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Challenger 2 - Challenger 2 Day Four



Day 4
Allo Allo Challenger 2 calling: what a night!
It all started yesterday…
By midday Wednesday, the water maker stopped working, just as we realised we had already emptied one of the four water tanks in the space of 4 days (oups!).
Then the generator had enough too and simply decided to overheat.
The sea became a bit bumpy too, with large swells coming from the north, which enticed the fruits to mis-behave and to get out of their storage nets, aiming to fall on the heads of the crew in the saloon (as you do!).
So far, nothing happened that could not be fixed. Monkey (the skipper) and the mate fixed the water maker issue in a couple of hours and got the generator working again.
The painful bumps on the heads also disappeared to by diner time, and we were all focused again on getting the best speed at the helm. I believe the record as I write is of 11.7 knts.
Then came the last watch of the day: 9pm to midnight. I was on that one. As we were happily finishing our watch at midnight, making good speed (ranging from 8 kts to 11) on a nice beam reach and were looking forward to go to bed, the Yankee 1 decided he had enough of sailing and started ripping itself! First, a little bit. Then a little bit bigger. And then it ripped itself completely. All hands on deck!
We got the Yankee 1 down and put the Yankee 2 up. By 1am, it was all over. We were flying the main, the staysail and the Yankee 2. We dragged the poor Yankee 1 in the cockpit, knowing that this time, there was nothing we could do to fix it.
The off watch went to bed, and in the morning we had porridge for breakfast. We knew it would be all right. Nothing than a good porridge can fix.
We are back to sailing, with love to all our friends and families, et aux didous J
Sarah

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