Ed and Lynne Kirwin out snorkeling
June 5, 2010 -
Saturday 1430hrs.
Things are
finally settling down and we are getting into our passage routine. We
left Chagos 2 days ago at 1000 hrs in the company of our friends on
‘Windbird’, with good wind but lumpy seas. By noon yesterday we
had sail 180nms and tacked on another 160nms by noon today. We are
flying with consistent winds of between 12 and 18kts on the beam.
Surprisingly, we have seen some traffic (3 freighters and a fishing
boat) which I would not have suspected in this part of the Indian
Ocean. Lynne is on watch right now and I’m headed for the bunk to
take a short nap.
June 6, 2010 –
Sunday 1500hrs.
Just when you
think all’s going well! At 1150hrs while sitting in the cockpit,
the headsail began to luff. At first I thought it was a wind shift so
I began to trim in the sail but the luffing didn’t stop. Going
forward, I looked up and saw that the head stay had parted. Yikes!
The sail and roller furling were still being held up by the jib
halyard and luckily we were able to roll in the headsail without any
difficulty. With the wind close to 20kts and with 6/7foot seas on the
beam, I watched the head stay swing back and forth thinking ‘how
long will it take for that motion to chafe through the halyard and
bring the whole rig crashing down?’. I took the jib sheets and
secured them to each side of the pulpit and then took one of my
spinnaker halyards and began to wrap it around the headsail from top
to bottom, securing it at the base. If the jib halyard failed, the
spinnaker halyard would still hold the sail and roller furling up. We
hoisted our small staysail and continued on our way. I radioed
‘Windbird’ to let them know what happened and that we were
sailing under reduced sail and to carry on.
June 10, 2010 –
Thursday 1400hrs.
The southeast
trades continue strong as we sail west by south. We reefed the
mainsail Monday afternoon as the winds picked up to 20/25kts. In
spite of a reefed main and tiny staysail, we have managed to average
150nms over the last 3 days. The ‘Windbirds’ are only about 40nms
ahead of us and could make Madagascar by Saturday. Hopefully, if the
winds hold out, we also will be over the top before dark on the same
day. The headsail halyard is still holding.
June 12, 2010 –
Saturday 2130hrs.
We are
anchored in a bay on the northwest tip of Madagascar
not far from
‘Windbird’ and although the wind is howling outside and the boat
is bouncing, we are grateful and lucky to be here. With very strong
winds and positive current, we closed on the Madagascar coast early
in the morning with a double reef in the main. We were averaging 7.5
to 8kts as the winds increased to 25/30kts. At a little after 0900,
we heard a loud noise and the boat shuddered. My first thought was
that the halyard had finally parted but when I checked, it was still
up. I looked along the deck and noticed 2 jerry jugs of fuel had
jumped off the cabin top where they had been lashed and were lying on
the deck, still tied. I went forward and replaced them. As I came
back into the cockpit Lynne was yelling to me that we had water
coming in. This type of thing is a sailor’s nightmare. With Lynne
franticly bailing I tried to find the source of the leak. I removed
the cushions from the starboard settee and removed 2 storage drawers.
I could hear the water coming in but could not see the source. I
removed a few more pieces of cabinetry and now could see the water
coming in through the hull. Every time the boat heeled over with the
press of the wind, an increased amount of water would gush in. The
wind increased to 30/35kts and began to clock, putting the wind more
to the stern. Lynne and the bilge pump were keeping the level of
inflow manageable as we turned towards the north. I had a small
amount of epoxy putty which works underwater so I mixed it and began
to apply it to the larger cracks and it started to reduce the flow
enough to allow Lynne and I to return topside. The winds by now had
reached gale force with gusts over 40kts and we were surfing down the
waves at 11kts, all the time being grateful that it was daylight and
that we were still afloat. As we came over the top of Madagascar
passing the lighthouse at the northern tip, the waves, which had
reached a height of 15 to18ft were diminishing. Now, with the land
protecting us from the huge seas, the incoming flow of water
lessened and the wind abated slightly. Still heeled over, we had
about 7nms to go before we reached a safe bay to anchor. The last
hurtle now was to take down the sails and motor dead into the wind
and into what appeared to be an ebbing tide. Pushing our little
Perkins diesel to the limit, we could only manage to do 1.2kts over
the bottom and it took us almost 2 hrs to make the last 2nms into the
bay. It was now 1630hrs and the sun was now low on the horizon.
