POSITION 22'20N 148'56
DTW 489.5
after dinner the wind picked up, we were moving along at about 8.7 knots up to 9.5, very nice. at around 0130 i was on watch with Nancy, she was in the cock pit while i was on the helm. then bam, and the chute fell in the water. it seemed the halyard had busted. i called down below to get the crew on deck. i turned to see Nancy on the rail pulling the spinnaker on deck, I put Bill on the wheel. Donna was the furthest one forward, Caroline, Nancy, Christin, then me. we almost had the whole sail on deck, when, due to the swell, it got sucked back in to the water. we got ahold of it again, started pulling it on board, at this point the sail was torn, and the tapes were wrapped around the winches, and life lines, all over the place like a spider web, the whole kite was on board the only thing holding us back was.... you guessed it, the sox ( or for those of you hyper-sensitive to spelling errors S-O-C-K) it was about 3 feet under water and was acting like a very large sea drogue, Caroline and I really tried hard to get it on deck, if we didn't do something quick it would suck the rest of the sail back in to the water. so i cut it free. some of you might be thinking that i only did that in order to get rid of my pent up frustration towards sox, but i'll never tell.
we did not stop moving, we all worked together to get the 1.5 up, all said and done the whole ordeal only lasted half an hour. as we were all cooling down in the cock pit, some of the crew expressed gratitude for having gone to sleep prepared for an incident on deck. i noticed the difference myself, 3 people on the rail had knifes, i think everyone had there gloves, and those who are into shoes had them on. i was really proud of my crew.
after that the boat sailed smoothly. we had squalls all night, i guess at one point Christin got the boat up to 9.7 knots. the sun is blazing out on deck and it is unbearably hot down below. so i have to finish up. see everyone soon.
CAPT. LG out
QUICK LETTER TO COMMENT LEFT BY DOUG:
Dear Doug,
S-O-X, S-O-C-K, we all get the picture. I hear what your saying about SOCKING the kite before jibing. Now take a moment to really think about it... its the same exact thing, all the lines are run the same exact way as before, the only difference is you have brought the SOCK down. If for some reason i am missing something here you are welcome to join us at our dock party upon arrival, my crew and i would be happy to have you give us a demonstration.
Aloha Lindsey
3 comments:
Been following your progress, relating to all your adventures. We had similar ship conflicts, although not so aggressive, in 2005. And as for the spin work, I deliberately avoided using the sock and we just did standard jibes and peels to go from one kite to another. After every two peels, we had to send Doug up the mast to re-run the halyard. If you want good foredeck advice, Doug's your guy...
Good advice on being ready for an all hands...when you need your knife, you need it now.
Keep the pressure on! See you at the Dock.
John
Seafire - Cal 40 #169 (at KYC)
Aww. I didn't know you were so sensitive, Lindsey, but I didn't intend to make any trouble. I apologize if I come across as a pedantic chauvinist jerk. :)
Anyway, I was assuming that the reason you could not snuff the kite on the opposite jibe from where it was originally set was because the fiberglass sox (heh) collar doesn't/hadn't jibed smoothly around the front of the forestay---so you end up with the collar wedged/jammed in a position at the apex of the foretriangle where no amount of pulling could start it down the kite. If that is the problem you face(d), then I suggest(ed) you snuff the kite, jibe the pole, flip all the kite/sox/collar stuffs around the front of the forestay, and then pull the collar back up and fill the chute. If there is another reason why you couldn't snuff on the other jibe, then I'm curious to hear about it. Maybe not here on the blog, but whenevers.
...and I'd be happy to demonstrate what I'm describing for you. I live in Kaneohe.
Safe sailing to you and the crew.
Thanks for the plug, John! haha
2 Capt. LG....please keep me posted on when i should start my contact list, your almost home!!! your strength leaves me speechless, i cant tell you how exciting it will be 2 see you finish this race n be home...im so proud of you just like a whole lot of other people n dont forget, ...there will always be haters but they will only make you strounger...olives !!! YOUR MY HERO !!!
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