Lat: 2 48.011′ S
Lon: 99 41.247′ W

We are continuing to make westerly progress through the South Pacific with not another soul in sight. Even the birds are few and far between out here. Since we are in the southern hemisphere, it is getting dark fairly early (around 6 pm), which is strange since you are having the longest days of the year in the U.S. The trade winds have been light to moderate at around 10-20 knots from the south/southeast. All of this would seem to create conditions for a nice, peaceful passage, but that would be just too easy, wouldn’t it?

On Sunday we were sailing on a broad reach (wind coming from the aft quarter) using the mainsail and spinnaker when things got a little more interesting. I was doing dishes in the cockpit during my watch just before sunset when all of the sudden I heard a noise, looked up, and saw the mainsail drooped down over the bimini. Apparently the halyard that holds it up chafed completely through on metal at the top of the mast. Since night was approaching, Dallas and I quickly stowed the main in its cover and called it a day, but not before Dallas used the binoculars to take a look at the others halyards and noticed that the spinakker halyard appeared to be seriously chafing at the masthead as well. Needless to say, Dallas spent some time that evening contemplating how he was going to address these problems at the top of the mast. He mentioned that the author of a book he was reading suggested that when selecting a crew member, one should consider candidates’ abilities to go up the stick when out at sea. Dallas realized apprehensively that he was about to demonstrate his ability to do just that.

There was more work to be done before that could occur, though. Once again, it was on my watch, this time at 4:00 a.m. on Monday. I was reading just inside the cabin and noticed that Jupiter was no longer in sight and we appeared to be veering off course. I stepped into the cockpit, looked up, and sure enough, we had no sails up and were dead in the water! Fortunately Dallas had warned that the spinnaker might fall during the night (as a result of chafing), so I wasn’t surprised. I just woke Dallas up, and he and I got to the business of dragging the spinnaker out of the water. We then put the jib out and got right back on course.

I managed to get a few hours of sleep before Dallas woke me up on Monday morning so that I could assist with his first trip up the mast. Wes winched him up, Tiff tailed the line, and I kept tension on the two lines that Dallas took up with him (as well as keeping an eye on Dallas!). Fortunately the wind was light and the seas calm, but Dallas reported that it felt as though the boat was pitching considerably as he straddled the top of the 49′ stick. After 10 minutes or so, he had managed to move a block from the port to the starboard side (since we will most likely fly the spinnaker on a port tack all the way to the Marquesas) and had run the new spinnaker halyard up the outside of the mast (rather than the inside) to prevent chafe. He came down queasy and with more chafe to speak of–this time on the inside of his legs (ouch!). After a brief rest and some lunch, he was back at it again. He had me roll in the jib while he put the spinnaker up. At that point, I went for a rest of my own and got up to hear the crew taking the spinnaker down again! Apparently the wind clocked around to forward of the beam, so what we really needed was the mainsail…

Since all of the other halyards were in use or chafed through, Dallas ran a line up the mast on his first trip up that served as a temporary topping lift so that he could use the regular topping lift (the line that extends from the end of the boom to the top of the mast and back that holds the boom up) to get him up the mast for yet a second time on Monday. Once again the winds were light, and I was able to winch him up with only a little bit of miscommunication. Within an hour or so he had added a block to the masthead, used it to run the main halyard, come down from the mast in one piece, and put the mainsail back up. I’m getting tired just thinking about it!

Today has been much more relaxed and care-free by comparison. We aren’t quite going fast enough to make up for the lack of progress yesterday, but we are currently sailing at about 5 knots on a broad reach using the main and jib. It is comforting to know that we have full use of our sails again, especially since we are ever so reluctant to use the motors. I did turn on an engine for an hour this morning only because our battery capacity was at an all-time low.

Speaking of battery capacity, it seems that we are officially without refrigeration for the rest of this passage. We just don’t have the juice, although at this point, it is not a major loss since we have eaten up all our fresh produce and have only a bit of cheese and some condiments to chill. (Incidentally, many items such as condiments do not HAVE to be refrigerated. Surprisingly even mayo will keep at room temperature as long as you don’t put bacteria-laden utensils in the jar.) We will miss having ice as well. Oh, and we ate up the last of the bread from the Galapagos today. Do you feel sorry for us yet? Ha ha. Never fear. We are still eating well and even had some assistance from the guys in getting supper ready tonight. Wes and Tiff did the dishes, while I assisted Dallas with a potato dish that he came up with. We steamed the potatoes in salt water to conserve fresh water, and they turned out really well, as did the dish in general. Hopefully the limited resources in the galley will continue to elicit creativity.