Como No Back in Caribbean

[Como No Cruising]

On Dec. 31, Como No dropped her hook in Barbados, West Indies, a return to the Caribbean that started in 1997 when she left Clear Lake, Texas. The crossing from Cape Verde Islands to Barbados was the most uncomfortable voyage thus far encountered by the crew in their round the world adventures. We were plagued with 25-30 knot winds and breaking seas for 13 of the 15 days. What contributed greatly to the discomfort were the cross seas that regularly broke over the vessel, drenching and flooding the cockpit.
Despite the rough conditions Annie prepared a roast chicken dinner with trimming for our Christmas at sea. The dinner was excellent and was a great occasion, despite the fact that it was necessary to eat out of our "Sea Bowls" while wedging ourselves and sitting on the cabin sole.

The Monitor wind vane performed its usual exemplary job of steering Como No on the downwind course. Most of the trip was made with a single sail, our 90% Yankee jib poled out. The
Fourwinds wind generator and 3-75 watt solar panels met all of our electrical power needs for the duration, running our fridge, lights, radios, computer and bilge pump.

This leg of our trip had its beginning in Marmaris, Turkey in April of 2008 when we sailed West calling at the various Greek islands and continued on thru the Med. We arrived at Gibraltar in October. From there it was on to Rabat, Morocco, Canary Islands and then the Cape Verde Islands.

The trip from Canary Islands to Cape Verde was a broad reach and a run with high winds and rough seas. Many cruisers limped into the Cape Verde with broken gear and torn sails. We were no exception. Our staysail was damaged and our rudder stop had to be rebuilt. The bilge had to be cleaned of 5 liters of engine oil that leaked from a container that had chafed thru in the aft locker. We were disabled mid voyage due to a jammed rudder and lay ahull bouncing like rubber duck in a kiddie pool full of 3 year olds. One of the control lines on the Wind Vane had parted and we were thrown beam to the 12-15 foot seas and then came head to wind with the jib poled out. Como No went stern first down a wave causing the helm to spin freely and the rudder to override the stop, where it jammed firmly. There was nothing to be done but to strike all sail and lie to the seas. In our exhausted state we elected to rest for a few hours before tackling the problem.

Annie and I discussed the procedures necessary to free up the rudder and the tools required. The quarter berth was emptied to allow access to the area beneath the cockpit sole. The wheel was lashed firmly in its self appointed jammed position in order to prevent free wheeling in the event that the rudder were to swing free while I worked on removing the bolts holding the rudder stop in place. That done, the stop was removed and Annie and I went topside, unlashed the wheel and were able to swing the bow around, set the jib, reset the wind vane and were underway again. When we reached Sao Vincente, Cape Verde a new rudder stop was welded up-made of stouter stuff than before.

We are now in Grenada, having rediscovered the beauty and joy of sailing in the sunny Caribbean. Como No is fully recovered from her Atlantic crossing and anxiously awaiting further voyaging. Time now to enjoy easy cruising.

If any of you get to Grenada look us up. We usually hang out on the hook and monitor channel 68 VHF. Or send us an email.

Will and Annie La Fleur
S/V Como No
Cape Dory 40