25 February 2020 | Scarborough Marina, Brisbane
21 February 2020 | 59 Miles To Go
20 February 2020 | 114 Miles East Of Australia
19 February 2020 | 220 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
19 February 2020 | 262 Miles To Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 304 Miles East Of Gold Coast Seaway
18 February 2020 | 328 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
17 February 2020 | 423 Miles To Go
16 February 2020 | 505 Miles East Of The Gold Coast
15 February 2020 | 617 Miles To Go
14 February 2020 | 755 Miles To Go
13 February 2020 | 888 Miles To The Gold Coast
12 February 2020 | 1032 Miles To The Gold Coast
11 February 2020 | 580 Miles North Of The Waikato
11 February 2020 | 1167 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1300 Miles To Home
10 February 2020 | 1309 Miles To The Gold Coast
09 February 2020 | 1460 Miles To The Gold Coast Seaway
Poor Seamanship
31 October 2017 | 1470 Miles to Hierro
6:00pm Tuesday 31st October 2017 ( UTC-2 ) Soon after breakfast I was checking positions and course information on the chart plotter when I noticed the yacht starting to heel and gather pace. A solid rain front was approaching so I started to put on the harness and by the time this was done the autopilot was overwhelmed, the boat rounding up and the asymmetrical starting to flog violently. By the time I had disconnected the autopilot and established downwind the asymmetrical was in shreds and nothing to do but furl up the pieces and take down the sail. Yes it was nice making good way in four to five knots of wind but it is so well known in this area it is almost a cliche that violent gusts from these downpours can spring up on very short notice so the seaman like thing to do would be to only use the sail when no thunderstorms were likely. I am certain it is beyond me to sew up the pieces - even if I could find them all! The full main was up and rigged with downhaul and preventers so no worry of a gybe. I have included a picture of the re rigged boom vang for the more technically minded. You may be able to see the fractured wire rope which went down inside the rectangular sections - I have just put it there for comparison. It was on a single purchase - that is a two to one advantage - but have replaced it with the blue rope and two extra blocks so the advantage is now four to one. With only one area likely to wear it should go the distance and if not, easily accessible to re run the ropes. Barring the occasional downbursts - there were two other much milder occurrences with the main and jib up - the wind has been light but constant so still making good progress. I still have two spinnakers ( 3/4 oz. and 1 1/2oz. for the technically minded ) so I guess once I have got over this particular stuff up I'll be giving a flutter. --------------080904080009090900070809--