Day 23 - Click image for larger view
Southern Light had been dealt very light air her first few days out of Bermuda and although I packed away her large light air drifter sail at night it was back up before dawn. Typically when boat speed dropped below 4 knots I'd fire up ole iron genny (engine) to maintain some semblance of a schedule. Not that I ever had a schedule on this crossing, but because I desired to avoid storms which happen quite often in this neck of the woods.
Setting the reacher pole for the drifter sail was unruly at best but this time I forgot to raise the poles topping lift before opening the sail at the bow. As I raised the "sock" and the sail opened the pole slid aft over lifelines and stanchions but was stopped by the mast fwd lower stay causing the pole to dip into the water with sail attached. The sail "clew" (lower aft corner) immediately cupped the sea water and acted as a break. Even moving at a few knots the 20k lb Southern Light did not want to stop. Quickly realizing the issue I tried to raise the pole topping lift with it's winch but the huge amount of water would not spill out of the sail then "bam", the pole snapped. Now I was in a pickle! Lines were everywhere and becoming tangled, including with my harness which was clipped onto the mast. In the seconds of chaos I had to remain calm, a wrong move could have flipped me overboard or worse, strangled me at the mast. So I decided on lowering the halyard to spill the wind and help prevent the jagged pole ends from ripping the sail. The sail sheets were attached back in the cockpit so no chance of loosening them, I was wrapped up at the base of the mast anyway. Having freed myself from the tangled mess I ran back to the cockpit to release the sheets.
Having taken the better part of the morning the sail was saved along with many pieces of the pole, and myself. The sails metal parts on the corners were rinsed in a bucket of fresh water. I'd wait for a calm rain for a full rinse to conserve freshwater onboard.
Sargassum weed was beginning to increase. Attempting to navigate around the larger clumps was challenging but if I didn't, Southern light would get stuck. A few times she could not escape on her own which meant firing up the engine to try and power through or reversing to go around. The sargasso sea must have been a nightmare for old sailing ships without an engine!
Man o War also started showing up at this point.
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Sargassum weed was beginning to increase. Attempting to navigate around the larger clumps was challenging but if I didn't, Southern light would get stuck. A few times she could not escape on her own which meant firing up the engine to try and power through or reversing to go around. The sargasso sea must have been a nightmare for old sailing ships without an engine!
Man o War also started showing up at this point.
back
paulsedwick.com main page
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