The Arabian Sea

Hi All

Saturday morning on the boat and at this stage we have been at sea for five into our sixth day. We are now out of the Gulf of Aden and into the Arabian Sea, a first for most of us on board. At the moment the wind is light enough blowing a quiet 6knts, progress is a bit slow but light winds bring a calm sea. Looking out across the water and a gentle swell there is nothing else to be seen except pockets of ripples  interspersed with patches of smooth rolling sea.

We took advantage of these conditions this morning to do a maintenance job our the furling mechanism on the head sail. A problem arose when the leech line on the sail snapped and the sail start to flap around. This motion caused the upper part of the furler to unscrew itself, sheer the treads and render the device useless. We hove to the yacht and I climbed the mast to have a closer look to see if anything could be done to rectify the problem. Unfortunately we will have to manage without it for the remainder of the trip. That is to not say that we have lost the use of the head sail itself, we will resort to using it as a hanked on sail. It will mean a little bit of fore-deck work for us(something I got quite accustomed to during the Clipper race) as the sail comes into and out of play as the wind dictates. We will raise and lower the sail rather than furl it around the fore-stay.

While I was up the mast Conor manned the safety lines, Jake did what ever he does in the engine room and Tish got busy in the galley, omelette’s for lunch, again, surprise surprise.

A quiet Saturday night lies ahead for the crew of ‘41, a movie night maybe, but no pubs clubs or discos. Then again the wind may have other ideas and the night may not be so quiet after all.

Where ever you are, what ever you’re doing, have a good weekend.

Derek