Taking the plunge-Crossing the Pacific

Apologies for the delay in posting our blog.  The Internet in far flung places leaves a lot to be desired and in order to post photos, I need quick, reliable Internet which doesn't happen often in these wonderful destinations. I soldier on determinedly however and hope that someone out there is listening!

Nellie, our English Rose, hiding from the sun in early days

Helen's cheerful and positive nature and her willingness to help with every task on board has been a blessing. Thanks to you both, we will miss you.

Out and about and loving life.

Top Piece of the Gooseneck sheared right off...managed to put the bolt back into the bottom piece, lashed it into place and prayed for it to hold!

The boom is incredibly heavy and we were lucky that it didn't do any serious damage to the boat...not to mention to ourselves.

Daunting sight when you have 2 weeks between you and the closest bit of land!

 

Using binocs to keep a check on the boom from a safe vantage point!

The hard hat we found  in Panama came in handy while on watch out at sea....just in case the boom broke free once again!

On our final morning in the Galapagos , our sailing partners for the past 3 months, Chris and Helen, left Legend IV in order to make their way back to the UK  and the real world.

Chris and Helen have been a joy to have on board . Chris's wealth of sailing experience- he spent  19 years on a gap year sailing the world before settling down to become a meteorologist- has been invaluable in helping Al and I to get to know our new boat. 

As Chris and Helen boarded a ferry bound  eventually for snowy Devon, Legend IV lifted anchor and headed for the Marquesas...3000 miles away ..the longest single leg of our round the world trip .

On Legend I this trip took us 31 days but we remember it as being one of the most idyllic legs of our first circumnavigation and were looking forward to crossing the peaceful Pacific on our own once again.

So much for the peaceful Pacific!!! We are now 2 thirds of the way to the Marquesas ..12 days at sea ...and the blissful idyll we had anticipated has yet to materialise.

The main reason for the bursting of our self satisfied bubble, was the fact that the boom very rudely sheared right off the mast of our indestructible Oyster on our third day at sea.


We had been sailing along on a beautiful, steady beam reach, in rough seas but bright sunshine  and the next thing we knew, the boom  slammed down onto our bimini and proceeded to  ruin our day quite considerably.  

Any sailor will tell you that the collapse of the boom is a bit of a disaster and I know my clever book club friends are asking the obvious question... why didn't you turn back to get it repaired? Well in techno speak, it is almost as difficult to sail for 3 days into the wind without a mainsail as it is to sail for 2 weeks down wind. In addition, Eddie, our Oyster engineering guru, was already in the Marquesas and the chances of having it fixed in Galapagos were pretty much zero. 

So we surveyed the damage,  I manned up to the situation , Al did some marvellous jury rigging and we limped  on into the horizon.

How such a vital part of an almost new boat could fail is difficult to comprehend but after a flurry of emails, Oyster have been quick to arrange to have a new gooseneck sent by the manufacturer of the rig, Formula Marine,  to Tahiti  where hopefully it can be replaced without too much upheaval.

Needless to say, we have spent the last 10 days checking and rechecking the lashed boom and sailing slowly and carefully without our mainsail in order to get to the Marquesas without any further damage.

I must admit there were a few tears from me when it all looked like it was going pear shaped and the mean seas and rough weather we encountered for the first week after the accident had me entering the following comment in our log in the middle of the night...."OUR NEXT TRIP AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE IN A 747........FIRST CLASS! "