I radioed Mark
and asked if he had any epoxy putty on board and he said he had a
small pack. With the sun going down and the wind blowing 25kts, we
launched the dinghy and I motored over to ‘Windbird’ to get the
epoxy. Unfortunately, it was a 5oz pack, like the one I had but every
little bit would help. I mixed it and sparingly applied it to the
most critical spots. The leak was now contained to a slight drip. We
could now relax a bit and think about some dinner. Lynne made some
chili and rice washed down with a nice glass of red wine; our first
drink in 9 days and 1450nms. Why and how I am able to stay awake is
beyond me but I’m fading fast.
June 14, 2010 –
Monday 2100hrs.
The last 2
days have been spent cleaning up. Just about everything that comes
onboard is stowed in ziplock bags. This is done for many reasons. The
1st is usually to keep it dry, the next is to help keep it
fresh, the 3rd is to keep anything getting into it and the
last is to stop anything from getting out of it. The automatic
assumption that every ziplock is air tight is no longer valid. It
seems that water is thinner than air, at least aboard a boat. Tools
and spare parts that I kept in the bilge carefully wrapped and bagged
were wet and rusty. Fortunately, most of the dry goods that Lynne had
stowed under the settee were fine but the packing was wet and
everything had to be rinsed in fresh water. I have tried to use
different sealants on the leak but nothing will stick. The wind
continues to blow at 20/25kts all day so I’m unable to get up the
mast to see what has actually happened to the head stay.
June 16, 2010 –
Wednesday 2115hrs.
We had the
opportunity to assess the damage done by the impact on the settee and
cabinets. We have no idea what we hit, other than the fact that it
was substantial and slightly submerged. The back of the settee has
been pushed out about 2 inches along with a piece of plywood that was
glassed in to separate the storage compartments. I was able to cut
away the old fiberglass and re-glass it back.
This morning
the wind was down to 5kts so at 0630 I was up the mast and much to my
surprise the forestay was fine; it was a fitting that goes through
the top of the mast (called a stem ball) made of solid stainless
steal that broke. The wind was back up a little before 0700 so down I
came. Then it was into the water before the waves started to pickup.
What I found was that we had hit whatever it was, a few feet forward
of the crack and as it moved along the hull it got caught in the
scupper drain hole and caused the damage. I then sawed off and fitted
a wooden bung into the scupper hole banged it in but it hasn’t
slowed the weeping.
June 18, 2010 –
Friday 1630hrs.
Yesterday at
0600 in almost no wind we unfurled the headsail and attempted to drop
it but it was fouled. Up the mast I went to find that a roller
furling extrusion had separated and had torn the sail. With my legs
wrapped around the head stay, I began to feed the luff into the slot
as Lynne pulled the sail down. As we were doing this the wind began
to build but we were able to get the sail on deck just as the wind
increased to almost 20 knots.
This morning I
was up the mast again at 0600, this time to work on the head stay.
Not having a spare stem ball fitting with an eye at the end, I used a
norseman fitting which I inserted through the top of the mast and
then screwed on a turn buckle fitting with an eye at the end. This
took some time and as the wind began to increase to 15kts and I began
to swing in the breeze, Lynne lowered me down. It was a bit longer
than the stem ball but I think it will work.
June 20, 2010 –
Sunday 2230hrs.
Back on board
after a great dinner on ‘Windbird’. Well the head stay is
secured. Yesterday morning, with Mark’s help we were able to bolt
the head stay on to the deck at a spot a bit further forward than
where the old one sat. Lynne had me up and down the mast 3 times and
by loosening the back stay and bringing the mast forward a bit and
tugging here and pushing there the clevis pin slipped in and it was
done. We tried to bend on the genoa this morning but it was too
windy. It will have to wait for another day. Tomorrow we will sail
south and begin our exploration of Madagascar. Hopefully, when we
reach Hellville to check in, there will be a place to haul out and do
some repairs.
In spite of
all the work projects, we did manage to get ashore on a few
occasions, thanks to Mark and Judy. This area is extremely remote
with few inhabitants. The terrain is harsh and worn by the weather.
From what we have seen, it is subsistence living for those who are
here. There are no roads and the only way to travel is by canoe or on
foot. Mark and Judy took us up a mangrove lined river in their dingy
which wound in all directions for miles. Sheltered from the strong
wind and bouncy sea, it was nice to meander slowly up the ever
narrowing river. From time to time we would see an empty canoe along
the shore and Zebu (the local cattle) grazing along the banks but not
much else. Leaving the dinghy, we would wander inland. It was great
to be on land and walk on solid ground.
We have done
as much as we could do here with what spare parts we had. We will
make a few more stops along the coast if everything holds together
and hopefully find a protected area with no wind so we can bend on
our other headsail.