Bermudes 1000 - One week in

Pip has now been at sea over a week - and what a trying week it has been. Plagued by inconsistent breeze and a troublesome goose neck pin, life hasn’t been easy for Pip. However it hasn’t stopped her from enjoying every moment on the water. A small pod of dolphins played with Superbigou to celebrate being one week into the race, and they even stuck around long enough for Pip to get a selfie with them off the bow.

Dolphin selfie!

However, it has been the goose neck repair that has taken up most of Pip’s time over the past week. After many hours of testing, she now has a workable solution:

Thanks for all your suggestions on fixing my gooseneck. The complicated bit is that the pin needs to locate into a bracket on the deck as well as through the boom. This stops the mast from rotating. While I was drifting around cursing the lack of wind I managed to get everything the best lined up so far and hammer the pin home (all hope of catching a thread now gone) it’s in place located and being held down with a good old fashioned hose clamp. Should at least give me a nights worth of respite from the hourly checks but I’m not holding hope. The killer is any twisting moment from the boom.... which is whenever the boom is loaded up. Hang in there little hose clamp.

Hose clamp in place, we’re ready to sail.

The wind over the next few days looks like it will work in Pip’s favour, however, a light patch just off the North West coast of France could make the final few miles somewhat frustrating. It’s time to pray to Neptune for some clear breeze!