4.17.18 @ 1700 Zulu Day #23 Latitude: 05°57 S Longitude: 136°141W Covered Distance Last 24 Hours: NM Distance to the Marquesas: 273 NM Distance from Punta de Mita, Mexico: 2952 NM Weather: 84° Winds: E 15 Knots Sea State: E 1’-3’ Sea Temp: 84° Air Temp: 84° Course: 206 T Speed: 5 Knots Barometer: 1013 Crew’s Mood: Doing laundry … What do you think?
Boy, the Captain Ron saying, “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.” may possibly be the most accurate saying you’ll ever hear in boating. Approximately 50 – 60 boats planned to leave Banderas Bay on the Pacific Puddle Jump this year. As of now somewhere around three dozen or so are either underway or have already reached French Polynesia and it hasn’t been smooth sailing for everyone. SV Epiphany was 350+ NM offshore when they were forced to abort and return to Mexico due to a battery issue. SV Patience experienced issues with his spinnaker, his crew and more importantly with his engine just before he reached the ITCZ which is where you definitely want your engine to work to get through the doldrums and dodge squalls. It took him almost two full days to diagnose and fix the heat exchanger issue. SV One Fine Day experienced a leak in a pump as well as radio issues. Even here on Dazzler we had an issue with a seam separation on our mainsail, a fouled roller furling and worst of all, a broken shackle at the head of our jib that sent it crashing into the sea.
And we can’t forget SV Aftermath. If you’ve been following our journey you know the issues that have plagued them. If not, I encourage you to go back to Day 14 where I first discussed some of the many issues they have had along their journey. I’ve been writing a lot about SV Aftermath but not because I’m trying to be critical, rather because I think there are many lessons to be learned from their situation; in fact, from all of the issues we’ve all faced out here. The truth is, mariners we all hope and pray we will never be faced with really tough problems or equipment failure at sea but we need to think about them before they occur. That’s part of the “what if” practice we all should employ on a regular basis. By analyzing what others have done right and wrong we can learn and create our own plans for how to handle things at crunch time.
So let’s talk a bit about what we’ve learned from this passage so far. The absolute first thing that comes to mind is preparation. Many people would walk by our boat in La Cruz and make comments about how much work we were doing to get ready for this journey. They always seemed shocked that we had so much to do. Let’s be clear, it’s not that there were a bunch of repairs that needed to be made. No, the bulk of the work was “preventative maintenance “. You know, addressing potential trouble spots BEFORE they become issues? Murphy’s Law as well as Captain Ron tell us if it’s going to happen it will happen at the worst possible time…like when you are hundreds or thousands of miles from shore. There are enough things that have the potential of going wrong out here so why not try to mitigate things by limiting the number of possible future issues? The problem I see is there are too many sailors who take the opposite approach. You know, the “Oh shit it broke. Now I need to fix it.”ones? I guess that’s an okay thing if you’re a marina queen or never venture far from shore but if you plan to make a passage such as this one, it can certainly come back and bite you. And, failure on your part can make you a burden to the entire fleet as you may require assistance in the form of parts, supplies or even an all out rescue.
Yes, preparation is the biggest lesson I think we’ve learned out here. And in preparing, you need to make certain you have extra parts for everything because if anything is guaranteed out here it’s that something will break and you’ll need to be able to repair it or face the potential loss of your vessel.
I often give Dan a hard time about the fact that I’ve only got one locker and two drawers for clothes but when something goes wrong and he magically has the part to fix it; I realize having spares and using our space to keep them is the most important thing we can do. Just like the other day when he, out of nowhere, came up with a shackle for the jib. If he didn’t keep all these spares, we’d be one sail down at this juncture.
For me, preparation goes beyond just disaster planning, preventative maintenance and spare parts though. After all, you can have someone work on your engine, rigging, radio etc…And, you can have all the spare parts your vessel can hold but if you don’t know what to do with them, they are nothing more than really expensive paperweights. My daddy always said, “If you’re going to own a boat you better be very handy or very wealthy.” Personally out here, I’ll take the handy guy all day, every day! You need to know your vessel inside and out. Just yesterday I woke up to find Dan in the cockpit with the generator apart. It had stopped working and we use it everyday to supplement power. It took about an hour but he got it fixed. When I ask Dan how he knows how to fix a particular thing I always get the same answer, “It’s because I have worked on every part, system and piece of this boat, what I didn’t know, I read about and learned how to do.” And it’s that which allows him to fix everything on Dazzler. Even if we don’t, which is rare, have the correct spare part, he knows the item in question well enough to be able to rig something that will work, It’s that type of thing that can mean the difference between continuing on or calling for rescue.
