Sailing upwind in 27-knot winds when the boat is not pointing well
For most of the passage, Lauren Landers Sailing was dealing with winds around 27 knots on a course that required going upwind, but the boat was not pointing into the wind as well as it should have been. She notes the boat has been struggling to go upwind lately, and with land on one side there was no option to bear away further. The result was motor sailing just to maintain safe clearance from the coast, an uncomfortable compromise in already difficult conditions.
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Sometimes replacing the whole toilet assembly is faster than chasing seal failures
Lauren's aft head had seals replaced a couple of times and still was not working properly. Rather than continuing to chase individual seal failures, she decided to replace the entire assembly. The result: two out of three heads on the boat
Heavy calcium buildup in hoses can defeat even a new toilet pump
On the master head, Lauren replaced the pump assembly but the toilet still was not working correctly. Her suspicion is that the hose itself has too much calcium buildup inside it, meaning the new pump is fighting against a restricted line.
Sail shops can be genuinely helpful when you are single-handed
When Lauren picked up her sail from the sail shop, the woman there and her assistant offered to help carry it back to the boat, recognizing that getting a sail aboard solo is not easy. That kind of assistance from a marina or sail loft can