Yesterday we made a big step forward getting a 'mouse' line running freely from top to bottom, or bottom to top, of the mast. First step was the strong fishing line with lead weights which David dropped from the top and I was able to catch with a crochet hook as it appeared at the bottom. I took the fishing line and attached a 6mm cord which David pulled to the top. Hurrah! On our way. At then end of the day we had a mouse line deck to deck via the pulley at the top of the mast and the sail sitting on the boom waiting to be reattached.
Today was an even bigger step towards resolution. The day began with finding a length of rope of the correct dimension in the onboard store. Fortunately we had one, not perfect, but workable to restore the sail to its proper place.
I sewed one end to the 6mm mouse cord to the line for the smoothest join and we pulled the other of the mouse and we have a halyard to attach to the slumped, and partially furled sail. We waited for a lull in the wind to untie the lashings, unfurl it and hoist to the top of the mast. Then it was a simple job to furl away and we have an operating main sail once more.
But we have a casualty; coming back to deck level in the bosun's chair David bruised his right big toe on one winch and pulled off part of the nail on his other foot on the winch on the other side. A nasty injury for the medic to dress and splatters of blood on the deck to mop.
This is a fix, not the final solution. For that we'll sail back to the marina and the 5 well stocked chandlers to buy new rope to replace the halyards on all three sails. In a couple of weeks we'll be sailing almost 500nm to Bonaire. We need to have confidence in our running rigging and Bonaire only has one small chandlery. A quick internet search shows the price of rope there to be double that in Guadeloupe.
Too busy being busy today to take any photos of our progress.
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