Greetings from yacht Ensemble!
We are now more than 1/3 of the way to the Marquis - with under 2000 nm to go. The winds have been steady 15-20 knots - and we are still managing 200nm days.
We have been slowly adjusting our course more Westerly - having reached nearly 10 degrees south- with a fairly set current and winds associated with the Trade Winds.
Magali had just come up on watch and we were chatting when all of a sudden we heard a 'snap' and saw the genakker drop into the sea. We acted quickly - slowing the boat - getting Joel up - and then bringing the sail in. We felt like old hands at this after a similar experience with the Parasailor.
We got the sail onboard and then resumed our course using the genoa and main - with a negligable loss in speed. The Genakker halyard had worn through - similar to the parasailor - so there must be a chaff problem on the masthead. This is not a big problem for us at the moment - as we have a spare Genakker halyard on the mast head - so can still fly the Genakker or Parasailor.
Fishing wise - not a great day. No bites - and we even through overboard our nights flying fish catch when we cleared the decks to bring the Genakker in. New lures tomorrow!
We consoled ourselves with our usual sunset drinks and a BBQ dinner of cheeseburgers.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!
Cheers
Dave & Magali
9March 2012 016