Reading: Not a lot, but a few pages of Swallowdale (Arthur Ransome)
Weather: Sunny and hot – 25oC, but one refreshing shower in the afternoon
Thought for the day: Why are sails so heavy?
Evening meal: Tortillas (home-cooked) with chicken, cheese, salsa and garlic and parsley sauce
Today was a work day. The sails all need to be changed to the old ones. Because we are expecting to have consistent trades of around 20 knots from astern they want to use the old sails. In particular the Doldrums are a calm and variable area, so it is likely that we will sit there with sails slatting praying for wind and the wear and tear on the sails is likely to be significant.
So, how difficult could it be – change a staysail, mizzen and main? Turns out quite difficult …. The weight of the sails meant that we had to hoist them into place, everything has to be laced round the gaffs, all the newer sails needed folding and all the fittings are ‘chunky’ – nothing is straightforward and took quite a bit of teamwork to get it done.
Interspersed with this activity was some time as a human chain. Jet and Erik headed off in their hire car twice to the cash and carry. Their return was heralded by the sound of a hire car bouncing along on its bump stops. The human chain passed crate after crate of food along the deck and down the hatches; fruit, limes (good to know we won’t get scurvy!), sweet potatoes, carrots (lots and lots of them), eggs, bananas …. the list goes on.
The evening beer and crisps has rarely been better received.
