i guess it would not be a proper ocean crossing if we did not have at least one minor incident. and so we did, or they did, i should say. last tuesday, only 3 days after having departed, and during the night (everything always happens at night) the main sail ripped in half, from one end to the other, rendering it completely useless (sadly after having paid in gibraltar some sterling ponds to restitch it….). losing the main with over 2600 miles to go is not a minor incident … so they changed course and headed now for mindelo in s. vincente, cape verde islands, off the african coast some 800 miles south of the canaries. still on the way, so luckily this is not a big detour. there are not that many facilities in the cape verdes, but it was the best alternative considering that returning to the canaries would have meant sailing against the wind. i also checked on line and this is the most visited island by other cruisers; something we would generally avoid; except this time, because we hope to find some sail repair facilities (wishful thinking perhaps), but the odds improve if we go to the most visited island, we think.
with the new course in mind, but still considering that there may not be sail lofts or that the sail is probably beyond repair (which might very well be the case), i retrieved the original old main sail we had in storage. luckily for us, our good friend jerry who had taken this old sail to texas had brought it back in case we needed it. who would have thought that that case would be a reality (I guess he thought it would, someday.) so after inspecting it and going to the sail maker in fort lauderdale to inspect it again, it was shipped and it is now on its way to the cape verdes. i just checked and it is within the DHL network traveling to meet the boat soon and continue the journey through the atlantic.
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