Return to Gran Canaria
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Sat 24 Nov 2012 16:02
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28:07.95N 15:25.37W
Saturday 24 November 2012
Distance Run 53 Miles
We've been aiming to get back to the UK so we
can make routine visits to doctors and optician and see family before we
set off on passage so we need somewhere safe to leave the boat whilst we are
away. I also wanted my own doctor to examine my elbow.
All the pilot books suggest that none of the
marinas in Tenerife provide good shelter in south westerly
winds (which have been frequent recently) and some friends who were here a
couple of years ago broke several of their mooring lines in the swell that built
up here in Santa Cruz - the most sheltered marina in Tenerife. We felt
that Las Palmas in Gran Canaria would be a safer bet but the
marina would still be full until the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers starts
tomorrow. The weather for today provided a window to get across to Gran
Canaria but is due to turn rather unpleasant again from Sunday for a
few days so we decided to go today and anchor outside the marina tonight and
hopefully we would be let in in the next day or so.
Leaving the hire car keys with the marinero to hold
for the hire company to collect later we left at 9 am and motored off in
light winds. After a few hours we were able to set sail and turn the
engine off.
Shortly after we heard an alarm on board which
turned out to be the VHF radio giving us a 'high voltage' warning (we
didn't even know the radio could do this). The battery monitor showed
16.6volts. This is not good. When the alternator is running we
should see a peak voltage of 14.4 for our battery type and this should have
fallen to around 13 volts when the engine was switched off. The only
source of battery charging at that moment was the solar panels which can produce
up to 17 or 18 volts which is brought down to 13-14 by a
regulator. We rotated the panels away from the sun and the
voltage dropped to normal levels.
Assuming the solar regulator was faulty I scrolled
through it's error messages and saw it was giving off a low (ie below 10.5v)
voltage warning! Presumably the regulator, in error, thought it was
detecting a low voltage and was trying to compensate by allowing a higher
voltage through - leading to the high voltage alarm. Hmm... all part of life's rich tapestry.
We fired up the engine again to make sure we
weren't getting high voltage from the alternator regulator (we weren't) and
continued motoring to Gran Canaria. The rest of the the trip was
uneventful and we anchored off the marina before 6 in the evening.
The left elbow awaiting inspection:-
 Lin restiing peacefully in the cockpit after dinner
with the boat at anchor, the shoreside lights reflecting off the calm sea.
Even the camera flash didn't wake Lin up:-
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