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The Weather forecast on our route
Little Hampton-Portmouth, Monday July 30 2001.
Ton, Jeroen's father, had called that he would be arriving in Portmouth on Tuesday, so we left early again, also to take maximum advantage of the tide, as the wind was expected to be very light like the past days. However, once away from the coast, there was a bit of wind that carried us away fast. We had to tack through the Looe, a narrow opening in the shoals near selsey bill and the sea was a bit rough with the tide against the wind, combined with the shallow water. After passing it I found that our port spreader (an essential part of the rig) was dangling down! A spreader is needed to support the mast and if it comes loose, there is a serious risk of loosing the mast! We reduced sail by rolling in the jib and while Mira tried to avoid the waves, I climbed the mast (thank God we have mast steps) and provisionally fixed the spreader to the (broken) bracket. I was really surprised about what had gone wrong as I checked the whole mast before we left, replaced the bolts through the mast and had not found anything strange with the brackets.
With the provisional repair we sailed towards Portsmouth and to a big posh marina where a rigger had a look at the problem. We would have to lower the mast, have it fixed and put up the mast again. This would cost us a few days and a few hundred pounds Disillusioned we anchored in the Portsmouth bay, near Hardway Sailing Club, where we saw a hand operated derrick that looked suitable for lowering masts.
