After morning farewells to friends Glen and Nancy in Punta Gorda, the bow of Cutter Loose is pointed south in the now familiar waters of Charlotte Harbor. Easterly winds at 15 knots quickly build to 20 knots on the beam. Cutter Loose powers through the late morning chop, showering the foredeck with seawater.
In the interest of a more relaxed sail, we depower the rig by reefing the furling mainsail while on the run. In the process, the top section of the sail doubles up and becomes jammed in the furling mechanism. The sail will neither furl or unfurl. The solution is to release the mainsail halyard and lower the sail, which successfully releases the jam. The deck is now covered with mainsail. Singlehandedly feeding the luff into the mast track to raise the sail proves next to impossible in 20 knots of wind. As an interim measure, it seems prudent to flake the sail over the boom and deal with this issue later in the afternoon when, presumably, wind speeds will subside.
Our course takes us south through the dredged channel of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway through Pine Island Sound. Minutes before sundown, we drop the hook just south of St. James City. We take advantage of a calm anchorage and subdued lighting to raise the mainsail in its track. Everything is now back in working order. A quiet dinner in the comfort of the cockpit is a fitting ending to yet another interesting day on the water.
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