A Long Three Days

It has been a long three days as I've chased down electronic gremlins on the boat and spent a lot of time becoming more intimately acquainted with my Hydrovane windvane system. I actually found one of the gremlins and restored the wind instrument, but the autopilot and the chartplotter are still out. I miss the autopilot more but I also miss seeing the little boat icon on my chartplotter moving across the Atlantic.

My new relationship with my windvane has finally blossomed. I had just installed the unit prior to leaving Newport for the passage to Plymouth as it seemed a sensible precaution in case my autopilot ever walked out on me, though I didn't think she really would. We've been together five years and thoughlshe did fail once that was at the mooring and was quickly remedied. A prudent mariner would of course have used the transatlantic passage to become an expert on sailing the boat with a windvane. Those were certainly my intentions and I guess the passage over was a watery road paved with good intentions. To be sure, I did master the basics and used the unit a number of times on the trip but never in challenging conditions or overnight. Unfortunately, it was cold, cold, cold on the way over and the autopilot didn't mind the cold, or maybe she did and that's why she left. There was also plenty of work to do as the transatlantic to Plymouth was my shakedown for the OSTAR and there were also three of us on board so sleep and conversation often took precedence. Now, suddenly, I need the windvane steering and she has given me a bit of the cold shoulder and made me work for my education. I've been learning how to use the windvane in conditions ranging from 6 knots to 40 knots; okay the 40 was a quick gust, but 35 sustained. As the saying goes, I think this is the beginning of a beautifull frinedship. I should thank Marco for his colorful and very clear discussion of sailing downwind with a windvane which was forwarded to me by a friend. I would say it was very helpful if I had not read it four hours After spending the morning in the rain learning the hard way!

A friend of mine has what he calls Joe's Cascading Cluser of Events Rule. I'm sure we are all familiar with the concept, you get a call from an old friend to get together for a drink and the next thing you know its three o'clock in the morning, the two of you have decided to go into business together on a theme restaurant and your can't remember where you left your car. Well, not exactly but events can take on a life of their own and lead to quite the clusterfumble. Last night the wind died and the main was slapping around and making horrible noises. The head sail tried to join the cacophony until I rolled it up and went to sleep. It was obvious that the Spinnaker Pole needed to be set to give a little stability to the rig in the very light air and stop the Genoa from collapsing but it was dark and raining and -actually I've forgotten my other reasons for procrastination but they were compelling. Therefore, being no slouch I was on deck at first light to set the pole. It was then that I noticed that one of the mainsail cars was missing one of its screw attaching it to the track part of the car, no doubt a casualty of all the slapping around. I could also see another unit halfway up the sail that had a screw which had backed halfway out, so it seemed advisable to lower the main completely and check and tighten all the hardware, particularly as the wind was still so light. I dropped the main and enthusiastically dived into this project, so enthusiastically in fact that I didn't' realize that the mainsail halyard had gotten wrapped around the spreaders. Fortunately, I did see it before I tried to lift one of the spreaders off the mast, but freeing it was a ridiculously time consuming process. It was hard to take much satisfaction from this morning's work as the boat was essentially standing still half the morning and I still hadn't gotten the spinnaker pole set. I did then proceed to set up the spinnaker pole and pole out the Genoa. I would tell you how that job went, including the little snafu with the up-haul / down-haul lines that set the pole on the mast, and how long the job took but you would have to beat it out of me first. However, when I was sipping my (very late) morning tea shortly after finishing I noticed the wind pipe up and we were going swiftly and smoothly in the right direction. Sweet!

So as I sit here contemplating the past three days when Rubicon and I have proceeded at what has been a painfully slow pace for the conditions, and thinking that we're into June and I'm still wearing long underwear and three layers of clothing and having hot oatmeal for breakfast, the thought occurs: what's wrong with this picture? Actually nothing, it's the OSTAR and I'm loving it.

Peter Bourke/Rubicon

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