Sailing Oceanghost

Well, we just encountered our first big squall with winds close to 40 knots. While trying to reduce sail to heave too the slug came out of the track because the stopper broke that keeps the mainsail in the track. All this happened in the height of the storm. The boat done well lying a-hull. We where tossed around a bit and one of the crew members got seasick. However she is a trooper and came right back out on deck after it passed laughing. During the squall the self tailing winch failed and the rope turned loose. The boom jibed but didn't damage or hurt anything. We quickly centered the boom and secured it on a cleat. On my list is a larger winch that can handle the load of high winds for the main sheet. The one we have is very small and inadequate for the job it has to do. After the storm we heard on the radio that two vessels had been severely damaged offshore and required assistance. No lat/long was ever broadcasted and we could not reach them on the radio.Read more