The second thing we’ve learned is that it’s important to keep in contact with others traveling around you. If your group has a radio net I highly encourage you to participate. And by participate, I don’t just mean, check in. Step up and become a net controller or step in to handle relays when necessary. Sure, these people may be a couple of hundred miles away but they just might be the closest vessel to you if you’re In need of assistance. Not one, but two vessels have diverted course to assist SV Aftermath with their water shortage and when they thought they needed oil, SV Nightide joined us in diverting course to assist there as well. Yes, keeping in touch with the fleet and being up front about the issues you are having is critical. This is no place to be shy about what you need nor is it a place where you want to try to be a hero.
And, when things start to spiral out of control, you have to be ready to bring in the big guns. SARS (Search & Rescue) is NOT the last ditch call you make when things go all furdaggled. They should actually be one of the first calls you make. “Why would I call SARS now? I’m not ready to give up hope and abandon my vessel.” Well, here’s the thing. If you call before you have reached the point of no return then you give them time to appropriately prepare to do the best job they can to help you. In the case of SV Aftermath, that is what is transpiring at this very moment. JRCC Honolulu, the SARS coordinator, is aware of their plight and monitoring them. In other words, Aftermath is on their radar. They are keeping constant tabs on their location as well as the situation on board. Several days ago Peter at Northland Radio (Pacific Seafarers Net) requested a list from Dan of all PPJ vessels within 200 NM of Aftermath. Why? He is providing that list to JRCC so they know who is closest and could possibly render assistance if an urgency or distress call does happen. This way, they are not behind the proverbial eight ball when or if the time comes that immediate assistance is needed. You have to remember that out here, we are not easy to reach and definitely not easy to find. Even with all the electronics and doodads we are still just tiny specs in a giant ocean. If you’re in trouble you want anyone and everyone to be looking for you.
I personally believe there are three reasons why mariners avoid contacting SARS. The first is out of embarrassment. They feel it shows weakness and an inability to handle their vessel. The second is fatigue and the fact that their minds are not fully comprehending the gravity of the situation and the third is plain ego and arrogance. We all know a captain like this. You know, the one who believes they are invincible? For every captain like that there are hundreds of stories of how a captain and his crew lost their lives because their leader failed to acquiesce and do the prudent thing. If you are one of those captains and I’ve offended you, I offer no apology as it is my firm belief that you are a danger to yourself, your crew, fellow boaters and even the professional search and rescue teams who will ultimately have to try to save you when all hell breaks loose and you can no longer control the situation.
In my eyes the best captains are those who recognize not only their own limitations but those of their vessel and their crew. Just because you think you should be able to handle a situation, fix a broken system or weather a severe storm does not make it so. By recognizing those limitations you can make prudent decisions as to the only thing that matters…the lives of you and your crew. Your vessel can be replaced…lives cannot. One thing that really gets to me is when I see a captain focus on saving their vessel before they consider the fact that they are putting themselves and their crew in a perilous situation. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should abandon ship when problems first arise but at the very first moment the problem rears its ugly head it is incumbent upon you, the captain, to assess the entire situation. Micro focusing on the broken part or system and failing to look at the big picture can be disastrous. For example, if the issue at hand could potentially delay your journey by days or weeks, you need to stop and asses things such as provisions, water, medicines, etc… Do you have enough to make it? If not, then you need to address the potential deficiencies immediately. How you do this depends entirely upon your situation. Are are traveling within a reasonable distance of other boaters who may be willing and able to render aid? If yes, then you should immediately reach out to see what help is available and you need to be brutally honest about your plight. Don’t try to make things appear better than they really are because withholding valuable details will only hurt you in the end. Contacting fellow boaters, however, is not enough. You also need to make that call to SARS and if you, the Capitan, are not ready or willing to do it then I encourage your crew to step up and do it for you. It may just save your lives!
In the end, at least in my opinion, preparation, communication and the willingness to call in the professionals are the three biggest lessons I’ve learned on this journey. If you are going to commit to making a passage like this you need to think seriously about all of these things. Like I said earlier, the only guarantee you have out here is that something will go wrong. How prepared you are to deal with it could mean the difference between reaching your destination or abandoning ship.
And I’ll leave you now with something a new friend on SV Dash said in a message to us today…. “Luck is where preparedness meets opportunity.” Hmmm…there’s just something so profound in those words!
