Hove To
14 August 2017 | 260 Miles ESE Esperance, West Australia.
"Long told long last, soon told soon past" - part of sailing lore. Well this particular blow coming has been on the cards for nearly a week now so it is fitting that winds in excess of thirty knots average are expected to continue for the next two days. With the thought of minimising possible damage to L'Eau Commotion I have decided to heave to for the next couple of days. The rig decided is a totally stowed main and half furled staysail ( now on the forestay ) with both Port and starboard sheets tensioned and an additional sheet to maintain sail shape. Whilst the main is fully stowed there is quite an area of the lazy jack canvas which will act, sort of, like a trysail to give balanced windage fore and aft of the mast. The Windpilot is secured up out of the water and the wheel lashed a little to Port . I have put a mark on the chart so drift and rate can be established but the intention is to be fairly near the coast after a few days to take advantage of any eventual bac king winds. That's the theory anyway - let the experiment begin!