The number two

49’48N 143’01W

140′

5kn

ENE 20kn

4284nml to go…

  Number two is the first looser… Out of the tree jibs we have this is the one that is bringing us home though! Number one being the biggest’s and tree the spit fire jib. The number two goes well with a reef in the main and mizzn and can handel a good 25knots of wind on deck. That is exactly what we have now. Closehauled bashing through some fine blue northrn Pacific chop. It is a joy to watch as the eager jib leads the way! For a while we where with out a number two. That is 2010… We had greatly modified the sail plan but where not quite ready when the season started. Go big or go home, it was al or nothing back than. With some hairy moments as result. The big jib (number one) being rather big and powerful. Taking this monster down was like hitting a wall. Let alone fold it… Our jibs are set the old fasioned way, that is with out hanks on a stay. The nice thing is we dont have any wight on the jib boom when she goes into the water. The down side is they tent to live a life of there own. We have to be directly down wind or into the wind to set it or take it away. That decision it self has more often than not let to excessive jib carrying. Our number two started life in our tallship racing time. So she did not she alot of action as her bigger sister took care of most of it. She was also very onfourtunate in her early live when one of her sheets carried away and she nearly flogged her self to death. The pour mutilated number two spent most of our world trip shamefully folded away on deck. It was not until Freemantle, Australia when she came back to live. Some of her creme pannels had to be replaced with some white ones. She bares her scares well, and is ever so eager. I still tent to carry the number one abit to long, But as she is getting older and more fragile. It is a good feeling to know the number two is there to step up and for now she is in controle.

  Sometimes the best way around a section is over it… At the moment we are dealing with a very persistent area of low presure to the west and south of us. It came north and nearly overtook us before she started dropping of to the south again. We made good use of the previous depression. Traveling East on the West winds in the Southrn section. This new one brings Easterlies so we are forced to head South.  The normal situation would be a high over or just to the north of Hawaii with clock wise winds. At the moment this low is trying to take its place. But what is normal in these latitudes. We deal with what we get and are generally happy with it! As this low will travel further south so will we. Once we get closer to the high, we will use its south westerlies to get closer ashore and into the California current. For now we plough our way trough the crystal blue seas and go where ever the number two goes!