Sunday, 1 April 2012

Another nice quiet night and a good night’s sleep after the Margaritas found us planning our next activity however there is yet another northerner forecast for Monday and Tuesday so we stayed on the boat and rigged our Banner Blue Anchor/Riding Sail during the morning for the first time. We had purchased this for the cruise on the assumption it would reduce our swing while anchored and had not had an opportunity to rig it and try it out.
In strong winds we discovered we swing anywhere from 60-100 degrees as the boat catches the gusts. This can be hard on the anchor and while we do not sail up to the anchor and then fall off, essentially sailing a figure of eight as some boats do, we had no opportunity of testing Hilbre prior to the trip. After rigging the sail the afternoon winds started blowing in the high teens and low twenties. During this time we did notice the riding sail kept our bow more into the wind and reduced the swing radius to 30 or 40 degrees; a nice improvement. However, as we have in-mast furling, there are no aft halyards so we have to swing either the spare Jib or Spinnaker halyard aft to hold the top of the riding sail. This pulls the halyard over the upper wire shroud (rigging) and could cause the line to chafe through. So, until we have figured out a better way to rig the top of the sail, we have put it away in its bag. At least we know it does work and is now ready to deploy.
It seems we are blessed with strong winds in this anchorage every afternoon and some of the boats have moved position or moved to another cove to try and get some relief. However the wind seems to die off at sunset and as we are holding nicely, we are staying put. The beach is getting more crowded and we are being tested by power boats and PWC’s that are zooming around the anchorage and between the boats causing lots of wake.