We have a spinnaker halyard problem. We have severe chafe happening inside the mast. We were little upset two nights ago when we noticed severe chafing and thought we would need to send someone up the mast. By morning our thoughtful synergy brought us to the conclusion that we could cut the halyard and use the remainder since it is a 2:1 halyard and we could use it as a 1:1 until we finish. We did this and were back in business having lost yet another night of fast sailing by going wing and wing until we figured out the problem. One day later we discovered the same chafing on our 1:1. We cut the halyard again and then sleeved the area with a dyneema sleeve and lashed it on. The dyneema sleeve has also seen chafing but is holding. We do have options as we need our big headsails to get there sooner. I had bought a spare dyneema halyard and it is still in reserve. But tonight things will be changing. Forecast for the next two days are 17-20 knots with gusts into the high 20's. Swell 9-11 feet with 5-6 foot seas. A little rough and windy, so spinnaker in the hole and jib and Code 0 go to work. Food is holding and Tania is working magic keeping everyone happy with good meals. We are back to being obsessed with passing a few more people before the end of this thing. I am estimating Monday late arrival to Tuesday midday. Let's see what the weather gods bring us. I haven't been fishing since the middle of the Atlantic is like a desert and flying fish are like lizards on the rocks. There are just NO BIRDS or signs of life. We are now in the Sargasso sea and there are strings of the stuff all over. I snagged a piece and took a photo. We were wondering if flying fish are holding their breath when they fly. Who knows.

Wayne