Last night

Yesterday, we left Pier Salvador marina at about 14h15 local time (13h15 Mtl) to take the sea and head for Jacaré. A strong swell was waiting for us outside de bay and we had to tack for part of the evening. About twenty nautical miles out in a moonless night, we heard a first bang. It was a pulley that held the rope for the reefing-furling system which we had bought the day before that broke. So we tied the rope somewhere else and went on for another 10 miles. Just as the wind was more favorable and we could open up the sails some and stop tacking, we heard a second bang. It was Gaston’s turn at watch so I heard him say from my comfy bed: «Lizanne, I think the fore-stay broke». So I jumped out of bed and went on deck to witness that the r-f system was swinging from side to side at the top. Thankfully, the halyards for the Genoa and the Spinnaker (the later being tied to the front balcony) kept the mass from falling backwards. We had the 135% Genoa up so we were praying that we could manage to roll it up without the sail ripping. Again, we had some luck and it folded very easily. The r-f system was only staying up because of the Genoa halyard so we tightened the sheets as much as possible to stop it from moving from side to side. We were afraid that the movement would create ragging that would eventually cut the rope. We backed up the Spinnaker halyard buy adding the spare one to the bow. Did I mention the swell? It was about 2 meters high and made everything shake. After starting up the engine, we headed back to Salvador. On the way, the engine made a choking sound and then started up again. A bit later, it did the same thing. And a bit further, the same again. Great! Not exactly great timing considering we only have the main sail up and we can’t pull it in too much. Finally, it stops! Dammit! Turns out the diesel filter was clogged. So Gaston armed with a frontal light in a night as dark as hell had to go change the filter with is head upside down in the back storage compartment (it’s about 2 in the morning). Just to add to the stress because if you are in this type of situation, why not live it to the fullest, we have a cargo ship in front and reefs on our port. After we managed to bleed the circuit, the engine finally started up again. We arrived at the marina at 6h30 in the morning. After a couple hours of sleep, we took down the r-f system, removed the sail from it and took it apart. Gaston also went up the mass to take down the leftover part from the fore-stay. So the fore-stay was cleanly cut right under the tip in which it was inserted with pressure. We lost the wrapstop of the r-f system which is probably having a swim with the fishes about now. We also have a broken half bearing on the reefing system. We think all of this was caused because the way the fore-stay was attached was not flexible enough. We will remedy this in the next installation. Unfortunately, none of the parts are available in Brazil. We will have to order them from Canada. Please join us in praying that the Customs Gods will let the parts go without costing too much. Oh yes, as if we didn’t have enough broken parts for one day, I had to save a wooden step from our outside bath ladder which fell in the clear (NOT!) waters of the marina. We are exhausted... Boa noite!