We trundled SE yesterday, down wind, there was a big sea and wind. The wind has now backed and we’re heading more in the right direction again but pretty slowly.
I’ve been working on deck.
I spoke to Ertan earlier on the VHF he was close at the time, he was knocked down 3 times yesterday in the wind and sea and his steering gear has been washed away, he’s heading for Flores in the Azores to make repairs and sort things out.
I have had the lower half of the dinghy mast (it’s in two halves which slide together) secured vertically but the top of it is too high to reach so it has to come down to put the top half in and it’s quite tricky to get vertical. I was about to try putting it all together with the sail but am not convinced that it’s going to be practical which is a pity because it’s a much taller rig than if I use the boom and or spinnaker pole. The forecast is for more wind later and it’s picking up at the moment, I don’t want to wreck what I have with a blow coming on. When I tried the sail was trying to fill, whilst still horizontal above the cockpit, I can’t roll it around the mast, or rather I can’t twist the mast because of the lashings I have to hold it upright. As I’ve a fair bit of ocean to cover I need to rig something that I can change with the changing wind without too much hassle. I’m thinking about it again but suspect I’ll end up using the boom as a mast and try to get the storm tri and storm jib rigged on it, these I should be able to get up and down as the wind changes without needing to dance on deck so much and the sails are more robust, the laser sail won’t withstand much.
More later.