can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Hada - HADA Day 7 - Repairs & Stitches



HADA Day 7 - Repairs & Stitches
Post # 5 - Sunday, December 1st, 2013, 7:33am GMT

As of noon today, we will have been underway for a week! We are pleased to learn that our rankings in the race have improved markedly, and have been able to avoid further wind holes except for a short two hour one last night.

We hear from fellow sailors that some of our westerly/northerly colleagues have been exposed to rains of “biblical” proportions, which, so far at least, we didn’t experience (yet).

A few minor repairs had to be undertaking in the past couple of days.

Stu finished stitching up the A2 kite! We haven’t yet had a chance to fly it as we were mostly broadly reaching yesterday, but do look forward to doing so once we reach the trade winds. Our best guess is this could happen later today!

Our navigation lights failed! This would have made us less visible at night, so we wanted it fixed. As so often: domino effect! The repair of a busted stanchion in Las Palmas caused this problem: the green light got shorted out by someone putting in too long a screw, which pinched the wire running internal to the stanchion. This eventually led to a blown fuse which took us some time to locate, but once we did locate both fuse and the short, we had it repaired in good time.

Last but not least, HADA carries an AIS transceiver, which allows other boats within range to “see” us on their chart plotters. It wasn’t programmed yet due to the lack of an MMSI number (FCC issued), but it is now! This gives us an extra modicum of safety, especially at night.

We are currently still headed south and passing through the Cape Verde Islands, however, we aren’t able to see land. We will soon be south of these islands, and are looking forward to our “hard right” turn to the west once we reach 15 degrees, 30 minutes North, which we expect to happen this afternoon. We are already noticing warmer temperatures.

HADA’s crew is in good shape, with sail changes being executed smoothly by a great team, whether day or night. I'm in awe. There is plenty of laughing going on; Andre however is feeling guilty for not pulling his weight due to a muscle concussion which has him hanging around in the prone position much more frequently than he’d like. Andre is VERY glad to report that Stu's stitching services were NOT needed, so all is well.

Ship's stores are holding up well, and with enough ham aboard to feed us all :-). The stuff's being mixed into noodle bowls, eggs for breakfast, or just plain straight up!

Stu, Anton, Ed, TJ & Andre



HADA jamon iberico

Previous | Next