The wind is now down to 22 knots from the 35 + of the last 48 hours. The movements of the boat are a lot smoother, but still not to the point that I want to spend time at the keyboard, fighting gravity when the boat is trying to kick me out of my seat and onto the stove on the other side of the boat.
Yet, during that time with gale force wind and seas building to a steep northerly swell, we've kept busy, trying to keep Papy Jovial in working order. First, it was the lower part of the companionway that had to be secured. It is fasten to the forward part of the water heater compartment, but only with machine screws that had enlarged their path and got out. We replace most of them and put them in backward so that they would be screwed into the wooden part and not the fiberglass. That should hold it in place until we get to Horta, where we will put in place bolts and nuts.
Then the strap at the corner of the portside lee cloth in the main cabin broke as the thread attaching them to the cloth got away. Karen, who is valiantly struggling to stay active, sewed them back (each of the two corners broke, but one after one) and we now have a place to sleep when on a port tack.
After that, it was the turn of the propane sensor to become erratic and keep sounding a leak alarm and shut off the valve. I tried to put the sensor out in the open, to see if it would work in fresh air, but it did not. I have that happened when in New Zealand in 2010, and I had been told, at the time, that those sensors over time start to malfunction. So, for the time being, we took out the solenoid valve located on the bottle itself, and have to shut the valve manually as soon as we have finished using the stove. We only use it for the morning coffee and for dinner, so it is manageable
Then, the stanchion base of the stanchion, abaft of the starboard gate.where the lines for the windvane goes through on two blocks, broke. I had noticed that the stainless steel tube that goes from the gate to the stanchion was bent downward, noticed that the stnachion base on the gate was cracked, and concluded that this might have happened when then the new engine was lowered onto it. I did not see the crack on the other stanchion, and with the continuous hammering of the boat, it finally broke. We removed the horizontal stainless steel bar and I was able to adjust the lines from the windvane, although they are now chafing agains the genoa sheet. Mut that should hold until Horta.
It looks like Doctor Murphy is still with us. Buit we will prevail !
Right now, we are 851 miles from Horta on a direct course that should be on 064. But the wind and the seas would not let us sail on a direct course and we are doing 090, due east. From what I see on the Grib files, we will probably have to tack around May 10th to go north, and then tasck again towards the Azores. How many miles this is going to add to our course is anybody's guess as we can't see that far ahead what the wind is going to do. It might add 200 or 300 miles, so it is difficult to say when we will get there. Anything between My 14th and May 17th.
Our current position, at 6:00 p.m. local time (TU-3) is 33:43 N and 45:06 W.
Despite of the weather conditions, we did celebrate with a rum punch getting to less than 1000 miles from Horta.
Tonight, canned dinner, suaerkraut.
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Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
weather
we are busy managing the weather so no blog today. We are fine, just busy.
See you tomorrow.
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See you tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 5, 2013
real sailing now
Playing cat and mouse with the calms is no longer the name of the game. We are now in real sailing, on close haul with a little over 21 knots on apparent wind and we are progressing real well in almost the right direction. Unfortunately, we expect the wind to veer to a more northerly direction, which means that we will probably sail south of the course. I only hope that we will not have to tack too much as it will add significantly to the distance left to go.
We no longer need the engine, at least for today. Between 8:30 this morning and 6:00 this afternoon, we went from minus 215 amp/hour to minus 145, which is a net gain of 70 amp/hour for the day. If we remain very cautious in our use of electricity, we might do away with the engine for another day.
At 6 this afternoon (TU-3), we are by 32:43 N and 50:29 W we 1121 miles to go on a direct course. The grib files tell us that we will have to do at least one tack, which will add to the distance. How much, we don't know yet.
This morning, we topped up the coolant in the engine and this afternoon, we could not see any leak. But we have not started the engine so we don't know yet if the mishap was a temporary thing caused by a low level of coolant.
We have to getting used to live on a close haul situation. We don't have yet to walk on the bulkheads though. Papy Jovial does not list a lot, most of the time 15 degrees, but that is enough, added to the jerky motion caused by the seas, to make cooking or washing dishes not very comfortable.
Tonight, chicken and rice with veggies mixed in it.
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We no longer need the engine, at least for today. Between 8:30 this morning and 6:00 this afternoon, we went from minus 215 amp/hour to minus 145, which is a net gain of 70 amp/hour for the day. If we remain very cautious in our use of electricity, we might do away with the engine for another day.
At 6 this afternoon (TU-3), we are by 32:43 N and 50:29 W we 1121 miles to go on a direct course. The grib files tell us that we will have to do at least one tack, which will add to the distance. How much, we don't know yet.
This morning, we topped up the coolant in the engine and this afternoon, we could not see any leak. But we have not started the engine so we don't know yet if the mishap was a temporary thing caused by a low level of coolant.
