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Starblazer - Starblazer 26 November A day of mixed fortunes



Happy Birthday Jane.

Last night the wind didn’t co-operate! It kept changing direction and went
very light, culminating in the use of the iron topsail, aka engine. We had
spent quite some time at watch changes rearranging the lines for the two
headsails flying on the same side so that we could jibe them but all in
vain. The main outcomes of us trying to continue sailing was a sleep
deficit for both of us and very few extra miles under the keel.

After breakfast John pulled out the two spinnaker poles to which he had
already tied two downhauls and an uphaul each. We dropped the mainsail,
hauled the headsail sheets out to the ends of the poles then pulled out the
sails. They set instantly giving us a welcome burst of speed.

The fleet is split into three groups by boat length for a daily SSB radio
net. This keeps us in touch with others. John was net controller today on
the SSB net for our group. I was pleased to hear so many other boats, in
fact we listened in to Group B’s net and could hear all of them as well.
Allelujah, the radio has ears! The downside was that I was on watch on deck
and a fairly persistent shower hovered over us.

After lunch I went down for a couple of hours’ sleep, only to be awakened
early by a frantic shout: “Joyce! Sail in the water.” I scrambled into
suitable clothing and we retrieved the jib, dragged it on deck, bundled it
up and tied it down on the aft deck. We have been lucky, nothing tore or
chafed through. The seizing forming the eye in the end of the halyard had
failed and just let go. (John: I admit that I made it) That will get fixed
in St Lucia. Unfortunately it means we are reduced to just the genoa with
or without the main. It has been pulling us along quite nicely ever since.

Statistics: The day’s run from 1300 Sunday to 1200 Monday was a very
disappointing 86.6 nautical miles which would have been even worse but for
the three hours of motoring.
Food: Scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, Paella for dinner. We
continue to eat well.

More tomorrow. Joyce

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