Aug 02 2008
Latest sailing video leaves out the big story !
I just completed my fifth installment from our French Polynesia Flotilla in June. It covers the footage and still photos I have from our crossing, Raiatea to Bora Bora.
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Flotilla Crossing to Bora Bora
Those images, however, only tell part of the story. Here’s the rest:.
As we were heading out of the pass at Taha’a (actually) it looked like we had made a prudent decision to put a reef in the main. It was blowing consistently 17 or so and as soon as we cleared the island the full trade wind kicked in the mid 20’s. It would have been a real rip but the seas were quite confused and the predominant swell was pretty much beam to. Such that every now and then, the Belize 43 would slap up against the wall and create an impressive shower. We were having a blast ! The peak wind was around 26 and the apparent was in the 40’s yet the boat felt very much in control and we hung out around 8.5 to 8.9 knots of boat speed the entire time. Unlike a monohul, these big cats feel more like they are skipping along the top of the water instead of cutting through it.
All of a sudden there was a huge bang from overhead. I quickly scouted out the mast and shrouds to see what was coming down. Incredibly everything was there ! In an instant the reefed portion of the main blew out and full in the wind like a huge pillow – the reefing line itself had parted !#$ The boat wanted to head out of control downwind and directly down sea. We wrestled with her and got her up into the wind. I started the engine and we got the sail semi stowed. We were going to drop it but it was quite dangerous out of the cockpit and we really needed it for stability. We were about a 1/4 mile from where the land of BoraBora would block the brunt of the wind and so we limped up and around the corner under a sloppy main and jib with motor. I was exceptionally happy that it was not the mast and equally proud of how well Colin handled himself (and me) to calmly assess the situation and come up with the safest solution.Â
[...] Latest sailing video leaves out the big story !I started the engine and we got the sail semi stowed. We were going to drop it but it was quite dangerous out of the cockpit and we really needed it for stability. We were about a 1/4 mile from where the land of BoraBora would block the … [...]
Yikes – we blew a reefing line coming down on the outside of Baja and yes it was a loud “bang”, then uh oh, what was that? It of course happened at night too. Fixable however! You heading this way anytime soon?