets are closed and entact but the battens must have been ejected as the full sail flogged head to wind before we dropped it. The headsail and furler is now fully functional and possibly the precise location of 4 grub screws was missed at some point hence the foil was able to do it’s own thing. Our Norah set really well and performed even in
N’ARC’d
F….F….F..Forget the T-Shirts!!! WCC Admin are getting a bit shirty with us over the T-Shirt order and one individual is getting quite N’ARC’ed! So did they discuss higher volumes with their supplier when ARC plus was introduced? Or does Gill just sell them end of season stock at a knock down price? Mmmm. Our order has progressed from can’t do the colours, can’t deliver the sizes, can’t deliver the right sexes and now it could be that we are getting an older style cut garment? Now onto obsolete stock. First touch with the ARC team and it’s unimpressive. Apparently all
Wish we had NOTHING to blog!
Wouldn’t that be great. So how many issues can arise over 180 miles? Yacht troubles come in 30’s not 3’s!! On this passage….. Making 11 knots SOG through the Straits the forward heads flooded the central bilge A fridge door flew open repeatedly as it needed immediate defrosting – so started the defrosting process including eating anything that defrosted – where and when did we buy these?? What are they??? Is that cheese supposed to be green???? The generator was shut down in case it had an airlock as it appeared to be running hot; we are on edge over