It finally had to happen. After over three weeks with nearly perfect weather, was time to get our asses kicked. Today was the day. Had waited an extra day in Ft. Meyers because the weather forecast was not very good, but was excellent for today. So this morning we take off. Should have been a nice easy 24 hour run to the Tortugas. By 11 AM the thunderstorms started building, and they just kept on getting bigger. Winds kicking up, seas building. By 1:30 or so, had rolled up approx. 40% of the big 170, and was getting ready to put a reef in the main. By this time the winds are well over 20 knots, with gusts who knows how high, and the seas approaching 10 feet. I know 10 footers shouldn't be that big a deal, but these were steep, confused and close together. So, just gonna put a reef or two in the main, and keep on going. We are close to 30 miles out, well on our way. An THEN Buried the bow in a wave, and came up missing some stuff. The bow light was totally ripped off the bracket, and the furling line for the foresail was severed, or broken. Now we have a 170 fully out, no way to roll it back up. At this time the light is not even a thought. Karen gets the boat into the wind, and I climb up on the bow. Sitting on the bow, I am submerged up to my waist every time we bury the bow, which is often. Finally managed to dig the broken end out of the drum, and tie the two pieces together. Works pretty good, except soon find out that the knot won't go through the block, which means I still can't roll the sail up. So now I start removing blocks moving bow to stern. Remove a block, furl the jib, move back to remove another block. And then another discovery. There isn't enough furling line on the drum to furl the damn sail. So back to Ft.Meyers with about 25% of the damn sail out, Yanmar working it's but off. After we got back into the marina where we starter from this morning, further inspection shows the anchor in a kind of funny position, and the front of the anchor roller bent all the hell and back. I think what actually happened, is we buried our nose in a wave that had something floating in it, which caused our problems, not just a wave. Anyway, gonna get a new bow light and furler line tomorrow. Then if the weather looks decent, will head out once more for the Tortugas. Hopefully, things will go much better the second try..
