20.33N 41.43W 17th May 2011
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Tue 17 May 2011 11:50
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Another big day under our keels yesterday. We set
another Mojo 2 record of 139NM over the 24 hours to 9AM. Not bad given we still
have no mailsail and It looks as though we will not have a chance to make the
repair today. There is a large following swell and the wind is 15 knots and
gusting up to 19 knots.
Overnight and today we are seeing the biggest
seas since the Bay of Biscay. Even though it is a fairly confused sea it still
does not compare to the huge 5 metre swell we saw there,
thankfully.
We are having some issues with our 12 volt system
at the moment. Overnight we are having to run the motors every couple of hours
to keep the batteries charged. There appears to be a couple of
problems. One is that the charging system does not seem to be functioning and we
may be relying purely on the batteries for the motors. Secondly the freezer is
running constantly despite being at the lowest setting and the switch to turn it
off is not functioning. These issues do not affect the day to day sailing but
are becoming a pain and will need to be sorted out in Antigua.
The next milestone for us will be 1000NM to go. We
are currently at 1155NM and closing steadliy on our destination.
I thought I should mention a litte about the boat
we are sailing. It is a Fountaine Pajot, Lipari 41 catamaran that we picked up
in La Rochelle, France. It is a fairly new model and took over from the very
popular Lavezzi 40, which has now ceased production. FP have two factories in La
Rochelle and employ several hundred people at each factory.
The Lipari is one of the first catamarans that they
have released with the hardtop bimini over the cockpit area of the boat. This is
terrific for protection from the harsh Australian sun. The helm
station is built into the hardtop and gives you an elevated and clear view ahead
of you. We also have a soft bimini over the helm station to protect from the
elements. The boat has a huge internal volume and provides us with very pleasant
accommodation. Onboard we have a fridge and separate [still running freezer],
well equipped galley and even a small washing machine.
The boat has sailed fantastically well over the
past months and we hope it will continue to do so.
Regards to all at home from all three of
us.
Andrew.
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