Remember a few posts back when I talked about not being able to set the sails for downwind sailing? Well the picture above explains it.
About forty minutes after taking down the sails and starting the engine, I was sitting there watching the scenery as we made our way to Jost Van Dyke, when this clanking noise made it's way into my conciseness. What the hell is that?!? That does not sound good!?! Well it wasn't! Part of our brand new standing rigging had come apart. The good news is that we did not have any sail up, so there was no damage. But it meant for the rest of the trip we would be motoring until we could get it fixed. The only good news is that the rigging quickly got wrapped around the lines and stopped clanking!
I took a picture and emailed to the rigger in Puerto Rico with the title 'Houston We Have A Problem'. I could not send the message until we got close to the USVI (it's an AT&T thing), three hours later. Within minutes of sending the email, we got multiple calls, emails and texts --none of which we could immediately answer as we were arriving at our destination and were busying getting the boat secure. All said 'DO NOT SAIL THE BOAT' - well, duh ... Kristen even got a text on Barry's old phone, now she is calling to say 'DO NOT SAIL THE BOAT'!
When we finally got Smart Move secured, Barry called the rigger. He wanted us to call a local (BVI) rigger and have him look things over. We called Richardson and arranged to meet him at Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola in three days.
The problem and solutions were quickly (and from the deck of Smart Move) diagnosed - missing cotter pin. I think one of the most astonishing things about sailboats is that the parts of the boat that take the most load (the sails and by extension the rigging to hold up the sails) are held together with the smallest of parts - cotter pins! Actually, the cotter pins do not take the load, they just keep the turnbuckles from twisting their way out. But, without cotter pins you are really screwed! Both Barry and I knew what the problem was, we just did not have a way to go up the mast to fix it, the first spreader (where the rigging came loose) is around 18-20 feet off of the deck. A bosun chair that will enable Barry to lift me up the mast is a purchase in our near future!
Richardson got everything fixed quickly. We could leave in the morning ...