We've been having a hard time keeping up with our electrical needs. The wind doesn't blow enough to keep the wind generator turning, and clouds keep obscuring the sun, so the solar panels don't produce enough electricity to even keep the refrigerator running. Roy has to run the engine an hour or so a day to charge the batteries, which is extra wear and tear on the engine, plus using valuable fuel. We could buy another gasoline- or diesel-powered generator, but a really good marine generator is very expensive, and if we buy another cheapo, it probably wouldn't last long, so we don't have a good solution.
Roy went to the top of the main mast today, and it's a very good thing he did. He found a big split in the starboard spreader and the headsail halyard was nearly worn through. It was barely hanging on by five strands. No wonder it had been so hard to furl. It's certainly fortunate we didn't unfurl it after leaving Samana; we'd have probably lost the sail and maybe part of the rigging as well. Roy took the headsail down, cut off the frazzled end, and reattached it. Now all he has to do is make a new spreader.
Got some good rain in the evening. Roy was just about to go to town with the water jug when the rain started. We were able to half fill our tank with good sky juice.
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