December 4, 2009

My dad made breakfast burritos this morning. The we went fishing again.
We didn't use the same lure because it broke when we lost the mahi mahi.
So we threw another in.

We got the parasailor back up after Poppy sewed in a new tack using the
webbing from a crotch strap that we weren't using.

We have not had a lot of wind again today so we averaged about 6 knots.
I we go at this rate it will take us 205 hours to get to St Lucia.

That was from Dan, this is from Nick Sr. I was speculating earlier
today about what this would be like if we weren't all pretty handy. A
brief rundown of the breakdowns and fixes during the last 48 hours:

1. Parasailor, tack ring wore through the webbing that attaches it to
the sail. Fix: appropriate the webbing from a crotch strap that wasn't
being used and sew onto the sail. Time: 2.5 hours. Tools required:
sail needles, 2 of which broke, sail makers palm to push the needle
through the sailcloth, and heavy thread.

2. Running lights: the running lights are protected from getting caught
by sheets for the regular sails, but the the Parasailor is rigged so far
forward that when the sheets go slack, they get under the running
lights, then the sail fills, the sheets snap taught, and several times
they have broken the lights off of their attachment and left them
dangling from their wires. Fix: rig a bungee cord to the Parasailor
guys to take up the slack, then rewire the lights (two times now) to
reconnect the wires that have been jerked loose. Time: 45 min each fix.
Tools required: pocket multi-tool, screw driver, and wire ties to
temporily reattach the lights.

3. Mainsail: small tear where the luff tape attaches to the sail. Time:
about 2 hours. Tools required: sail tape, spare sail cloth, sail
needles, sailmakers palm, and heavy thread.

4. Starter battery: The generator charges the house batteries, but does
not charge the starter battery. I had neglected to consider this until
yesterday when we tried to start the generator and discovered that the
starter battery was dead. Fix: remove one of the house batteries, bring
it to the engine room, fashion some jumper cables out of spare wire, and
jump start the main engine, which in turn charges the starter battery.
Time: about 1 hour. Tools required: multimeter, heavy gauge wire,
wrench.

5. Main saloon table: This is the fixed point that everybody grabs when
the boat heels. The force of all those people grabbling onto the table
eventually pulled out all the screws attaching the table to the cabin
sole. Fix: use some spare wood to fashion a cleat and make a stronger
attachment. Time: about 2 hours. Tools required: portable drill,
screwdriver, spare screws, etc.

6. Cabinet door in aft head: I fell against the door when a wave hit
while I was shaving and pulled the screws out of one of the hinges.
Fix: reattach the hinge with larger screws and epoxy glue. Time: about
an hour. Tools required: screwdriver, epoxy glue, spare screws.

I know this is getting boring, so I'll quit there, but you get the idea,
a handyman's dream cruise.