I had enough of thinking I was going slow so I dropped the sock on “Big” to stop the boat. But then I thought better and dropped the sock altogether. What a wonderful idea that was as can be seen on the picture. I’m amazed the halyard came down with no problem in the first place! The cover was completely chafed through So what next? Well, first thing first, let’s check that the debris on the keel is gone. GoPro goes back in the water and skipper takes another salt shower. But it would seem the keel is clean! Gotta put Big back to work now as sailing with just the mainsail is not fast, comfortable though. I remembered there was a spare halyard in the lines bag; it’s not as thick though, but it’s pink, and pink is strong. Just ask the Panther. I pulled up my messenger line, swapped halyards, and voilà Big is happy. Let’s hope that this new halyard will be strong enough. It looks in great condition. My guess is the chafe came from flying the small spinnaker but there may be something else as I should have noticed this when I hoisted Big last time. So the pink halyard will have to come down for inspection regularly, until I feel confident there’s no additional problem here. Let’s have a look, and see if I can repair the damaged halyard now. Well, I’m sure I can but I do want a Dyneema chafe sleeve on the last 6 feet. And I’m not sure I have enough of that … All that just in time for the stronger afternoon winds. Here’s to hoping the new halyard holds up!
what is the Big ? le génois ? (i don’t know the english terms)
I hope you have a supply of backup halyards!… Can you reverse this one? you know, End-for-End it?