Almost Dismasted! Passage from Barcelona to Mallorca, February 1, 2001 After the frustration of our cassette player not working after it had been in the Sony repair shop for over three weeks, and leaving it with them again to be picked up by Judy on her way to Paris mid February, we were now delayed by bad weather. We were ready to leave January 29, but the weather turned foul, so we waited. Barcelona is protected by the mountains and as a result does not experience much bad weather, but a few miles offshore, gales could be blowing. It was frustrating, as in Barcelona the weather was warm and sunny, with little wind, but the forecasts were for bad stuff in the Med. So we waited three more days. We were on the verge of calling our friends who were to meet us in Mallorca to come to Barcelona instead as we might not make it by February 2. However the forecast on the 31st predicted quite acceptable force 4 to 6 from the northwest to west for the waters off Barcelona and the Balearics.  We checked out the evening of the 31st, but did not depart until the morning of February 1, (Judy’s birthday) as we did not want to pay for a whole extra day when we were leaving at 0700. Besides, the office does not open until 0900, and we would have to wait till then to pay and leave. (Remember the marina charges go from midnight to midnight, so they can soak you for an extra day.) On our way out, we were able to monitor the cruisers’ net at 0900, and said our goodbye to them from several miles offshore. The day was sunny, no wind but a sloppy sea, probably left over from the previous few days’ heavy winds. By 1000 we hoisted main and genoa in very light (force 2 to 3) northeast breezes, more to stabilize the boat than to get any assist from the wind. Within a half hour we furled the genoa as it was flogging in the absence of wind. Oh well, motoring is better than gales, and we carry more than enough fuel to motor the whole 120 nautical miles to Mallorca if necessary. At noon hour we had some dolphins swimming alongside us for a while. They didn’t come to play, but to check us out, I guess. They rarely broke the surface and no show-off jumping out of the water or playing in our bow wave. By early afternoon we had light southerly winds and 1.5 metre swells from the northeast, causing us to alter our course a bit westward (200 rather than 180) to better fill our main and stabilize the motion. However, that was taking us off our course for Dragonara on the west coast of Mallorca too much, so at 1600 we decided to change our course to 133 and head instead for Cape Formentor on the north east tip of Mallorca. Well, the wind started to shift southeasterly, still light force 2 to 3, so we changed our minds again and headed south for Dragonara once more by 1730, still motor sailing. By 1845 the wind had picked up to a pleasant force 5, and we were able to shut the engine off and enjoy quiet sailing for a while as night fell. However, by 1930 it was a solid force 7 gusting force 8 from the southeast and we still had full main and genoa up. Judy went forward to the mast to get the main ready for taking in a double reef. I was hand steering in the cockpit and ready to let off the main halyard, but delayed for five minutes to alter course astern of a ship to avoid crossing her bows.  The wind continued to increase, blowing force 8 as we lowered the main a few feet to take in the double reef. Judy was struggling with the tack of the second reef point, trying to get it hooked in, when all of a sudden a loud thump and Veleda shuddered as if she had hit something.  The base of the roller furling had broken free! The drum, roller furling and full 150% genoa were streaming out to starboard, the genoa flogging madly, and the drum flailing around wildly, held only at the top of the mast. We had no forestay! The genoa was slapping angrily in the full gale, tearing itself to shreds. I immediately altered downwind to take the forward pressure off the mast, then started the engine, while Judy lowered the main to further reduce the pressure on the mast, then started to set up an emergency forestay.  Once on a stabilized course held by the self steering, I put on my harness and went forward to help Judy. She was at the bow, sitting low to grab the flailing drum without being decapitated by it, and secured it to the toerail at the starboard bow with a lashing. She had already secured the spinnaker and pole lift halyards to the toerail on the port bow, so I took up the slack, giving a temporary forestay arrangement with these two lines.  Meanwhile the genoa, now badly torn, was still held by the sheets, which Judy had temporarily made fast up forward to keep them clear of the propeller. (Remember our having a sheet foul the prop in a gale on our way to Norway? That’s all we would need at this point.) The secured sheets meant there was still a lot of pressure from the sail on the mast, so I cut them at their attachment to the sail, keeping them on board and leaving the clew flailing free. The sail was still flogging, but we couldn’t do anything about that. As the extrusion of the roller furler was so badly bent, we were unable to lower the sail, and had to motor through the night until landfall in Andratx at 1000 the next day, with it beating itself to shreds. Back in the cockpit, we were exhausted after 45 minutes of wrestling that situation to a semblance of control. Now what? Relax and think! We were at the half way point and to turn back to Barcelona would put us more into the wind than continuing towards Andratx, thus putting more pressure on the mast. We modified our course back to 180 for Dragonara, and surveyed how the sail, mast, and rigging were holding up in the still force 8 gale. It seemed manageable, so we continued. However, our self steering system had been overpowered by the wind, waves, and flogging of the sails so much that it rebelled! It started grinding its gears! So, we had to hand steer the next 14 hours, hour on, hour off, all night long, the tattered remains of our genoa still arrogantly flaying the 40 knot winds with whip cracks. That genoa had been flying since we left Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico in December 1998, and was with Veleda when we bought her in 1995. It was a good 150% genoa with foam strips in the luffs, and with more sail area than our main. Wung out on a whisker pole it was almost as effective as a spinnaker, but with better control. We have used it as a storm jib, partially furling it in heavy winds, throughout the Great Lakes and across the Atlantic and the North Sea. A gale in the north Atlantic tore its UV covering to shreds, but we replaced it in Falmouth, and it has served us well since. We won't be able to repair this damage to it however.  By 0430 the wind finally dropped to a light force 2 southerly breeze; however the seas were still high and sloppy 2 metre waves from several directions. On we continued, passing Dragonara outside, and around to Puerto Andratx, arriving on a quiet sunny morning looking like (what we were) a refugee boat from the storm tossed seas with s-shape bent roller furling and a shredded genoa forlornly sagging in the quiet morning air.  We made it, 1000 on February 2nd, the day after Judy’s birthday, and at least in time to meet our friends who were arriving later that day. We never saw any of the force 4 to 6 west and northwest winds predicted. We had only southerly or easterly force 2 to 3, or force 7 and 8’s.  When we inspected the tattered remains we found that the stem plate itself had fractured, not the shackle or pin as we had thought. That plate was a bar of 1/4 inch steel with a 1/2 inch weld at the top in line with the forestay direction. When it broke loose, the drum bashed the bow pulpit, bending it and knocking loose the navigation light cover. Its lens was hanging from the safety string that we had attached after losing it once before at the dock in Barcelona. We were able to repair both the bow pulpit and the light. It is a tribute to Veleda, and the Ontario 32’s, that they are sturdily built with a keel stepped mast and strong rigging. Had Veleda had a deck stepped mast, it would have gone overboard, and we would have been in deep trouble. As it was, we were able to handle the situation ourselves and did not bother to put out any distress call. Judy was feeling the effects of the sloppy sea both before and after the emergency, but she responded well when it happened. Well done Judy, and Happy Birthday! But new furling gear was really not on her wish list for a birthday present!  I’ll talk about the repairs and the insurance situation in my next log from these lovely Balearic islands, the "Florida" of Europe.