Mainsail Area

I did some calculations of the mainsail areas based on the measurements that I reported earlier (i.e. luff 13.4m, leech 13.92m, foot 3.9m).  The computations were simplified by the fact that the corner at the tack is a right angle.  The sail has very little roach (i.e. outward curve along the leech) and I assumed a straight line, which kept things very simple.  The results I got were as follows:

Full Sail, 26.1 meters/281 ft square, 100% of sail
1st Reef,  19.5 meters/210 ft square, 75% of sail
2nd Reef, 13.5 meters/146 ft square, 52% of sail

The second reef still leaves a lot of sail area exposed to high winds, which justifies my complaints in the past about not being able to reef deeply enough.  On the other hand, it may be just as well because it is not a good idea to use the mainsail in very high winds (too much stress on the fabric).  I'll go to the trysail in winds of over 30 knots.

I went out three times today on shopping expeditions.  I visited a boating equipment shop that Stig had told me about, “Las Marias Servicios” and I found the staff as pleasant and friendly as he had described.  They were interested in my boat and where I had been, and the manager asked me for my blog address.  I needed some cord for my lazy jacks and the man produced some 6mm rope that I thought would do the job.  I asked the cost and was told that they sell it by the kilo.  I smiled as he then measured out a meter of the rope and put it on a scale to give me an estimate of the price per meter.    I wanted 100 meters and he asked me if I wanted the whole reel, which would save both him and me a lot of trouble.  I said OK and he weighed it at 2.5 kilos, which at 93 pesos a kilo came out to 232 pesos (about $51).  He told me that based on the weight the reel would have over 300 meters of line, which to me was a good price.   That size line will always come in handy on the boat for lashing things down.  I also purchased a plastic pump that I was told was suitable for diesel fuel.  I was given a complementary large calendar which will be very helpful to me as a scheduling tool.

I returned to the boat to drop off the line and some groceries that I had purchased then set off for Moscuzza's and purchased 30 meters of 5mm cord which will be ideal for the mast step barrier.  Unfortunately they did not sell Brazilian flags.  And I had not come well enough prepared to explain the purpose of the strong rope that I wanted to buy for the wind steering lines, so I returned to the boat then set off again with the rope samples and my Spanish for Cruisers book for a visit first to the bank to get some cash, then on to Moscuzza's. 

On the way from the bank to Moscuzza's I saw that the tourist office was open for the first time that I had noticed.  It was a target of opportunity too good to pass up so I walked in, and I'm very glad that I did.  I now have a bus ticket for Buenos Aires for the morning of 9 April.  While the official was keying in my information for the ticket she asked me for my passport.  “What?” I said in Spanish, “For a bus?”  Yep, them's the rules.  There was only one free seat on the bus and she didn't want to lose it so she made a call and a way around the problem was found.  She told me where I can pick up the local bus for the central bus station and marked it all on a map.   Then gave me two salutary pieces of advice.  First, I must take my passport with me to BA.  It was a good reminder to me because I am used to the laid back approach of Mexico where no ID is required for riding on their intercity buses.  Then she got very serious and told me to be very careful in Buenos Aires because of the crime.  She advised me not to walk around wearing an expensive watch or rings, or other attractive items.  I asked her if that applied even in the daytime and she assured me that it did.  I've been getting too many messages about the street crime in BA to ignore.  I'll walk around BA with only my camera and a stripped down wallet (e.g. no credit card or large amount of cash) in my backpack.

Bureaucracy is heavy in Argentina.  Alfredo was complaining that after returning from La Paloma, Uruguay, in his boat after being away only about 3 weeks he's had to clear through the Immigration, Customs, and Health offices.  “Why health?” I asked, given that even if he was sick they couldn't turn him away because he's a born and bred Argentino.  Them's the rules.  Cruisers leaving Mar del Plata for the south try to work it so that they make a formal exit from Argentina from Mar Del Plata because if they sail down the coast from port to port they must report by radio to the Prefectura twice per day.

From the tourist office I walked to Moscuzza's and found it closed at 1 PM.  I wasn't sure if they were closed for the day or just for lunch because they have not posted their hours.  Nevertheless it is a good shop and I'll try again tomorrow morning.

My attempt to deposit the 50% down payment for the new sail in a US bank has failed after at least a week of interaction with my bank.  My bank passed the money across OK, but the receiving bank rejected it because of incorrect information.  I'm working on the problem with the North Sails agent.

I sent a message to the riggers asking them for their terms of payment and bank account details.  I hope that I don't have to go through the same circus when I transfer funds to them.  I checked my email before writing this blog updateand found their response.  I had written the message in English, figuring that the company would have English-savvy staff.  However, as a courtesy I wrote a PS in Spanish stating that if they found my use of English difficult I would be happy to communicate in Spanish by using a translator.  To my chagrin they replied in Spanish that they preferred to communicate in Spanish.  So I had to pass my message line by line through the translator.  I set up my Google mail on the left tab of the browser with my message in English, the translator in the middle tab, and my Google mail on the right tab with the new message that I was composing.  Then I would copy a line from the left tab, paste it into the translator in the middle tab, copy the translation and paste it to my message at the right tab.  Sort of a literary sausage factory.