USA engineers on the job.

1/11/2017, Rodrigues

There was only one other yacht in the "turning basin" anchorage when I arrived, a yacht even smaller than Shanti, which always makes me feel better about my diminutive size. "Beguine" is only 27' and is circumnavigating with father and son, Ron and Mark, from Florida. 

Fortunately for me, both are engineers with decades of experience of dealing with every conceivable problem that might beset anything. They are the kind of guys who once faced with a problem gnaw away at it until the best solution is found. And so they did for three days after looking up at the rat's nest of my unravelling rigging, each morning presenting me with different options to consider.  They were totally respectful and left it to me to accept or reject their ideas.

They came prepared with miles of rope, block and tackle for independent mast climbing.

We decided to hacksaw the T toggles off the upper ends of the stays, re-lay the unravelled wires, wrap something strong around the mast above the spreaders and join them together with D-clamps, or "bulldog" clamps.



The unravelling wires on the lower stays.

A lot of this kind of temporary fix depends on what's available.  Luckily there's a Chinese "hole in the wall" store in town, well hidden behind a steel red door, that seems to sell a mixed bag of everything, from eggs to hardware.

A couple of years ago, back in Melbourne, good friend Peter Dransfield was clearing out his garage and gave me some cables suitable for locking up a dinghy.  One of these was quite heavy duty, about two metres long with a swaged eye at each end.  

We stripped the PVC coasting off the end of the cable to attach the stays to.

Hacksawed in half and threaded through the eye it made a perfect sling for going diagonally above the spreaders. The cut off end of the stays could then be joined to this using the D-clamps.

It looks a bit like part of a shell necklace.

About an hour after finishing the job, the huge Canadian yacht "Dream Catcher" arrived.  Norm was glad to find nothing remaining to be done apart from giving it the thumbs up.  I was still very appreciative of their support all the way here, knowing they were only a few days behind me and ready to rescue me if needed.

Next morning, the other single handed female sailor, Eve, arrived on her beautiful US ketch "Auntie".

We leave today, me at 0900 for Mauritius, they at midday for La Reunion.  Ron and Mark, who have already been here 7 weeks, leave Friday for Durban.

With continuing good luck, I should find a competent rigger in Mauritius with all the necessary parts to replace our jury rig for something more permanent. Should be there by Saturday morning.....