Tuesday, 26 January, 2016
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Luna Quest
W. Eric Faber
Tue 26 Jan 2016 12:47
Daily run: 115 logged miles
Having the parasailor up and filled makes a huge difference to the boat’s behaviour; the rolling has stopped, no more banging of the the two foresails or the mainsail as they are stowed. The speed improves considerably. Employing the water-towed generator, however, becomes an inconvenience as it cannot be retrieved without slowing down the boat and retrieving is a must when the batteries are full and the generator becomes a drag, but retrieving it means taking down the parasailor, which is something we are not likely to do. Instead we rely on the sun during the day and the Honda petrol-driven generator for top-ups in the morning and at night. This combination allows us to use the autopilot, which helps the parasailor with a steady course.
Another very bright moon last night and a filled parasailor pushing us along at 4.5kn to 5kn. Orion is right overhead and has always been with us at some time in the night since we set off last year. We encountered a ship last night within a mile, whose navigation lights came on only when we were passing. They were switched off as soon as we had passed. A little more worrying was that the ship did not show up on our AIS Watchmate, but did appear on our NASA AIS receiver.
Eric