Thursday, February 5, 2015
off the screen
After my last post, we entered a stormy area, with very heavy rainfall. JP took advantage of that by going on deck close to the mast to take a shower. This when we started seeing lightning and hearing thunder. At first they were 5 seconds apart then 4 then 3 then 2 at which point JP came back down in the boat. While he was kooking up through the hatch he saw the ball of lightning hit the top of the mast. All lioghts went out and smoke started to come out of the voltage regulator of the wind vane. The computer went out and we realized that we had lost everything electronic (instruments, computer, satphone, tracker, etc...) Fotunately, the hand held Garmin 76 was still alive as well as the notebook. We were able to set up a chart plotter on the note book and to continue navigating towards Le Marin in Martinique wherre we arrived on december 9th, some 25 days of a very slow crossing (I took 18 days in 1996 with my First 38 Beneteau). All the time. we were very much aware of the fact that we probably had disappeared from the screen and that family and friends were probably worrying about us. We were lucky enough to establishVHF contact with a passing sailboat, participating in the ARC Rallye and ask them to inform our organizing committee that we had been hit by lightning and had lost all electronics including means of communicatio. Once in Martinique time was shared between getting the boat able to sail again and various evening parties with the Atlantic Odyssey participants. We left Le Marin on the 14th after filling up the fuel tank at french prices (ouch !) with no instruments and limited navigation aids. For the trip, Marianne had joined us, so we were going to San Juan directly.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
wet sailing
We had a clear goal: By noon be at less than 400 n.m. from the line. And it
was looking good until 11:30. That's when the showers started steeling all
the wind. And it kept coming heavy rain after heavy rain. At some point we
even thought that there was enough time for Tifille to go to the bathroom.
So she went up, gave it a first try and had to run for cover before
anything could be achieved. Then eventually she went up again and without
wasting time to look for the proper aligment with the earth magnetic field
she did it and came back down in a hurry. The afternoon looks much better.
We are doing 6.5 knots on a direct course towards the finish line with 384
n.m. to go, so it looks good for coming in on the 9th early morning
like maybe 9 in the morning. that would be great !
was looking good until 11:30. That's when the showers started steeling all
the wind. And it kept coming heavy rain after heavy rain. At some point we
even thought that there was enough time for Tifille to go to the bathroom.
So she went up, gave it a first try and had to run for cover before
anything could be achieved. Then eventually she went up again and without
wasting time to look for the proper aligment with the earth magnetic field
she did it and came back down in a hurry. The afternoon looks much better.
We are doing 6.5 knots on a direct course towards the finish line with 384
n.m. to go, so it looks good for coming in on the 9th early morning
like maybe 9 in the morning. that would be great !
wet sailing
We had a clear goal: By noon be at less than 400 n.m. from the line. And it
was looking good until 11:30. That's when the showers started steeling all
the wind. And it kept coming heavy rain after heavy rain. At some point we
even thought that there was enough time for Tifille to go to the bathroom.
So she went up, gave it a first try and had to run for cover before
anything could be achieved. Then eventually she went up again and without
wasting time to look for the proper aligment with the earth magnetic field
she did it and came back down in a hurry. The afternoon looks much better.
We are doing 6.5 knots on a direct course towards the finish line with 384
n.m. to go, so it looks good for coming in on the 9th early morning
like maybe 9 in the morning. that would be great !
was looking good until 11:30. That's when the showers started steeling all
the wind. And it kept coming heavy rain after heavy rain. At some point we
even thought that there was enough time for Tifille to go to the bathroom.
So she went up, gave it a first try and had to run for cover before
anything could be achieved. Then eventually she went up again and without
wasting time to look for the proper aligment with the earth magnetic field
she did it and came back down in a hurry. The afternoon looks much better.
We are doing 6.5 knots on a direct course towards the finish line with 384
n.m. to go, so it looks good for coming in on the 9th early morning
like maybe 9 in the morning. that would be great !