We have to getting used to live on a close haul situation. We don't have yet to walk on the bulkheads though. Papy Jovial does not list a lot, most of the time 15 degrees, but that is enough, added to the jerky motion caused by the seas, to make cooking or washing dishes not very comfortable.
Tonight, chicken and rice with veggies mixed in it.
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Saturday, May 4, 2013
Lots happening
We were able to keep the spi until 8 this morning when a warm front caught up with us. The squalls are full of heavy rain but no wind. We hurry to get the spi down and then go through the usual scenario of calm followed by a little wind in the wrong direction.
So we decide to move away from the front and recharge the batteries, using the engine for no more than two hours.
Well, after one hour, as we were enjoying lunch, high temperature alarm, and we run to stop the engine.
It appears that a lot of coolant has found its way into the bilge. As soon as the engine has cooled down enough, we look for a possible cause of leak and found nothing. Jean-Paul suggests that we check the valve to drain the coolant system. Took some time to find it, although there is a photo in the manual. Finally Jean-Paul found it, cracked open 1/8 of a turn. Since we cannot find anything else, we have to be satisfied with that explanation. We topped up the coolant, restarted the engine with Jean-Paul in the engine compartment, watching every where and found nothing wrong. Besides, the wind has come back and we can keep sailing for a while, managing our electric consumption the best we can and hoping that the solar panels and the wind generators will supply enough for our needs.
Tonight, we will again do sauteed potatoes, this time enhanced with some corned beef.
We should have wind for the next four days, sometimes a lttle too much, but nothing we can't manage.
At noon today, we were 31:03 N and 52:38 W. We still had 1265 miles to go to Horta. I now reckon that we might arrive on the 15th only.
Tonight, we will move the clock forward one hour to TU-3.
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So we decide to move away from the front and recharge the batteries, using the engine for no more than two hours.
Well, after one hour, as we were enjoying lunch, high temperature alarm, and we run to stop the engine.
It appears that a lot of coolant has found its way into the bilge. As soon as the engine has cooled down enough, we look for a possible cause of leak and found nothing. Jean-Paul suggests that we check the valve to drain the coolant system. Took some time to find it, although there is a photo in the manual. Finally Jean-Paul found it, cracked open 1/8 of a turn. Since we cannot find anything else, we have to be satisfied with that explanation. We topped up the coolant, restarted the engine with Jean-Paul in the engine compartment, watching every where and found nothing wrong. Besides, the wind has come back and we can keep sailing for a while, managing our electric consumption the best we can and hoping that the solar panels and the wind generators will supply enough for our needs.
Tonight, we will again do sauteed potatoes, this time enhanced with some corned beef.
We should have wind for the next four days, sometimes a lttle too much, but nothing we can't manage.
At noon today, we were 31:03 N and 52:38 W. We still had 1265 miles to go to Horta. I now reckon that we might arrive on the 15th only.
Tonight, we will move the clock forward one hour to TU-3.
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Friday, May 3, 2013
The day of the spi
Finally the day when we could dry the spi up in the air has arrived. But not before a hellish night when Jean-Paul and myself kept hand steering all night at great speed exceeding 0.5 to 2 knots. For the whole night, we had to show almost 22 miles, but we moved forward anyway and did not burn any fuel.
Although it rained all night, Jean-Paul stayed dry in his V-Berth and the temporary repair to the leaking hatch seemed to haved worked. Should be good at least until Horta.
This morning, beautiful weather and enough wind in the right direction to set up the asymetrical spi that pulls us at 5 knots, sometimes more with only 5 knots of apparent wind. Next day should show a decent mileage.
Not today. We covered 90 miles over the ground, 81 through the water (the speedo will probably have to be recalibrated) and we got only 75 miles closer to Horta as we certainly did not sail in a straight line during the night. At noon, we still had 1375 miles to go to get to Horta. I reckon that we can do that in 10 and a half days and that we should be able to have a drink at the famous "Cafe des Sports", also know as "Chez Peter" on May 14th.
At noon, our position was 29:34 N and 54:09 W. As for the water, on average, our consumption remains at 5.3 gallons a day which means at that rate another 33 days of water in the tanks. For fuel, we still have 47 gallons in the tank and 5 in the emergency jerry can. We have promised ourselves that we will not touche the engine until we are at least at the half way point.
We also have in the freezer another 4 meals of fish, one of chicken before we start digging in our 13 canned meals. We won't have to eat the youngest member of the crew to survive.
Tonight, salmon and tagliatella.
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Although it rained all night, Jean-Paul stayed dry in his V-Berth and the temporary repair to the leaking hatch seemed to haved worked. Should be good at least until Horta.