Until next time…
Jilly
P.S. For those wondering about SV Aftermath they are still limping along at 2-2.5 knots. If they can keep that going they could potentially make landfall at Nuka Hiva in another 25-30 days. Water, however, will remain an issue as the 25 gallons (a mere eye dropper full in the scheme of things) delivered to them by SV Harlequin will only buy them another 15 days or so. With more and more vessels in the fleet pushing further south and many making landfall there are less out here to come to their aid. If they can’t get water they may be still be left to abandon ship. We’re still praying for them and will keep you posted.

4.14.18 @ 1000 Local, 1700 Zulu Day #22
Latitude: 04°11’S Longitude: 134°59’W Covered Distance Last 24 Hours: 118 NM Distance to the Marquesas: 402 NM Distance from Punta de Mita, Mexico: 2634 NM Weather: scattered clouds 60% Winds: ES-EN 17 knots Sea State: ESE 2.0 meters Barometer: 1013 Crew’s Mood: I think I’d go with Excellent!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..
So when you’ve gone to bed to get a nap or make it an all nighter of sleep, that is what you kind of expect. Day 20, started out like that. I had finished the morning watch and at about noon I decided that a little nap, which included sleeping, was in order. Down to the bunk I went for a couple of hours. I was planning to get up at about 1430 hours local time. And just about the time my internal clock said it was time to get up, I noticed Dazzler was feeling really smooth in the ocean. Too smooth.
Just about the time I look aft at the gauge on the aft bulkhead to check out the boat speed. I simultaneously see 1.2 knots on the instrument along with hearing, “DAN, GET UP HERE QUICK, WE’VE LOST THE JIB.” Not, the Jib fell down or maybe a tsunami is coming or something to equal the catastrophic volume of the yell of fear blasted down the companionway in my direction. Without skipping a beat, I was quickly on deck, in my underwear and observed the Jib sail was not where I had left it before my nap. While moving forward toward the bow, I could see the tack of the sail attached to the roller furling drum. Yes, the Jib was completely in the water along Dazzler’s starboard side. Quickly Jilly and I pulled the soggy sail up onto the starboard deck where I started to assess what had happened to cause this. The head of the Jib was in good shape so I looked aloft and saw the upper roller bearing sitting up there taking in the splendor of the ocean view. It’s a little to early to start assessing blame, so I told Jilly I have to go aloft to retrieve the upper roller furling bearing and halyard. A halyard is a line that pulls the head of he sail up the mast and holds it up while the sail is in use or rolled on the furling tube.
The wind is in the high teens and the sea state is somewhere between not good and ah shit for a mast climbing. But, up I must go. We first turned Dazzler downwind to stop the roll and ease the apparent wind speed. My first thought was to get my helmet and climbing gear to ascend by free climbing the mast steps with a safety line and a prussic knot as a break. I made it to the spreaders and something didn’t feel right. So down I went to get my bosun climbing chair. This was a good call because it gave me a better platform for using my legs more than my arms for the climb. I had an additional line attached that I hauled up with me to use to pull down the furler bearing assembly. This halyard is a Dacron double braid style halyard. When a double braid line is spliced the diameter of the line at the spliced end is wider than the rest of the line. Regular double braid also has some stretching characteristics that will reveal themselves shortly. At the top of the mast are four sheaves on the forward side and two on the aft side. These sheaves allow the line to smoothly pass over them and provide a nice little channel for the line to ride in and thus not inducing chafe if properly sized. Okay! When whatever happened at the top of the mast allowed the Jib under load to suddenly slide down the roller furling track tube and into the water. The energy loaded on the tight halyard let go like a sling shot and thus jamming the wider spliced end into the sheave at the top of the mast. There I said it.
The last time this had happened to me, I had to use all two hundred something pounds of my weight to hang on it to pull it out of the sheave. This time I was smarter. I pulled up a piece of line that I could turn to a winch to crank it free. A short climb down the mast, swinging violently from side to side, I held on just like Grape Ape had thought me. You are probably wondering why isn’t Grape Ape up here doing all this. Well when it all happened he ran for his room in the lazarette. Because he regularly climbs the mast while we’re underway, he probably thought he had done something wrong and was ascared.