Thursday, December 4, 2014
coming in
The spinnaker (actually a gennaker) was successfully set up yesterday at
5:20 p.m. TU. Since then jp , arthur and myself relayed each other at the
helm. Arthur needs constant adjusment with the wind changing constantly in
direction and force This morning we 669 n.m. from the finish line our speed
being anything between a and 6 knots. The weather is nice with few clouds,
hot sun but still enough swell to make us roll heavily. We can still, if
the wind picks up arrive on the 8th, more probably on the 9th. Yesterday JP
redid the gaz connections and made the stove work properly. he cooked a rib
of 2,2 pounds whch was delicious.As for drinks before meals, we ran out of
Ricard, Cassis (for the kir) rum went long time ago except for one shot
that we kept for the first one to see land. but westill have enough wine,
red and white, to take us to the finish
5:20 p.m. TU. Since then jp , arthur and myself relayed each other at the
helm. Arthur needs constant adjusment with the wind changing constantly in
direction and force This morning we 669 n.m. from the finish line our speed
being anything between a and 6 knots. The weather is nice with few clouds,
hot sun but still enough swell to make us roll heavily. We can still, if
the wind picks up arrive on the 8th, more probably on the 9th. Yesterday JP
redid the gaz connections and made the stove work properly. he cooked a rib
of 2,2 pounds whch was delicious.As for drinks before meals, we ran out of
Ricard, Cassis (for the kir) rum went long time ago except for one shot
that we kept for the first one to see land. but westill have enough wine,
red and white, to take us to the finish
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
sail in sight
This morning at 08:00 local time (TU-2) JP saw a sail on the horizon. It
got nearer quickly because we were on opposite tacks and at 08:40 TUMI boat
number 41 sailed across our bow around 50 meters away. It the gained on us
but slowly so JP decided to set the gennaker. Unfortunately the sock kept
wrapping itself around the sail and after one hour of hard work on the part
of JP, the attempt was aborted to be resumed after lunch. The weather is
postcard standard, blue sea, few clouds and a soft following wind around 15
knots. Today JP is cooking the last piece of meat while it is still safe to
eat with a fridge out of order. All in all the loss of perishable has been
limited and we will now switch to non perishable. We have enough to last
until we arrive in Martinique. Then we will take care of the bacteria with
good rum punch and spicy food.
got nearer quickly because we were on opposite tacks and at 08:40 TUMI boat
number 41 sailed across our bow around 50 meters away. It the gained on us
but slowly so JP decided to set the gennaker. Unfortunately the sock kept
wrapping itself around the sail and after one hour of hard work on the part
of JP, the attempt was aborted to be resumed after lunch. The weather is
postcard standard, blue sea, few clouds and a soft following wind around 15
knots. Today JP is cooking the last piece of meat while it is still safe to
eat with a fridge out of order. All in all the loss of perishable has been
limited and we will now switch to non perishable. We have enough to last
until we arrive in Martinique. Then we will take care of the bacteria with
good rum punch and spicy food.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
la calmouille
cette fois ci on est bien dedans avec encore 877 n.m. a couvrir. Le vent
apparent ne depasse plus dix noeuds et la vitesse du bateau est plus proche
de 4 que de 5 noeuds. A moins que Eole ne fasse un petit miracle, nous
risquons de n'arriver que le 10, jour de l'arrivee de laurence et Marianne.
Cela va etre juste et nous risquons egalement de ne pas etre prets a
repartir le 12 pour Puerto Rico comme prevu. Les voiles battent bruyamment
et le bateau roule car la mer ne s'est pas encore aplatie. c'est dans ces
conditions que la patience devient plus que jamais une vertu cardinale. Il
commence aussi a faire chaud et on est rapidement en transpiration.
Vivement Mardi prochain. Nous avons encore environ 50 heures demoteur dans
le reservoir et nous comptons bien en profiter au maximum.
apparent ne depasse plus dix noeuds et la vitesse du bateau est plus proche
de 4 que de 5 noeuds. A moins que Eole ne fasse un petit miracle, nous
risquons de n'arriver que le 10, jour de l'arrivee de laurence et Marianne.
Cela va etre juste et nous risquons egalement de ne pas etre prets a
repartir le 12 pour Puerto Rico comme prevu. Les voiles battent bruyamment
et le bateau roule car la mer ne s'est pas encore aplatie. c'est dans ces
conditions que la patience devient plus que jamais une vertu cardinale. Il
commence aussi a faire chaud et on est rapidement en transpiration.
Vivement Mardi prochain. Nous avons encore environ 50 heures demoteur dans
le reservoir et nous comptons bien en profiter au maximum.
Monday, December 1, 2014
New disaster
This morning the return of the rolling got me to up on deck.There I found
out that we wereagain without mainsail. It opeened up in the upper part
between the back line and the front.Jean-Paul made it clear to me that in
his mind I was responsible for that new incident for havingset the main
sheet to tight when we got beccalmed during the night and I set the main in
the mddle while restarting the engine and that pulled to hard on the back
of the sail and caused the backline to rupture and then the sail to open
up. JP has every right to be mad at me after the hard work he put in for
the first repair. He is now attempting to repair again. I should not allow
myself to be depressed, but I am. Impossible now to know when we will
finish and to think that it probably is my doing is not a` joyful thought !
To make matters` worse, the wind has dropped considerably and we are moving
at 3.5 knots ! And there are still 1030 n.m. to go. You can do the maths.
out that we wereagain without mainsail. It opeened up in the upper part
between the back line and the front.Jean-Paul made it clear to me that in
his mind I was responsible for that new incident for havingset the main
sheet to tight when we got beccalmed during the night and I set the main in
the mddle while restarting the engine and that pulled to hard on the back
of the sail and caused the backline to rupture and then the sail to open
up. JP has every right to be mad at me after the hard work he put in for
the first repair. He is now attempting to repair again. I should not allow
myself to be depressed, but I am. Impossible now to know when we will
finish and to think that it probably is my doing is not a` joyful thought !
To make matters` worse, the wind has dropped considerably and we are moving
at 3.5 knots ! And there are still 1030 n.m. to go. You can do the maths.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
