Again a sunny sailing morning. A little less wind than yesterday though. Pablo, Mita and Llu�s were today's sailors. After showing them around we left the marina around 11:40am. Motoring out of the marina the engine felt a little more responsive than yesterday (or maybe the wind was just a bit more collaborative). We tacked up and down in front of Badalona and I had the opportunity to test my GPS-laptop interface (see previous post). This picture is the trip's trace from Maxsea. Colors indicate over-ground speed. There was just a gentle breeze and the maximum speed we achieved was just under 5 knots. I didn't manage to get the mainsail trimmed well enough because apparently the topping lift was stuck up at the mast top and it kept the boom just a bit too high. Somebody will have to go up the mast and have a look. We had a few beers and a laugh and after two hours of sailing the wind dropped to a light breeze and we headed back for the marina. Pablo showed his radio skills calling the Badalona Marina on VHF channel 9 and requesting assistance at the berth.
After a perfect mooring Llu�s insisted on climbing up the mast (he's a mountain guy). Pablo and I assisted in the operation raising him by means of the main halyard. Llu�s took some pretty impressive pictures from up there and provisionally fixed the problem with the topping lift that had slipped out of its pulley and got completely stuck. I will have to replace that pulley as soon as possible.