The errors of the deep

Flotsam and jetsam

Sam Llewellyn writes nautical thrillers and edits The Marine Quarterly. He is currently patching up a 30ft ketch

There we are off the West Coast, sailing along, on a dead run. Gybe-oh, and clang, across comes the boom. The crew, who have not quite got the hang, watch the mainsheet whip the handle out of the winch and over the side. It is not a floating winch handle. It is a sinking winch handle,