Dominique and Michèle headed back out to sea Wednesday evening following the repairs to Mirabauds’ mast. Shortly into the first attempt of their delivery to Barcelona five days ago, the component used to fix the sails to the top of the mast broke. The genoa halyard (the rope used to hoist the sails) had slightly cracked the top of the mast. Since this crucial part of the mast is under heavy loads and is difficult to access, the yacht had to return to port, remove the mast and carry out repairs.
Dominique and Michèle managed to take advantage of a narrow weather window, allowing them to reach Sanxenxo in northern Spain, before the arrival of the latest low pressure system. They will be weathering out the storm in port before heading off to Gibraltar and then Barcelona.
Here’s the latest message received from the sailors before their departure: “Ice on the decks again today at 4pm and the few rays of winter sunshine haven’t had much effect…looks like we’re going to have to put crampons on our sea boots! Tonight is definitely going to be a chilly one…an extra pair of warm socks and a very warm sleeping bag required!”