This morning, beautiful weather and enough wind in the right direction to set up the asymetrical spi that pulls us at 5 knots, sometimes more with only 5 knots of apparent wind. Next day should show a decent mileage.
Not today. We covered 90 miles over the ground, 81 through the water (the speedo will probably have to be recalibrated) and we got only 75 miles closer to Horta as we certainly did not sail in a straight line during the night. At noon, we still had 1375 miles to go to get to Horta. I reckon that we can do that in 10 and a half days and that we should be able to have a drink at the famous "Cafe des Sports", also know as "Chez Peter" on May 14th.
At noon, our position was 29:34 N and 54:09 W. As for the water, on average, our consumption remains at 5.3 gallons a day which means at that rate another 33 days of water in the tanks. For fuel, we still have 47 gallons in the tank and 5 in the emergency jerry can. We have promised ourselves that we will not touche the engine until we are at least at the half way point.
We also have in the freezer another 4 meals of fish, one of chicken before we start digging in our 13 canned meals. We won't have to eat the youngest member of the crew to survive.
Tonight, salmon and tagliatella.
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Thursday, May 2, 2013
motoring, motoring, motoring
I am beginning to feel concerned as it is obvious that we cannot motor sail to the Acores. At 6 p.m. today, we still have around 70 hours of motoring in the tank at 1400 rpm, which gives us around 3.6 knots. That's 250 miles but we still have 1,427 to go. We need not only to manage the use of the engine as efficiently as we can, but also, we must find wind.
I had good communications today, morning and afternoon with the two canadian radio-networks and their forecast is not all that exciting. More light winds followed by head wind. Not the best combination. We will try and go north as much as we can so that when the NE comes we are close to the latitude of the Azores. Long way to go . . . .
Today, we found the source of the leak in the forward hatch. It is a part that tighten the hinge against the glass that lost a screw and the plastic part that presses against the glass. Jean-Paul used a tape that was given to me by Scott and which is normally used in the building industry. But he told me that he used that on top of hatches and it works well. This should be a good solution until we get to the Azores.
This morning, we had strong violent thunderstorms, with lots of rain, thunder and lightening. This afternoon, more squalls, but this time without vertical circulation, with some rain but still no wind.
At noon today (TU-4), our position was 28:44 N and 55:19 W. We had covered 109 miles for the day and we still had 1449 miles to go. Water situation very good. For the fuel, we have been motoring now for 46 hours and the consumption looks to be around 0.7 gallons/hour.
Tonight, steaks and sauteed potatoes.
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I had good communications today, morning and afternoon with the two canadian radio-networks and their forecast is not all that exciting. More light winds followed by head wind. Not the best combination. We will try and go north as much as we can so that when the NE comes we are close to the latitude of the Azores. Long way to go . . . .
Today, we found the source of the leak in the forward hatch. It is a part that tighten the hinge against the glass that lost a screw and the plastic part that presses against the glass. Jean-Paul used a tape that was given to me by Scott and which is normally used in the building industry. But he told me that he used that on top of hatches and it works well. This should be a good solution until we get to the Azores.
This morning, we had strong violent thunderstorms, with lots of rain, thunder and lightening. This afternoon, more squalls, but this time without vertical circulation, with some rain but still no wind.
At noon today (TU-4), our position was 28:44 N and 55:19 W. We had covered 109 miles for the day and we still had 1449 miles to go. Water situation very good. For the fuel, we have been motoring now for 46 hours and the consumption looks to be around 0.7 gallons/hour.
Tonight, steaks and sauteed potatoes.
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
the battle of the calm
Motoring, motoring, motoring since morning just after midnight. We only have 107 miles to show for the day. We try to run the engine as conservately as we can, sometimes only 1200 rpm to save fuel as much as we can. Anyway, it is obvious that we cannot motor all the way to the Azores and hopefully some kind of wind will come and help us.
The good side of it is that the boat hardly moves, and we can get busy on various chores, like laundry, pushing the wedge in the mast back in place, replacing (again) the schackle keeping the clew of the main on to the boom.
Reading, sleeping, cooking, and hoping that the wind will come soon.
Our position at noonl local time (TU-4) was 27:33.8 N and 56:34.2 W. Despite the laundry, the water consumption remains very good, at 4.92 gallon/day.
Today we found out that we did buy another bottle of Ricard, and we look forward to the drinks of tonight.
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The good side of it is that the boat hardly moves, and we can get busy on various chores, like laundry, pushing the wedge in the mast back in place, replacing (again) the schackle keeping the clew of the main on to the boom.
Reading, sleeping, cooking, and hoping that the wind will come soon.
Our position at noonl local time (TU-4) was 27:33.8 N and 56:34.2 W. Despite the laundry, the water consumption remains very good, at 4.92 gallon/day.
Today we found out that we did buy another bottle of Ricard, and we look forward to the drinks of tonight.
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