Hmmm. Sailing.
I tell you what cracking winds and speed we are experiencing...and they drop and/or don't read the forecast and come from a different, and wrong, direction.
I had penned a blog a couple of nights ago, telling you how wonderful certain bits of equipment were, especially Pandora, our Parasailor.
That night, around 0130 ship's time, about 900nm from the nearest land, it decided to take a swim.
As James wrote in the log sometime later: ''the halyard broke. Unintended drop''. I didn't have the heart to post the blog.
Actually, the halyard was fine. We are very careful and vigilant about chafe, and had already shortened that rope to eliminate areas of wear, and we lengthen and shorten the halyards periodically to avoid the same surfaces meeting for prolonged periods. No, this was metal fatigue in the ring at the mast that had simply sheared clean off.
In any event, all hands were rustled from their slumbers and we all worked hard on the foredeck to reclaim the 156sqm of hi-tech cloth from the sea, and from around the keel. Sadly, the sail is torn, but I won't know how badly until we can check it out ashore.
So folks, no eulogy about the Pandora, but we miss her. The boat speed is not much different, but she gave such a comfortable and generally trouble free ride, deep downwind. We know how good she was, because we are now suffering the rolling, banging and clanking lot of the traditional 'white' sails!
Oh well. It could have been a lot worse.
All is otherwise well, as make our way steadily towards St Lucia, with some 680 mile to go, as I type.
M