Back on deck I now started to work my plan to use not just any winch, but the Binford 5000. Oh oh oh oh oh! That’s right folks the Binford 5000 will pull your anchor up along with part of the bottom of the sea bed. It seemed the logical choice being so strong and close to the bow. But wait wouldn’t you know that the line I was going to use was about six feet too short. No problem, we have lots of line on this sailing ship. A couple of bowline knots to secure the two pieces of line together and we were back in business. The anchor windlass, AKA Binford 5000, was ready for deployment. Pop! The halyard was free and sliding down the furling tube. Although something wasn’t right. The furling upper bearing assembly is supposed to have a straight piece of stainless ¼” bar attached to it. It was when I attached the line to it at the top. Well now it is facing the east all prostrate bent over as if praying to Mohamed. As I looked at it, I thought that’s not good. My first thought was that I might have a spare. The operative word is thought. Well, I couldn’t find it which means I have one and it is in a safe place onboard Dazzler. Or, had one at one time and have since removed it from Dazzler. No matter that issue. I needed to use what I had and this bar was not going to see straight ever again. There was hope, I was able to cut off the badly bent lower section just below another threaded hole. I then took to it like a blacksmith trying to straighten a horse shoe. A few hardy blows later it looked straight enough to work for now. I slathered it up with tefgel and secured it back on the upper furling bearing. Tada! Tefgel is a chemical that insulates dissimilar metals such as stainless steel and aluminum and assists in minimizing a thing called electrolysis. A common product found on boats.
Next was to examine the empty hole where the D shackle used to be. It was obvious that the shackle had not broken as there where no pieces left attached. The only thing I can guess is that back in La Cruz we had the Jib and staysail off of Dazzler to have a once over by Mike at PV Sailing for any stitching or other needed repairs. We also had taken our Yankee headsail in to have an ultraviolet cover added to it.
After getting the sails back we put up the Jib and the staysail. The D shackles used on the furling system had indexed pins. This is a pin that passes through on one side of the shackle and threads into the other side of the shackle. When it gets close to bottoming out, there are small detentes that the head of the pin start to click against thus preventing the pin from backing out. In theory.
Once we got the yankee sail back from Mike, we needed to drop the Jib and hoist up the yankee to make sure the UV cover fit right. Well it did fit as designed. So off with the yankee and back on with the Jib. I don’t know for sure, but when I was reattaching the Jib, I thought that I should mouse the shackle pin. Well I didn’t. For you cliff dwellers out there, it doesn’t mean a trip to Pet’s Mart to get a mouse. No, mousing would be using a piece of twine or in my case a small piece of stainless steel wire in a figure eight between the shackle and the eye of the pin to prevent it from working lose and or out altogether. It is my opinion that the shackle pin worked lose and then finally let go resulting in the Jib getting its Saturday night bath a little early.
As every good cruising sailor knows that a small chandlery on board is a must. Drawer after drawer of spare parts. Jilly said once, we should inventory that drawer. I told her we don’t have enough time. There are so many different screws and pieces specific to one part onboard. As I would fix things over the last 15 years, I would always get two parts or specialty fasteners. An extra just in case the plop is not followed by the fizz fizz. You have another one to use without having to stop and go back to the marine store. But more importantly, if that piece broke once it will likely break again when I’m not near any chandlery. So spares are a good thing. A friend of mine says travel light you can always buy clothes when you get there.
Back on target now. So I went to the rigging hardware drawer and found a couple of suitable D shackles. The one I wanted to use had a bit thicker pin than what used to be on the housing of the upper furling bearing. No trouble for the Super Drill Out 2000. A quick run through and the pin now fit like a glove.
Time to get this Rodeo over and award the buckles. Putting it all back together and hoisting the Jib. Dazzler’s main Jib isn’t a little sail. It is a 140% Jib and it’s foot is about 24 feet long, the mast above the deck is 48 feet tall. So as you can see there is a lot of sail area to wrestle with. We positioned Dazzler a bit more downwind to blanket the wind from the Jib so it wouldn’t be too wild of a ride for Jilly. I decided to be the muscle to hoist the sail, but Jilly had to be at the forward end of the bowsprit to guide the number six luff into the track of the roller furling tube. Away we go, inch by inch the Jib crept up the tube of the roller furling unit. Jilly on the bowsprit with her toenails dug into the wooded planks gripping the luff edge of the sail and guiding it into the track. She was something to be proud of. Inch by inch the Jib glided up the track until it was fully hoisted. We trimmed her up, put the tools away and then started gathering electronic checking information for the afternoon radio Net to start in about 30 minutes.
From zero, shaking the sleepy out of my eyes to climbing the mast to done. Two and a half hours. Okay, I’m done now. No more surprises like that please.
On a side note, having a broad collection of spares, parts and tools assisted in the proper fix to this preventable issue. My fault, I should have listened to that little voice that said mouse the shackle in the first place. Moral, see Dan. Dan didn’t mouse the shackle, don’t be like Dan. Mouse your shackle! Especially if it’s at or near the mast head.
As Felix the cat would say, “Right E O.” Safe travels to all out there.
Captain Dan
PS Grape Ape was happy that it wasn’t his fault. Okay Grape Ape, you can stop jumping up and down now.