We were at 18’40.719′ N, 37’29.704′ W at 9 am this morning.
The GPS tells me I can pee like an adult dog in just over 1371 nm.
Yesterday started with great promise. The sun was shining and it looked like the waves may ease a bit.
But it was a deceptive plan to lull us into a false sense of security.
Looking at the stern of our boat, we realized that our radar arch had been damaged.
The dingy hangs off davits built into the radar arch and this is where the damage occurred.
The constant rocking and occasionally violent sideways motion had been shaking the dingy, hanging off the back, pretty bad.
The constant strain on the davits had caused the support pole between the two dingy anchor points to fracture.
The pole that joins the two davits at the furthest point had actually broken just after the weld.
The davit arms themselves are carrying the weight of the dingy, so we should not be at risk of loosing the dingy.
The cross member was just additional support and a great pole to hold onto when getting into and out of the dingy.
We had also used them to mount two solar panel on.
We jury rigged some warps (ropes) from the davits the main body of the radar arch. We added additional warps to hold the davits together and support the solar panels. We are confident that this will be fine until we get to the ‘other side’.
We will hopefully find an aluminum welder in Martinique to sort it out and the broken spinnaker pole.
Mary, on Escape Velocity, did warn me that cruising was just fixing your boat in exotic locations.
The rest of the day was fine, but the seas built instead of easing. By night fall, although the winds had not built much, the waves had.
A disturbance further North West must have stirred up the seas. The waves were not big or scary, they just seemed to hit the boat and bat it about uncomfortably. Sleeping with the humans on the sea berth was like trying to sleep on the ‘ghoster coaster’. For any non-Canadian’s that is a children’s roller coaster at Canada’s wonderland. It is far from scary, but does lift you up and over bumps and toss you side to side. A ride you have difficulty trying to sleep on.
We are in a little pool of sun shine this morning surrounded by rain clouds. What the day holds, we do not know.
Hoping to try and make our first bread, but we will see.
Like everything at sea, it all depends on the weather.
- SOA Day 10
