EMERGENCY REPAIR IN CAPE VERDE
After leaving the Canary Islands on November 28th, Adventuress experienced strong 30 knot plus winds and ten to fifteen foot waves from the stern. Adventuress sailed at 7.5 knots but saw up to 9.5 knots when she rode a large swell. All was perfectly fine and under control. The sails were reefed and Adventuress easily handled the sea state.
On December 1 the autopilot stopped working and the rough seas did not allow them to recomission it. They headed to Cape Verde which was three days away. Hand steering is hard work downwind in a big sea so John changed the watch schedule to one hour on watch and three hours off. I was so glad I wasn't on Adventuress because I would not have had the strength to hold watch.
They arrived in Mindelo December 5 at 4am. Werner was on the bow with the search light looking for unlit buoys and the large wreck in the harbor. All went well and they anchored in a safe calm place. Werner and Dan commissioned the autopilot. It was a Happy Cappy who woke up from his nap to find out the autopilot was fixed so off they went on their voyage to St. Martin, only spending 10 hours in Mindelo.
Since then the sailing has been excellent. John reports this morning and I quote:
"1743 3232 Moving along as I start my 0400 two hour watch. Wind pressure and direction is inconsistent, ranging from 18 to 30 kts and ENE to E. But the sails are set to cope. We have one reef in the jib, and a tiny four reefed main. The cog at 280 degrees average is excellent. And our speed over ground average is impressive at 7.2 kts. Offshore, speed is not the objective: you set up the boat and sails to go as fast as you can Without Stressing the Rigging! If you break something racing around a course inshore then you boast about it at the yacht club. If you break something offshore, then you have a big problem on your hands – perhaps even life threatening.
Weather is fine with no rain and no squalls imminent. We use our long range radar to monitor this.
Dan has been catching us dinner: but that's a large understatement: gutting and cleaning a fish on his hands and knees on the cockpit floor as the ship bounces around is the really hard work. So last night we had tuna and yesterday afternoon we caught a small mahi mahi that is in the freezer."
End of quote.
My news is that John texted me several days ago that he missed me so much that he asked me to meet him in St. Martin and the two of us would sail to Punta Gorda. He was a very Happy Cappy when I said YES of course!
Prayers for a continued safe passage,
Nancy
