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Along with my daughter and a friend of hers, we left Newport on Saturday around 0800 heading for Block Island, trying to get there ahead of (or not long after) the racers in the Mitchell Regatta, for which I am the organizer. It was a decent traditional southwesterly, with wind speeds around 15-20 knots and the seas were good size, up to 6 feet or so and oddly confused. We had a full main and a 100% jib which worked well. As we got past Beavertail, we decided to tack in by the Narragansett shore hoping for a little reprieve from the seas. As we neared Point Judith, my daughter yelled up from the v-berth "did you hear that bang?". I hadn't but looked around and noticed the leeward shrouds were unusually slack. As I was pondering the cause, my daughter yelled again "the post is moving!" I realized she was talking about the mast compression post, so I immediately depowered and doused both sails, started the outboard, and turned downwind back towards Newport. After a long, rolly motor back, we got safely to the mooring and I inspected the damage.

It seems the cause the failure of the platform just aft of the v-berth, where the porta-potty goes. The aft edge of the platform held the mast compression post, and it appears it just punched through the marine plywood of the platform. I didn't have time to address the issue this time, but loosened the shrouds, and wedged the compression post against the remaining aft edge of the platform as a temporary support while awaiting repair.

I dropped the girls off back home and had to scramble to make arrangements to get the trophies and beer for the regatta out to Block Island. Luckily, my friends Kim and Bill in the regatta had offered me a berth on their J/42, so I gave them a quick call to confirm it was still available and it was! Fortunately, I live only about 7 miles from the Block Island ferry, so I loaded up my bicycle cargo trailer with the trophies and beer and rode down to the ferry. I made it safely to the island and pedaled my way down to Payne's Dock where I learned my friends had their own adventure.

As often happens, the sea state worsened after Point Judith. All the racers reported the confused seas were some of the roughest they ever encountered doing this race. My friends' boat had suddenly lost power to the instruments between Point Judith and Block Island. As they headed down below to check out the problem, they made the horrifying discovery that the floorboards were awash, with hundreds of gallons of water aboard, it had shorted the batteries and they appeared to be sinking! Thinking quickly, Bill suspected the knot meter thru-hull and confirmed it had popped loose in the pounding! Thankfully, he was able to get it re-seated, stopping the flow of water, but they now had to get the water out and make it to the dock without the engine. Fortunately, they are both very skilled sailors and made it safely. When I arrived by bicycle, the cabin was dry and the cushions were airing on deck after being rinsed. Never a dull moment!

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