Sunday 16th December 2012
Overnight, tried to get sailing but ended up heading ENE at 2-3kt in light SSEwinds.
6.30am Hove to on port tack at dawn, after gybing around, so that in the SE wind of 9kt, we were drifting SW, rather than NE! Set to, while hove-to in mercifully light conditions, to try to sort out genoa problems - both the 'wrap' and too little furling line on the drum. Took both sheets up to bow, having released furling line, and finally, with a lot of rotating of furler, to try to release wrongly furled portion of sail, and ravelling & unravelling and tying up of sheets, got the sail free and furled it up properly. Then I tied the sheets onto the furled sail so I could turn the furler several turns to put spare line on the drum and finally untied the sheets and lead them back to cockpit again... All OK now.....Phew!!
Still have problem with the windsteering to look at this morning - light winds are set to continue for a bit, with much-reduced seas, so I'll be able to see if there's anything I can achieve there, for the third time of trying - I have grave doubts, but we'll see. Presently, the rudder is stuck over to starboard and the 'tiller arm ' is swinging freely and I can't fix it in its usual centre position with a pin because the hole in it is not in its correct place due to the rudder misalignment.... and the nuts at each end of a bolt that clamps the rudder in place have been refusing to budge...
11.40am ALL FIXED!!! Unbelievably..... Tools are about to be stowed away but I'm celebrating success on both counts - especially the wind steering which I'd expected not to manage... but, with over three hours of effort, sitting out on the stern, vice grips and perseverance eventually won the day!!! (TG for my nice Dubarry seaboots - seas washed several times over them!) Festivities have started early on board 'Nereida'!!
We were finally able to sail away, under wind steering, from our hove-to position towards Cape Horn once more.... (ETA early in the New Year )
We're definitely into cooler conditions now - gone are the bare feet, as of today, and I've got my fleece layers out ready...! Cabin temperature is 23C and sea temperature is now down to 24C from 30C last Sunday.
24hr DMG at 3pm: 13 n.ml.! (We'd circled around since yesterday!) Cape Horn was 2442 n.ml. away & our nearest land, Easter Island, 460 n.ml. away to ENE, with Pitcairn Island 873 n.ml. to the WNW . Punta Galera, just S of Valdivia (Chile) is 2066 n.ml. to the ESE and New Zealand's East Cape (its closest point to us) is 3168 n.ml to the WSW.
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For positions, see:
www.svnereida.com
http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/
http://oceantracker.net?event=nereida