Year 3 -12 May 2026 –Bound for Mauritius- Shackle failure

I had the 8.00pm to 11.00pm slot and we continued to sail well although about 9.00pm rainclouds approached which I followed on the radar. This meant I had to bring in the genoa and then I motored sailed through the rain until we got out of the other side. I had to put some wetproofs on which is a rare thing to do. This rain was not really forecast. Once through the rain up went the genoa and we continued to sail again and well.

I handed over to Keith and Erika and they had a quiet watch and I managed some sleep. However, shortly after 3.15pm (when Carolyn and Joyce were on watch) I heard the wind increase grabbed my life jacket and up I went in my underpants and I saw it was 25 kts. We quickly brought in the genoa and we had rain clouds around us again. The wind backed to the East and then was variable so we put away the sails and motored through it all which took some time until we were through a wall of rain clouds.

Before they went off we got the genoa out and then the wind became too strong so we reverted back to the staysail. I then took over again and this sail swapping continued and having checked the weather I knew we were going to get some stronger winds but I thought a day later. My shift passed by quickly and we sailed well but there was quite a swell and a 2 kt current pushing us West which was not that helpful and so we were a little off course. However, the wind is due to back and so this error should be corrected over time.

I handed over to Keith and Erika and we had 2 reefs in the main and full staysail as the wind was gusting 22 kts. I said if it went above 25 you could consider reefing the staysail a little as well.

I went to bed but was woken by Keith saying that there was a problem with the staysail. They had furled most of it but I could see the sail had slipped and at the top part of it was open. I went to look further and the shackle which attached the sail to the swivel had sheared. We had to get the sail down as we could not secure it in situ. I therefore got everyone up as Carolyn and Joyce were in bed. Carolyn was put on the wheel with the engine on to keep us pointing toward the wind but not directly into the waves. Keith, Erika and I went forward and we grabbed the staysail sheets to prevent it filling. We then had to unfurl the sail (with Joyce using the buttons) and then as it finished opening we had to bring it down and on to the deck without it blowing away. This was not easy but we managed it and then we stuffed as much as we could into a sail bag and with that and sail ties we carried it down the deck, through the cockpit and into the boat. We then tried to fold it up as best we could inside and it was then put on the galley table and looked a bit like a body wrapped up. I took off the shackle which had failed and it must have deteriorated and become weak over time. You could never have spotted that fault. When we get to Mauritius we will have to get the swivel down. As luck would have it I ordered a new swivel at the same time as the main sail parts which I used to repair the main sail furling mechanism in Thailand. At least the sail was not damaged and it is safe inside and hopefully with the new swivel should easily be repairable.

This exercise took an hour and more and now we only have the genoa so we will have to use it like a staysail in strong winds so I put a little out and then a bit more so we sailed with it heavily reefed in about 20-22 kts of wind. I do not want to damage the genoa or have problems with it.

We got back on track and continued our progress. Our 24-hour run at 12 noon was 180 which was not bad bearing in mind the rain problems and the staysail issue.

I had heard from a number of people from South Africa through the sailing school enquiring about the crewing opportunity so I agreed to email them which I did with the details and I will sift through them and look at their sailing CV’s.

We rested and had lunch and watched the dials showing the wind and speed which we spend a lot of time doing. It is a balance between keeping the speed up to make progress and not over stressing the boat. In addition you look at lot at the waves rolling toward you and then rolling under you with a fizz and white horses.

The afternoon wore on and we eat up the miles and tomorrow afternoon we should be about halfway.

I sent further emails, checked the weather and made sure we have enough power and the boat is running properly.

I was on watch again at 4.00pm for 4 hours and watched the sun go down about 5.22 pm Mauritius time. This is quite early and then you begin to descend into the night watches dimming the instruments and putting them into night mode.

Carolyn and Erika cooked the rest of the fish with a Spanish type of paella rice which was tasty.

I was off at 8.00pm and checked the weather and then went to bed which I needed. I will be on again for the red eye slot 2.00am to 5.00am in the morning.

Despite the shackle breaking it had been a good day and we are making good progress.    

 The picture of the day is the shackle that failed on the staysail.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I will be going shortly from India to the Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I am currently in need of potentially 2 crew from Mauritius to Cape Town from about 10 June 2026 and we should arrive in Cape Town on about 25-30 July 2026. If at all interested contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com