18.38.30 N
033.19.15 W
1840
15.09.08
s/y safari
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lost the main halyard. so we had up the mast, latest version. ouch.
12 knots of wind. at first we were broadsides and i went off to one side. no good. i spun around the shroud like a top. and was at one point starting to become concerned. i was spinning spinning and holding onto the shroud, my leg got wrapped in one of the spectra lines. i stopped myself. good thing to avoid a compound radial fracture out here. we went head to wind, and i'm not convinced it was for the best, though that did decrease the lateral movement. i'm starting to think that the actual correct way is to head in the direction of the waves and thusly therefore minimize the bouncy bouncy. i have been debating whether to include photos of the bruising. as i'm up there in the bosun chair, the boat moves and i pendulum. is that a verb? and slam into a shroud, the mast, some spreaders. solution: wrap legs around mast and hold on for dear life. keeping in mind we're now looking at approximately 70' above the boat. the plan: simply, send a fishing line down the hole at the top of the mast. it's weighted with a shackle pin. then, simply tie the halyard onto the mousing line (fishing line) and haul away. through the block, down to the mainsail, back up the mast and tie a big snubber knot in the top, and everything will be hunky dory. oh yes, and don't forget to cut the end of the 'old' halyard off of the keeper pin on the top of the mast. and don't cut the topping lift by accident. that's what's holding whoever volunteered for this little gig. what was that about how a volunteer is someone who misunderstood the question?
subtract steps 3-7 and add 10 minutes for each 3 knots above, say, whatever becalmed might be (around 3-4 knots of wind). i'm pretty sure i was up there for actually about half an hour. considerably more than the 10 minutes i'd hoped to have spent accomplishing this task. the dental floss or fishing line or whatever it was skipped off the wheel at the top of the mast. i thought i was clever when i wrapped a wee bit of it around the arm of my sunglasses and stuck it in there to get it back in place. no avail.
i did manage to bang my shin on something spectacular on the way down. i think on a high tension stainless steel cable. more like getting hit with an iron bar. great. the bruising is a little owie, still. i'll be more philosophical when i know that there's no real or lasting damage. fortunately i have acquired more than one owie to fixate on. thirsty.
the bruising promises to be quite fabulous. and i am strangely hoping for light airs. this time some actual light airs. so that i can get up there and complete the task.
different boat. this does, however, give a good idea about
the location of the task at hand.
russ went up for a couple minutes, managed to get most of the way up before letting go of the mast. he swung pretty much all the way around the mast and cranked his back and shoulder into one of the spreaders. time to come down. it was, i think, a bad idea for him to go up there. at one point i told him i thought it was my responsibility to tell him that i wouldn't climb on the knot he'd tied in the topping lift. the last thing i need is some sloppy knot tier falling 70' to the deck of our boat and getting hurt. and since he's the skipper, it'd be great if he didn't profoundly hurt himself.
i'd happily wait a few days before going back up there. it hurts when i walk. my leg sucks. no more pushups and no more situps until this feels like it's definitely going to be not a problem.
