Wings: Jib Jam at Midnight
Wings crossed the starting line on Saturday at 3:10, ready to sail into a beautiful evening. Winds from the north west settled into a steady 15-20 knots. Got into our routine; set the watches for the night. All good so far.
Early on, the leach line was too loose on the main, so we had to pull in the main. Dave climbed up on the boom, worked his way out to the end, and appraised the situation. He asked Tommy to get him some line and a sharp razor and then Dave proceeded to hog-tie the sail together. After about 10 minutes, the job was done. However, during the event, Dave saw Tommy put his hand on the main sheet, and yelled "Don't let that out!" Tommy calmly responded "I was just holding it so it wouldn't go out." All clear. Dave will be working on his trust issues for the rest of the sail.
And then when pulling out the jib at midnight -- Wham! It came out like a rocket with a broken retrieval line. Not good. All-hands-on-deck for a jib take-down -- 3 on the deck (Howard, Dave, and Tommy) to assess and fix the problem, and 2 (Bob and Pat) in the cockpit to keep the boat steady. After some wrestling, down comes the jib according to plan, at which point Tommy secures it with a body slam and lays on the sail to keep it from blowing overboard.
The jib is now lashed to the deck and waiting for airlifted parts for the Roller-Furler by FedEx air, along with the pizza from Papa John's.
The end of the crisis was signaled when Howard asks, "Who wants a cup of tea?" Another normal day on the high seas.