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Lydia - Leg 2 Day 4 - Boom BangaBang & Bodging



With the wind veering during the night to ENE it was time for us to
reconfigure Lydia to the twin headsail rig that had been so successful
during the first leg to the Cape Verdes. The 'hankee' was hanked on and set,
the main was dropped. The yankee was ready to be set to starboard when the
starboard pole swung aft, met the spreader & promptly snapped in two. Its
lightweight carbon fibre construction, that is so strong down its length,
clearly didn't enjoy some sudden lateral force.This had all the makings of a
significant set back.

The doctor remarked later that there was remarkably little swearing at the
time. Instead the skipper suggested that we had our delayed breakfast and
think about the problem. Coffee, tea and a bowl of wheaties worked their
wonders and we decided the answer was probably ......... duct tape! About an
hour later, with some semi-redundant stainless steel pipes rammed into both
ends of the broken pole, padded out with some softwood wedges and with
several yards of 'Black Claggy' wrapped around it on the outside together
with some white webbing binding the break as a whipping, the pole was up
again, almost straight and miraculously doing its job.

Flushed with the success of that fix the 'handy stitcher' was commissioned
and the rip to the head of the mainsail has been part repaired with the
doctor moving seamlessly from fracture clinic to suture work. More to be
done tomorrow but hopefully the mainsail won't be needed for a while.
The 1100 radio roll call indicates that we are holding our own and near the
front of the pack. The plotter display is blank tonight with no company
visible but with the suspicion that our main competion, ROXANA the Italian
Malo 47, is not that far away. Matthew started a rumour that the plotter,
though showing the correct time was sporting a date that was 2 days ahead,
indicating that our earlier quoted arrival on 2 \dec could in fact become 30
Nov. It was however just a rumour and with 1550 miles to go and progress a
little slower today the wizardry predicts an arrival that oscillates about a
day around midday on 3 Dec. Tomorrow we pass the 1/4 way point. So its still
early days.

Unaware of the intended title of this blog post, supper tonight was
announced as 'Veal Boom BangaBang'. And delicious it was too! Saturday Night
Cinema was set up using a laptop in the cockpit and we watched the skipper's
choice of film as Lydia made her way steadily through the darkness and an
occasional rain shower. His choice? 'Master & Commander' of course!

The fisherman had deep thoughts about their strategy today. So deep that no
lines were deployed. Perhaps some flying fish will come to us in the night.


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