More than a toe in the water
Meanwhile Steve White explains why his Vendee Globe boat is called Toe in the Water. What began as a routine sail change turned in to a nightmare. His mission was rolling up and taking down his code 5 sail in about 35 knots of wind. No problems until it jammed.
"There it was, flogging itself silly at the front of the boat. I went up the front to try and free it up, but the furling drum is right at the end of the bowsprit - I was not going out there I can assure you - there was a big sea and we were surfing at nearly twenty knots sometimes!
"I taped my big kitchen knife to the deck brush handle and went up to deal with the problem. The cover of the furling line had wrinkled up like Nora Batty's stockings inside the drum, got caught on a cunningly placed spike and wedged itself up very very tightly!
"Whilst hacking away I took my eye off the ball missed a big wave which we surfed down, and got hosed down the deck, knife in hand. As we buried the bow in the wave in front at high speed, everything went dark. There was a whooshing noise in my ears as they filled up, and I held my breath as water went down my neck right down to my boots, up my nose, up my arms - everywhere.
"I took some sizable pieces out of my fingers as I tried to grab stanchions and guard wires on the way past. The force of the water was incredible and I still have the bruises to testify! When I came to a stop at the mast I had managed to keep hold of the knife luckily.
After trying for three hours to cut the sail away he decided the sail had to be dropped on deck. But the wind took it over the side. After two more hours, struggling to bring the sail back on board, the problem worsened when the sail wrapped around his keel, bending stanchions and threatening more damage.
"In the end I had to let the thing go before I had to get in the water and get it off the keel. I watched it sink. A £20,000 sail lost because of a £100 pound piece of string with a loose cover. All I had left was the swivel and two thimbles and a ten inch piece of the head. I don't mind admitting that nearly killed me. I was fairly well beaten up and bruised, and soaked to the skin, and rapidly becoming cold. It was 2 pm when I went on deck, and 7.15 pm when I came back down."
"There it was, flogging itself silly at the front of the boat. I went up the front to try and free it up, but the furling drum is right at the end of the bowsprit - I was not going out there I can assure you - there was a big sea and we were surfing at nearly twenty knots sometimes!
"I taped my big kitchen knife to the deck brush handle and went up to deal with the problem. The cover of the furling line had wrinkled up like Nora Batty's stockings inside the drum, got caught on a cunningly placed spike and wedged itself up very very tightly!
"Whilst hacking away I took my eye off the ball missed a big wave which we surfed down, and got hosed down the deck, knife in hand. As we buried the bow in the wave in front at high speed, everything went dark. There was a whooshing noise in my ears as they filled up, and I held my breath as water went down my neck right down to my boots, up my nose, up my arms - everywhere.
"I took some sizable pieces out of my fingers as I tried to grab stanchions and guard wires on the way past. The force of the water was incredible and I still have the bruises to testify! When I came to a stop at the mast I had managed to keep hold of the knife luckily.
After trying for three hours to cut the sail away he decided the sail had to be dropped on deck. But the wind took it over the side. After two more hours, struggling to bring the sail back on board, the problem worsened when the sail wrapped around his keel, bending stanchions and threatening more damage.
"In the end I had to let the thing go before I had to get in the water and get it off the keel. I watched it sink. A £20,000 sail lost because of a £100 pound piece of string with a loose cover. All I had left was the swivel and two thimbles and a ten inch piece of the head. I don't mind admitting that nearly killed me. I was fairly well beaten up and bruised, and soaked to the skin, and rapidly becoming cold. It was 2 pm when I went on deck, and 7.15 pm when I came back down."
Labels: Steve White, Toe in the Water, Vendee Globe
posted by Richard Donkin at
5:20 PM
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