We finally receive our long-awaited new sails and test them successfully. Now we’re ready to set off for Costa Rica, if only the weather will cooperate.
After three months of patiently waiting, our new sails finally arrived on Tuesday afternoon, September 6. Packaged in two impressively compact boxes, the four sails weigh a total of 80 kilograms (180 pounds). As it turns out, the long strips of rigid fiberglass that make up the battens come tightly spooled together in an incredibly dangerous bundle of packing tape and zip-ties. Unfortunately the smallest batten of the staysail didn’t survive the extreme pressure while in-transit, but that didn’t stop the bundle from erupting when Nic cut the first zip-tie. The mainsail bundle, amazingly still fully intact upon delivery, sprung open with even more explosive force, nearly sending the battens flying into the water.
Despite the late afternoon heat and humidity, we wanted to hoist the new sails as soon as possible at the dock to see if they fit. After cleaning and lubricating the boom and mast track, and carefully inserting the battens, we raised the main. The luff and foot fit perfectly, and the sliders all moved effortlessly in the tracks. In the photo below you can see the mainsail complete with our US Coast Guard registration number and the Vancouver 36 logo, the soaring bird. All of the foresails hoisted properly and appear to fit very well too.
With new sails fit and a reasonable weather window in the forecast, we hurried to finish the final preparations to depart Mexico for Costa Rica. The local veterinarian paid us a visit and certified all the pets for safe travel. We stocked our lockers with provisions for the coming journey. Alas the forecast didn’t pan out quite as well as we expected.
Though the hurricane season has been relatively mild thus far, the Tehuantepec seems to be making up for lost time as we move into September. As we planned our tentative departure date, a brand new tropical cyclone began to form to the north of Chiapas. Hurricane Kay, as she soon became known, posed no significant wind hazard to our southbound passage, but the swell forecast looked like a mess of 2+ meter waves at less than 8 seconds. Instead of getting run through the spin cycle, we’ve opted to wait another week for (hopefully) better weather. The latest forecast shows two more tropical disturbances forming in Kay’s wake.
So for now, we’ll keep our fingers crossed while we celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day with the wonderful staff and community of cruisers here at Marina Chiapas. With any luck, we’ll be underway for new adventures in the near future.