Milla of Falmouth - Milla: Progress Report 11- Mindelo / St Lucia Part 3

Hi all

Thursday: Yesterday was an eventful day for a number of reasons. First and
foremost we were half way - yippee!!! The day was celebrated with clean
sheets, fresh water showers on the transom, and banana cake. What more can
you ask for. However the evening was not as delightful as the day.

Around 18.00, the tack line on the code zero chafed through but
thankfully, the furling line, which was wrapped round a bow cleat, held
the sail in place until a new tack line could be fitted. Then around 22.00
hours the topping lift chafed through at the top of the mast and whilst in
the process of trying to replace it with the mail halyard, the breeze
decided to back quickly which resulted in the boat track being pulled
quickly to windward and an alarming increase in speed and noise. Once the
zero gets caught by the breeze it is a bit like a spinnaker, it is a
nightmare to get the boat to head down wind again. The only way to do this
we found is to put the engine on and power it round.

Thankfully we are getting better at this technique - it has happened three
times now, what fun!

Sleep was in short supply last night, so we are all looking forward to a
calmer night tonight.

All the best

Derek and Anita.