Splicey McSplicerton

The name of the game yesterday was splicing, which is the art of connecting a rope (or two ropes) by interweaving the strands.  It's nothing short of magic, really, and there is a reason people pay others to do this.  I mentioned how we lost our jib halyard on the trip here due to the worst splice job in history (see picture above) and fixing it was our first priority.

Of course there are no riggers on this island, so simply calling someone to help us and/or do it for us was not an option.  We had never spliced sta set x line and without any other choice but to learn, we did what every good cruiser does these days and hit the internet for instructions.  A quick Google search led us to explicit splicing directions which the boys followed and produced a pretty good splice.  I say "pretty good" because I would be lying if I said it was perfect.  The halyard is probably ten years old, super stretched out and splicing old line is famously difficult.  Nevertheless, after almost four hours of team work that included agressive pulling, "milking", coercing, pounding and generally man-handling the line, they got it done.  We celebrated on shore with drinks and the best fish tacos I have ever had.  Ever.  We will be replacing the entire halyard once we get to St. Maarten.  It's on the list.

Today the mood on the boat is great.  Our weather forecast is favorable and, while we will probably be motoring most of this trip, it will be into light and variable winds and it's looking like we might even have a nice sail south.  Of course there are anxieties and nerves intermixed with the anticipation, but the overall vibe is excited and ready.  We've got some final preparations to do, namely putting the dinghy on the bow and stowing our outboard motor and barbecue down below, and once those things are complete - we will be good to go.  We're currently blasting this wicked tune by Gipsy Kings, it captures the energy of the boat right now quite nicely I think.

We will be leaving bright and early tomorrow and will most likely not have internet again for another five or six days.  I will be posting when I can via SSB, but if you'd like to track us real-time, follow us on SPOTWALLA.

Scott whipped the end of the splice for added strength