Captain's Log

November 5, 2002

Hello all,
 
OK, time to tell the whole story of what happened when the spinnaker halyard broke 2 days ago....... well apart from what I mentioned there was one other thing, the bowsprit was torn off, dragged under the bow and made a pretty good mess of everything. I did not want my fellow competitors feeling sorry for me, ( not likely ) or taking advantage of the situation, ( most likely ) so until now I have kept quite.
 
Why, well Humpty Dumpty is back together again and I am again flying the big spinnakers.
 
Here is a little of what it took to put the pole back. First the port arm that supports the pole was cracked and needed repair. So some epoxy, 3M 5200, little bit of Dacron sticky back tape and a generous supply of electrical tape and it sounds and looks secure. Time will tell. Now to put it back. My bowsprit is 6 feet long and is attached in 3 places, not easy to attach at the dock sometimes with 2 people, but at sea alone. Well that's why were are out here to try and solve some different problems than those presented on land. The apparatus involved a masthead halyard, trip lines, attaching one side and controlling it all with the tack line. 2 attempts and 1 hour later all back in place. I have just finished the final adjustment by hoisting the Code 2 Velocity spinnaker, its big and then with the load on the windward arm I could tighten the leeward arm that was slack.
 
So back at full speed, in this light air patch while I attempt to catch up with Derek, who is really sailed well the past 2 days and John Dennis who has come in from the back of the pack to re join. Well done John. Kojiro is stuck in the light and Tim is on a westward flyer.
 
Regards,
 
Alan