Moving with Variable Winds

At 2.30 AM I went on deck and found that there was a gentle breeze from the east. It wasn't strong enough to set the wind charger humming, but it looked just good enough - about 8 kt - to fill the sail. Getting the boat sailing was very easy, since it was beam to the wind and pointing south. I freed up the wheel and dropped Jeff's paddle into the water then rolled out the jib. I didn't need to worry about steering while rolling out the sail because the boat will naturally track slightly into the wind.

We started to move nicely at 3 kt then I spotted a broad band of rain clouds ahead. This was bad because rain disrupts wind and worse, the wind that I was now experiencing might be just a local effect of the squall ahead. Twenty minutes later I felt the first drops of water so I rolled in half of the headsail. Just as well because we began to scoot along as the wind hit 16 kt. I had to the steering station to make adjustments to Vistar the autopilot so I first stripped off my underclothes to keep them dry, then went out and made the adjustments while at the same time getting a refreshing early morning shower.

After we passed through the squall the wind began to die. When it got to less than 6 kt I reduced the headsail to minimize flogging, was creeping along at 1.5 kt, and was considering lying ahull again. But then I felt the boat moving faster, and the wind numbers were up. Glory be, in 5 minutes we were sailing at 5-5.5 kt against a 15 kt wind. After watching the boat for a while it was 4 AM and I went back to bed. At 6.30 AM I was up again to find that the wind had held up and we were sailing due south at 5 kt. Our position at that time was 08N11, 114W03. We had made only 38 miles since the previous day's noon but I didn't mind. At least we were moving again. I'll take whatever I can get with gratitude.

This boat sails amazingly well under headsail only, but I would probably hoist the mainsail sometime during the morning.

At 9.30 AM I started the engine and an hour later I went to the mast to lower the lazy jacks in anticipation of raising the mainsail. I got careless and let go of the end of the starboard lazy jack line and the wind caught it. I had added short extensions to the halyard of each lazy jack so that they could be lowered to the boom, and I had thought that I would always be able to reach the extended ends. Try as I might I could quite reach it as it made occasional passes year my outstretched arm. Eventually the end retreated up toward its turning block where fortunately the knots that I had used to join the extension prevented the line from passing completely through. But during this little circus I noticed that the sheath had parted at one point of the halyard and a long length of the underlying cord was exposed. It wasn't going to last much longer and I didn't have that thickness of cord on board for replacing the section.

Then I started to think about removing the sail cover and lazy jacks altogether. Since leaving La Paz I haven't zipped up the cover once because the mainsail has to be ready for a hoist. The lazy jacks are particularly handy when preparing to drop anchor because they keep the decks clear after dropping the sail, allowing me to run back and forth between the cockpit and pulpit during the anchor drop. But I don't expect to anchor for a while and for my current purposes the lazy jacks have been a bit of a pain. Also, it is highly likely that I will remove the mainsail altogether when reaching the higher latitudes and replace it with the trysail for the duration of doubling of the Horn. I would probably also put up the staysail and use the headsail for lighter airs.

Before I took the trouble of climbing the mast to just past the first cross trees to retrieve the end of the lazy jack line I wanted to think about the implications of removing the sail cover and stack pack and make a decision.

Anyway, I managed to raise the mainsail with one reef. Just as well because the wind was dying uncomfortably fast.

I went back to the mast to study the problem and realized that if I simply joined the sheathed parts of the halyard with a knot I would wind up with a shorter halyard but that would not matter because I had already extended it. I calculated that I would be able to raise the lazy jack before the knot reached the turning block, which was past the first cross tree just above the radar dome.

Then there was the task of retrieving the line from the turning block. It was actually the perfect time to do it. Intuition suggests that it is better to go up the mast when the boat is lying ahull and not moving forward. The problem is that the boat then rolls around so much in the sea that it turns the climb into a wild daredevil event. This moment, sailing into a light wind with a moderate sea was the perfect time, because the sails have a steadying affect on the boat. So I did the climb and retrieved the line without much drama. As usual after a challenging task like this I said a little prayer of thanks. (I could have used a brandy too.)

I then replaced the individual lazy jack line extensions with one long one between the two halyards so that I can never lose an end again. I then raised the lazy jacks (to be ready for a drop of the mainsail) and everything was back to normal.

At noon our position was 07N46, 114W10. Somehow we had manage to make a n-n distance of 63 miles.

In the afternoon the wind shifted to the south and forced me to tack several times. I had been making reasonable speeds to the SW and the SE, but that wasn't helping me very much in my goal of traversing the latitudes to the equator as quickly as possible; and the way to do that was to head south. But putting aside time and schedules it was great sailing. Tacking the boat to play the winds and watching her cut smoothly through the waters seemingly calmed by the rain showers was great fun. The afternoon was cloudy but the temperature was perfect, making attire optional and dependent on whether or not it was raining.

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