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Albatros - Nov. 29 at 2:30 pm



Albatros update: 24° 20.73 N, 38° 55.11 W

This morning we decided to implement an idea we had a couple of days ago about the broken spinnaker boom. After careful examination we replaced the pin (the part that broke) that clicks into the fitting at the mast with a rope. It was a lot of work and it has become rather warm, the sea now has 26 degrees Celsius, and it was a lot of work, but it worked. We do hope that the spi boom doesn't break off again, as the damage can be pretty bad. For now, we are at finally heading west again, and even though the wind is less than 10kn we do have 5kn of speed.

Albatros update (part 2): Guido almost went over board this morning, or rather he did go overboard but managed to catch himself on the outside and climb back in. He didn't even touch the water. On a level of entertainment value this got a straight 10 out of 10, but more importantly it just shows how fast things can go wrong. All he did was hold on to the genua instead of letting go, and in an instant was pulled over board. He is fine now, no lasting damage.
Albatros update (part 3): I am splitting updates as it seems our iridium tracker has problems sending longer messages. It has gotten more and more quiet over the last days. The sea is calm, which makes this crossing almost holiday-like, except for the drama bits. We just reached halfway point: 1390 nautical miles remain. Eagerly awaiting our only beer of the crossing to celebrate this milestone.

Albatros update (part 4): this day has more surprises than you can shake a stick at. Our main halyard just broke. Luckily we had a second one, so we rolled in the main sail (it more or less came down on its own), clipped the second halyard in and were back sailing in no time. Luckily we have very little wind, and luckily this happened during the day.

Also, our initial fix for the spi boom didn't work but we improved the design so for now the boom holds. Pretty interesting construction. I can post pictures once we are at a marina again.
On the culinary side, Mites and Ron served home made pizza which was delicious.

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