Sail Cutthroat

North to Alaska 2008 Series
15 June 2008
Lat N46.19.024
Lon W139.56.130

Now that we’re back in the wind…who aboard really remembers that we were becalmed for some 56 hours.   It’s totally amazing how quickly we forget the bad things and become excited about the present and future.  After our winds kicked back in, everyone’s attitude improved immediately.  And within a very short period of time, we were focused on the winds ahead, sail trim, speed, and wondering when our arrival to the Puget Sound would be…not to mention our next great meal.  We’re thinking Friday, but the weather files all indicate the winds become very light Thursday right offshore which may make our entry into Puget Sound a little slower.  So, we have a healthy degree of skepticism on our exact arrival.  In short, we’ll get there when we get there.  At right on 500 miles out it won’t be that long!
Today was a day of raising and lowering the genyker (the big ass sail).  The winds would wane and up it went.  Our foredeck crew suited up, hooked into the jacklines with their tethers and quickly and efficiently hoisted the sail and raised the sock.  Back in the cockpit, sheets were trimmed, the course was adjusted, and off we’d go at tremendous speeds with blue water rushing past.  It’s like unleashing some powerful force now moving with the seas.  This really is a big sail, alone it has more square feet than the rest of the three sails combined.
Anyway, we’d be off to the races careening along at mach speeds of 7.5 to 8.5 knots in relatively light winds of maybe 12 knots.  Storm clouds loomed around us most of the day and as they came close the winds would strengthen causing Cutthroat to suddenly come up into the wind, spilling all the wind and energy from big ass sail and ending in a thunderous noise.  These wind shifts were hard to anticipate for some unknown reason.  We have enough seasoned boat drivers aboard who were equally challenged by the sudden gusts.  All of a sudden the rail was in the water, and things I didn’t know were projectiles were flying around inside the boat.So when our fun meter was pegged and we saw no short term end to this, we’d bring down the genyker (big ass sail) and haul out the old genoa again.  Now, it takes much more effort and skill to bring B.A.S. (big ass sail) down in a stiff breeze.  It’s like trying to reign in a wild animal.  But our foredeck crew made it look simple each time as they quickly moved forward, and wrestled the sock back over the sail so it could be lowered, bagged the sail, cleaned up the area, and made ready to pull out the genoa.  Piece of cake!  Anyway, I think we went through this drill 5 or 6 times today - it was actually a lot of fun and got us doing “sailoring” things rather than staring at still water, flopping sails, and filthy fuel filters.

As we were enjoying dinner and contemplating taking down the B.A.S. (big ass sail) for the night, the winds let up enough to convince us that perhaps we should just fly her for the night (or until the next Chinese Fire Drill).  This was not to be, however, as Chuck saw a small tear in the sail - not too surprising after the day’s activities.  A real strange thing occurred twice as we were caught in these gusts.  As the wind exceeded 22 knots, the snap shackle attaching the sheet to the clew of the sail let go.  It didn’t break, but rather just came loose letting the sail go flying on it’s own which is probably why it got the tear in it to begin with.  I didn’t know that those shackles came with an immediate quick release option based on wind speed…how kewl is that?  So the sail is down until the morning when we’ll sew and tape her back to working order.  Unfortunately, she will be put on the light air duty roster for the remainder of this voyage.

Meanwhile, it’s getting colder with each passing day.  This is especially noticeable at night time.  Almost all of the Eisenglass panels are down, except with the cold it’s difficult to zip the back ones shut.  They were all zipped in Hawaii, but it was 85 degrees there.  Everything is having greater difficulty working in the cold - including me.

On that note, I’ll end this for the night.  All is well, we’re anxious to make landfall.  One of the other boats from Ko’Olina Marina left 10 days ahead of us and was scheduled to enter Juan de Fuca Straight late today, so we’re not doing too badly in our own right.  Hopefully, these winds will continue to sustain themselves and keep moving us towards a speedy and safe arrival into Puget Sound.

Love to all our friends and family!

Roger, Elise, Bob, Chuck, Pat and Paul…
s/v Cutthroat