“We’ve got to lower the Fore”
30 April 2014 | Antigua
Monk
A sharp crack, and a throatier pop emanated from the foremast—Jeremiah gave me the word, and the order was returned—bring it down. (And while you’re at it, put a second reef in the main!) All hands leapt to and in short order the foresail was furled, the main double reefed. One would think the crew were old hands at this sort of thing—well done indeed. Retired from the race, we altered course for the beam reach back to home base.
At the dock all gathered around the fore. Seth, Captain of Adventuress, took a look and asked what he was looking at. There did not appear to be much—a few surface cracks in the paint. One Tack Ted insisted there had been a sound vibration most unnatural emanating from the mast. So off came the winch, followed by the wooden winch base—et Voilá—the most noticeable perforation since single sheet toilet paper. Between the screws affixing the base to the mast, and the ones performing the same function for the winch itself, a nice series of evenly spaced voids connected one side of the mast to the other. Talking the examination further, our collective Holmesian intellects considered viewing the state of affairs lurking behind the other two winches. And Lo! Holes Galore! And Rot Too! The ol’ book and cover dilemma…or as is said in the Navy, putty and paint will make good what ain’t (‘cept this time the putty and paint d’ain’t!) In this case, there was no hiding the state of affairs that something was rotten in Denmark—or at least in German Spruce. But what to do, what to do?
Michael and Teddy return the next day brimming with enthusiasm…rot begone! Cut it out, glue in new wood, wrap with carbon fiber…all the supplies are onboard. Just like old time…but wait, on the rethink…how about a new base all together. And so it was decided. Jerry, the proprietor of Chippy’s Woodworks, came by for his own assessment. They have the Fir, they have the talent, they have the time…done deal. At least, they’ll have the time and talent when Race Week is over. In the meantime we’ve pulled the mast at Bailey’s Boat Yard (which is next to the Catamanan Marina run by Helen Bailey, next to the Bailey’s Hotel, across the street from Bailey’s Market…hmmm, I sense a trend). If Jeremiah had a little more melanin in his skin he too could be part of the several enterprises!
So here Mistress sits at the Cat Club, right where she was in ’03, having done what was being done back then--fixin’ stuff. The inverter is in the shop, the tiller for the outboard had arrived—the local outboard shop will have it for action tomorrow, the mainmast crack is fixed, the sail track reglued, the main reattached…progress is being made. Just have to wait for the fore to be fixed and we are a proper Schooner again. Till then, you’ll find us a fixture here in Falmouth.