Rain - not what we ordered

Kingfisher 2013
Peter Smith
Sat 30 Nov 2013 21:28
Saturday evening - 30th November

The rain was persistent last night. A couple of miserable watches before things brightened up late morning. We have been experimenting very satisfactorily with different permutations of the rig and now have both poles up permanently with the facility to go close hauled with jib and full main without taking them down. We were able to sail throughout most of the day and still have a helpful 12-15 knots on our tail now. However, as we want to keep making 7 knots over the ground we have added a bit of engine power to keep us on track and the wind is due to drop again tonight and tomorrow. A little frustrating but we are still on schedule and should be anchored off Saint Vincent by this time on Monday without too much trouble.

On my inspection round I found a spring washer in the engine room this morning, followed by another one, and then realised that a nut and bolt was missing from the alternator. The drive belt was still tight enough to be operational but it was a good job we caught it and put it back together when we did. Another few hours and we might have had a slightly bigger problem. I have also re-positioned most of the running rigging up front to eliminate all of the chaffing that could cause us problems and have found good solutions for most of the potential "hot spots". Kingfisher is becoming rather streamlined now having been on manoeuvres for well over a month.

The crew is in very good heart; Alex H produced some good meals today and we watched a bit of Black Adder after supper this evening. I have a more civilised 1800 to 2200 watch tonight so looking forward to my bunk in a little while. We have not seen a vessel for more than 24 hours now - not sure where all the Cape Verde traffic goes but it is certainly not crowded out here at the moment.