Don't expect any excitement, there wasn't any
The weather was as forecast, bloody awful, and we basically sat tight and spent the day on board.
I spent a great deal of time reviewing the various weather forecast sources and watching the real time observation days (known as actuals) and a good deal more time working out various passage plans
When the rain eased off, Rik and I set about repairing the damage to the mainsheet traveller...
Once removed, the extent of the problem became apparent. The cheese head screws that had been used as end stops have been gradually chewing their way into the traveller base plate and the gybe the other day was the last straw
A rummage through the engineering stores turned up a tube of glass reinforced plastic padding and some hardener so we mixed assume up and glooped it into the broken end cap
The end result wasn't elegant but it worked. We were able to reassemble the traveller on the track with a nearly full complement of ball bearings and...
It lives! It moves!
The bearings on the broken side can't recirculate anymore and we'll have to treat it with kid gloves - no gybing for starters - but we can trim the main properly which could turn out to be crucial if the wind veers into the West as some of the forecasts predict
After dinner, we prepared Erbas for sea taking into account the possibility that it could be quite a lively trip. As the sun sank slowly in the West it highlighted the clear break in the weather out over the North Sea
It doesn't look like moderating quickly enough to permit our hoped for first light departure but we'll see how things shape up in the morning
The weather was as forecast, bloody awful, and we basically sat tight and spent the day on board.
I spent a great deal of time reviewing the various weather forecast sources and watching the real time observation days (known as actuals) and a good deal more time working out various passage plans
When the rain eased off, Rik and I set about repairing the damage to the mainsheet traveller...
Once removed, the extent of the problem became apparent. The cheese head screws that had been used as end stops have been gradually chewing their way into the traveller base plate and the gybe the other day was the last straw
A rummage through the engineering stores turned up a tube of glass reinforced plastic padding and some hardener so we mixed assume up and glooped it into the broken end cap
The end result wasn't elegant but it worked. We were able to reassemble the traveller on the track with a nearly full complement of ball bearings and...
It lives! It moves!
The bearings on the broken side can't recirculate anymore and we'll have to treat it with kid gloves - no gybing for starters - but we can trim the main properly which could turn out to be crucial if the wind veers into the West as some of the forecasts predict
After dinner, we prepared Erbas for sea taking into account the possibility that it could be quite a lively trip. As the sun sank slowly in the West it highlighted the clear break in the weather out over the North Sea
It doesn't look like moderating quickly enough to permit our hoped for first light departure but we'll see how things shape up in the morning
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