If you are in the Seattle area...
Chris Tutmark and I will be giving a talk on our Transat experiences on Friday, January 22nd at CYC: Mini Presentation
Moments from Dismasting
It was dark, and I was sailing upwind towards the Canary Islands. I had been doing a lot of driving because the autopilot seemed to think that the best way to go upwind was to find the biggest wave and jump off it, sending the boat crashing down with great force. I decided to take some time off from driving and make some hot tea and was down below when the boat had another one of its epic crashes. I scrambled up to check that everything was ok, and, in the light from my head lamp, saw the mast moving on the deck. It took a moment for the reality of the situation to sink in: the mast base was not attached to the deck. All four bolts holding the plate to the deck had broken. I quickly dropped the halyards then I sat in the darkness and contemplated my problem. Leg 2 of the Transat was not getting off to a great start. It looked as if I was going to have to jury-rig it and sail slowly to the Canaries for repair. I had already lost a lot of time with a stop-over in Porto, Portugal on Leg 1. The last thing I wanted was to stop in this leg as well.
After some time I decided on a repair. First I used some line and a winch to pull it back in place then I lashed the mast base back in place to some pad-eyes on the deck. This was a good start but wouldn’t do as a long term solution. I then took the power drill and put it in a large plastic bag to protect it from the water breaking over the boat. The front of the plate still had some metal exposed in front of the mast. I drilled through into the deck and the structure and managed to drive in the biggest screws I could find on the boat. I then went inside and pulled out the broken bolts. I backed the nuts off a little bit to make them longer, added thickened epoxy in the holes, and drove the bolts back in with a winch handle, hoping that they would glue back into the fitting on the deck. The mast now seemed stable.
I set sail again with 2 reefs and a reefed jib all night, wondering if the mast would hold. In the morning there was no new sign of movement and I was hopeful, although aware that my repairs would have to last another 3000 strenuous miles, with upwind banging and big broaches.
Later that day the wind started to drop and I had an opportunity to start on the next phase of the repair. I took G10 plate (epoxy glass fiber plate, very strong stuff) and cut it into strips with a hacksaw. This took about 3 hours and almost all my blades. I then laminated the G10 strips to the deck around the mast base to create a fence around it. At this stage I had done everything I could and decided to sail on without stopping. I had lost time and miles but I was happy to have come up with a solution that would hold for the remaining miles and that had kept me in the race. It felt good to still be sailing, although I would be concerned about the mast for the rest of the race.
2009 Mini Transat Completed
The
Transat is over. It has been a long journey from the initial
idea to completion, and I would like to thank everyone who
has helped me out and supported me along the way.
The second leg was long and hard. Part of the Transat is overcoming adversity and getting to the finish line, and I encountered more problems than I ever expected in getting there.
We started the second leg in upwind conditions to the Canaries with no trade winds in sight, which is very unusual for that time of year. Skyweb Express is fast upwind, so the conditions were good for me. It was not long after the start when I was faced with my first major challenge, however. On the 3rd night out the mast base broke loose from the deck and almost resulted in Skyweb Express dismasting. I managed to find a solution, but was cautious about pushing too hard for a while after that.
From the Canaries to the Verdes we were in the traditional trade winds, but while pushing hard in these downwind conditions, under code 0 and autopilot, I broke the spinnaker pole. I had 2 poles with me and so could recover completely but needed to be careful not to do that a second time. I had a good crossing at the doldrums and made up some places, but got caught out by SW winds exiting the doldrums which posed a routing problem that I had not prepared for.
The last section reaching to Brazil was challenging since the Zero (and Skyweb Express is a Zero) is slower in these conditions that the more powerful series boats like the Pogo 2. This was aggravated by losing the starboard rudder again, 400 miles from Salvador.
I completed the Transat, which was my primary goal. Along the way, I have also made many friends, learned a lot, and experienced a challenge and a race that is unique.