"Bud Sparhawk - Primrose and Thorn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sparhawk Bud)

speed and direction as the wind.



They were so far off their planned track by watch change that neither of them could see how they could
make up the lost time. "I don't see how the other competitors could have avoided the storm," Pascal
remarked as he examined the charts and the trace on the inertial. "Surely they're in as bad shape as we
are."

"Don't count on it," Louella snarled. "Most of them are tough sons of a bitch. Somebody probably figured
out how to use this storm's winds to their advantage. I wouldn't be surprised to find that at least two of
them have a good day's advantage on us."

"Oh, when did you become such an optimist?" Pascal asked bitterly.

"When I got you as a partner," she snapped back.



Pascal checked the trim while Louella snored in her bunk. Thorn felt sluggishтАФprobably Louella had
taken on more ballast, he thought. He switched on the heater to vent some of it and lighten the boat.

A sudden gust blew Thorn to the side. She tilted nearly forty degrees as the wheel whipped from side to
side.

"What the hell?" Louella yelled from her bunk.

"I think the sail's gone again," Pascal yelled down at her. "Take the wheel while I get another one ready. "

Louella squirmed into the seat as Pascal dragged himself into the sail locker. Thorn was rocking steadily
from side to side. She turned on the winch to let out more keel and steady the boat, letting out another
hundred meters of mesh.

"Let's try the foresail this time," she yelled at Pascal's disappearing feet.

Pascal wiggled into the cramped space beside the sails and braced himself. He ached all over. No matter
how he positioned himself, some bruised part of his body pressed painfully against something. He rigged
the lines and gear until the red-tagged foresail was ready to be ratcheted into the loading compartment.

He carefully attached the pulley to the head end of the sail and began to crank it into place. With every
turn of the winch his muscles ached. He banged his elbow on the bulkhead with each long stroke of the
winch handle.

With a twenty-to-one ratio, it took a long time to finally get the sail into placeтАФlong enough for the
forgotten heater to turn the entire ballast load into steam.

Back in the cabin Louella noticed the sideways motion of the boat. She immediately checked the
pressure gauges, thinking the wind had switched unexpectedly. But that wasn't the problem; their heading
was still good and the wind had settled down. Why then were they slipping sideways? She tried to clear
her head and reason it out. She wished that she weren't so damn tired.