Up the Mast…Again

George went up the mast once again yesterday morning to take a look at the main halyard sheave. A stuck/malfunctioning sheave is our latest theory on why we have so much noise when we furl the mainsail. George took a lubricant with him to spray on the sheave but he found that it turned easily and seemed to be working just fine (he lubricated anyway!). I suppose that is good news, but we may not have solved the noise issue. We will find out the next time we furl the mainsail. 

The wind is light but out of the west, causing us to shift around into shallower water. George checked the depth and found it was 7.3 feet at high tide. With a two-foot tide we would be sitting on the bottom at low tide. We raised the anchor and tried to find a spot with a sandy bottom in deeper water at Ten Bay but no luck. The problem at Ten Bay—and in many other places along the coast of Eleuthera—is that the bottom is sandy close to shore but there is grass and rock shelf on the bottom when you are farther from shore. It is hard to get the anchor to set in grass and, of course, it won’t set at all on flat rock. So, we couldn’t just go farther from shore into deeper water to reset the anchor. Instead, we chose to move about a mile and a half further south to a different cove. 

This morning George plans to run the watermaker then we will raise the anchor and motor south to Rock Sound. 

George at the top of the mast again. 

The main halyard sheave is on the right, the topping lift sheave is on the left




View from the top. You can see the anchor just a few feet in from off the bow. The chain goes out from the bow, loops around, then comes back. 




Looking east toward shore. 

Looking north. You can see the sandy bottom on the right and the grassy areas on the left. 

Looking south. We are now anchored just past the last point on the right.