Dis-boomed in the Atlantic Ocean

14.19.98N: 59.48.33W
They say that
things on a boat can go very wrong very quickly and we were no exception.
Yesterday afternoon 1845hrs we were enjoying the respite of a day without
squalls after three days pretty much non stop attacks. We were running the full
main to get maximum impact as the wind was circa 25 knots on the beam and a
little strong for the Trade Wind sail. A momentary
drift off course and rouge wave and the front of the boat was round to starboard
allowing the wind behind the sail and we started to stall and in involuntary
gybe as the wind forced us round, the boom preventer held but was complaining
under the strain so we decided to release it slowly, no sooner had we done this
the boat veered back to port slamming the boom across with devastating
consequences as it snapped clean in half. My assessment
of the situation was thus, the back have of the boom consisting of sharp
fragmented aluminium was now flogging side to side under considerable speed
proving quite an effective impaling weapon. Within seconds I had assessed the
priorities and dashed for the winch handle and asked colin to bear into the
wind. I rushed up front to quickly wind in the main sail as it was this that was
driving the force in the flogging main. That executed things started to calm
down a little and Michel and I untangled the severed boom and wrestled it to the
floor to secure it safely on deck. On next task
was to assess our option on completing the rest of the voyage to St Lucia.
Michel suggested a jury rig on the remaining boom allowing us to let out half
the mainsail so we could continue sailing. Given we were only now 190 miles from
our destination, I suggested that we use the remaining diesel to motor in as up
to that point we had motored only about 5 hours in the last three weeks so had
plenty of fuel left. This combined with the trade wind sail flown out front if
the wind abated would be fine to get us there. So that’s what we did, last night
we motored not easy in the following waves and this morning we managed about one
and a half hours under the trade wind sail before more squalls assaulted us and
we had to furl this in a desperate hurry before 30 knots of wind hit
us. In yesterdays
blog Ian suggested that we were done with squalls which when I read the blog I
thought was a brave statement as sure enough today they are back, another good
sailing tip don’t assume anything and one swallow does not a summer
make. So in
conclusion pretty gutted that after 2,700 miles we will have to limp over the
finish line under motor tonight but things could have been much worse. If the
aforementioned had occurred mid Atlantic we would have to been a lot more
inventive on solutions with insufficient fuel to complete the trip. Noone was
hurt and we live to fight another day, the damage is very repairable and have
already emailed ahead for an assessment on Monday morning so we can order the
parts from Selden and have them shipped, if they are in stock 7 days would be a
reasonable expectation, leaving just fitting. Two key
attributes for any sailor, resilience and resourcefulness, here’s to a peaceful
final 80 miles in and a welcome reception tonight |