We’re currently 2,300 nm into our 5,000 nm crossing of the Atlantic from Namibia to Barbados. After the first 1,200 nm, we stopped for a couple days at the island of St Helena. While there, we assessed a possible problem with our retractable sprit pole. The joint had an increasing amount of play and we ended up removing it to discover that it was being ovaled out at the attachment point. It probably wouldn’t break… probably. But with about 3,800 nm to go and our code zero—which attaches to the sprit pole—being such an important sail for those miles, we were faced with either jury-rigging a solution, ignoring it and hoping for the best, or trying to somehow get this fixed on a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic with a population of less than 5,000 people. What are the odds we’d find an aluminum welder who could do this in a day or two?

Actually, pretty good! Everyone there seems to know everyone, are very friendly and helpful, and it’s an incredibly self-reliant population. When everything is expensive and has to be shipped from South Africa, people are understandably inclined to find a way to keep fixing things, rather than throw them out and just buy new ones. In short order, the port captain had referred us to Adrian, “a very good welder” on the island. After connecting with him and sending pictures of the problem, Adrian assured us that he could fix it—and have it back to us in 24 hours. It was fairly stressful to remove the whole set-up in the swelly anchorage, standing in the dinghy, trying not to bash our heads on the crossbar or drop anything vital into the drink. But we did it! And as promised, Adrian had it back to us the next afternoon for a reasonable price, and we were able to reinstall it without incident, ensuring that we could depart as planned the next day.

This all happened around the time Brian sent me an article from Good Old Boat  that was a good reminder of why we take the time to worry, check, and preemptively repair things that may or may not break. It’s certainly no guarantee against catastrophe, but it can only help. In the article, John Vigor describes the process of paying into an imaginary black box, the so-called “Fifth Essential for Successful Yacht Voyages.” We’ll continue to pay into our black box and hope that all five essentials carry us safely through the remaining 2,700 nm of our journey.