Its a sunny Saturday at sea, and all is well aboard Picton Castle as we settle back into our underway routine of watch-standing, meals, sleep, and time-off.
SHIPS WORK: Half day Saturday. The day started bright and sunny, but the wind gradually picked up throughout the afternoon and just after dusk the main topmast staysail parted from its sheet and had to be taken in quickly, sent down and a replacement dug out and bent on. The manila bolt rope had parted where it was spliced onto the clew, so ring and sheets detached themselves, thankfully without doing much damage to the sail itself. It seems the canvas rope cover had a small gap, allowing a short stretch of manila to weaken with years of exposure to sun and weather, and eventually to part in a gust.
BOUND FROM: Oranjestad, Aruba, Caribbean Sea
TOWARDS: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
TIME ZONE: GMT -3
NOON POSITION: 20°30.5’N /073°00.1’W
DAYS RUN: 156nm
PASSAGE DISTANCE RUN: 608nm
DISTANCE REMAINING: 1,552 nm
COURSE AND SPEED: East by North 1/4 North, Course made good 061° true, 5.2 knots
WIND: Wind Force 4, East South East
WEATHER: Hazy, 1/8 cloud cover, barometer 1020 millibars and steady, visibility good
SWELL HEIGHT & DIRECTION: East by South, 1 m
SAILS SET: Fore and main topmast staysails, inner jib, spanker
Spaghetti and watermelon for lunch