2007-06-11

Now I'm not saying things are all roses out here, but compared to yesterday
it's been OK. Things have about stopped breaking for the moment. Well,
with the exception of the furler rope clutch, and we can work around that
easily. Karen suggested that the spinnaker halyard should be usable for the
staysail, and she was right. The direction of lead is a bit off, but
nothing's perfect, and we've been flying only the staysail almost all day,
so it's clearly good enough. Started out with half the jib in about 20
knots wind, but well before noon it was gusting to 30, so we tried the
staysail, it worked, and we haven't changed since. We're making almost 4
knots close reaching, and most of the time Sequester is climbing cleanly
over the seas. They've become more regular, about 12 feet but relatively
smooth, as the sea state matured, so only once in a while does one break on
deck now. I wish I'd made the storm covers for all the hatches, as I
planned to do a couple years ago. In these conditions all the hatches leak
a bit, so there are only a few dry places now. If we still don't have the
sense to quit this foolishness after this passage, I'll be making some
changes in the next few months. Need more handholds on the cabin top.
Especially with the new deck paint. The non-skid is more durable and easier
to clean than the old housepaint and sand we had before, but it's a lot
slicker. I really hate it. Did a LOT of work to make things worse!
Anyway, things are going well enough for us to both eat and sleep regularly,
and that's better. The weather guys all say it should drop to about 15
knots and swing west tomorrow. I hope they're right, but we take what comes
(not always with grace!) Time to sleep before my 2:00 AM watch starts. More
tomorrow, conditions permitting. Ted