First thing first: If you've been following the wider race, you may have
seen that a boat diverted to Hobart because a crew member suffered some
broken ribs. After yesterday's post mentioning a winch in the ribs, I want
to be clear that wasn't me. Sounds like it wasn't hugely different though.
He just got a bigger wave. While there's a bit emphasis on safety here, it
is tough, physical, and unpredictable. Still, I think it's probably on a
par with the rugby I've been playing for years.
On a happier note, it looks like our boat isn't in as bad shape as it
looked last post. The vang is repaired. We've come up with another kludge
for the main that seems to be working well. And we're flying our Yankee
from a spinnaker halyard, which isn't ideal, but it works. Again, a lot of
jargon, but you shoudl get the generally positive picture.
When I say "we" came up with a fix for the main, credit really goes to
Nick, sometimes called "Nickgyver" for his ability to improvise solutions
to all kinds of issues. He's a former design consultant, and at one point
he took me through a list of the huge range of products he worked on. You
can see that creativity at work here.
The sailing has been good. Today, we sighted Tasmania and rounded Great
Mewstone Rock, the major mark in the race. We actually had some warm and
sunny conditions and a very relaxed sail downwind for much of the day.
The Tasmanian coat, aside from being a nice sign of progress, made for
some pretty amazing scenery, mixing it up a bit after days and days of
ocean. We almost got the kite up again, but then the wind shifted, and now
we're headed upwind again. We think it's going to be the 14th for Sydney,
and we might manage to reel in one or two of the boats in front of us on
the way.
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